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BiPli^iiiii 

ISiMiiSiiiiiiii 


CENTRAL  WEST  VIRGINIA 


J.  D.  SUTTON'S 
FUNERAL  SET 

■ W40 

Last   Union   Veteran   of 

Braxton  County  Dies 

SUTTON,  March  31  (Special).— 
Funeral  services  for  Colonel  John 
Davison  Sutton,  97,  Braxton 
county's  last  surviving  Union  vet- 
eran of  the  Civil  war  who  died 
Saturday  evening  at  his  home  near 
here,  were  to  be  held  at  2  o'clock 
this  afternoon  at  the  home.  Rev. 
E.  O.  McLaughlin  of  Flatwoods, 
and  Rev.  J.  P.  Atkins,  Sutton, 
Methodist   ministers,   were   to   offi- 


JOHN    DAVISON    SUTTON 

ciate,  and  burial  was  to  follow  in 
the  family  cemetery  near  ,  the 
home. 

Colonel  Sutton  observed  his  97th 
birth  anniversary  on  March  1.  Dur- 
ing his  long  career  he  had  been  a 
soldier,  author  and  statesman  and 
was  a  member  of  a  family  promi- 
nent in  the  development  of  south- 
ern West  Virginia.  The  town  of 
Sutton  was  named  for  a  relative, 
James  Sutton.  His  grandfather, 
John  Sutton,  settled  in  Sutton  in 
1810. 

Born  Feb.  4,  1844  at  Flatwoods, 
Colonel  Sutton  was  a  son  of  Felix 
and  Susan  Skidmore  Sutton.  At 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  when 
he  was  17  -years  old,  he  enlisted  in 
the  Union  army,  seeing  action  at 
the  battles  of  the  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia, Richmond  and  Appamattox 
as  a  member  of  the  10th  West  Vir- 
ginia   infantry. 

Returning  at.  the  close  of  the 
war,  Colonel  Sutton  was  married 
Oct.  23,  1866,  to  M'ariah  Virginia 
Morrison,  who  died  several  years 
ago.  He  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock  raising  and  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Harrison 
was  connected  with  the  federal 
revenue  bureau.  In  1919  he  pub- 
lished "A  History  of  Braxton 
County  and  Central  West  Vir- 
ginia," which  is  considered  authori- 
tative. Other  works  include  "The 
Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Bull  Moose 
Party,"  "Lottery  in  the  Pines."  "A 
Confederate  Scout,"  "Sixty  Years 
in  a  Dream,"  and  "The  Soldier 
Boy." 

In  1916  Colonel  Sutton  was  a 
delegate  to  the  Democratic  na- 
tional convention  at  St.  Louis,  and, 
at  the  age  of  79,  was  elected  to  the 
house  of  delegates,  serving  from 
1923  to  1927.  His  title  of  Colonel 
came  through  his  designation  by 
Governor  Gore  as  a  member  of  his 
staff. 

Surviving    the   veteran    are   tw 
sons,    O.    O.    Sutton,    attorney,    • 
Sutton,  and  Clarke  Sutton,  farm 
of    Gassaway,    and    one    daugh 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Watkins,  at  home. 


THE     CHARLESTON    DAILY    MAIL,     FRID/ 


J.  D.  Sutton,  Statesman  And 
Soldier,  Enters  95th  Year 

Member  of  Pioneer  Family  Which  Founded  Brax- 
ton County  Town  Active  on  94th  Birthday 


Sutton  Man  Is  94 


SUTTON,  Feb.  4.— John  Davison  Sutton,  author,  soldier  and 
statesman,  is  observing  his  ninety-fourth  birthday  today  at  his 
home  near  Sutton.  In  spite  of  his  age,  he  is  still  active  and  enjoys 
walking.  <S> 

He  and  members  of  his  family 
have  played  an  important  role  in 
the  history  of  this  community,  from 
the  time  his  grandfather  first  vis- 
ited this  section  in  1798  until  the 
present  time  when  his  son,  Oley 
Ord  Sutton,  is  the  mayor. 

In  1798,  John  D.  Sutton,  at  the 
request  of  his  father,  John  Sutton, 
made  a  journey  from  Alexandria, 
Va.,  to  look  over  7,000  acres  of  land 
which  the  latter  owned  in  this  sec- 
tion. In  1810  he  returned  and  settled 
where  Sutton  now  stands.  He  gave 
an  acre  of  land  for  a  public  square 
and  the  town  was  named  in  his 
honor.  In  1839  the  first  session  of 
circuit  court  for  the  newly  organ- 
ized county  of  Braxton  was  held  in 
his  home. 

Fought  in  Civil  War 

His  son,  Felix  Sutton,  spent  his 
life  in  the  community,  where  he 
was  a  successful  farmer  and  served 
as  a  county  judge,  assessor,  sheriff 
and  school  superintendent.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  first  constitutional 
convention  and  served  in  the  first 
West  Virginia  legislature. 

John  Davison  Sutton  was  born  at 
Flatwoods  on  Feb.  4,   1844.   the  son 

of  Felix  and  Susan  Skidmore  Sut-  school  as  was  available  at  the  tune. 
ton.  He  was  reared  in  Braxton  He  planned  to  attend  a  Virginia  col- 
county  and  took  advantage  of  such    lege   and   study   law   but   the   Civil 


JOHN    DAVISON    SUTTON 


war  broke  out  and  changed  his 
plans.  He  was  17  years  old  when 
he  enlisted  in  the  10th  West  Vir- 
ginia infantry  and  saw  service  in 
many  battles,  mostly  in  the  valley  of 
Virginia.  He  served  until  the  end  of 
the  conflict  when  he  returned  to 
his  home  and  in  1866  was  married 
to  Mariah  Virginia  Morrison.  They 
settled  at  the  old  homestead,  about 
4  miles  from  Sutton,  where  Mr.  Sut- 
ton still  resides. 

Was  in  Legislature 

He  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising,  in  which  he  was  successful, 
but  throughout  his  life  has  had 
many  other  interests.  During  the 
administration  of  President  Harri- 
son, Mr.  Sutton  held  a  position  in 
the  United  States  revenue  depart- 
ment. After  he  had  passed  the  age 
of  80  he  served  two  terms  in  the 
state  legislature  and  was  appointed 
by  Governor  Howard  Gore  as  a 
member  of  his  staff. 

He  was  the  first  chairman  of  the 
Droop  Mountain  battlefield  com- 
mission. The  battlefield  has  since 
been  taken  over  by  the  state  park 
commission. 

Always  interested  in  writing.  Mr. 
Sutton  is  the  author  of  an  author- 
itative history  of  Braxton  county 
which  he  published  in  1919.  This 
book  is  invaluable  to  the  people  of 
this  community,  giving  the  geneal- 
ogies of  many  pioneer  families  and 
preserving  much  of  the  folklore  of 
an  early  day.  Mr.  Sutton  has  begun 
a  second  volume  of  his  history. 
Wrote   Several    Stories 

He  is  also  the  author  of  several 
stories  which  were  published  se- 
rially under  the  nom  de  plume  of 
"Si  Allen."  Among  them  were  "Life 
and  Courtship  in  Virginia  in  the 
Forties."  "A  Conspiracy,"  "Soldiers 
Return."  and  "Sixty  Years  in  a 
Dream." 

At  his  family  home  Mr.  Sutton 
has  an  extensive  library  which  con- 


Claims  He  Was  Born 
In  Hanks  Log  House 

PENNSBORO,  Feb.  4  (AP).— 
William  Edward  Doll,  89-year-old 
Ritchie  county  resident,  claims 
the  distinction  of  having  squalled 
his  first  lusty  cries  in  the  same 
log  house  in  which  Nancy  Hanks, 
mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  was 
born. 

Doll  was  born  in  Mineral  coun- 
ty, then  Hampshire,  Nov.  11,  1848, 
on  the  farm  and  in  the  house 
which  have  belonged  to  the  Doll 
family  for  150  years. 

Four  of  his  11  brothers  and  sis- 
ters were  born  in  the  house  and 
three  brothers  and  a  sister  died 
there  of  diphtheria  within  one 
week. 

Doll,  a  retired  stone  mason  and 
a  farmer,  recalls  clearly  interest- 
ing pioneer  days  spent  beyond 
the  mountains  but  his  most  vivid 
recollection  is: 

"I  was  refused  frequently  by 
the  Union  army  because  of  my 
youth  although  I  tried  innumer- 
able times  to  enlist." 


tains  many  valuable  old  books.  His 
most  prized  possession  is  the  Sut- 
ton family  Bible.  The  book  is  more 
than  300  years  old  and  was  brought 
from  England  to  America  in  1785  by 
John  Sutton.  It  has  belonged  to  the 
family  through  six  generations  and 
names  recorded  in  the  volume  show 
that   each   owner   was  named  John 


!yfTfTr'T!I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

LYRASIS  members  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/historyofbraxtonOOsutt 


JOHN  DAVISON  SUTTON 


History  of  Braxton  County 


AND 


Central  West  Virginia 


BY 


JOHN  DAVISON  SUTTON 

Author  of  "Sixty  Years  in  a  Dream" 
and  other  serial  stories 


SUTTON,  WEST  VIRGINIA,  JANUARY,  1919 


PRICE  FOUR  DOLLARS 


DEDICATION 

This  work  is  dedicated  to  my  Father  and  Mother  and 
to  the  noble  men  and  women  who  helped  redeem  the 
land  from  a  savage  empire,  and  planted  amid  the  verd- 
ant hills  of  West  Virginia  the  seeds  of  civilization; 
and  may  their  sons  and  daughters  ever  keep  green  their 
undying  memory. 


SUTTON'S     H ISTORY. 


We  are  indebted  to  the  following  persons  for  assistance  in  the  preparation 
of  this  work:  Prof.  R.  M.  Cavendish,  Fred  L.  Fox,  the  late  A.  W.  Corley,  of 
Sutton;  Dr.  Wm.  P.  Newlon,  John  A.  Grose,  Editor  Braxton  Democrat;  Win. 
R.  Pierson.  of  Twistville ;  Charles  Bland,  James  and  Hanley  Humphreys,  of 
Sutton,  Squire  Benjamin  Gillespie,  and  John  P.  Berry. 

We  also  note  the  following  historical  works  to  which  we  had  occasion  to 
refer:  Baxter's  Notes  of  Braxton,  Chambers'  Works,  History  and  Antiquities; 
of  Virginia,  Annals  of  Augusta  County,  Maxwell 's  History  of  Randolph  County, 
Wayland's  History  of  Rockbridge  Count;/,  Lewis'  History  of  the  Battle  of 
Point  Pleasant,  Virginia  Militia  in  the  Revolution,  Kerchival's  History  of  the 
Valley  of  Virginia,  Wither  \s  Border  Warfare,  Col.  Haymond's  History  of 
Harrison  County,  Semi-Centennial  of  West  Virginia,  History  of  Upshur  County 
by  Cutright,  Morton's  History  of  Pendleton  County,  Colonel  Deweas'  Notes  on 
Gilmer  County,  Moccasin  Tracks  by  Dodrill,  and  Traditional  History  by  the 
late  Felix  Sutton. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


CONTENTS  BY  CHAPTERS 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Value  and  Purpose  of  History;  Virginia;  Its  Governors  and  Officials; 
Its  Early  Settlement;  Its  Name  and  Origin;  The  Great  Range  of  Mountains 
Separating  the  Old  State  from  the  New ;  The  Bison  Range. 

CHAPTER  II. 

West  Virginia;  Its  Birthplace  in  the  Hearts  of  the  Freemen  of  the  Moun- 
tains ;  Constitutions ;  West  Virginia  Legislature ;  Governors,  etc. ;  Elevation  of 
West  Virginia;  Counties  of  State  With  Names  of  County  Seats;  When  Formed, 
etc.;  The  History  of  Song,  "West  Virginia  Hills.'' 

CHAPTER  III. 

Braxton  County;  Its  Origin;  When  Formed;  Population;  Wealth;  Its 
Representatives;  Its  Rivers  and  Natural  Scenery;  Its  Wealth  in  Mineral  Pro- 
ducts;  Its   Schools. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Mound  Builders;  Cliff  Dwellers;  Indians;  Early  Emigration;  Defenses 
and  Early  Forts. 

CHAPTER  V. 

State  and  County  Roads;  County  Towns;  Central  Counties  of  the  State. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Organization  of  the  County  Court ;  First  Court ;  Last  Circuit  and  County 
Court  Held  in  the  County  Before  the  Organization  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors ; 
First  Officers  Appointed  and  Elected,  County  Roads,  Early  Marriage  Licences, 
etc. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Virginia  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  General  Averill  's  Great  Raid  to  Salem ; 
Morgan's  Raid;  Confederate  Raids  in  the  State;  Cronology  of  Military  Event; 
Roster  of  Soldiers  of  Braxton  County,  both  Union  and  Confederate;  Civil  War 
Incidents  and  Tragedies. 


8  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Early  Commerce;  West  Virginia's  Great  Wealth  in  Native  Genseng;  Its 
Value  to  the  Early  Settlers;  Old  Mills:  Lumbering  on  Elk;  Great  Floods. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Prominent  Men  of  Central  West  Virginia ;  Men  of  Great  Strength ;  Church 
Organizations  and -a  History  of  Each  Church. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Miscellaneous,  including  Animals.  Game  and  Fish,  Large  and  Wonderful 
Trees,  Meteorology,  Incidents,  etc. ;  Generals  of  the  U.  S.  Army ;  Burial  Place 
of  our  Presidents,  etc. 

CHAPTER  XL 

Tragedies;  Early  Habits  of  the  Citizens;  Stock  Raising;  Anecdotes. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Personal  Writings;  Pisgah  Mountain,  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Riker;  Henry  G.  Davis 
at  Mount  Bayard;  Lists  of  Old  Pei'sons;  Fifth  Generations,  and  Large  Families; 
Biographical  Sketches  and  Family  History;  The  Nation's  Fifth  Foreign  War, 
with  Lists  of  Volunteers  and  Drafted  Men  from  this  County. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOR  Y. 


Give  me  a  subject  for  my  pen, 
And  let  me  write  in  haste; 

And  give  me  wisdom  for  my  task 
That  T  may  write  with  taste. 

If  the  pen  should  glide  too  fast, 
And  brain  should  work  too  slow, 

Not  all  I'd  say  nor  all  I'd  do, 
The  world  need  ever  know. 

If  brain  should  be  the  masterpiece, 
And  pen  should  trace  the  lines, 

Then  what  the  pen  or  brain  might  do, 
Thev'd  teach  to  other  minds. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOliT,  11 


PREFACE 

LL  nations  have  history,  and  the  combined  histories  of  nations  compose 
the  world  history.  It  is  in  keeping  with  this  universal  desire  of  the 
human  family  to  know  more  of  the  happenings  of  the  past,  and  to 
preserve  a  record  of  this  knowledge  for  those  coming  after  them.    For 

that  reason  we  dig  down  into  the  ruins  of  ancient  and  hidden  cities,  and  read 

the  record  which  they  have  kept. so  long  concealed. 

The  history  that  interests  us  which  transpired  fifty  years  ago,  is  not  so 
important  as  the  history  of  things  that  had  their  existance  one  hundred  or  five 
hundred  years  in  the  past.  The  further  advanced  by  time,  from  events  which 
have  transpired,  the  more  interesting  they  become.  It  is  said  that  America  is 
a  history-making  nation,  not  only  of  events  of  interest  to  be  kept  and  read  by 
other  nations  to  come,  but  that  she  is  foremast  in  trying  to  discover  the  things 
of  the  past. 

Braxton  County,  the  very  central  county  of  the  state  of  West  Virginia, 
has  never  recorded  a  line  of  her  history.  Her  citizens  have  not  been  ignorant 
of  their  duty,  neither  have  they  wilfully  neglected  it,  but  they  have  been  too 
busy  in  digging  from  her  soil  a  living  for  their  families,  felling  forests  and 
bringing  to  use  some  of  her  valuable  resources,  to  thus  write. 

Braxton  County,  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  years  after  her  settlement 
and  seventy-eight  years  after  her  organization  as  a  county,  together  with  central 
West  Virginia,  wishes  in  this  humble  way  to  join  in  this  great  aggregation  of 
historical  matter  that  is  being  thrown  to  the  public  in  almost  limitless  variety, 
covering  a  period  of  over  twelve  decades,  and  embracing  a  semi-wilderness 
without  historical  data,  the  first  half  century  without  any  certain  credential 
history.  The  decayed  cabin  of  the  wilderness,  the  flint  lock  rifle  and  the  toma- 
hawk are  the  unwritten  works  that  form  the  basis  of  a  record  which  must  of 
necessity  require  a  work  of  labor  and  patience  that,  even  by  a  skilled  historian, 
would  be  difficult  to  approach. 

We  believe  that  from  the  gleanings  at  our  disposal,  we  cannot  produce  as 
full  a  shock  as  might  have  been  gathered  in  the  past  while  the  harvest  was  full ; 
but  if  from  a  past  that  is  rapidly  disappearing  by  the  passing  of  the  early 
settlers  in  the  county,  we  shall  be  able  to  collect  a  few  notes  of  interest,  and 
preserve  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  the  incidents  and  early  customs  relating 
to  central  West  Virginia,  with  biographical  sketches  of  some  of  her  early 
citizens,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  some  in  future  years. 


12  SUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y. 

In  this  history  of  Braxton  County,  embracing  some  of  the  incidents  and 
leading  characters  of  central  West  Virginia,  we  deem  it  unnecessary  to  go 
extensively  into  the  early  history  of  Virginia  or  of  publishing  minutely  the 
various  causes  leading  up  to  the  separation  of  West  Virginia  from  the  mother 
state  or  of  giving  in  detail  the  movements  of  the  armies  during  the  Civil  War. 
These  have  been  so  often  put  into  print  and  made  a  study  in  the  public  schools 
of  the  state  that  a  repetition  here  would  seem  unnecessary;  neither  is  it  con- 
sidered advisable  to  record  many  of  the  bloody  and  atrocious  murders  com- 
mitted by  the  Indians.  A  few  incidents  and  a  reproduction  of  a  series  of  letters 
written  by  Wm.  Haymond  and  recorded  in  Colonel  Haymond's  history  of 
Harrison  County,  covering  a  period  of  the  greatest  activities  of  the  Indian 
war-fare  against  the  white  settlers  in  central  West  Virginia,  will  give  the 
reader  an  idea  of  the  cruelty,  the  persistent  activity  and  relentless  warfare  be- 
tween the  savages  of  the  forests  as  well  as  the  patriotic  devotion  and  sacrifices, 
deprivations  and  dangers  of  a  border  warfare  endured  by  our  fathers. 

In  order  to  preserve  more  fully  the  historical .  features  of  the  present,  we 
have  added  as  a  supplementary  addition  to  this  work  the  portraits  of  many  of 
the  topographical  features  of  the  more  important  points  of  interest,  also  those 
of  many  of  the  citizens  of  the  county  and  the  state.  While  the  pen  might  fully 
describe  the  rainbow  or  the  waterfall,  paint  in  brightest  colors  the  sunflower, 
yet  the  most  perfect  information  and  best  impressions  come,  from  seeing  the 
objects  themselves,  as  it  is  through  the  vision  that  the  mind  photographs  the 
impressions. 


SUTTON'S     H I  S  T  O  it  Y. 


13 


HON.  FELIX  SUTTON 

Assisted   in   the   organization   of   the   new    State   of   West   Virginia,    and 
represented  his  county  in  the  1st  and  2nd  sessions  of  the  Legislature 


THE   GREAT   STATE   OF  VIRGINIA 

Its  humble  and  tragic  beginning — 
Its  magnificence  and  its  grandeur- 
Nothing  comparable  to  Virginia  has  ever  brightened  the  pages  of  historj' 
or  crowned  the   world  with  such   splendor;    the  first  to    give  to   mankind  the 
forms  of  civil  government,  a  constitution  and  the  spirit  of  universal  liberty  and 
independence. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y.  15 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Value  and  Purpose  of  History,  Virginia,  Its  Governors  and  Officials,  Its 
Early  Settlement,  Its  Name  and  Origin,  The  Great  Range  of  Mountains' 
Separating  the  Old  State  from  the  Neiv,  The  Bison  Range. 

VIRGINIA 

The  vast,  section  of  America  between  34°  and  45°,  originally  bore  the  name 
of  Virginia.  In  1608,  King  James  divided  this  empire  into  three  districts. 
That  granted  to  the  London  Company  sent  out  in  1607,  one  hundred  fifty 
colonists  under  Newport  G-osnold  and  John  Smith,  and  they  settled  Jamestown 
on  the  James  river.  In  1609.  the  London  Company  was  granted  the  territory 
for  two  hundred  miles  north  and  two  Imndred  miles  south  of  old  Point  Comfort, 
and  westward  to  the  Pacific.  In  1634,  the  London  Company  was  arbitrarily 
dissolved,  and  Virginia  became  a  Crown  Colony,  remaining  so  for  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years.  The  King  appointed  the  Governors  and  Counsel,  and 
the  people  elected  the  House  of  Burgesses.  The  first  constitution  was  dated  1621, 
and  the  laws  were  codified  in  1632,  after  the  vast  and  rich  domain  northwest 
of  the  Ohio  river  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  added.  The  Governors  of  Virginia, 
from  1606  to  1776,  included  fifty-two  nobles,  knights  and  gentlemen  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  province.  They  were  followed  from  1776  by  such  illustrious 
men  as  Patrick  Henry,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Benjamin  Harrison,  Thomas  Nelson, 
James  Monroe  and  many  others  of  note. 

In  1584,  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England,'  hearing  of  a  rich  and  pleasant 
country  in  the  new  world,  was  so  delighted  therewith  that  she  was  induced  to 
name  the  country  Virginia  in  honor  of  her  virgin  state.  In  1586,  the  first 
white  child  born  on  the  continent  of  North  America  was  named  Virginia  Dare. 
Her  mother  was  Eleanor  Dare,  the  daughter  of  Captain  White,  and  wife  of  one 
of  the  Assistant  Governors  of  the  Colony.  After  several  fruitless  attempts  to 
establish  a  colony  on  the  James  river  and  elsewhere,  and  after  great  suffering 
and  privation,  famine  and  pestilence,  Indian  massacres,  separated  from  friends, 
kindred  and  native  land,  .by  a  deep  sea,  in  1606,  a  colony  which  was  destined 
to  become  a  great  state  with  a  citizenship  unequaled  by  any  other  state  or 
nation  of  which  history  gives  an  account,  established  itself  on  a  firm  footing. 

The  vessel,  bearing  this  charter  and  colony,  sailed  up  the  James  river 
about  fifty  miles  when  a  settlement  was  made.  The  name  was  given  the  beau- 
tiful smooth  stream  in  honor  of  their  sovereign.  The  southern  cape  of  the 
Chesapeake  received  the  name  of  Henry,  and  the  northern  that  of  Charles,  the 
two  sons  of  James,  and  they  called  the  town  Jamestown. 

Virginia,  the  mother  of  states  and  the  home  of  illustrious  men  and  women, 


16  SUTTON'S     HIS  T  O  K  Y. 

has  been  the  pride  of  every  American  citizen  born  and  reared  within  her 
borders.  Her  shores  were  the  landing-  place  of  the  first  settlers,  and  within 
her  borders  have  occurred  the  most  striking  events  of  any  land.  She  furnished 
the  General  whose  genius  and  sublimity  led  our  armies  to  victory,  and  who 
served  as  the  nation's  first  president.  Men  of  learning  and  eloquence  prepared 
the  American  people  for  independence.  Her  own  sons  prepared  the  Articles 
of  Confederation,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Constitution,  the  Bill 
of  Rights  and  they  promulgated  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Upon  her  soil  was 
fought  some  of  the  greatest  battles  of  modern  history.  Her  sons  pushed  back 
from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  James  river  to  the  mountain  barriers  west- 
ward, fighting  the  savages  concealed  behind  bush  and  boulder,  and  at  last 
ascending  to  the  summit,  these  noble  heroes  stood  with  gun  and  tomahawk 
between  savagery  and  civilization,  while  the  boldest  and  those  of  the  fleetest 
limbs  looked  westward  to  her  impenetrable  forests  and  richest  valleys.  They 
heard  the  scream  of  the  panther,  the  grumbling  of  the  bear,  the  howling  of  the 
wolf  and  the  war  whoop  of  the  savage,  and  with  powder  and  flint,  they  dashed 
forth  in  the  mighty  forests  and  became  western  pioneers  with  the  sublimity  of 
character  and  heroism  that  has  had  no  equal.  Such  was  the  character  of  our 
fathers.  These  men  lived  in  a  period  of  the  world's  history  when  patriotism 
was  the  crowning  shield  of  American  manhood;  the  travail  period  before  the 
birth  of  a  great  nation.  They  blazed  the  way  to  a  great  country  and  a  greater 
civilization.  They  opened  up  a  new  world,  and  baptized  the  waters  of  the 
western  slope  with  their  own  blood. 

In  the  course  of  time,  the  people  began  to  see  that  their  interest  west  of  the 
great  barrier  which  had  so  long  divided  the  two  sections,  east  and  west,  had  no 
interest  in  common  with  the  east,  and  the  first  great  movement  was  heard  when 
the  Constitution  of  1829  was  placed  before  the  people  for  ratification.  The 
greatest  and  most  powerful  intellects  of  West  Virginia  were  arrayed  against 
its  adoption.  Harrison  county  gave  less  than  a  dozen  votes  for  the  Constitution, 
while  the  influence  of  Phillip  Doddridge,  the  greatest  orator  perhaps  who  lived 
west  of  the  Alleghanies,  was  so  bitterly  opposed  to  its  adoption  that  he  said  he 
would  rather  see  its  contents  committed  to  the  flame ;  that  his  county  of  Dod- 
dridge didn't  give  a  single  vote  for  its  ratification.  As  the  breach  between  the 
two  sections,  grew  wider  there  was  almost  universal  desire  from  the  people 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  favorable  to  the  division  of  the  State,  and  they  waited 
only  for  an  opportunity,  such  as  the  Civil  war  gave  them  for  carrying  their 
desires  into  effect. 

The  geographical  and  topographical  conditions  of  the  two  sections  left 
them  without  homogeneity  of  interest.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  slavery 
would  be  confined  to  the  East  as  its  soil  and  climate  were  adapted  to  the 
cultivation  of  tobacco  in  which  slave  labor  could  be  made  profitable.  The 
Shenandoah  and  Potomac  valleys  lying  bctAveen  the  Blue  Ridge  and  Alle- 
ghanies being  a  fertile  limestone  soil  and  well  adapted  to  grazing,  and  more 
especially  the  cultivation  of  wheat  and  corn,  her  trade  being  north,  the  sec- 
tion bad  but  little  commercial  interests  with  the  tidewater  interests  of  the  State. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOE  V.  17 

That  vast  region  lying  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Ohio,  comprised  a  very 
large  portion  of  the  state,  and  being  so  long  wrapped  in  the  grandeur  of  the 
forests,  had  no  interests  in  which  slavery  could  be  made  profitable;  hence  less 
than  four  per  cent  of  the  population  was  colored. 

Before  the  building  of  the  railroad,  and  before  the  hand  of  commercialism 
entered  the  forests  with  ax  and  saw,  it  presented  a  veritable  earthly  paradise. 
There  was  no  distraction  of  the  forest  except  where,  prior  to  the  Civil  war, 
small  farms  were  cleared.  The  rich  bottom  land,  the  gentle  slopes  of  the 
mountain  ranges  that,  had  gathered  its  soil  for  untold  ages  from  the  vegetable 
growth,  was  covered  with  a  forest  of  native  timber  that  was  unsurpassed  by 
that   of   any  other  land. 

The  richest  valley  of  land  was  found  on  the  South  branch  of  the  Potomac. 
Land  that  could  not  be  excelled  for  fertility  in  any  part  of  the  vast  Alluvial 
soils  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  Some  of  the  bottom  lands  of  that  valley  pro- 
duced one  hundred  consecutive  crops  of  corn.  A  great  deal  of ■  the  mountain: 
and  rich  cove  land  of  the  central  part  of  the  state  has  produced  thirty  and 
forty  com  crops,  and  some  of  this  land  is  now  covered  with  a  heavy  blue- 
grass  sod. 

The  coal  lands  of  the  northern  part  of  the  state  have  attracted  wide  at- 
tention, and  they  have  drawn  vast  wealth  to  that  section  as  well  as  to  other 
sections  more  recently  developed.  While  the  Pittsburgh  coal  veins  are  heavy 
and  easy  to  mine,  often  their  impurities  render  portions  of  that  seam  useless 
as  a  coking  coal.  The  coals  that  are  now  being  sought  lie  under  the  Pittsburgh 
vein,  and  crop  out  after  that  vein  has  vanished  above  the  surface.  The  series 
of  coal  known  as  the  Preeport,  the  Kittanning,  the  Kanawha  and  the  New  River, 
all  crop  out  in  the  head  of  the  streams  flowing  west  from  the  Appalachian 
range,  making  a  vast  area  of  the  finest  coals  in  America.  A  very  great  per 
cent  of  this  coal  runs  high  in  carbon'  and  low  in  ash,  making  it  a  most  valuable 
steam   and  coke  coal. 

If  the  Alleghanies  were  the  natural  divide  between  eastern  and  western 
Virginia,  it  was  also  a  friendly  barrier  between  the  early  settlers  of  Virginia 
and  the  savagery  of  the  West.  The  long  and  almost  impenetratable  mountain 
ranges  with  their  lofty  peaks  stretching  for  hundreds  of  miles,  held  back  the 
warlike  tribes  that  infested  the  western  world,  until  the  white  settlers  of  the 
East  grew  strong  enough  to  raise  formidable  armies  sufficient  to  give  battle  to 
the  savage  tribes  of  the  west. 

The  conquest  of  civilization  has  ever  been  westward.  The  white  man 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  goaded  on  by  desire  to  acquire  the 
valuable  lands  that  he  knew  to  be  in  his  front,  and  stung  by  the  cruelty  which 
had  been  inflicted  on  his  people  by  the  warriors  of  the  forest,  made  him  an 
aggressive  soldier  that  knew  nothing  but  a  forward  march  and  ultimate  con- 
quest. The  Indian,  strong  and  alert,  cunning  and  brave,  fighting  for  •  his 
wigwam  and  his  hunting  grounds,  was  at  once  a  Spartan  of  the  forest. 

Standing  on  the  summit  that  divides  the  headwaters  of  the  East  and  those 


IS  •  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

of  the  West,  one  can  in  some  degree  appreciate  the  feeling  of  the  savage  as  he 
stood  on  the  same  spot  viewing  the  approach  of  the  white  settler  who  occupied 
the  valley  of  the  James  and  drove  from  the  rich  hunting  and  fishing  grounds 
those  whose  fathers  for  so  many  generations  feasted  in  a  paradise  of  luxury. 
Wild  game,  yellow  sucker  and  eel,  in  eastern  waters,  were  once  as  the  stars  of 
heaven  in  number.  It  may  be  that  the  untutored  savage,  like  the  wild  animal, 
sought  the  highest  ground  in  time  of  danger,  and  viewed  from  the  summits  of 
the  mountain  that  stand  at  the  fountain  head  of  West  Virginia's  principal 
rivers,  and  gave  a  long  lingering  look  to  the  land  which  he  loved,  and  to  the 
battlefield  that  was  lost  to  him  forever. 

BISON   RANGE 

There  rises  near  Hightown,  Virginia,  the  eastern  base  of  a  mountain  that 
has  its  western  terminus  at  Point  Pleasant,  West  Virginia,  nearly,  four  hundred 
miles  in  length.  This  mountain  or  ridge  divides  the  waters  of  the  Greenbrier, 
the  Gauley,  the  Elk,  the  Sandy,  the  Poca  and  other  smaller  streams  on  the 
south  from  the  Potomac,  the  Cheat,  the  A7 alley  river,  the  West  Pork,  the  Little 
Kanawha  and  other  minor  streams  on  the  north.  This  divide  has  innumerable 
peaks  and  elevations  of  considerable  height,  and  a  vast  number  of  low  gaps 
which  form  a  natural  passway  for  county  roads,  and  even  for  railroads  by 
making  cuts  and  short  tunnels  in  a  few  of  the  low  gaps.  In  many  low  places 
among  the  mountains,  springs  rise  up  and  flow  to  either  side,  dividing  their 
waters  between  the  New  river  and  the  Ohio.  We  have  named  this  divide  the 
Bison  Range  where  once  the  Buffaloes  roamed  in  great  numbers  on  the  rich 
native  pastures  which  were  unsurpassed  for  luxury  for  various  animals  that 
fattened  on  this  range.  The  rich  soil  along  the  water  courses  and  the  accumu- 
lation on  the  northern  coves  of  humus  and  decayed  vegetable  matter,  pro- 
duced an  abundant  crop  of  pea  vines  and  other  food  of  great  fattening  quality 
which  lasted  well  into  the  winter.    The  winter  fern  also  was  a  source  of  supply. 

The  deep  gorges  once  cut  down  by  the  stream,  the  cliffs  of  rocks,  the  laurel 
and  the  spruce  afforded  an  elegant  shelter  in  the  roughest  storm.  The  water 
was  pure  and  unexcelled,  with  occasional  salt  springs  from  which  the  Buffalo, 
the  elk  and  the  deer  often  slacked  their  thirst.  The  roads  traveled  in  going 
from  one  buffalo  lick  to  another  showed  greater  skill  in  grading  and  construc- 
tion than  is  shown  in  the  average  West  Virginia  road.  The  streams  and  their 
tributaries  that  have  their  rise  on  the  Bison  Range,  water  the  largest  and  by 
far  the  richest  portion  of  our  state.  If  the  savage  viewed  with  alarm  the  ap- 
proaching skirmish  line  of  the  citizen  soldier  of  Virginia  from  the  eastern 
terminus  of  the  Bison  Range,  he  met  him  later  in  solid  rank  at  the  western 
terminus,  where  the  greatest  of  all  their  chieftains  with  his  united  tribe  met 
defeat,  and  were  driven  across  the  Ohio  to  their  silent  wigwams  of  the  West. 

When  we  speak  of  a  nation,  we  consider  it  in  relation  to  other  nations  of 
the  world;  or  of  a  state,  we  view  it  in  relation  to  other  states  of  the  union  in 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  19 

its  intricate  form.  "When  we  consider  the  relative  greatness  of  West  Virginia, 
sometimes  referred  to  as  the  Switzerland  of  America,  with  her  mountains  and 
valleys,  her  limitless  resoui'ces,  her  varied  climate  and  soil,  her  coal  and  oil, 
gas  and  rock,  her  magnificent  streams  that  rise  at  the  base  of  her  great  moun- 
tains that  pierce  her  borders— we  pause  to  find  a  State  comparable  to  ours. 

In  the  midst  of  the  great  Civil  war,  West  Virginia  came  forth  and  threw 
her  influence  and  power  in  the  Nation's  favor,  and  in  the  conflict  she  established 
a  republican  form  of  government,  with  a  system  of  free  schools  which  has 
grown  from  a  weak  and  experimental  beginning  to  one  of  which  we  all  have  a 
just  pride.  The  Civil  war  gave  the  people  living  west  of  the  Alleghaney  moun- 
tains an  opportunity  long  cherished  for  a  separation  from  the  mother  state. 
Virginia  had  tolerated  a  system  of  slavery  with  its  varied  institutions  for  over 
two  hundred  years,  all  of  which  was  out  of  harmony  and  distasteful  to  the 
mountaineer.  He  had  with  his  own  hand  built  his  log  cabin,  felled  the  forests 
and  driven  back  the  savage  and  the  bear ;  he  was  his  own  master ;  he  kindled 
his  fires  from  the  sparks  of  his  own.  flint;  and  in  every  emergency  relied  upon 
his  rifle  that  ever  hung  above  his  cabin  door.  From  these  sturdy  mountaineers 
came  the  backbone  of  our  citizenship. 

In  the  fifty  years  of  our  state's  history,  many  of  the  land  marks  of  the 
fathers  have  been  removed.  We  fear  that  too  often  their  memories  have  been 
forgotten,  so  wonderful  and  varied  has  been  the  march  of  her  development.  Her 
rich  soil  has  been  yielding  treasures  to  the  hand  of  the  husbandman.  If  fifty 
years,  beginning  in  the  wilderness  and  coming  down  to  the  present,  have  pro- 
duced so  much  wealth  and  the  various  institutions  of  our  state,  what  may  we 
expect  in  the  next  fifty  years  with  the  great  natural  storehouse  of  her  treasures 
lying  open  before  us? 

During  the  two  hundred  years  of  our  civilization  in  America,  God  kept 
concealed  from  the  commercial  world,  the  wealth  hidden  in  her  mountains  and 
buried  in  her  bosom.  If  the  savage  knew,  he  told  it  not,  for  to  him  it  was  a 
sealed  book;  and  the  rivers  and  mountains  murmured  it  not.  Even  the  winds 
conspired  to  keep  the  secret.  Her  industries  are  diversified,  being  one  of  the 
great  coal  producing  states  of  the  union,  with  a  natural  flow  of  gas  that  is 
giving  heat  and  power  to  thousands  of  furnaces  as  well  as  light  and  warmth 
to  her  citizens.  Her  oil  which  is  flowing  from  ten  thousand  wells  or  more 
is  a  source  of  great  wealth.  Her  virgin  forests  unsurpassed  of  grandest  mag- 
nificence has  added  millions  to  the  wealth  of  her  people.  Her  soil  is  well 
adapted  for  the  production  of  all  the  finest,  grasses,  making  West  Virginia  one 
of  the  first  states  of  the  union  for  stock  raising.  West  Virginia  stands  at  the 
front  as  a  fruit  growing  section,  her  production  of  fruit  becoming  one  of  the 
state's  leading  industries,  in  quality  as  well  as  quantity.  Surpassing  the 
famous  fruit  states  of  the  West;  the  Red  Shale  belt  of  the  eastern  panhandle  is 
to  the  fruit  interest  of  West -Virginia  what  the  famous  Grape  Belt  of  France 
as'  to  the  Wine  product  of  that  nation  or  the  South  Sea  Cotton  Belt  is  to  the 
cotton  market  of  the  world ;  but  greater  than  all  these  is  the  intelligence  and 


20  SUTTON'S     HIS  TO  K  Y. 

independence  of  her  citizenship.  Men  and  women  of  noble  birth  and  par- 
entage, often  those  who  came  from  the  more  humble  stations  of  life,  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  their  various  professions.  What  an  inspiration  to  the 
intellectual  greatness  of  West  Virginia  to  stand  amid  the  forests  and  see  their 
magnificence,  behold  the  mountains  robed  in  ten  thousand  different  hues  and 
the  rivers  which  flow  through  our  state  whose  power  if  utilized  would  turn 
all  the  spindles  of  the  world.  The  state  beginning  with  a  population  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-six  thousand  has  increased  to  a  million  and  a  quarter. 

But  we  would  remember  the  eastern  portion  of  our  state  which  has  stood 
so  loyally  by  the  west,  and  whose  interests  are  identical,  one  with  the  other. 
Men  of  the  same  blood  descended  from  the  same  noble  pioneers.  There  is  not 
perhaps  a  spot  of  ground  in  all  the  vast  dominion  of  our  government  of  equal 
interest  historically  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia.  There  is  not  a  State  nor  a 
Territory  within  the  Union  or  a  civilized  country  beneath,  the  sun  where  does 
not  live  someone  who  at  some  time  trod  her  smooth  and  dusty  limestone  roads, 
and  drank  from  her  great  fountains;  who  does  not  remember  seeing  the  smoke 
and  fire  from  some  belching  gun  or  the  more  exciting  dash  of  the  charger. 
Such  is  the  magnetism  of  the  Valley.  Its  productiveness,  its  associations  and 
environments  none  will  ever  forget  who  have  been  charmed  with  its 
uneqnaled  splendor.  Her  fields  are  as  rich  and  mellow  today  as  they  were 
when  the  blood  of  the  Indians  and  pioneer  was  mingled  with  its  soil  in  their 
contention  for  its  possession ;  when  the  cabin  and  the  wigwam  were  subject 
alike  to  the  scalping  knife  and  the  torch,  and  as  long  as  there  are  showers  and 
sunshine,  will  this  grandest  and  noblest  of  all  lands  yield  abundantly  to  the 
hand  of  those  who  toil. 

Generations  may  come  and  go,  strangers  may  take  the  place  of  present 
inhabitants  of  the  land,  but  the  influence  and  impress  of  the  steady  pioneer, 
the  nobility  of  the  men  and  women  who  inhabit  the  valley  from  the  Potomac 
to  the  watershed  of  the  James,  will  never  be  obliterated  ,and  their  manhood 
and  virtue  will  stand  like  a  monument  as  majestic  and  imperishable  as  time 
itself.  Who  could  measure  the  greatness  of  our  state  or  keep  pace  with  the 
flight  of  her  march?     Such  in  brief,  is  West  Virginia. 

GOVERNORS   AND   OFFICIALS 

Jamestown  had  been  burned  in  1676  during  Bacon's  rebellion  and  was  re- 
built by  Lord  Culpepper,  but  in  the  last  decade  of  the  century  was  again  de- 
stroyed by  an  accidental  fire,  and  as  the  location  was  considered  unhealthy, 
was  not  rebuilt. 

The  seat  of  Government  was  in  1699  removed  by  Governor  Nicholson  to 
the  middle  plantations,  half  way  between  the  James  and  York  Rivers,  and 
named  Williamsburg  in  honor  of  King  William  III,  at  which  place  the  William 
and  Mary  college  had  been  established  in  1693,  the  first  assembly  being  held 
in  the  college  building  in  December,  1700. 


SUTTON 


HISTOB  Y. 


21 


Williamsburg  remained  the  eapitol  of  Virginia  until  the  Revolution  when 
in  May,  1779,  an  act  was  passed  directing  its  removal  to  Richmond,  the  last 
Assembly  being  held  in  Williamsburg  in  October  of  that  year,  and  the  first  one 
in  Richmond  in  May,   1780. 


GOVERNORS  OF  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA 


Sir   Thomas   Smith 1607 

Sir  George  Yeardly... 161S 

Sir  Francis  Wyatt 1621 

Sir  George.  Yeardley 1622 

Francis  West 1627 

John  Pott ....1628 

Sir  John   Harvey 1620 

Capt.    John   West- 1635 

Sir  John   Harvey 163G 

Sir   Francis   Wyatt 1639: 

Sir  William  Berkeley 1641 

Richard  Kempe 1644 

Sir  William  Berkeley 1645 

Richard  Bennett 1652 

Edward   Digges 1656 

Samuel    Matthews 1659 

Sir  William  Berkeley 1659 

Francis  Moryson 166 1 

Sir  William  Berkeley 1662 

Sir  Henry  Chickerly 1678 


Lord  Culpepper 1680 

Nicholas  Spencer 1683 

Lord  Howard 1684 

Nathaniel   Bacon 1687 

Francis  Nicholson 1690 

Sir  Edmund  Andross 1692 

EFrancis  Nicholson 1698 

Edward  Nott : 1705 

Edward   Jennings 1706 

Alexander  Spottswood 1710 

Hugh   Drysdale 1722 

Col.  Robert  Carter 1726 

William  Gouch : 1727 

Robert  Dinweddie 1752 

Francis   Fauquier 1758 

John   Blair 1768 

Lord  Bottetourt.... 1769 

William   Nelson 1770 

John     Murray,     the     Earl     of 
Dunmore  1772 


The  Earl  of  Dunmore  continued  Governor  until  1775,  when  he  fled. 


THE  INTERREGNUM 
Presidents  of  Conventions,  who  executed  the  office  of  Governor : 


Peyton  Randolph .....1775 

Patrick  Henry 1 177G 

Thomas   Jefferson 1779  ' 

Benjamin.  Harrison 1781 

Patrick  Henry 1784 

Edmund  Randolph .1786 

Beverly  Randolph 1788 

Henry   Lee 1791 

Robert  Brooke 1794 

James  Wood. 1796 

James  Monroe 1799 


John  Page 1802 

William  H.   Cabell 1805 

John  Tyler 1808 

James   Monroe 1811 

James    Barbour ....1812 

Wilson  C.  Nicholas 1814 

Edmund  Pendleton 1773 

James  P.  Preston 1816 

Thomas   M.   Randolph 1819 

John  Tyler 1825 

William  B.  Giles 1827 


22  SUTTON'S     HIS  TOBY. 

John  Floyd,, , ,....1830         John  M.  Gregory ............ 1842 

Littleton  W.   Tazewell .,..., .1834         James   McDowell 1843 

Wyndam  Robertson... 1836  William  Smith .....r184o 

Davison  Campbell 1837  Joseph  Johnson.. 1852 

Thomas   W.    Gilmer 1S40  Henry  A.  Wise 1856 

John  Rutherford 1841  John   Letcher 1860 

GOVERNORS  UNDER  THE  RE-ORGANIZED  GOVERNMENT       M 
Francis  H.  Pierpoint ......1861 

EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY  AND   NOW 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  our  country  was  in  its  infancy-  a  gov- 
ernment in  its  initial  state,  though  containing  a  population  of  nearly  five  and 
one-half  millions  of  earnest,  patriotic  citizens.  A  war  lasting  eight  years  had 
terminated  less  than  twenty  years  prior  to  the  close  of  the  century — a  war  by 
which  the  colonies  had  broken  down  the  barriers  and  severed  the  bands  that 
bound  them  to  the  old  world.  Flushed  with  victory  and  with  faith  in  the 
ability  of  their  leaders  they  entered  the  new  century  with  the  utmost  hope  and 
confidence  of  the  ultimate  greatness  of  a  land  whose  freedom  they  had  bought 
at  such  a  sacrifice  of  life  and  physical  endurance. 

The  eighteenth  century  was  prolific  of  men  of  renown,  leaders  to  whom 
the  people  looked  with  confidence  and  admiration,  though  the  unexpected  death 
of  General  Washington  which  occurred  just  a  few  weeks  before  the  close  of  the 
century,  cast  a  gloom  over  the  whole  country;  but  such  had  been  the  patriotic 
sentiment  of  the  people,  such  the  inspi  ration  of  the  leaders,  such  the  burning, 
flashing  eloquence  of  statesmen,  and  orators,  and  the  unswerving  fidelity  of 
those  whom  the  people  had  chosen  as  their  representatives,  that  the  young 
Republic  was  bounding  on  to  greatness  and  power. 

So  abhorrent  had  been  the  sentiments  of  the  people  against  the  colonial 
policy  of  the  old  world  that  the  faintest  whisper  adverse  to  the  fullest  and 
freest  liberty  of  every  land  and  people  would  have  been  regarded  as  the  voice  of 
oppression.  The  eloquence  of  a  Henry,  the  wisdom  and  philosophy  of  a  Frank- 
lin, the  statesmanship  of  an  Adams,  the  democracy  of  a  Jefferson,  the  life  and 
character  of  the  immortal  Washington  closed  out  the  century  in  a  halo  of  tri- 
umphant glory. 

MOCCASIN  TRACKS 

We  publish  below  a  sentiment  expressed  in  a  few  brief  paragraphs,  and  if 
the  talented  author  had  published  a  book  whose  pages  were  blank  from  cover 
to  cover,  save  this  alone,  it  would  be  worthy  a  place  in  the  library  of  any 
scholar  or  historian  of  the  land:  :.:'... 


SUT  T  OX'S     EISTOR  Y.  23 

"What  the  people  of  today  have  gained  in  educational  advancement,  has 
been  discounted  in  the  lack  of  genuine  hospitality,  good  cheer,  upright  living, 
and  the  passing  opportunity  of  enjoying  the  good  health  (and  the  appetites 
incident  to  pioneer  life.  In  some  remote  period,  when  Webster  county  is 
peopled  with  a  hetoregeneous  population,  and,  when  their  great,  great  grand- 
children have  arrived  at  distinction,  there  will  be  a  movement  started,  and 
carried  to  a  'successful  termination,  to  erect  tablets  and  monuments  to  the 
memory  of  the  first  settlers.  The  first  Centennial  of  the  first  settlement  has 
come  and  gone  and  nothing  has  as  yet  been  done  to  mark  the  graves  of  the  men 
who  wore  the  moccasin  and  the  hunting  shirt. " 


JAMES   H.   FACEMIRE 


24  SUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y. 


CHAPTER  II. 


West  Virginia;  Its  Birthplace  in  the  Hearts  of  the  Freemen  of  the  Mountains; 
Constitutions;,  West  Virginia  Legislatures;  Governors,  etc;  Elevation  of 
West  Virginia;  Counties  of  State  With  Names  of  County  Seats;  When 
Formed,  etc.;  The  History  of  Song,  "West  Virginia  Hills." 

We  copy  from  a  letter  published  in  a  Virginia  newspaper  under  the  sig- 
nature of  C.  C,  a  graphic  sketch  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1829-30 : 

CONVENTION  OF  VIRGINIA 

I  attended  the  debates  of  this  body  a  foi'tnight.  The  capitol,  in  which  the 
convention  sat,  is  a  fine  building,  nobly  situated — iftpre  so  than  any  other  I  have 
seen  in  this  country.  Richmond  is  a  picturesque  place;  the  James  looks  beau- 
tiful there  in  a  spring  morning;  the  rocks  and  islands,  and  foaming  rapids, 
and  murmuring  falls,  and  floating  mists,  all  light  and  glorious,  under  a  clear 
blue  sky.  The  convention  boasted  several  men  of  distinction — Madison,  Monroe, 
Giles,  Marshall,  Randolph,  Leigh,  Tazewell,  etc.  Mr.  Madison  sat  on  the  left 
of  the  speaker,  Mr.  Monroe  on  the  right.  Mr.  Madison  spokei  once  for  half  an 
hour;  but  although  a  pin  might  have  been  heard  to  drop,  so  low  was  his  tone, 
that  from  the  gallery  I  could  distinguish  only  one  word,  and  that  was,  "Con- 
stitution." He  stood  not  more  than  six  feet  from  the  speaker.  When  he  rose, 
a  great  part  of  the  members  left  their  seats  and  clustered  around  the  aged 
statesman,  thick  as  a  swarm  of  bees.  Mr.  Madison  was  a  small  man,  of  ample 
forehead,  and  some  obiquity  of  vision,  (I  thought  the  effect  probably  of  age,) 
his  eyes  appearing  to  be  slightly  introverted.  His  dress  was  plain ;  his  over- 
coat a  faded  brown  surtout.  Mr.  Monroe  was  very  wrinkled  and  weather- 
beaten — ungraceful  in  attitude  and  gesture,  and  his  speeches  only  common- 
place. Mr.  Giles  wore  a  crutch — was  then  governor  of  the  state.  His  style  of 
delivery  was  perfectly  conversational — no  gesture,  no  effort ;  but  in  ease, 
fluency,  and  tact,  surely  he  had  not  there  his  equal ;  his  words  were  like  honey 
pouring  from  an  eastern  rock.  Judge  Marshall,  whenever  he  spoke,  which  was 
seldom,  and  only  for  a  short  time,  attracted  great  attention.  His  appearance 
was  revolutionary  and  patriarchal.  Tall,  in  a  long  surtout  of  blue,  with  a  face 
of  genius,  and  an  eye  of  fire,  his  mind  possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  condensa- 
tion, he  distilled  an  argument  down  to  its  essence.  There  were  two  parties  in 
the  house;  the  western  or  radical,  and  the  eastern  or  conservative.  Judge 
Marshall  proposed  something  in  the  nature  of  a  compromise.  John  Randolph 
was  remarkably  deliberate,  distinct,  and  emphatic.  He  articulated  excellently,, 
and  «ave  the  happiest  effect  to  all  he  said.    His  person  was  frail  and  uncommon 


SUTTON'S     HIS  T  O  R  Y.  25 

• — his  face  pale  and  withered — but  his  eve  radiant  as  a  diamond.  He  owed, 
perhaps,  more  to  his  manner  than  to  his  matter;  and  his  mind  was  poetical 
rather  than  logical.  Yet  in  his  own  peculiar  vein,  he  was  superior  to  any  of  his 
cotemporaries.  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh  cut  a  distinguished  figure  in  the 
convention,  as  the  leader  of  the  lowland  party.  His  diction  is  clear,  correct, 
elegant,  and  might  be  safely  committed  to  print  just  as  spoken.  Yet  high  as 
he  stands,  he  is  not  perhaps  in  the  highest  rank  of  speakers.  He  never  lightens, 
never  thunders,  he  can  charm,  he  can  convince,  but  he  can  hardly  overwhelm. 
Mr.  Tazewell,  I  never  saw  up  but  once,  for  a  moment,  on  a  point  of  order ;  a 
tall,  fine  looking  man.  P.  P.  Barbour  presided  over  the  body  with  great  dignity 
and  ease.  Of  these  seven  extraordinary  men,  four  have  since  died,  to-wit: 
Monroe,  Giles,  Randolph,  and  Marshall.  Mr.  Leigh  is  now  a  United  States 
senator,  and  Mr.  Tazewell  governor  of  Virginia. 


EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  CENTRAL  WEST  VIRGINIA 

"In  1772,  that  comparatively  beautiful  region  of  country,  lying  on  the  east 
fork  of  the  Monongahela  river,  between  the  Alleghany  mountains,  on  its  south 
eastern  and  the  Laurel  Hill,  or  as  it  is  there  called  the  Rich  mountain,  on  its 
north  western  side,  and  which  had  received  the  denomination  of  Tygart's 
valley,  again  attracted  the  attention  of  emigrants.  In  the  course  of  that  year, 
the  greater  part  of  this  valley  was  located,  by  persons  said  to  have  been  enticed 
thither  by  the  description  given  of  it,  by  some  Iranters  from  Greenbrier  who 
had  previously  explored  it.  Game,  though  a  principal,  was  not  however  their 
sole  object.  They  possessed  themselves  at  once  of  nearly  all  the  level  land  lying 
between  those  mountains — a  plain  of  25  or  30  miles  in  length  and  varying  from 
three  fourths  to  two  miles  in  width,  and  of  fine  soil.  Among  those  who  were 
first  to  occupy  -that  section  of  country,  we  find  the  names  of  Hadden,  Connelly, 
Whiteman,  Warwick,  Nelson,  Stalnaker,  Riffle  and  Westfall;  the  latter  of  these 
found  and  interred  the  bones  of  Piles'  family,  which  had  lain,  bleeching  in  the 
sun,  after  their  murder  by  the  Indians,  in  1754. 

Cheat  river  too,  on  which  no  attempt  at  settlement  had  been  made,  but 
by  the  unfortunate  Eckarly's,  became  an  object  of  attention.  The  Horse  Shoe 
bottom  was  located  by  Captain  James  Parsons,  of  the  South  Branch ;  and  in  his 
neighborhood  settled  Robert  Cunningham,  Henry  Pink,  John  Goff  and  John 
Minear.  Robert  Butler,  William  Morgan  and  some  others  settled  on  the  Dunk- 
ard  bottom. 

In  this  year  too,  settlements  were  made  on  Simpson's  creek,  the  West  Fork 
river  and  on  Elk  creek.  Those  who  made  the  former,  were  John  Powers,  who 
purchased  Simpson's  right  (a  tomahawk  improvement)  to  the  land  on  which 
Benjamin  Stout  now  resides;  and  James  Anderson  and  Jonas  Webb  who 
located  farther  up  the  creek. 

On  Elk,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Clarksburg  there  settled  Thomas  Nutter, 
near  to  the  Forge-mills — Samuel  Cottrial,  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek  and 


26  SUTTON'S     II  IS  TO  R  Y. 

nearly  opposite  to  Clarksburg — Sotha  Hickman,  on  the  west  side  of  the  same 
creek,  and  above  Cottrial — Samuel  Beard  at  the  mouth  of  Nanny's  run— - 
Andrew  Cottrial  above  Beard,  and  at  the  farm  now  owned  by  John  W.  Patton — 
Daniel  Davisson,  where  Clarksburg  is  now  situated,  and  Obadiah  Davisson  and 
John  Nutter  on  the  West  Pork;  the  former  near  to  the  old  Salt  works,  and  the 
latter  at  the  place  now  owned  by  Adam  Hickman,  Jr. 

There  was  likewise,  at  this  time,  a  considerable  accession  to  the  settle- 
ments on  Buchannon  and  Hacker 's  creek.  So  great  was  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation in  this  latter  neighborhood,  that  the  crops  of  the  preceeding  season  did 
not  afford  more  than  one  third  of  the  breadstuff,  which  would  be  ordinarily 
consumed  in  the  same  time,  by  an  equal  number  of  persons.  Such  indeed  was 
the  state  of  suffering  among  the  inhabitants,  consequent  on  this  scarcity,  that 
the  year  1773  is  called  in  the  traditionary  legends  of  that  day,  the  starving 
year ;  and  such  were  the  exertions  of  William  Lowther  to  mitigate  that  suffering, 
and  so  great  the  success  Avith  which  they  were  crowned,  that  his  name  has  been 
transmitted  to  their  descendants,  hallowed  by  the  blessings  of  those,  whose 
wants  he  contributed  so  largely  to  relieve. 

1  These  were  the  principal  settlements  begun  in  North  Western  Virginia, 
prior  to  the  year  1774.  Few  and  scattered  as  they  were,  no  sooner  was  it 
known  that  they  were  commenced,  than  hundreds  nocked  to  them  from  dif- 
ferent parts;  and  sought  there  the  gratifications  of  their  respective  predilec- 
tions. That  spirit  of  adventurous  emigration,  which  has  since  peopled,  with 
such  unprecedented  rapidity,  the  south  western  and  western  states,  and  which 
was  then  beginning  to  develope  itself,  overcame  the  fond  attachments  of  youth, 
and  impelled  its  possessors,  to  the  dreary  wilderness.  Former  homes,  encircled 
by  the  comforts  of  civilization,  endeared  by  the  grateful  recollections  of  by- 
gone days,  and  not  unfrequently,  consecrated  as  the  spots  where  their  tenants 
had  first  inhaled  the  vital  fluid,  were  readily  exchanged  for  "The  variety  of 
untried  being,  the  new  scenes  and  changes,"  which  were  to  be  passed,  before  the 
trees  of  the  forest  could  be  supplanted,  by  the  fruits  of  the  field. 

CONSTITUTIONS 

The  period  between  the  flight  of  Governor  Dunmore  in  June,  1775,  and  the 
adoption  of  the  first  Constitution,  June  29,  1776,  is  known  in  history  as  the 
Interregnum.  During  this  time,  the  convention  which  met  July  17,  1775,  at 
Richmond,  conducted  the  government  of  the  colony  through  its  president.  This 
convention  passed  ordinances,  organizing  troops  for  the  public  defense  and 
appointed  a  general  committee  of  safety  to  carry  on  the  government,  and  also 
authorized  the  selection  of  county  committees  of  safety  by  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  who  executed  the  decrees  and  orders  of  the  general  committee.  The 
Constitutional  Convention  which  met  at  Williamsburg,  May  6,  1776,  on  June 
12,  1776,  adopted  a  bill  of  right,  and  on  June  29,  1776,  adopted  a  Constitution, 
the  first  one  in  America,  and  on  the  same  da>    elected  Patrick  Henry  pro- 


8  TJ.-.T.T  O-N  '  S     HISTORY.  27 

visional  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  From  this. time,  dates 
t  ehfirst  year  of  the  Commonwealth.  This  Constitution,  having  been  adopted 
without  being  submitted  to  the  people  for  approval,  was  in  force  for  fifty-f-ur 
years,  but  as  the  people  outgrew  its  provisions  a  change  was  demanded  in  hopes 
that  many  of  its  restrictions  in  regard  to  the  qualifications  of  voters  and  basis 
of  representation  might  be  remedied  under  its  provisions.  All  State  and 
County  officers  were  appointed,  and  the  only  privilege  the  voters  had  was  to 
vote  for  members  of  the  Legislature,  Overseers  of  the  Poor  and  Town  Trustees, 
and  voters  were  required  to  be  free  holders.  The  Assembly  on  February  10, 
1829,  passed  a  bill  submitting  to  the  voters  a  proposition  to  call  a  Convention 
to  adopt  a  new  Constitution.  This  was  carried,  but  by  far  the  largest  vote 
favoi'ing  it  came  from  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  Convention  assembled  in 
Richmond  October  5,  1829,  and  contained  a  remarkable  body  of  men,  among 
them  being  James  Madison  and  James  Monroe,  ex-presidents  of  the  United 
States,  John  Randolph  and  others  distinguished  as  lawyers,  statesmen  and 
orators. 

The  new  Constitution  was  unpopular  in  the  west,  aud  in  a  short  time  de- 
mands were  made  for  a  radical  change  in  the  organic  law.  This  finally  resulted 
in  the  Legislature  calling  a  Constitutional  Convention  which  met  on  the  14th 
of  October,  1850,  and  adopting  a  Constitution  which  was  ratified  by  the  people 
on  the  fourth  Thursday  of  October,  1851.  The  election  for  officers  under  this 
Constitution  was  held  on  the  second  Monday  of  December,  1851.  The  property 
clause  heretofore  required  of  voters  was  swept  away,  and  universal  suffrage 
granted.  The  Governor,  Judicial  and  County  officers  for  the  first  time  were 
now  to  be  elected  by  the  people.  While  the  basis  of  representation  was  not 
entirely  satisfactory  to  the  west,  yet  they  had  gained  so  many  privileges  that 
it  was  acquiesced  by  the  people.  The  first  Governor  elected  under  this  Con- 
stitution was  Joseph  Johnson  of  Harrison  county,  and  the  only  one  ever  elected 
west  of  the  mountains.  We  lived  under  this  Constitution  until  the  formation 
of   West   Virginia. 

This  period  embraced  a  remarkable  chain  of  events  leading  up  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  new  state.  A  Convention  of  the  people  met  June  11,  1861,  and 
reorganized  the  government  of  Virginia.  They  met  in  August  and  passed  an 
ordinance  that  an  election  should  be  held  in  the  western  counties  of  Virginia 
on  the  fourth  Tuesday  in  October  to  take  the  sense  of  the  voters  on  the  question 
of  dividing  the  state,  and  at  the  same  time  to  elect  delegates  to  a  Constitutional 
Convention.  The  vote  on  the  formation  of  the  new  state  having  resulted  fav- 
orably, the  Convention  met  in  Wheeling  November  26,  1861,  and  having  com- 
pleted its  labor  by  adopting  a  Constitution  adjourned  February  18,  1862.  The 
Constitution  was  ratified  by  the  vote  of  the  people  at  an  election  held  April  -3, 
1862.  The  act  of  Congress  admitting  West  Virginia  into  the  Union,  was  con- 
ditioned upon  the  section  of  the  Constitution  being  amended  in  regard  to 
slavery.  It  was  approved  December  31,  1S62.  The  Constitutional  Convention 
met  February  12,  1862,  and  made  the  changes  proposed  by  the  act  of  Congress. 


28  SUTTON'S     HISTOR  Y. 

This  Amendment  was  approved  by  the  people  at  an  election  held  March  26. 
1863.  President  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  which  admitted  the  new  state 
into  the  Union,  June  20,  1863.  President  Lincoln,  having  been  satisfied  with 
the  provision  made  for  the  payment  of  the  new  state's  proportion  of  the  Vir- 
ginia debt,  signed  the  bill,  creating  the  State  of  West  Virginia. 

The  first  Legislature  under  this  Constitution  met  in  "Wheeling  June  20, 
1863.  The  Legislature  on  the  23rd  of  February,  1871,  passed  an  act  to  take 
the  sense  of  the  voters  of  the  state  upon  the  call  of  a  Convention  to  enact  a  new 
Constitution  at  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  fourth  Thursday  in  August,  1871, 
which  resulted  in  approving  a  Convention.  The  Convention  met  in  Charleston 
on  the  third  Tuesday  in  January,  1872.  The  election  on  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  was  held  on  the  fourth  Thursday  in  August,  1872,  and  resulted  in 
its  ratification,  and  is  the  Constitution  tinder  which  we  ai-e  now  governed 
(1917).  At  the  same  time  an  election  was  held  for  State,  Judicial,  Legislative, 
County  and  District  officials,  who  were  to  be  seated  in  case  the  Constitution  was 
adopted,  which  resulted  in  a  wholesale  turning  out  of  all  officials  without  re- 
gard to  the  fact  that  they  had  not  yet  served  out  the  terms  for  which  they  had 
been  elected.  The  Governor  and  other  State  officers  were  to  be  ushered  into 
office  on  March  4,  1873.  The  first  Legislature  under  this  Constitution  met  on 
the  third  Tuesday  in  November,  1873. 

FRAMERS  OP  THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION 

We  publish  below  a  very  interesting  letter  written  by  Granville  D.  Hall 
who  took  stenographic  notes  of  the  May  Convention  and  the  Constitutional 
Convention  which  sat  in  Wheeling  in  the  winter  of  1861  and  1862,  was  recalled 
in  the  sprin'g  of  1863  and  framed  the  first  Constitution  of  West  Virginia,  con- 
sisting of  sixty-one  members.  Of  these,  seven  were  past  sixty  years  of  age  when 
the  Convention  met,  November  26,  1861,  the  eldest  of  the  group  being  sixty-six : 
fifteen  of  them  were  in  the  fifties,  the  eldest  being  fifty-six;  twenty-four  were 
in  the  forties,  the  eldest  being  forty-nine;  in  the  thirties,  there  were  only  ten; 
younger  than  thirty  years  of  age,  there  were  but  five,  their  names  are :  Andrew 
W.  Mann  of  Greenbrier,  twenty-nine;  J.  P.  Hoback  of  McDowell,  twenty-six; 
Gustavus  F.  Taylor  of  Braxton,  twenty-six;  E.  W.  Ryan  of  Fayette,  twenty- 
five;  Thomas  R.  Carskadon  of  Hampshire,  twenty-four. 

It  has  been  nearly  fifty-four  years  since  the  Convention  met.  If  Mr. 
Carskadon  is  living,  he  should  be  now  about  seventy-eight  years  of  age ;  Mr. 
Ryan,  Seventy-nine;  Mr.  Taylor,  eighty;  Mr.  Hoback,  eighty;  Mr.  Mann, 
eighty-three.  Of  the  group  in  the  thirties,  Ephraim  B.  Hall  of  Fairmont,  when 
the  Convention  met  was  thirty -nine;  John  J.  Brown  of  Kingwood,  thirty-five; 
Judge  "Tom"  Harrison  of  Clarksburg,  thirty-seven.  Of  the  group  in  the 
sixties,  Abraham  D.  Soper  of  Tyler,  was  sixty-six;  Lewis  Ruffner  of  Kanawha, 
sixty-four;  Col.  Ben.  Smith  of  Kanawha,  sixty-three;  Dudley  S.  Montague  of 
Putnam,  sixty -one ;  Joseph  Wheat  of  Morgan,  sixty.    Of  the  group  in  the  fifties, 


SUTTON'S     H  I  S  T  O  H  V.  29 

John  Hall  of  Mason  who  was  made  president,  was  fifty-six;  Judge  Elbert  H. 
Caldwell  of  Moundsville,  fifty-two:  Hiram  Haymond  of  Palatine,  fifty-free; 
Daniel  Lamb,  fifty-one;  Peter  G.  Van  Winkle,  fifty-three;  and  Waitman  T. 
Willey,  sixty.  Harmon  Sinsel  of  Pruntytown  was  forty-four,  and  "Chap'- 
Stuart  of  Doddridge,  forty-one. 

Of  the  sixty-one  delegates,  forty-six  were  born  in  Virginia ;  six  in  Pennsyl- 
vania :  three  in  New  York ;  two  in  Ohio ;  two  in  Massachusetts ;  one  in  Ireland. 
Of  whom,  again,  seventeen  were  lawyers,  twenty-three  farmers;  five,  ministers; 
three,  physicians ;  three,  merchants ;  one.  a  teacher  and  one,  a  bank  cashier. 

John  Hall  of  Mason,  was  the  lone  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle ;  Daniel  Lamb, 
bom  in  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  the  bank  cashier  who  did  not  go 
back  to  the  bank,  but  took  up  his  profession  of  the  law  after  performance  of 
his  duties  as  legislator  and  publicist.  Lewis  Ruffner,  freightened  by  nature 
with  an  uncommon  cargo  of  the  hardest  horsesense,  was  a  manufacturer  of  salt. 
Rev.  Gordon  Battelle  of  great  native  ability  and  superior  culture,  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  the  existing  West  Virginia  public  school  system.  He  was  the  one  man 
in  the  body  who  had  the  courage  to  advocate  provision  for  Emancipation,  and 
to  declare  that  he  entered  into  no  compromises.  Granville  Parker,  native  of 
Massachusetts,  a  very  astute  lawyer,  understood  better  and  appreciated  more 
than  others  the  extraordinary  abilities  of  Daniel  Lamb  and  the  work  done  by 
him,  and  in  a  book  published  by  Mr.  Parker  after. the  war,  he  endowed  Mr. 
Lam!;  with  the  merited  title  of  ' '  Our  West  Virginia  Madison. ' ' 

The  working  team  of  the  convention  embraced  Lamb,  Van  Winkle,  Battelle, 
Willey ;  Chap.  Stuart,  Hervey  of  Brooks ;  Smith  and  Brown  of  Kanawha ; 
Brown  of  Preston;  Stevenson  of  Wood;  Hall  of  Marion;  Harrison  of  Harrison; 
Dering  of  Monongalia;  Caldwell  of  Marshall,  and  Dille  of  Preston. 

John  Hall  of  Mason  who  was  president  of  the  first  session,  did  not  come 
back  when  the  convention  was  recalled,  for  reasons  of  a  personal  and  tragic 
nature,  and  Mr.  Soper,  as  the  eldest  member,  was  made  president,  Mr.  Lamb 
having  assumed  the  chair  and  called  the  convention  to  order. 

Ellery  R.  Hall  of  Pruntytown  was  chosen  secretary  and  his  brother 
Sylvanus  of  Fairmont,  for  many  years  afterwards  clerk  of  the  West  Virginia 
Supreme  Court  of  Appeals,  was  made  his  assistant. 

James  C.  Orr,  stationer  and  bookseller  on  Main  street.  Wheeling,  was 
made  sergeant-at-arms. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  WEST  VIRGINIA  LEGISLATURE— (1863) 

When,  nearly  fifty-four  years  ago,  the  first  West  Virginia  Legislature  con- 
vened at  Wheeling,  the  Senate  consisted  of  twenty  members,  ten  less  than  at 
present;  and  the  membership  of  the  House  of  Delegates  was  fifty-one,  while 
at  the  last  session  eighty-six  members  sat  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature. 

Under  the  provisons  of  the  old  Constitution  which  was  in  effect  from  1863 
to  1872,  the  Legislature  met  annually,  the  Senators  being  elected  for  terms  of 


30  SUTTON'S     HISTOB  Y. 

one  year.     Under  the  present  Constitution,  the  Senators  are  elected  for  four 
years,  and  the  Delegates  for  two  years. 

The  first  West  Virginia  Senate  was  presided  over  by  a  minister  as  presi- 
dent. He  was  the  Hon.  John  M.  Phelph  of  Mason  county.  Ellery  R.  Hall  of 
Fairmont  was  Clerk  of  the  Senate;  Edmund  Kyle  of  Pine  Grove,  sergeant-at- 
arms;  W.  M.  Dunnington,  door-keeper;  Charles  M.  Wheat  and  Alex.  R.  Camp- 
bell, then  fifteen  years  of  age,  were  pages.    The  members  of  the  first  Senate  were : 

First  District — Chester  D.  Hubbard,  Wheeling;  John  H.  Atkinson,  New 
Cixmberiand. 

Second  District — James  Burley,  Moundsville ;  Aaron  Hawkins,  Bametts- 
ville. 

Third  District — John  J.  Brown,  Kingwood ;  Edward  C.  Bunker,  Morgan- 
town. 

■    Fourth  District — Daniel  Raymond,  Federal  Hill;  Edwin  Maxwell,  Clarks- 
burg. 

Fifth  District — Edward  S.  Mahond,  Ravenswood;  William  E.  Stevenson, 
Parkersburg. 

Sixth  District — D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Buckhannon;  William  D.  Rollyson, 
Braxton  Court  House. 

Seventh  District — Greenbury  Slack,  Kanawha  Court  House ;  John  M. 
Phelps,  Point  Pleasant. 

Eighth  District — John  B.  Bowen,  Buffalo  Shoals;  William  H.  Copley, 
Guyandotte. 

Ninth  District — Aaron  Betchel,  Berkeley  Springs;  James  Carskadon,  New 
Creek. 

While  the  seventh  district  furnished  the  first  president  of  the  state  Senate, 
and  Kanawha  county  was  a  part  of  this  district,  Kanawha  county  furnished  the 
first  speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates  in  Dr.  Spicer  Patrick,  who  a  few  months 
before  was  chairman  of  the  first  nominating  convention  ever  held  in  the  new 
state,  which  nominated  Arthur  I.  Boreman  for  governor.  Granville  D.  Hall 
was  the  first  clerk  of  the  lower  house.  The  members  of  the  first  House  of  dele- 
gates were: 

Monroe,  Lewis  Ballard;  Marion,  John  S.  Barnes  and  Isaac  Holman; 
Hampshire,  James  I.  Barrick  and  George  W.  Sheetz;  Doddridge,  Ephriam  Bee; 
Pendleton,  John  Boggs;  Putnam,  George  C.  Bowycr;  Mason,  Lewis  Bumgard- 
nor;  Wayne,  Thomas  Copley;  Hancock,  William  L.  Crawford;  Wood,  Horatio 
N.  Crooks  and  Peter  G.  Van  Winkle;  Brook,  IT.  0.  Crothers;  Taylor,  L.  E. 
Davidson;  Ritchie,  S.  R.  Dawson;  Raleigh,  W.  S.  Dunbar;  Marshall,  Michael 
Dunn  and  Joseph  Turner ;  Harrison,  Solomon  Fleming  and  Nathan  Goff ,  Sr. ; 
Wirt,  Alfred  Foster;  Greenbrier,  John  C.  Cillilan  and  Andrew  W.  Mann; 
Pocahontas,  Benoni  Griffin;  Boone,  Robt,  Hager;  Lewis,  Perry  M.  Hale;  Logan, 
James  H.  Hickman;  Jackson,  David  J.  Kenny;  Randolph,  Cyrus  Kittle;  Mon- 
aognlia,  Lcroy  Kramer  and  John  L.  Lough;  Ohio,  Daniel  Lamb,  Andrew  F. 
■ and  W.  W.  Shriver;  Mercer.  Thomas  Little;  Preston,  James  C. 


S  U  T  T  ON'S     HISTOB  Y.  31 

MeGraw  and  William  Zinn;  Roane,  J.  M.  MeWhorter;  Hardy,  John  Michael; 
Kanawha,  Spicer  Patrick  and  Lewis  Ruffner  •  Nicholas,  Anthony  Rader ;  Wetzel, 
S.  I.  Robinson;  Braxton,  Felix  Sutton;  Tyler,  Daniel  Sweeney;  Barbour, 
Joseph  Tetler,  Jr.;  Morgan,  Joseph  S.  Wheat;  Gilmer,  T.  Wiant;  Cabell,  Ed- 
ward D.  Wright. 

GOVERNORS  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA 

Arthur  I.  Boreman,  June  20,  1863;  Dan'l.  T.  T.  Fariisworth,  Feb.  27, 
1869;  William  E.  Stevenson,  Mch.  4,  1869;  John  J.  Jacob,  Mch.  4,  1871;  Henry 
M.  Mathews,  Mch.  4,  1877;  Jacob  B.  Jackson,  Mch.  4,  1881;  Emanuel  W. 
Wilson,  Mch.  4,  1885 ;  A.  Brooks  Fleming,  Feb.  6,  1890 ;  William  A.  McCorkle, 
Mch.  4,  1893;  George  W.  Atkinson,  Mch.  4,  1897;  Albert  B.  White,  Mch.  4, 
1901  ;  William  M.  0.  Dawson,  Mch.  4,  1905 ;  William  E.  Glascock,  Mch.  4,  1909 ; 
H.  D.  Hatfield,  Mch.  4,  1913;  John  J.  Cornwall,  Mch.  4,  1917. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1863,  the  term  of  office  of  the  Governor  was  two 
years.     The  constitution  of  1872  increased  the  term  to  four  years. 

Hon.  Daniel  T.  T.  Farnsworth  as  President  of  the  Senate  became  Governor 
upon  the  resignation  of  Governor  Boreman,  on  February  27,  1869,  who  had 
been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  served  until  March  4th. 

Governor  Wilson  held  the  office  nearly  one  year  beyond  his  term  owing 
to  a  contested  election  between  Hon.  Nathan  Goff  and  Hon.  A.  Brooks  Fleming. 

The  Constitution  of  1776  provided  that  the  Governor's  term  of  office  should 
be  limited  to  three  years. 

The  Constitution  of  1830  established  the  term  at  three  years. 

The  Constitution  of  1852  fixed  the  term  at  four  years,  and  provided  for 
the  election  of  the  Governor  by  the  people,  which  had  previously  been  done 
by  the  Legislature. 

Joseph  Johnson  of  Harrison  county,  was  the  first  Governor  elected  by  the 
people,  and  the  only  one  ever  chosen  from  West  of  the  mountains  for  the  old 
State  of  Virginia. 

ELEVATION  OF  AVEST  VIRGINIA 

Exact  measurements  showing  the  elevation  of  West  Virginia  in  various 
parts  of  its  area,  when  studied  in  connection  with  a  map  of  the  State,  show 
clearly  that  the  area  rises  in  altitude  from  all  sides,  culminating  in  the  nest  of 
peaks  clustered  around  the  sources  of  the  Potomas,  the  Kanawha  and  Monon- 
gahela.  The  highest  point  in  the  State  is  Spruce  Mountain,  in  Pendleton 
County,  4,860  feet  above  sea  level;  the  lowest  point  is  the  bed  of  the  Potomac 
at  Harpers  Ferry,  260  feet  above  the  sea ;  the  vertical  range  is  4,600  feet.  The 
Ohio,  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy,  on  the  boundary  between  West  Virginia  and 
Kentucky,  is  500  feet;  the  mouth  of  Cheat,  at  the  Pennsylvania  line,  is  775. 
The  general  level  of  Pocahontas  County  is  about  3,000  above  the  sea.    The  bed 


32  .SUTTON'S     HISTOBY. 

of  Greenbrier  River  where  it  enters  Pocahontas  is  3,300  feet  in  elevation. 
Where  Shaver's  Fork  of  Cheat  River  leaves  Pocahontas,  its  bed  is  3,700  feet. 
A  few  of  the  highest  peaks  in  Pocahontas,  Pendleton,  Randolph  and  Tucker 
Counties  are :  Spruce  Knob,  Pendleton  County,  4,860  feet  above  sea  level ;  Bald 
Knob,  Pocahontas  County,  4,800 ;  Spruce  Knob,  Pocahontas  County,  4,730 ;  High 
Knob,  Randolph  County,  4,710 ;  Mace  Knob,  Pocahontas  County,  4,700 ;  Barton 
Knob,  Randolph  County,  4,600 ;  Bear  Mountain,  Pocahontas  County,  4,600 ; 
Elleber  Ridge,  Pocahontas  County,  4,600 ;  Watering  Pond  Knob,  Pocahontas 
County,  4,600 ;  Panther  Knob,  Pendleton  County,  4,500 ;  Weiss  Knobb,  Tucker 
County.  4,490;  Green  Knob,  Randolph  County,  4,485;  Brier  Patch  Mountain, 
Randolph  County,  4,480;  Yokum's  Knob,  Randolph  County,  4,330;  Pointy 
Knob,  Tucker  County,  4,286;  Hutton's  Knob,  Randolph  County,  4,260. 

In  Berkeley  county,  there  is  a  small  eminence  near  the  old  home  of  General 
Stevens  from  which  you  can  see  the  residences  of  General  Gates,  General  Lee 
and  General  Dark,  three  Major  Generals  and  one  Brigadier  General  of  the 
Revolution.  Is  there  a  state  in  the  union  of  even  comparable  historical  great- 
ness to  our  own? 

COUNTIES  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA  AND  DATES  OF  THEIR  FORMATION 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  counties  of  West  Virginia,  with  the  date  of  for- 
mation, area,  from  whom  named  and  the  county  seat: 

Hampshire,  630  square  miles;  formed  1754  from  Augusta;  named  for 
Hampshire,  England;  settled  about  1730;  Romney. 

Berkeley,  .320  square  miles;  formed  1772  from  Frederick;  named  for 
Governor  Berkeley  of  Virginia ;  settled  about  1730 ;  Martinsburg. 

Monongalia,  360  square  miles;  formed  1776  from.  West  Augusta;  settled 
.1770;  named  for  the  river;  Wheeling.  |V\ i-  \  o 

Greenbrier,  1000  square  miles;  formed  1777  from  Botetourt;  settled  1750; 
named  for  briers  growing  on  the  river  bank ;  Lewisburg. 

Harrison,  450  square  miles;  formed  1784  from  Monongalia;  settled  1770; 
named  for  Benjamin  Harrison,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Clarksburg. 

Hardy,  700  square  miles;  formed  from  Hampshire  in  1785;  settled  1740; 
named  for  Samuel  Hardy  of  Virginia;  Moorfield. 

Randolph,  1080  square  miles;  formed  178b  from  Harrison;  settled  1753; 
named  for  Edmund  Randolph;  Elkins. 

Pendleton,  650  square  miles;  formed  1787  from  Augusta,  Hardy  and 
Rockingham;  settled  1750;  named  for  Edmund  Pendleton;  Franklin. 

Kanawha,  980  square  miles;  formed  1789  from  Greenbrier  and  Mont- 
gomery; settled  1774;  named  for  the  river;  Charleston. 

Brooke,  80  square  miles ;  formed  from  Ohio  1796 ;  settled  about  1772 ; 
named  for  Robert  Brooke,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Wellsburg. 

Wood,  375  square  miles ;  formed  from  Harrison  1798 ;  settled  about  1773 ; 
named  for  James  Wood,  Governor  of  Virginia ;  Parkersburg. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKY.  33 

Monroe,  460  square  miles;  formed  1799  from  Greenbrier;  settled  about 
1760;  named  for  James  Monroe;  Union. 

Jefferson,  250  square  miles;  formed  1801  from  Berkeley;  settled  about 
1730;  named  for  Thomas  Jefferson;  Charlestown. 

Mason,  430  square  miles;  formed  1804  from  Kanawha;  settled  about  1774, 
named  for  George  Mason  of  Virginia;  Point  Pleasant. 

Cabell,  300  square  miles;  formed  from  Kanawha  1809;  settled  about  1790; 
named  for  William  H.  Cabell,  Governor  of  Virginia ;  Huntington. 

Tyler,  300  square  miles;  formed  from  Ohio  1814;  settled  about  1776;  named 
for  John  Tyler;  Middlebourn. 

Lewis,  400  square  miles ;  formed  from  Harrison  1816 ;  settled  about  1780 ; 
named  for  Colonel  Charles  Lewis;  Weston. 

Nicholas,  720  square  miles;  formed  1818  from  Kanawha,  Greenbrier  and 
Randolph;  named  for  W.  C.  Nicholas,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Summersville. 

Preston,  650. square  miles;  formed  1818  from  Monongalia;  settled  about 
1760;  named  for  James  P.  Preston,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Kingwood. 

Morgan,  300  square  miles;  formed  1820  from  Hampshire  and  Berkeley; 
settled  about  1730;  named  for  Daniel  Morgan;  Berkeley  Springs. 

Pocahontas,  820  square  miles;  formed  1821  from  Bath,  Pendleton  and 
Randolph ;  settled  1749 ;  named  for  Pocahontas,  an  Indian  girl ;  Marlinton. 

Logan,  400  square  miles;  formed  from  Kanawha,  Giles,  Cabell  and  Taze- 
well 1824;  named  for  Logan,  an  Indian;  Logan. 

Jackson,  400  square  miles;  formed  from  Kanawha,  Wood  and  Mason  in 
1831 ;  settled  about  1796 ;  named  for  Andrew  Jackson :  Ripley. 

Fayette,  750  square  miles;  formed  from  Logan,  Kanawha,  Greenbrier  and 
Nicholas  1831;  named  for  Lafayette;  Fayetteville. 

Marshall,  240  square  miles ;  formed  1835  from  Ohio ;  settled  about  1769 ; 
named  for  Chief  Justice  Marshall ;  Moundsville. 

Braxton,  620  square  miles ;  formed  1 836  from  Kanawha,  Lewis  and  Nicholas ; 
settled  about  1794;  named  for  Carter  Braxton;  Sutton. 

Mercer,  400  square  miles;  formed  1837  from  Giles  and  Tazewell;  named 
for  General  Hugh  Mercer;  Princeton. 

Marion,  300  square  miles;  formed  1842  from  Harrison  and  Monongalia; 
named  for  General  Marion;  Fairmont. 

Wayne,  440  square  miles;  formed  1841  from  Cabell;  named  for  General 
Anthony  Wayne;  Wayne. 

Taylor,  150  square  miles;  formed  1844  from  Harrison,  Barbour  and 
Marion;  named  for  John  Taylor;  Grafton. 

Doddridge,  300  square  miles;  formed  1845  from  Harris,  Tyler,  Ritchie 
and  Lewis;  named  for  Philip  Doddridge:  West  Union. 

Gilmer,  360  square  miles ;  formed  1845  from  Kanawha  and  Lewis ;  named 
for  Thomas  W.  Gilmer  of  Virginia;  Glenville. 

AVetzel,  440  square  miles;  formed  1846  from  Tyler;  named  for  Lewis 
Wetzel;  New  Martinsville. 


34  '     SUTTON'S     HIS  T  O  E  Y. 

Boone,  500  square  miles;  formed  1847  from  Kanawha,  Cabell  and  Logan; 
named  for  Daniel  Boone;  Madison. 

Putnam,  320  square  miles ;  formed  1848  from  Kanawha,  Cabell  and  Mason ; 
named  for  Israel  Putnam;  Winfield.^ 

Barbour,  360  square  miles;  formed  1843  from  Harrison,  Lewis  and  Ran- 
dolph; named  for  James  Barbour,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Philippi. 

Ritchie,  400  square  miles;  formed  1844  from  Harrison,  Lewis  and  Wood; 
named  for  Thomas  Ritchie  of  Virginia;  Harrisville. 

Wirt,  290  square  miles;  formed  1848  from  Wood  and  Jackson;  settled 
about  1796;  named  for  William  Wirt;  Elizabeth. 

Hancock,  100  square  miles ;  formed  1848  from  Brooke ;  settled  about  1776 ; 
named  for  John  Hancock:  New  Cumberland. 

Raleigh,  680  square  miles;  formed  1850  from  Fayette;  named  for  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh;   Beckley. 

Wyoming,  660  square  miles ;  f ormed  1 850  from  Logan ;  an  Indian  name : 
Pineville. 

Pleasants,  150  square  miles;  formed  1851  from  Wood,  Tyler  and  Ritchie; 
named  for  James  Pleasants,  Governor  of  Virginia;  St.  Marys. 

Upshur,  350  square  miles;  formed  1851  from  Randolph,  Barbour  and  Lewis; 
settled  about  1767;  named  for  Judge  A.  P.  Upshur;  Buckhannon. 

Calhoun,  260  square  miles;  formed  1856  from  Gilmer;  named  for  J.  C. 
Calhoun ;  Grantsville. 

Roane,  350  square  miles ;  formed  1856  from  Kanawha,  Jackson  and  Gilmer ; 
settled  about  1791 ;  named  for  Judge  Roane  of  Virginia ;  Spencer. 

Tucker,  340  square  miles ;  formed  1856  from  Randolph ;  settled  about  1774 ; 
named  for  Judge  St.  George  Tucker:  Parsons. 

Clay,  390  square  miles;  formed  1858  from  Braxton  and  Nicholas;  named 
for  Henry  Clay;  Clay. 

McDowell,  860  square  miles;  formed  1858  from  Tazewell;  named  for  James 
McDowell,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Welch. 

Webster,  450  square  miles;  formed  1866  from  Randolph,  Nicholas  and 
Braxton;  named  for  Daniel  Webster;  Webster  Springs. 

Mineral,  300  square  miles;  formed  1866  from  Hampshire;  named  for  its 
coal ;  Keyser. 

Grant,  620  square  miles;  formed  1866  from  Hardy;  settled  about  1740; 
named  for  General  U.  S.  Grant;  Petersburg. 

Lincoln,  460  square  miles;  formed  1867  from  Kanawha,  Cabell,  Boone  and 
Putnam;  settled  about  1799;  named' for  Abraham  Lincoln;  Hamlin. 

Summers,  400  square  miles;  formed  1871  from  Monroe,  Mercer,  Green- 
brier and  Fayette ;  named  for  Lewis  and  George  W.  Summers ;  Hinton. 

Mingo,  about  400  square  miles;  formed  1895  from  Logan;  named  for 
Logan,  the  Mingo;  Williamstown. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  35 


"THE   WEST   VIRGINIA  HILLS" 

There  has  been  some  controversy,  and  quite  a  lot  of  inquiry  as  to  who 
wrote  the  "West  Virginia  Hills."  Those  not  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
origin  of  this  very  popular  music,  are  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  there  are  two 
distinct  songs  written  at  different  times  and  by  different  parties. 

In  18S5.  Dr.  D.  H.  King  and  wife  from  Vineland,  N.  J.,  were  visiting 
Mrs.  King's  father,  Captain  Ruddill  of  Glenville,  W.  Va.,  and  within  the  time 
of  their  visit,  Dr.  King  who  was  a  Presbyterian  minister,  wrote  the  verses  and 
published  them  in  the  Glenville  Crescent,  crediting  the  production  to  Mrs. 
King.  Mr.  Everett  Engle  of  Loydville,  Braxton  co\mty,  seeing  the  verses  in 
the  paper,  composed  the  chorus  to -the  lines  and  wrote  the  music  for  the  song, 
entitled,  "The  West  Virginia  Hills." 

In  1891,  Dr.  D.  B.  Purinton,  President  of  the  West  Virginia  University, 
published  a  song  that  he  had  written  some  years  before,  and  also  wrote  the 
music,  entitled,  "West  Virginia  Hills."  For  some  reason,  Dr.  Purinton  laid 
away  his  manuscript  and  neglected  to  publish  it  until  the  above  date  which 
was  six  years  after  Prof.  Engle  had  written  the  chorus  and  music  to  the  "West 
Virginia  Hills." 

While  there  is  some  similarity  in  the  wording  of  the  two  songs,  there  is 
none  whatever  in  the  music.  Dr.  Purinton  wrote  his  song  and  "laid  it  away 
in  a  napkin. ' '  Dr.  King  and  Professor  Engle  wrote  their  song  without  know- 
ing of  the  existence  of  the  other,  and  copyrighted  it  six  years  before  Dr.  Purin- 
ton copyrighted  his  production. 

Dr.  King's  song  is  called  (The)  "West  Virginia  Hills."  This  song  has 
become  deservedly  popular.  It  has  been  sung  in  every,  public  place  in  West 
Virginia,  and  all  over  the  United  States,  and  doubtless  in  foreign  lands.  Sen- 
ator Peck  delighted  in  singing  "The  West  Virginia  Hills"  to  the  great  delight, 
of  the  West  Virginia  Legislature,  and  those  who  had  gathered  at  the  Capitol 
from  every  part,  of  the  state.  This  song  belongs  to  West  Virginia,  and  par- 
ticularly to  Braxton  and  Gilmer  counties,  and  will  be  handed  down  to  coming 
years  as  West  Virginia's  grandest  and  most  inspiring  song,  keeping  the  names 
of  Dr.  King  and  Professor  Engle  in  the  role  of  popular  authors  and  composers. 


36 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Braxton  County;  Its  Origin;  WJien  Formed;  Population;  Wealth;  Its  Repre- 
sentatives; Its  Rivers  and  Natural  Scenery ;  Its  Wealth  in  Mineral  Products; 
Its  Schools. 


FORMATION  OF  BRAXTON  COUNTY 

At  the  time  of  the  formation,  in  1836,  the  territory  now  embraced  within 
the  county  formed  parts  of  Lewis,  Kanawha  and  Nicholas  counties.  A  petiton 
prayktg  for  the  formation  of  a  new  county  was  forwarded  to  Richmond  and 

laid  before  the  general  As- 
sembly then  in  session  in 
that  city.  It  was  heard 
with  favor  by  that  body, 
and  in  the  winter  of  1836, 
Braxton  county,  with  a 
population  of  2,371  of 
whom  400  were  voters, 
was  checkered  on  the  map 
of  Virginia. 

The  county  then  formed 
was  named  in  honor  of 
Carter  Braxton,  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence. 
Braxton  county  geograph- 
ically considered,  occupies  the  central  part  of  West  Virginia,  lying  between 
the  38°  30'  and  38°  57'  parallels  of  north  latitude,  and  80°  27'  and  81°  03' 
meridians  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich,  and  contains  621  square  miles. 

In  the  counties  of  which  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Braxton  was  a 
part,  prior  to  1710,  the  mountains  were  thought  to  be  impassable,  though  the 
country  east  had  been  settled  for  over  a  hundred  years.  The  first  passage  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  entrance  to  the  valley  by  white  men,  was  made  in  1716.  The 
country  thus  discovered  and  claimed  for  the  British  Crown,  became  a  part  of 
the  county  of  Essex.  Essex  was  taken  from  old  Rapahannock  in  1692,  the 
western  boundary  being  undefined.  Spottsylvania  was  formed  from  Essex  and 
other  counties  in  1720,  and  Orange  from  Spottsylvania  in  1734.  Augusta  was 
taken  from  Orange  in  1738,  Monongalia  was  taken  from  Augusta  and  West 
Augusta  in  1776,  and  Harrison  was  taken  from  Monongalia  in  1784,  and  Ran- 


MRS.    DELILA   COGER 
The  only  living  grand-daughter  of  Capt.  John  Skidmore 


SUTTON'S     HISJTORY.  37 

dolph  was  taken  from  Harrison  in  1786.    Nicholas  was  formed  from  Randolph 
in  1818;.  and  Braxton  was  formed  from  Nicholas  in  1836. 

In  the  succession  of  the  counties  named,  we  speak  of  them  without  refer- 
ence to  the  entrical  parts  of  the  other  counties  out  of  which  they  have  been 
taken;  thus  we  see  that  the  county  of  Braxton  wandered  in  the  wilderness  for 
154  years,  without  a  name  upon  the  map  or  a  line  of  history,  only  as  a  part  of 
some  other  formation.  Twenty-eight  years  in  old  Rapahamiock,  4  years  in  the 
undefined  territory  of  Essex,  14  years  in  Spottsylvania,  4  years  in  Orange,  38 
years  in  Augusta  and  West  Augusta,  8  years  in  Monongalia,  2  years  in  Har- 
rison, 30  years  in  Randolph,  18  years  in  Nicholas,  and  from  1836  /to  the 
present,  we  have  had  a  place  upon  the  map,  and  occupy  the  proud  distinction 
of  being  the  central  county  of  the  great  state  of  "West  Virginia. 

FIRST    SURVEYS,    AND    SETTLEMENTS 

At  the  close  of  the  second  decade  of  the  century,  the  large  area  of  territory 
afterwards  within  the  lines  of  Braxton  county,  at  the  time  of  its  originization, 
did  not  probably  contain  more  than  12  or  15  hundred,  and  certainly  not  more 
than  one  person  for  every  square  mile  of  territory. 

At  the  time  of  the  ,early  settlement  of  the  Elk  River,  the  territory  south 
of  the  ridge,  now  called  Bison  Ridge,  which  divides  the  waters  of  the  Elk  from 
the  waters  of  the  Little  Kanawha,  down  to  a  marked  line  usually  designated  as 
the  Old  County  line,  was  in  Randolph  county.  This  line  was  made  to  mark 
the  boundaries  of  Harrison  and  Randolph  counties,  and  two  years  later, 
Nicholas  was  formed  out  of  the  counties  of  Kanawha,  Greenbrier  and  Ran- 
dolph, and  had  for  its  northern  boundary,  the  same  ridge  that  bounded  Lewis 
county  on  the  south.  The  most  noted  line  running  through  central  West  Vir- 
ginia, was  surveyed  by  Thomas  Douglass,  not  eai'lier  than  1785,  known  as  the 
Greenbrier  Harrison  county  line.  It  extended  from  the  Allegheny  mountains 
at  the  corner  of  Botetourt  county  to  the  Ohio  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Pond  Creek, 
the  direction  of  the  line  was  N  55  W.  All  territory  in  West  Virginia  not  em- 
braced in  any  of  the  county  north  of  this  line  was  Harrison ;  south  was  to  re- 
main Greenbrier,  as  organized  in  1777.  The  line  enters  Webster  near  the  forks 
of  Williams  river,  passing  through  Upper  Glade,  and  leaves  the  county  be- 
tween Skyles  and  Laurel  creek,  passing  through  the  Little  and  Big  Birch 
country,  and  crosses  Elk  near  Prametown. 

FIRST  SURVEY  MADE  IN  THE  COUNTY 

In  1784  John  Allison  laid  a  treasury  land  warrant  on  eleven  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  Monongalia  (now  Braxton)  county.  The  surveying  was  done 
the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  that  year.  The  party  came  through  the  wilder- 
ness to  the  headwaters  of  Salt  Lick  and  Granny's  creeks  and  marked  a  poplar 
tree  standing  in  a  low  gap  about  four  rods  north  of  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  cut  in 


38  SUTTON'S    HISTOKY. 

the  "Bison  Range."  This  was  the  first  corner  made  in  what  is  now  Braxton 
comity,  fifty-two  years  before  the  formation  of  Braxton  and  eight  years  before 
the  last  Indian  raid  and  massacre  of  the  Carpenter  family.  This  comer  was 
the  governing  point  for  all  other  corners  and  lines  subsequently  made  adjacent 
to  it.  The  tree  became  hollow  and  had  a  defect  on  one  side.  It  had  at  some 
time  caught  fire,  the  defective  wood  being  burned  out  and  showing  plainly  the 
tomahawk  marks  on  the  inside  of  the  tree.  About  the  time  the  tree  was  round- 
ing out  its  hundredth  year  as  a  marker,  a  storm  broke  off  the  body  of  the  tree 
about  fourteen  feet  from  the  ground,  and  in  a  year  or  so  another  fire  broke  out 
from  a  clearing  and  destroyed  this  the  first  land  mark  of  the  county.  The 
marks  of  the  tomahawk  showed  that  the  tree  could  not  have  been  large  when 
it  was  marked.  The  marks  were  much  plainer  in  the  hollow  of  the  tree  than  on 
the  outside,  the  hollow  being  about  fourteen  inches  in  diameter.  The  lands  of 
Allison  extended  over  the  "Bison  Range"  to  the  head  of  Cedar  creek,  down 
Granny's  creek  to  the  Elk  river,  embracing  the  land  where  the  town  of  Sutton 
now  stands,  and  down  the  Elk  river  as  far  as  the  old  Boggs  mill.  Seven  thou- 
sand acres  of  this  land  became  the  property  of  John  Sutton,  of  Alexandria, 
Virginia,  and  later  of  his  son,  John  D.  Sutton. 

The  first  inhabitants  that  came  to  the  territory  which  now  embraces  Brax- 
ton, were  the  Carpenters.  They  Avere  a  bold  and  adventurous  people.  Pour  of 
the  Carpenter  brothers  had  been  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  They  settled  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Holly  river  about  the  year  1789  or  1790. 

Adam  O'Brien,  the  famous  Indian  scout  and  hunter,  helped  to  make  these 
surveys. 

In  1795,  Samuel  Young  made  a  large  survey  of  land  on  the  waters  of 
Elk  and  Holly  rivers.  A  man  named  Strange,  that  was  lost  on  Strange  creek, 
was  a  member  of  this  surveying  party,  and  in  1800,  David  Scott,  of  Monongalia 
county,  who  came  to  the  wilderness  to  hunt,  made  a  suiwey  of  500  acres  at 
Bowling  Green,  and  a  tract  on  Scotts  mountain,  from  which  Scotts  mountain 
is  named.  In  the  year  1807,  Col.  John  Havmond  moved  from  Harrison  county 
and  settled  near  the  Falls  of  Little  Kanawha.  Three  brothers,  Benjamin, 
Daniel  and  John  Conrad,  settled  three  miles  below;  another  brother,  Jacob  P. 
Com  ad,  settled  and  lived  for  many  years,  at  Hackers  Valley,  in  Webster 
county.  John  Conrad  had  two  sons  who  became  prominent;  Asa  R.  and  Cur- 
rence  B.  About  this  date,  Joseph  Friend  settled  at  Pork  Lick,  (Webster 
county.  He  had  but  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  married  Wm.  Arthur,  and  raised 
a  large  family. 

Richard  A.  became  a  distinguished  Methodist  minister. 

Henry  Robinson  was  an  early  resident  on  Holly  river.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  John  Skidmore,  son  of  Capt.  John.  About  1810,  Hedgemon  Trip- 
lett  came  to  the  county,  and  settled  near  Tate  Creek,  from  a  few  miles  below 
Sutton  and  embracing  most  of  the  territory  of  Clay  County.  South  of  Elk, 
there  were  but  few  families.  This  territory  was  kept  unsettled  by  a  large  tract 
of  land  known  as  the  Wilson  suiwey,  embracing  over  one  hundred  thousand 


SUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y.  39 

acres,  owned  by  non-residents.  About  the  year  1837,  some  of  the  parties  claim- 
ing this  land  organized  a  company  known  as  the  "West  Virginia  Iron  &  Manu- 
facturing Company,  and  built  a  mill  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  Yankee  Dam; 
but  the  enterprise  failed,  and  the  lands  were  decreed  to  be  sold.  These  large 
land  titles  retarded  the  settlement  of  the  country,  until  recent  years.  The  terri- 
tory from  the  mouth  of  Birch  to  the  Big  Sandy  was  known  as  the  Wilderness. 
About  1807  or  1808,  Nicholas  Gibson  settled  at  the  lands  now  known  as 
the  Lancaster  place.  Asa  Squires  settled  at  Salt  Lick  in  1807,  and  later,  his 
brother  Elijah,  settled  on  adjoining  lands  to  Nicholas  Gibson.  About  1812, 
Andrew  Skidmore  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Skidmore  Run.  He  had  a  large  family 
of  grown  children.  About  this  time  Tunis  McElwaine  came  from  Pendleton 
county,  and  settled  on  the  bottom  below  the  mouth  of  Grannies'  Creek.  Three 
sons  and  several  daughters  who  were  grown,  came  with  their  father,  only  one 
son,  Thomas,  remained  here.  He  inherited  the  old  homestead,  and  remained 
here  during  his  life.  About  1810,  three  brothers  by  the  name  of  Davis,  George, 
Wm.  and  Nathan,  came  to  Elk  from  Randolph  county.  They  were  single  men 
at  the  time,  but  they  got  married,  and  made  homes  near  Sutton.  Jacob  Long 
came  about  this  time,  from  Pocahontas  county,  as  did  Charles  Rogers.  Long 
settled  on  the  north  side  of  Elk,  opposite  Little  Buffalo,  and  Rogers  on  Otter. 
Patrick  Murphey  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Strange  Creek,  about  1800.  He  came 
directly  from  Ireland,  early  in  this  century.  John  and  James  Boggs,  brothers, 
came  to  Elk  river.  John  settled  on  Duck  creek,  and  James  on  Elk,  at  what  is 
known  as  the  Boggs  farm,  where  he  built,  and  for  many  years  operated  a  water 
mill.  George  Mollohan,  of  English  descent,  came  from  Bath  county,  Virginia, 
to  Birch  river,  and  settled  near  the  mouth  of  Skyles  Creek,  and  afterward  re- 
moved to  Elk.  He  had  a  family  of  five  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
all  of  them  grown,  and  settled  in  this  county.  The  sons  were  named  George, 
John  and  James.  The  father,  George  Mollohan,  lost  his  life  between  Little 
and  Big  Birch  rivers,  in  attempting  to  pass  through  the  wilderness  from  the 
settlement  between  Sutton  and  Big  Birch.  Mr.  Mollohan  was  quite  old,  and 
had  almost  lost  his  eye  sight,  and  it  was  supposed  that  his  horse  strayed  from 
the  path,  and  he  was  unable  to  find  it  again.  He  was  never  found,  it  is  said 
his  saddle  blanket  and  gloves  were  found  hanging  on  a  tree  oh  the  ridge  be- 
tween Little  and  Big  Birch  rivers.  Early  in  the  settlement  of  the  eouaty, 
James  Frame,  together  with  his  parents,  and  three  brothers,  came  from  the 
county  of  Pocahontas  and  settled  on  Big  Birch  river,  about  the  mouth  of 
PoAvell's  creek.  One  brother,  John,  and  the  father,  remained  on  Birch,  but 
James,  Thomas  and  David  settled  on  Elk.  Thomas  located  near  the  mouth  of 
Birch,  James  at  what  is  known  as  Frametown,  where  he  built  a  water  mill,  and 
David  settled  three  miles  below  Sutton.  He  was  a  man  of  exemplary  char- 
acter, a  very  devoted  member  of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  celebrated  the  riles  of 
matrimony.  The  Frame  family  is  a  very  numerous  one,  and  compose  a  large 
part  of  the  population  in  the  lower  end  of  the  county.  They  were  generally 
noted  for  their  uprightness  and  intelligence.     A  family  by  the  name  of  Harris, 


40  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Wm,  and  Henry,  perhaps  from  Pocahontas,  settled  at  Bowling  Green.  Henry 
emigrated  west,  Wm.  settled  at  the  month  of  Flatwoods  run,  where  he  spent, 
most  of  his  time  hunting  and  trapping  for  beaver  and  otter.  He  had  a  small 
mill  on  Flatwoods  run,  for  grinding  corn.  About  this  time  Wm.  Bell,  a  former 
citizen  of  Augusta  coimty,  settled  near  Bowling  Green.  The  Friend  family, 
several  brothel's,  came  early  from  Pendleton  and  Randolph  counties  and  settled 
on  Elk,  near  the  mouth  of  Otter.  John  Gibson,  brother  to  Nicholas  Gibson, 
settled  on  Flatwoods  run ;  Wm.  Berry  moved  from  Loudin  county,  Virginia,  in 
the  spring  of  1818,  and  settled  on  O'Briens  Fork  of  Salt  Lick.  About  1807  or 
1808,  Jackson  Singleton  settled  on  Salt  Lick.  At  a  very  early  date.  Jacob 
Westfall  located  on  Cedar  creek.  Jeremiah  Mace  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Braxton.  Isaac.  Shaver  and  Nathan  Prince  settled  at  Flatwoods,  and  also 
Leonard  Hyer  about  this  time.  Hiram  Heater,  the  ancestor  of  the  Heater 
family,  settled  on  Little  Kanawha. 

It  might  be  of  interest  to  some  to  know  how  Granny's  creek  received  its 
name.  At  the  time  the  survey  was  made  there  was  great  danger  of  the  In-  • 
dians,  and  there  being  no  settlement  the  surveying  party  had  to  live  as  best 
they  could.  In  the  party  was  a  young  man  who  complained  of  the  hardships 
and  often  made  the  remark  that  if  he  were  at  home  with  his  grandmother  he 
could  get  green  beans  and  other  vegetables  to  eat,  and  the  surveyor  called  the 
stream  "Granny's  creek,"  a  name  which  perhaps  it  will  retain  until  grand- 
mothers are  no  more.  At  this  point  some  one  :might  ask.  "What  about  Old 
Woman's  run?"  This  stream  empties  into  the  Elk  river  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  town  of  Sutton,  and  Granny's  creek  at  the  lower  end.  These  streams  run 
parallel  for  a  distance  and  head  not.  far  apart.  Lying  between  Granny's  creek 
and  Old  Woman's  run  is  a  break  in  the  formation  land  there  are  many  large 
cliffs  of  rock  and  dens  where,  in  an  early  day.  wild  animals  gathered  in  great 
numbers  to  shelter.  As  late  as  1870  it  was  difficult  ^o  raise  pigs  or  lambs  in  the 
neighborhood.  A  few  years  after  the  settlement  had  been  established  there  was 
a  very  large  bear  which  made  its  home  in  this  wilderness  of  rocks  and  laurel, 
and  reared  several  broods,  and  hunters  gave  it  the  name  of  "old  woman."  The 
bear  had  escaped  for  several  years.  It  was  known  by  its  very  large  track.  At 
last  it  was  killed  a  little  above  where  Moman  Rhea  now  lives  and  the  citizens 
gave  the  stream  the  name  of  Old  Woman's  run. 

Salt  Lick  creek  a  tributary  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  derives  its  name 
from  the  fact  that  there  is  a  salt  spring,  or  lick,  near  where  the  Weston  and 
Gauley  Bridge  turnpike  crosses  the  stream.  The  buffaloes  traveled  from  that 
lick  to  a  similar  one  on  the  island  in  the  Elk  river  at  the  mouth  of  Granny's 
creek.  They  had  worn  down  a  road  between  these  two  points  which  the  early 
settlers  said  was  superior  to  many  of  the  county  roads.  In  many  places  it  was 
suitable  for  a  wagon  way.  Any  fanner  who  owns  a  hill  farm  will  observe  that 
his  cattle  will  make  a  much  better  grade  for  their  own  convenience  in  going  up 
and  down  the  hill  than  he  can  do  without  instruments.  The  buffalo  came  up 
O'Brien's  fork  and  crossed  the  ridge  at  or  near  where  the  railroad  cuts  through 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  41 

the  low  gap  at  the  Dyer  hill.  The  presumption  is  that  the  John  Allison  sur- 
veying party  were  directed  to  this  spot  hy  the  buffalo  road.  The  path  then  led 
down  Granny's  creek  to  its  mouth.  The  first  county  road  that  was  made  fol- 
lowed this  trail.  The  buffaloes  had  for  centuries,  and  in  countless  numbers, 
made  daily  pilgrimages  dm-ing  the  summer  months  to  these  saline  springs.  Just 
a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek,  Big  Buffalo  creek  empties 
into  the  Elk  river  on  the  opposite  side,  and  a  short  distance  below  Big  Buffalo 
treek,  Little  Buffalo  creek  empties  into  the  Elk.  These  streams  head  against 
the  high  ridge  separating  the  waters  of  the  Elk  and  the  Little  Birch  rivers. 
They  cut  down  the  mountains  very  rapidly  and  leave  deep,  rich  coves  facing 
the  northeast,  making  great  peavine  ranges,  winter  fern  and  spice  brush.  It 
is  evident  that  these  two  streams  received  their  names  from  the  fact  that  they 
were  great  buffalo  range's  where  the  wild  herds  of  the  forest  could  have  access 
to  the  salt  licks  spoken  of.  The  majority  of  the  larger  and  smaller  streams  of 
West  Virginia  derive  their  names  from  some  local  cause.  Strange  creek,  a 
tributary  of  the  Elk,  flowing  into  that  stream  from  the  south  side,  about 
eighteen  miles  below  Sutton,  was  the  scene  of  a  sad  tragedy.  In  a  very  early  day 
when  the  whole  land  was  a  wilderness  a  hunter  named  Strange,  who  was  as- 
sisting in  making  a  survey  of  lands  of  the  Elk  and  Holly  rivers,  known  as  the 
Samuel  Young  lands,  became  lost  from  the  surveying  party  and  wandered  to 
Strange  creek,  where  his  gun  was  afterward  found  with  his  initials  cut  on  the 
stock.  He  wandered  in  destitution  and  perished  on  the  stream  which  bears 
his  name.  This  unfortunate  frontiersman  cut  his  name  on  a  beech  tree  along 
with  this  inscription:  "Strange  is  my  name,  and  strange  is  the  woods,  and 
strange  it  is  I  can  not  be  found."  West  Virginia  is  a  land  of  tragedies  if  we 
but  knew  them  all — tragedies  that  brought  the  deepest  sorrows  to  the  mountain 
homes  of  a  race  of  fearless  pioneers. 

Many  of  the  smaller  streams  have  local  names  such  as  Bee  run,  Spruce 
Fork,  White  Oak,  Slab  Camp,  Beech  Fork,  Camp  run,  Three  Forks,  Lefthand, 
Pigeon  Roost,  Toms  Fork,  AVolf  creek,  Cowskiu,  Wolf  Pen,  Chop  Fork,  O'- 
Brien's Fork,  Bakers'  Run,  Bennie's  run,  Long  run,  Camp  run,  SMdmore  run, 
Snake,  Bear  run,  Bull  run,  Copen  run,  Flatwoods  run,  Carpenter  fork,  Perk- 
in 's  Fork,  Shaver  Fork,  Westfall  Fork,  Diitch  Fork,  Crooked  Fork,  Grass  Lick, 
Buckeye,  Mill  run,  Horse  Fork,  Millstone,  Pistol  Fork. 

Battle  ran,  a  branch  of  Big  Otter,  Clay  county,  was  the  scene  of  a  battle 
between  a  bear  and  a  large  boar  hog  which  belonged  to  a  man  living  in  a  log 
cabin  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream.  The  boar  came  running  to  the  house  one  day, 
ran  into  the  house  and  under  the  bed  and  died  a  few  minutes  /later.  His  body 
was  covered  with  gashes  and  he.  was  bleeding  from  every  wound.  His  owner 
took  his  back  track  and  followed  it  by  the  blood  to  the  battle  ground,  where  his 
enemy,  a  large  black  bear  was  lying  dead.  The  ground  showed  that  there  had 
been  a  deadly  struggle.  The  boar  had  large  tusks  and  had  given  the  bear  a 
stab  in  a  vital  place. 


42  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Braxton  county  at  the  time  of  its  formation  comprised  the  Elk  river  and 
most  of  its  tributaries  from  Fork  Lick  in  the  present  county  of  Webster;  it 
also  embraced  the  Little  Kanawha  river  and  most  of  its  tributaries  above  the 
mouth  of  Buffalo  shoal  run. 

The  surface  is  hilly,  rising  from  760  feet  above  sea  level  to  an  elevation 
of  2,085  feet.  Braxton  lies  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Allegheny  mountains 
and  about  one-half  from  the  tops  of  these  mountains  and  the  Ohio  river.  The 
county  is  well  watered,  having  a  number  of  streams  forming  branches  of  those 
larger  ones.  The  Elk  river  crosses  the  county  in  a  south-western  direction, 
traversing  it  for  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles.  The  Little  Kanawha  river 
crosses  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county,  flowing  in  a  northwestern  direction, 
and  traverses  the  county  for  a  distance  of  about  twenty-three  miles.  The 
Holly  river  flows  through  the  county  for  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles  in  a 
,  due  westerly  direction,  and  empties  info  the  Elk  at  Palmer,  eight  miles  above 
Sutton.  The  Birch  river  flows  northwest,  is  twenty-one  miles  long  and  empties 
into  the  Elk  at  Glendon,  twenty  miles  below  Sutton.  Its  principle  tributary 
is  the  Little  Birch,  flowing  in  from  the  northeast. 

There  were  but  few  permanent  settlers  in  Braxton  county  until  about  the 
year  1805.  The  early  emigrants  to  Braxton  came  principally  from  Pendleton, 
Randolph  and  Greenbrier  counties. 

The  neighboring  counties  are  Nicholas  on  the  south,  Summersville,  the 
county  seat,  being  36  miles  distant  from  Sutton ;  Webster  on  the  southeast, 
Webster  Springs,  the  county  seat,  situated  on  the  Elk  river,  34  miles  east  of 
Sutton;  Upshur  on  the  east,  Buckhannon,  the  county  seat  being  46  miles  from 
Sutton ;  Lewis  on  the  northeast,  Weston,  the  county  seat,  situated  on  the  West 
Fork  river,  43  miles  from  Sutton;  Gilmer  on  the  west,  Glenville,  the  county 
seat,  situated  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  35  miles  from  Sutton;  Calhoun  on 
the  southwest,  Grantsville,  the  county  seat,  situated  on  the  Little  Kanawha 
river,  35  miles  from  Sutton;  and  Clay  county  on  the  southwest,  Clay  the  county 
seat,  situated  on  the  Elk  river,  40  miles  from  Sutton.  These,  our  neighboring 
counties,  were  all  settled  in  an  early  day  by  a  good  and  substantial  class  of 
citizens,  many  of  the  descendants  of  whom  are  yet  living.  The  blood  relation- 
ship existing  among  the  people  of  the  central  counties  is  very  great  by  inter- 
marriage, and  being  descendants  of  large  families,  the  blood  of  the  old  pioneer- 
has  been  kept  up,  and  the  change  is  very  slight,  as  compared  with  many  sections 
of  our  country. 

The  natural  resources  of  the  county  are  very  great.  Its  forests,  its  fertile 
soil  and  rich  grazing  lands,  its  vast  seams  of  coal,  its  oil  and  gas  that  are  just 
in  the  process  of  development,  make  the  comity  one  of  exceptional  interest  to 
capital  and  labor,  or  to  those  seeking  homes  where  farming  and  stock  raising 
is  profitable. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  43 

SUTTON 

In  a  small  pocket  diary  kept  by  John  D.  Sutton,  dated  at  Alexandria,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1796,  he  speaks  of  teaching  a  school  in  Sonth  Carolina,  and  of  coming 
to  Alexandria  where  his  father  and  brother  James  lived.  At  his  father's  re- 
quest-, he  made  a  trip  to  what  is  now  Braxton  county  to  look  at  some  lands 
which  his  father  had  bought  out  of  the  John  Allison  survey,  lying  on  Granny's 
creek  and  the  Elk  river.  He  relates  that  he  came  by  Winchester  and  Lewis- 
burg,  thence  to  Charleston.  At  Charleston,  he  hired  a  canoe  and  procured  the 
assistance  of  a  riverman  to  bring  him  up  the  Elk  liver  to  the  mouth  of  Big 

Birch.     He  then  crossed  the  country,  and  came  to  the  home  of 

Carpenter  on  Laurel  creek.     This  man  was  probably  a  brother  to  Jerry  and 
a  grand-uncle  of  Dr.  John  L.   Carpenter. 

Prom  there  he  came  down  Laurel  creek,  noting  the  roughness  of  the  stream, 
and  telling  how  often  the  path  crossed  the  creek  between  Carpenter's  and  its 
mouth.  He  then  noted  the  fact  that  he  stopped  for  a  few  days  at  Jerry  Car- 
penter's home  who  lived  on  the  Elk.  This  was  only  six  years  after  the  massacre 
of  Benjamin  Carpenter  and  his  wife  at  the  mouth  of  Holly.  Solomon,  the  boy 
who  was  born  at  the  Camp  Rocks,  was  then  a  lad  of  but  six  years.  He  gives  no 
account  of  the  boy  in  his  diary,  but  he  says  that  the  Carpenters  prepared  pro- 
visions to  last  him  a  few  days.  He  speaks  of  getting  venison  meat  at 
Carpenter's. 

Prom  there,  he  came  down  the  Elk  to  what  is  probably  Platwoods  ran, 
and  there  he  crossed  the  country  to  the  head  of  Granny's  creek,  and  after  look- 
ing at  the  land,  he  says  that  he  went  down  the  creek  and  camped  under  a  cliff 
of  rocks.  Evidently  this  must  have  been  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Laurel  Pork. 
He  then  went  down  the  creek  to  its  mouth.  He  speaks  of  going  up  the  river 
about  a  mile  to  a  fine  bottom,  and  says  there  was  some  person  living  in  a  little 
cabin  on  the  bottom.  He  then  described  the  land  across  the  river,  also  another 
bottom  some  distance  up  the  river  near  the  mouth  of  Wolf  creek,  and  closed 
his  diary  by  saying  that  he  would  make  a  full  report  of  the  lands  when  he  re- 
turned to  Alexandria.  The  report  to  his  father  may  have  been  verbal,  but  if 
it  were  written  no  record  has  been  found.  We  are  therefore  left  without  any 
information  as  to  the  settlers  who  may  have  been  living  at  or  near  where  the 
town  is  now  located. 

ELK  RIVER 

We  give  a  list  as  far  as  we  have  ascertained  of  the  tributaries  and  shoals 
of  the  Elk  river: 

Big  Spring,  Berque  (S),  Leatherwood  (S),  Backfork  (N),  Brook's  ran 
(S),  Bear  run  (S),  Huston  (S),  Laurel  creek  (S),  Holly  (N),  Ben's  run 
(N),  Platwoods  run  (N),  Stony  creek  (S),  Wolf  (S),  Buckeye  (S),  Old 
Woman's  ran  (N),  Skidmore  run  (S),  Bear  creek  (S),  Granny's  creek  (N), 
Big  Buffalo  (S),  Little  Buffalo  (S),  Otter  (N),  Sugar  creek  (N),  Upper  Rock 


44  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Camp  (N),  Coon  creek  (S),  Big  ran  (N),  Lower  Rock  Camp  (N),  Upper  Mill 
creek  (S),  Lower  Mill  creek  (N),  Birch  river  (S),  Strange  creek  (S),  Snake 
creek  (S),  Lower  .Mill  creek  (N),  Duck  creek  (N),  Grove's  creek  (S),  Jumping 
gut  (S),  Waters  Defeat  (S),  Log  Shoal  (N),  Big  Otter  (N),  Big  Standing  Rock 
(S),  White  Oak  Top  (N),  Little  Standing  Rock  (S),  Long's  ran  (S),  Big 
Buffalo  (S),  Camp  creek  (S),  Big  Leatherwood  (S),  Middle  creek  (S),  Little 
Beechy  (S),  Big  Beechy  (S),  Blue  Knobs  (S),  Little  King  (S),  Big  Sycamore 
(S),  Birch  (S),  Big  Laurel  (N),  Deel's  creek  (N),  Porter's  creek  (S),  Upper 

King  (N),  Lower (N),  Queen  (S),  Morris'  creek  (S),  Big  Sandy  (N), 

Little  Leatherwood  (S),  Mother-in-law  (N),  Blue  creek  (S),  Little  Sandy  (N), 
Falling  Rock  (S),  Jordan's  creek  (N),  Mink  (N),  Two-Mile  (S),  Coal  Branch 
(S),  with  numerous  smaller  streams  that  drain  but  a  slight  portion  of  its 
water  shed. 

Lower  Flatwoods  inn  has  its  source  in  a  low  gap  on  the  Bison  Range,  and 
flows  through  the  Bowling  Green  flats  as  a  sluggish  stream  until  it  pours  over 
a  cliff  of  rocks  near  the  Adam  J.  Hyer  residence,  then  rushes  madly  over  pre- 
cipitous rocks  and  boulders  for  about  a  mile  and  a  half  where  it  empties  into 
the  Elk,  after  making  a  descent,  of  four  hundred  feet.  The  next  stream  to  this 
coming  into  the  Elk  from  the  north  side  is  Bee  run.  It  has  a  descent  of  three 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  from  its  source  to  its  mouth,  which  is  but  little  over  a 
mile  in  length. 

ELK  RIVER 

The  Elk  river  has  its  birth  in  the  junction  of  Old  Field  Fork  and  Big 
Spring  Fork,  just  east  of  Sharp  Knob  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Pocahontas 
county  and  flows  in  a  general  western!}7  direction,  emptying  into  the  Kanawha 
river  at  Charleston.  The  length  of  the  Elk  river,  from  source  to  mouth,  fol- 
lowing its  meanders,  is  172  miles.  It  flows  5  miles  through  Pocahontas  county, 
7  miles  through  Randolph,  41  miles  through  Webster,  44  miles  through  Braxton, 

45  miles  through  Clay  and  30  miles  through  Kanawha  county.  From  its  source 
to  Addison,  Webster  county,  the  Elk  river  falls  about  1250  feet  in  34  miles,  or 
the  rate  of  about  37  feet  to  the  mile.  From  Addison  to  Gassaway  the  fall  is 
660  feet  in  46  miles,  or  the  rate  of  14.3  feet  per  mile.  From  Gassaway  to 
Clay  the  fall  is  132  feet  in  41  miles,  or  at  the  rate  of  3.2  feet  to  the  mile. 
From  Clay  to  Porter,  the  fall  is  65  feet  in  23  miles,  or  at  the  rate  of  2.8  feet 
to  the  mile.  From  Porter  to  its  mouth  the  fall  is  42  feet  in  28  miles,  or  at 
the  rate  of  1.5  feet  per  mile.  Its  drainage  area  in  Kanawha  county  is  294 
square  miles. 

GAULEY  RIVER 

The  Gauley  river  has  its  source  in  the  junction  of  the  North,  Middle  and 
South  Forks  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Webster  county,  3  miles  northwest 
of  Buck  Knob  of  Gauley  mountain,  and  6  miles  due  west  of  the  source  of  the 
Elk  river,  and  flows  in  a  general  western  direction,  31  miles  through  Webster 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


45 


county;  then  in  a  general  southwestern  direction  41  miles  through  Nicholas 
county;  thence  in  a  general  western  direction  as  the  dividing  line  between 
Nicholas  and  Fayette  counties  for  25.5  miles;  thence  in  a  southern  direction 
through  Fayette  county  5.5  miles  to  Gauley  Bridge.  The  entire  length  by  the 
meanders  is  101  miles,  the  air  line  distance  between  the  same  points  being  55.5 
miles.  From  its  source  to  the  mouth  of  Meadow  river,  the  Gauley  river  falls 
1685  feet  in  73  miles,  or  at  the  rate  of  23.4  feet  per  mile.  From  the  mouth 
of  the  Meadow  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  'Gauley  it  falls  530  feet  in  29  miles,  or 
at  the  rate  of  18.3  feet  to  the  mile. 

LIST  OF  DRAINAGE  BASINS  OF  CENTRAL  WEST  VIRGINIA 


RU'ER 

Little  Kanawha. 


COUNTY         DRAINAGE   AREA 

.Lewis   17  sq.  miles 


Little  Kanawha Upshur  65  sq. 

Little  Kanawha Webster  19  sq. 

Elk  River Braxton  ..158  sq. 

Elk  River Webster  ...200  sq. 

Elk  River .Randolph  76  sq. 

Elk  River ..Pocahontas 71  sq. 

Holly  River Braxton   22  sq. 

Holly  River Webster  128  sq. 

Holly   River Randolph  4  sq. 

Birch  River Braxton 61  sq. 

Birch  River ...Nicholas  54  sq. 

Birch  River Webster   32  sq. 

Gauley  River .Nicholas  109  sq. 

Gauley  River .....Webster  114  sq. 

Gauley  River Randolph  6  sq. 

Gauley  River Pocahontas    4  sq. 

Williams  River Webster  70  sq. 

Williams   River .Pocahontas 65  sq. 

Cranberry  River Webster  49  sq. 

Cranberry  River Pocahontas   32  sq. 

Cranberry  River Greenbrier  1.5  sq. 

Cranberry  River Nicholas  20  sq. 

Cherry  River Nicholas  48  sq. 

Cherry  River Greenbrier  124  sq. 

Cherry  River.. Pocahontas 5  sq. 

Hominy  River Nicholas  95  sq. 

Hominy  River Greenbrier  12  sq. 

Muddlety   River... Nicholas  71  sq. 


miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 

miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 
miles 


REMARKS 

Between  Webster  and 
Upshur 


Excludes  Birch  and  Holly 
Excludes  Holly 
Excludes  Holly 


Above  and  Excluding  Mud- 
dlety and  Hominy  Basins 
(Gauley  Proper) 
(Gauley  Proper) 
(Gauley  Proper) 


46  SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 

BASIN  ROCKS— NATURAL  SCENERY 

There  is  a  peculiar  formation  called  Basin  Rocks  on  a  branch  of  Missouri 
run  of  Laurel  creek.  This  is  a  basin  or  rich  cove  in  the  head  of  a  hollow,com- 
prising  seventy-five  or  eighty  acres.  This  basin  is  surrounded  by  a  cliff  of 
rocks  which  average  in  height  about  thirty  feet,  standing  perpendicular  and 
in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  with  an  opening  at  the  lower  side  as  between  the 
corks  of  the  shoe.  In  this  enclosure,  wild  game  is  accustomed  to  feed,  and  the 
only  way  of  getting  in  or  out  is  by  the  opening  mentioned.  This  was  a  favorite 
place  for  the  hunter  to  pen  the  game.  The  pasture  was  luxuriant  as  the  land 
was  very  fertile,  and  it  was  not  unusual  for  a  hunter  to  make  a  good  haul.  The 
wildcat,  the  catamount,  the  panther  and  many  other  wild  animals  made  this  a 
special  rendezvous  as  they  had  an  opportunity  there  to  capture  such  game  as 
they  preyed  upon. 

On  one  occasion  Mr. Hosey  succeeded  in  killing  two  nice  deer 

at  the  Basin  Rocks.  Night  coming  on,  and  being  unable  to  get  home  with  his 
game,  he  lay  down  by  the  side  of  it  to  camp  for  the  night,  but  when  the  tired 
hunter  awoke  next  morning,  his  two  deer  had  been  almost  entirely  consumed. 
Within  the  stillness  of  the  night  while  Mr.  Hosey  was  wrapped  in  that  sweet 
embrace  which  slumber  brings  to  the  tired  man,  the  panthers  had  congregated 
and  in  cat-like  stealth  and  silence  had  enjoyed  a  royal  feast,  preferring  venison 
to  human  flesh.  We  have  sometimes  imagined  that  other  causes  intervened  to 
save  the  life  of  this  hunter.  Ramps  give  an  odor  almost  equal  to  the  cigarette 
of  the  present  day  and  grew  plentifully  at  that  time  in  the  wilds  of  the  forest, 
and  the  hunter  might  have  enjoyed  an  evening  meal  of  ramps. 

CAVERNS  AT  HEAD  OF  THE  ELK  RIVER 

Theory  and  all  known  facts  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  a  cave  of  enormous 
dimensions  exists  in  Randolph  county,  under  or  near  the  course  of  the  Elk 
river,  between  the  Pocahontas  county  line  and  the  mouth  of  Valley  Fork,  six 
miles  below.  But  no  one  has  ever  yet  found  an  entrance  into  the  cave,  and  its 
existance  cannot  be  positively  affirmed.  The  facts,  which  are  explained  on  the 
theory  of  a  vast  cave,  are  these:  The  Elk  river,  except  in  time  of  freshet, 
flows  into  a  crevice  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  or  when  very  low  disappears 
among  the  boulders  of  its  channel.  In  Pocahontas,  near  the  Randolph  line  and 
six  miles  below,  the  water  rushes  to  the  surface.  Its  underground  course  is 
through  limestone  and  it  must  flow  through  o-allcries  of  large  size.  In  1896, 
near  the  point  where  the  water  sinks,  a  portion  of  the  river  bottom  dropped 
down,  leaving  an  opening  about  fifteen  feet  square,  into  which  the  whole  river 
plunged  and  disappeared.  No  bottom  Avas  visible,  and  no  one  attempted  to 
enter  or  examine.  The  next  flood  filled  the  opening  with  boulders.  Between 
the  points  where  the  river  sinks  and  where  it  rises  to  the  surface,  a  distance  of 
six  miles,  there  are  no  streams  emptying  its  channel  on  the  surface,  except  in 
freshets ;  but  they  all  sink,  and  the  most  of  them  pour  into  sinkholes,  and  unless 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  47 

this  water  reaches  a  subterranean  channel  of  the  river,  its  destination  is  un- 
known. The  area  of  the  region  whose  streams  flow  into  sinkholes  is  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  square  miles;  and  the  supposed  underground  course  of  the  Elk  river 
passes  beneath  the  region.  The  conclusion  is  that  all  these  streams  which  sink, 
reach  the  waters  of  the  Elk  somewhere  under  the  ground;  and  those  meeting 
places  of  the  waters  and  galleries  through  which  they  flow  form  a  series  of 
caverns  and  chasms  of  great  dimensions.  Few  attempts  have  been  made  to 
penetrate  through  the  sinkholes  to  the  caves,  but  that  some  practicable  opening 
exists  somewhere  in  the  region  is  reasonable. 

A  LEDGE  OF  FLINT 

Near  the  "Brady  Gate,"  at  the  head  of  the  Elkwater,  is  a  ledge  of  flint., 
from  which,  no  doubt,  the  Indians  obtained  the  material  for  their  arrowheads. 
Flint  is  very  scai'ce  in  West  Virginia,  only  a  few  ledges  being  known,  the  chief 
one  being  on  the  Kanawha  river.  Indians  frequently  traveled  long  distances  to 
obtain  this  mateiial,  sometimes  carrying  it  from  Ohio,  as  is  supposed  from  the 
character  of  the  specimens  found  about  old  Indian  town-sites  in  the  valley  of 
the  Monongahela  and  its  tributaries.  Flint  is  a  deposit  in  crevices  of  rock 
and  lias  a  resemblance  (in  form)  to  veins  of  coal.  It  is  quartz,  in  character, 
but  it  splits  like  slate,  and  in  this  respect  differs  from  ordinary  quartz,  which 
breaks  with  a  ragged  fracture.  The  flint  ledge  on  the  head  of  the  Elkwater 
was  discovered  by  Claude  W.  Maxwell,  of  Tucker  county,  while  collecting 
material  for  the  history  of  Randolph. 


4S 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


BRAXTON  COUNTY  SCHOOLS 


Braxton  being  in  the  interior  of  the  state  and  very  sparsely  settled,  it  was 
not  until  about  the  year  1823  that  schools  were  taught  in  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  Braxton  county,  and  then  it  was  only  in  the  most  thickly  settled 

neighborhoods  that  there  could  be  children 
enough  gathered  at  one  place  to  make  a 
school  that  would  justify  the  patrons  to 
employ  a  teacher.  What  was  true  in  refer- 
ence to  the  scarcity  of  pupils  was  also  true 
in  reference  to  school  houses.  Neighbor- 
hoods built  their  own  houses  and  furnished 
them.  The  way  of  building  a  school-house 
was  by  voluntary  labor.  The  citizens  of 
a  neighborhood  would  agree  first  upon  the 
location,  then  they  would  meet  and  cut 
logs.  Some  patron  having  a  team  would 
draw  the  logs  together,  and  some  one  handy 
with  the  fi'oe  and  broad-ax  would  make 
the  boards  and  hew  out  the  puncheons  for 
the  building.  Then  they  would  set  a  day 
for  a  public  gathering  to  raise  the  walls  of 
the  house,  and  if  the  day  were  fair  and  the 
attendance  good,  the  house  would  be  raised 
and  covered.  Then  a  chimney  was  built 
as  high  as  the  mantel,  the  stem  of  the 
chimney  being  built  of  cat  and  clay.  The 
jams  and  backwall  were  made,  of  rocks.  The  mantel  was  often  made  out  of  a 
large  piece  of  hewn  timber.  The  fireplace,  being  very  wide,  it  was  inconven- 
ient to  get  rocks  long  enough  for  a  mantel  piece.  The  house  being  raised  and 
covered  and  the  puncheon1  floor  laid,  the  next  thing  was  to  chink  and  daub  the 
cracks.  This  was  done  by  splitting  out  pieces  of  timber  with  one  thin  edge  to 
fit  the  cracks,  these  pieces  were  kept  to  their  places  by  keys  or  wedges.  Mortar 
or  moss  was  used  to  close  up  the  joints,  thus  making  the  house  comfortable. 
In  addition  to  this,  a  log  was  taken  out  of  the  side  of  the  house  and  the  open 
space  covered  with  paper,  this  being  the  window.  The  paper  was  first  greased 
to  preserve  it  as  well  as  to  render  it  more  transparent.  In  front  of  this  space 
was  the  writing  desk.  This  consisted  of  a  wide  plank  extending  across  the 
space  made  by  the  removal  of  the  log,  and  was  supported  by  wooden  pins 
driven  in  augur  holes  immediately  below.  The  seats  were  another  important 
item.  They  were  made  of  split  logs  with  the  round  side  placed  down,  sup- 
ported by  legs  at  each  end.  The  seats  were  made  in  heights  for  large  scholars, 
the  little  folks  letting  their  feet  hang  down.  A  door  was  sometimes  made  of 
plank,  but  often  of  thin  split  timber  or  boards,  the  doors  being  from  five  to  five 
and  a  half  feet  high.    Joists  were  placed  across  the  building  at  a  height  of  six 


WM.    D.    BAXTER 

One   of   the   old   shouting   Methodists, 
65   years   a  member  of  church 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  •  49 

or  six  and  a  half  feet,  and  these  were  covered  with  clapboards.  The  house 
being  completed,  the  teacher  would  take  the  contract  and  get  the  patrons  to 
subscribe  so  many  scholars.     The  contract  would  read  about  as  follows: 

"We,  the  undersigned,  William  Lyons,  teacher,  of  the  one  part, 
and  the  undersigned  patrons  of  the  school,  witnesseth : 

' '  That  the  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  teach  a  school  of  not 
less  than  twelve  scholars  at  Buffalo  school-house,  beginning  Novem- 
ber 15,  1851,  embracing  a  term  of  three  months,  and  agrees  to  teach 
the  following  branches:  McGuffey's  Spelling  Book  and  Third  Reader, 
Ray's  Arithmetic  and  the  New  Testament,  for  the  amount  of  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  scholar.  And  we,  the  patrons  of  the  second 
part,  agree  to  send  the  number  of  scholars  hereby  subscribed. 

"Given  under  our  hands  this  the  day  and  date  above. 

William  Lyons,  Teacher. 
Jacob  Delany,  3  scholars. 
Albert  Johnson,  1   Vo  scholars. 
Marshall  James,  2  scholars. 
Martin  McDuff,  4  scholars. 
John  Mace,  3  V2   scholar's. 
Susan  Murphy,  1  1.4  scholars. 

The  required  number  of  scholars  having  been  subscribed,  all  looked  forward 
with  great  interest  to  the  winter  school.  The  teacher,  being  a  stranger,  there 
was  great  speculation  among  the  scholars  as  to  his  ability  as  a  teacher,  his 
morality  and  the  rules  and  order  of  the  school.  Some  of  the  larger  boys  were 
anxious  to  size  him  up  and  discern  from  his  manner  and  the  snap  of  his  eye, 
which  is  the  index  of  the  human  character,  whether  it  would  be  safe  to  bar 
him  out  of  the  house,  should  he  refuse  to  give  Christmas  holidays.  This  was 
very  frequently  done  with  teachers.  It  was  nothing  less  than  what  we  call 
in  modern  days,  a  strike.  The  larger  scholars  first  demanded  a  suspension  of 
so  many  days  during  Christmas  and  New  Year,  and  this  being  refused,  they 
went  on  a  strike  and  endeavored  to  enforce  their  demands  by  barring  the  door 
against  the  teacher.  Sometimes  they  Avent  so  far  as  to  take  him  to  some  pool 
of  water  for  a  winter  bath.  All  the  differences  arising  among  the  boys  that 
called  for  a  vindication  of  honor  were  scheduled  to  be  pulled  off  on  the  last  day 
of  the  school.  When  boys  in  the  heat  of  passion,  will  let  an  opportunity  pass 
and  grant  a  continuance,  the  case  is  rarely  ever  tried.  But  the  good  old 
winter  days  have  gone  by,  possibly  never  to  return. 

Sometimes  the  patrons  of  the  school  would  meet  on  Saturday,  and  get 
wood,  but  the  greater  portion  of  the  wood  for  the  school  was  obtained  by  the 
scholars.     The  large  boys  would  drag  in  good  sized  trees  by  dulling  a  chain 


50  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

around  the  log.  They  would  then  twist  some  hickory  withes  and  attach  to  the 
chain.  They  would  then  place  cross-bars  about  six  feet  long  and  by  these  the 
boys  would  pull,  often  having  three  or  four  couples,  making  a  team  of  six  or 
eight  strong  boys.  It  was  surprising  the  loads  of  wood  they  were  able  to  pull. 
Some  one  of  the  patrons,  having  an  extra  ax,  would  lend  it  to  the  school  during 
the  winter.  The  fire-place  being  from  four  to  six  feet  wide,  it  required  two 
strong  young  men  to  put  on  a  back  log.  Wood-getting  was  not  a  burden,  but 
was  entered  into  with  as  much  zest  and  energy  as  a  ball  game.  The  young 
ladies  of  the  school  took  great  interest  in  Avatchhig  the  boy  teams  haul  in  logs 
and  play  baseball,  while  they  would  have  their  little  plays!  going  on  near  the 
ball  yard.  There  never  was  a  country  school  taught  in  which  there  were  not 
little  love  affairs  springing  up  which  often  ripened  into  the  most  happy  mar- 
riages. Usually  twice  a  month,  the  school  would  have  a  spelling  race  on  Friday 
afternoon,  and  occasionally  one  would  be  held  at  night.  Frequently  two  schools 
would  meet  and  spell  against  each  other.  Sometimes  a  scholar  would  keep  the 
floor  until  the  whole  school  would  be  turned  down,  or  the  book  gone  through 
without  missing  a  word. 

Many  of  the  young  ladies  who  attended  the  primitive  schools  of  centra] 
West  Virginia,  with  forms  of  beauty  and  cheeks  as  pink  as  a  rose,  whose  hearts 
beat  true  with  womanly  love  and  virtue,  have  laid  the  foundation  for  a  higher 
education  for  their  children  and  their  grandchildren,  and  Ave  doubt  whether 
there  is  a  man  living  who  secured  his  education  in  the  old  school-hoyse  who 
does  not  recall  those  early  days  with  pride  and  animation.  Some  of  them  have 
made  successful  business  men;  others  have  filled  positions  of  honor  and  trust; 
some  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the  various  professions ;  others  on  the 
battle  field. 

Following  is  a  partial  list  of  teachers  who  taught  in  fthis  county  before  the 
Civil  war:  Joseph  House  who  is  said  to  have  taught  the  first  school  in  a  log 
cabin  on  O'Brien's  fork  of  Salt  Lick,  in  the  year  1823;  William  Berry  who 
taught  a  school  at  or  near  the  above  date  in  the  same  locality ;  Elizabeth  Chaney, 
Adam  Given,  William  Morrison,  William  Bates,  William  Davis,  William  Hutch- 
inson, William  D.  Baxter,  William  Lyons,  Felix  Sutton,  W.  F.  Corley,  James 
H.  McCutcheon,  Asa  Squires,  Nancy  Mealey,  Nancy  Young,  Jackson  Singleton, 

Catherine  Berry, Haynes,  Charles  Ruckman,  Henry  Mitchell,  Andrew 

Robins,  Theodore  Robins,  Dr.  Job  McMorrow,  Jonathan  Koiner,  F.  J.  Baxter, 
Dr.  Thomas  Duffield,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  Augustus  Beamer,  Adam  Given,  Ann 
McAnany,  John  D.  Baxter,  Charles  S.  Smith. 

It  was  the  custom  for  scholars  at  school,  at  least  the  larger,  ones,  to  visit 
one  another  over  night,  within  the  short  term  of  school,  and  the  following  day 
they  would  eat  dinner  with  the  parties  with  whom  they  had  been  visiting.  Vis- 
iting at  school  was  a  great  social  function.  Often  the  teacher  would  spend  the 
night  with  his  scholars.  This  occasion  was  greatly  enjoyed  at  the  children's 
home  as  the  teacher  was  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of  royal  guest. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


51 


Under  the  old  system,  when  the  State  furnished  assistance  only  to  those 
who  were  unable  to  send  their  children  to  pay  schools,  it  was  thought  by  some  to 
be  a  reflection  to  be  thus  assisted  in  their  education;  but  some  might  object,  and 
doubtless  have,  to  send  their  children  to  the  public  schools  of  the  present  day. 
Moreover,  it  takes  time  and  experience  to  perfect  any  system  or  form  of  govern- 
ment. If,  under  the  old  system,  we  had  possessed  the  great  wealth  and  resources 
to  draw  upon  that  we  have  at  this  time,  the  country  would  have  responded  as 
cheerfully  and  as  liberally  to  the  cause  of  education  as  it  does  today. 

Following  is  a  copy  of  a  case  where  assistance  was  given  children  to  attend 
school : 


The.  School  Commissioners  of  Braxton  County. 

For  tuition  of  poor  children  entered  by  John  Given,  Esq.,  School  Commis- 
siner  of  District  No.  2,  under  his  subscription  of  one  hundred  sixty-nine 
days,  in  account  with  J.  Given,  for  the  quarter  ending  the  2nd  of  Feb.. 
1849. 

NAME 

Age 

Father 

No. 
Days 

Rate 

Subjects  Taught 

Anthony 

Nathaniel 

George 

15 

9 

12 

James 

Dec. 

4th 

1348 

59 
55 
55 

3c 

$1.77 
1.65 
1.65 

Reading 
Writing  and 
Spelling 

169 

$5.07 

Braxton  County,  to-wit: 
This  day  John  Given  came  before 
me,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the 
County  aforesaid,  and  made  oath 
that  the  above  account  is  just  and 
true,    given   under   my   hand   this 
18th  day  of  July,  1849. 

L.  D.  Camden,  J.  P. 

To     the     Superintendent     of 
Schools   of  Braxton   County,   pay 
John  Given  or  order  Five  Dollars 
and  seven  cents  for  the  tuition  of 
poor  children,   entered  by   me  at 
his  school,  agreeable  to  the  above 
account. 

John  Given,  S.  C. 
July  18,  1849. 

5Z  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

BRAXTON  COUNTY  SCHOOLS. 

We  wish  here  to  show  the  form  of  disbursement  of  school  funds,  and  the 
tax  receipts  showing  the  amount  of  taxes  collected  in  1842  from  Andrew  Skid- 
more,  and  the  amount  on  the  same  land  with  scarcely  better  improvements,  and 
buildings  of  no  greater  value: 

1842. 

Andrew  Skidmore  to  the  Sheriff  of  Braxton  Du. 

To  County  &  Parish  Levy  on  2  Titles $4.50 

Revenue   on  3   Horses , '37 

Same  on  140  acres  of  land,  south  side  of  Elk 1.0,3 

Received  payment,  Sept.  21,  1842 ....$5.92 

Felix  Sutton  S.B.C. 


The  taxes  on  the  same  land  at  this  time  are  about  twenty  times  as  much  as 
in  1842,  yet  the  increased  facilities  are  such  on  this  particular  farm  which  is  a 
fair  sample  of  all  other  farms  of  similar  value  in  the  country ,  can  stand  the 
present  rate  of  taxation,  with  less  effort  than  the  burden  bourne  in  1842.  There 
is  no  unprejudiced  mind  that  can  point  with  derision  to  the  fathers.  They  did 
the  best  they  could;  they  made  as  great  an  effort  to  advance  the  general  inter- 
ests of  education  with  the  means  at  their  command  as  is  being  put  forth  today. 

Ft  may  be  that  the  present  school  system  fifty  years  hence  may  be  subject 
to  as.  great  a  comparison  as  now  exists  against  the  old  school  system  of  our 
fathers.  We  never  see  an  old  pile  of  burned  stone  where  once  stood  the  chimney 
at  the  end  of  the  old  log  schoolhouse,  that  we  don't  say,  "All  hail  and  veneration 
to  the  splendid  type  of  citizenship  that  sacrificed  for  their  own  and  future  gen- 
erations."  The  general  public  was  fortunate  if  they  received  as  much  as  three 
winter  terms  of  three  months  each,  aggregating  nine  months,  and  from  that 
general  class  of  students  came  the  most  intelligent  men  and  women,  doctors, 
lawyers,  ministers,  statesmen,  farmers  and  law-makers.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to 
say  that  the  close  application  of  the  scholars  in  the  schools  rendered  them  as 
efficient  for  good  citizenship  and  the  various  positions  of  life,  as  is  now7  acquired 
by  the  eight-year  primary  course. 

The  old  log  schoolhouse,  with  all  of  its  surroundings,  primitive  and  simple 
though  they  were,  yet  around  them  cluster  memories  never  to  be  forgotten. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


53 


SCHOOL    HOUSE 

Erected  before  the  Civil  War  — 
now    standing 


Neither  wealth,  fame  nor  any  earthly  gift 
could  detract  one  jot  or  tittle  from  the  old 
moss-chinked  schoolhouse  of  our  youth.  The 
associations  of  that  day  formed  a  basis,  and 
gave  inspiration  that  lent  dignity  and  grace 
to  every  pulpit,  learning  to  every  bar,  made 
creditable  and  honorable  all  the  professions, 
drove  forward  with  energy  and  skill  the 
business  of  the  State,  sent  teachers  out  into 
the  world  and  clothed  the  farmer  with  dig- 
nity and  independence. 

The  people  of  central  West  Virginia 
had  but  limited  opportunities  to  obtain  an 
education  in  the  higher  branches.  The  first 
school  of  any  note,  was  called  Randolph 
Academy,  established  in  1795,  and  in  1843 
the  Northwestern  Virginia  Academy  was 
opened  to  pupils.  These  educational  insti- 
tutions were  located  in  Clarksburg.  They 
did  a  great  deal  to  build  up  the  interests  of 
education  in  their  locality  and  the  surround- 
ing country.  About  the  year  1845  or  1850, 
some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Nicholas  coun- 
ty established  a  grammar  school  at  Summersville  which  was  quite  a  factor  in 
that  and  adjoining  sections  in  giving  the  rudiments  of  an  education!.  The  town 
of  Charleston  before  the  Civil  war  had  quite  a  good  school.  A  few  years  prior 
to  the  war,  and  immediately  afterwards,  quite  a  number  of  people  from.  Brax- 
ton and  adjoining  counties  attended  the  Academy  at  Morgantown,  an  institu- 
tion which  was  finally  merged  into  the  West  Virginia  University. 

J.  W.  Humphrey  taught  a  subscription  school  at  the  forks  of  Otter  in  the 
year  of  1S63,  and  the  house  burned  a  few  weeks  before  the  three-months'  term 
ended,  and  he  then  taught  a  school  on  the  Middle  fork  of  Cedar  creek,  in  a 
house  near  Harvila  Shaver's  place.  This  was  perhaps  the  last  school  taught  in 
Braxton  county  under  the  old  subscription  system,  except  some  select  schools 
after  the  war  closed. 

Mr.  Humphrey  relates  that  he  taught  on  that  memorable  New  Year's  day 
when  the  extreme  cold  held  the  land  in  an  Arctic  grip;  that  within  the  day 
a  squad  of  Federal  soldiers  came  into  the  house,  set  their  guns  down  and 
warmed  themselves,  then  went  on  their  way. 

Mi .  Humphrey  taught  the  first  free  school  which  was  taught  in  the  county, 
in  the  same  lumse,  a  picture  of  which  is  shown.  He  began  on  Monday,  the  3rd 
day  of  September,  1S66.  The  new  school  system  was  late  in  being  organized. 
The  Superintendent  of  Schools  was  D.  S.  Squires.  The  Trustees  of  the  school 
were  Jacob  Shaver,  Jacob  Riffle  and  Jacob  Westfall,  three  Jacobs  living  on  the 
heads  of  the  Three  forks  of  Cedar  creek.     The  township  was  called  Lincoln. 


C4  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

One  crippled  Federal  soldier,  M.  D.  Shaver,  attended  this  school.  His  salary  was 
Thirty  dollars. 

Mr.  Humphrey  says  his  birthday  is  the  16th  of  April,  and  that  on  that  day 
President  Lincoln  declared  war,  and  on  that  same  day,  four  years  later,  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  died,  it  being  Easter  Sunday. 

Parties  who  have  represented  Braxton  county  in  the  various  Legislative 
bodies  of  the  State  and  Nation: 

It  is  very  probable  that  John  Haymond  was  the  first  man,  residing  in  what 
is  now  Braxton  County,  who  ever  sat  in  the  Virginia  legislature.  John  Hay- 
mond was  in  the  Senate  of  Virginia  in  the  sessions  beginning  in  1797,  1798, 
1799,  1800  and  1801,  the  last  session  in  which  he  served  beginning  on  the  7th 
day  of  December,  1801  and  ended  January  2,  1802.  Haymond 's  History  of 
Harrison  County,  states  that  John  Haymond  was  born  in  1765  in  Maryland,, 
and  came  with  his  father  to  near  Morgantown  in  1773,  and  that  about  the  year 
1807  he  moved  to  Little  Kanawha.  We  know  that  this  John  Haymond  located 
at  Bulltown  and  established  the  salt  works  there.  It  may  be  that  John  Hay- 
mond did  not  move  to  Braxton  County  until  after  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  office  as  member  of  the  Virginia  Senate  but  it  is  probable  that  he  was  still 
a  member  of  that  body  when  he  moved  to  Bulltown. 

Hedgeman  Triplett  was  elected  to  the  Virginia  Assembly  and  served  in  the 
sessions  of  1821,  1822  and  1826.  Triplett  lived  in  what  is  now  Birch  District, 
Braxton  County.  Addison  McLaughlin  served  in  the  Virginia  Assembly  from 
Nicholas  Comity  in  the  years  of  1828,  1829  and  1831.  These  gentlemen  were 
the  only  ones  who  resided  Avithin  the  limits  of  what  is  now  Braxton  County  and 
served  in  the  Virginia  Assembly  prior  to  the  formation  of  the  county. 

Braxton  County  was  formed  in  1836  and  a  delegate  district  composed  of 
the  counties  of  Braxton  and  Lewis  was  created.  This  district  was  represented 
in  the  various  seessions  of  the  Assembly  as  follows: 

For  1836— Thomas  Bland. 

For  1838— Marshall  Triplett. 

For  1839 — January  session,  Weeden  Hoffman. 

For  1839 — December  session,  Jacob  J.  Jackson. 

For  1840 — Jacob  J.  Jackson. 

For  1841— Philip  Cox. 

For  1842— Cabell  Tavener. 

For  1843— Matthew  Edmiston. 

For  1844— Samuel  L.  Hays. 

Of  the  gentlemen  above  named,  Marshall  Triplett  was  the  only  one  who  re- 
sided in  Braxton  County.  Hays  lived  in  what  is  now  Gilmer  County.  All  the 
others  resided  in  Lewis  County. 

Gilmer  County  was  formed  in  1845,  so  that  the  delegate  district  was  them 
made  up  of  the  counties  of  Braxton,  Lewis  and  Gilmer. 

This  district  was  represented  as  follows: 

1845 — John  S.  Camden. 

1846 — James  Bennett. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  55 

1847 — Addison  McLaughlin. 

1848 — Benjamin  W.  Byrne. 

1849 — James  Bennett. 

1850 — Samuel  L.  Hays. 

Of  these  gentlemen,  Camden.  McLaughlin  and  Byrne  lived  in  Braxton 
County. 

About  1852  there  was  formed  a  delegate  district  of  Braxton  and  Nicholas, 
which  was  represented  as  follows: 

1852— Eobert  Dunlap. 

1853— James  F.  Given. 

1855— Marshall  Triplett. 

1857 — Benjamin  W.  Byrne. 

I  understand  Dunlap  lived  in  Nicholas  County  and  Given,  Byrne  and 
Triplett  in  Braxton  County. 

About  the  year  1859  there  was  formed  a  delegate  district  of  Braxton, 
Nicholas  and  Clay.  Joseph  A.  Alderson  of  Nicholas  represented  the  district 
in  the  session  of  1859  and  Duncan  McLaughlin  in  the  session  of  1861. 

In  the  session  of  1863,  the  delegate  district  of  Braxton,  Nicholas,  Clay  and 
Webster  was  represented  by  Luthur  D.  Haymond.  This  was  the  last  session  of 
the  Virginia  Assembly  in  which  a  resident  of  Braxton  County  appeared  as  a 
member. 

The  constitution  of  West  Virginia  of  1863,  provided  that  the  county  of 
Braxton  should  be  entitled  to  one  member  in  the  House  of  Delegates.  The  con- 
stitution of  West  Virginia  of  1872  contained  the  same  provision.  This  county 
regularly  elected  one  delegate  until  1892.  In  the  session  of  the  legislature  of 
1891  there  was  created  a  delegate  district  composed  of  Braxton  and  Clay,  with 
two  delegates,  and  this  was  continued  until  1901,  when  in  the  new  apportion- 
ment, Braxton  was  given  two  delegates  which  has  continued  to  this  date.  The 
following  named  gentlemen  have  represented  Braxton  County  in  the  legislature 
of  West  Virginia  in  the  sessions  which  precede  their  respective  names. 

Session  1863— Felix  Sutton. 

Session  1864 — Felix  Sutton. 

Session  1865 — Harvey  F.  Hyer. 

Session  1866 — James  F.   Given. 

Session  1867— G.  F.  Taylor. 

Session  1868 — Henry  Bender. 

Session  1869 — Elias  Cunningham. 

Session  1870— Alpheus  McCoy. 

Session  1871— W.  D.  Rollyscn. 

Session  1872— W.  D.  Rollyson. 

Session  1873 — George  F.  Morrison. 

Session  1875 — Daniel  S.  Squires. 

Session  1877— B.  F.  Fisher. 

Session  1879— Ellis  S.  Hyer. 

Session  1881— B.  F.   Fisher. 


56  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Session  1883 — James   A.    Boggs. 

Session  1885— B.   F.  'Fisher. 

Session  1887 — Peyton  Byrne. 

Session  1889 — George  Goad. 

Session  1891 — George  Goad. 

Session' 1S93 — George  Goad,  Richard  Shelton. 

Session  1895 — J.  W.  Kidd,  Joseph  A.  Pierson. 

Session  1897— E.  W.  Cutlip,  J.  B.  Sirk. 

Session  1899 — Jake  Fisher,  John  H.  Long. 

Session  1901 — Jake  Fisher,  J.  S.  Cochran. 

Session  1903— John  S.  Garee  (died  in  office),  E.  B.  Carlin,  R.  M.  Caven- 
dish elected  to  succeed  Garee. 

Session  1905— E.  B.  Carlin,  R.  M.  Cavendish. 

Session  1907— S.  Wise  Stalnaker,  T.  M.  Dean. 

Session  1909— W.  L.  Brosius,  P.  H.  Murphy. 

Session  1911— L.  J.  Shock,  Frank  H.  Kidd. 

Session  1913— M.  T.  Morrison,  John  L.  Rhea. 

Session  1915 — John  I.  Bender,  James  C.  Boone,  L.  T.  Harvy,  Lee  Rader. 

This(  completes  the  list  of  representatives  in  Virginia  Assembly  and  the 
House  of  Delegates  of  West  Virginia,  to  this  date. 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  Braxton  County  in  1836,  the  senatorial 
district  in  which  Braxton  County  was  included  was  composed  of  the  counties 
of  Harrison,  Wood,  Lewis  and  Braxton.  Richie  was  formed  in  1843  and  added 
to  the  district,  Taylor  in  1844,  Doddridge  and  Gilmer  in  1845  and  Wirt  in 
1848  and  were  all  added  to  the  district  as  formed,  these  counties  being  included 
within  the  original  boundaries  of  the  counties  of  Harrison,  Wood,  Lewis  and 
Braxton.     This  district  was  continued  until  1852. 

About  1852  a  new  district  was  composed  of  the  counties  of  Greenbrier, 
Nicholas,  Fayette,  Pocahontas,  Raleigh  and  Braxton.  Clay  Avas  added  in  1859, 
a  part  of  Webster  in  1861  and  all  of  Webster  in  1863.  Below  appears  a  list 
of  the  members  of  the  Virginia  Senate  who  represented  Braxton  County  for 
the  sessions  which  precede  their  respective  names. 

1836— Waldo  P.  Goff  of  Harrison  County. 

1838— Thomas  Bland  of  Lewis  County. 

1839- -Thomas  Bland  of  Lewis  County. 

1840 — Thomas  Bland  of  Lewis  County. 

1841 — Wilson  K.  Shinn  of  Wood  County. 

1842— Wilson  K.  Shinn  of  Wood  County. 

1843— Wilson  K.  Shinn  of  Wood  County. 

1844— Wilson  K.  Shinn  of  Wood  County. 

1845 — John  G.  Stringer  of  Harrison  County. 

1846 — John  G.  Stringer  of  Harrison  County. 

1847 — John  G.  Stringer  of  Harrison  County. 

1848 — John  G.  Stringer  of  Harrison  County. 

1849 — Matthew  Edmiston  of  Harrison  County. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  57 

1850 — Matthew  Edniiston  of  Harrison  County. 
1852 — Thomas  Creigh  of  Greenbrier  County. 
1853 — Thomas  Creigh  of  Greenbrier  County. 
1855 — Thomas  Creigh  of  Greenbrier  County. 
1857 — William  Smith  of  Greenbrier  County. 
1859 — William  Smith  of  Greenbrier  County. 
1861 — Joseph  A.  Alderson  of  Nicholas  County. 
1863 — Joseph  A.  Alderson  of  Nicholas  County. 

Under  the  constitution  of  West  Virginia  of  1863  the  counties  of  Barbour, 
Tucker,  Lewis,  Braxton,  Upshur  and  Randolph  constituted  the  Sixth  Senatorial 
District. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1872  the  counties  of  Kanawha,  Clay,  Nicholas, 
Braxton  and  Webster  constituted  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District.  In  the  re-dis- 
tricting which  followed,  these  same  counties  made  up  the  Ninth  Senatorial 
District,  which  continued  until  1901.  In  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  1901 
the  present  Tenth  Senatorial  District  was  formed,  composed  of  the  counties 
of  Braxton,  Calhoun,  Gilmer,  Webster  and  Pocahontas.  Below  will  be  found 
a  list  of  members  of  the  senate  of  West  Virginia  who  represented  the  county 
of  Braxton  from  1863  to  this  date,  the  session  in  which  they  served  preceding 
their  respective  names. 

1863— W.  D.  Rollyson,  Braxton  County;  D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County. 
1864 — W.  D.  Rollyson,  Braxton  County ;  D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County. 
1865 — James  M.  Coxiey,  Lewis  County;  D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County. 

1866 — James  M.  Corley,  Lewis  County;  Ernest  J.  O'Brien,  

1867— D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County;  Ernest  J.  O'Brien,  

1868 — D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County;  Willis  J.  Drummond,  Barbour 

County. 
1869 — D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County ;  Willis  J.   Drummond,  Barbour 

County. 
1870 — D.  D.  T.  Farnsworth,  Upshur  County;  Spencer  Dayton,  Barbour  County. 
1871 — William  C.  Carper,  Upshur  County;  Spencer  Dayton,  Barbour  County. 
1872 — William    C.    Carper,    Upshur    County;    Geoi-ge    H.    Morrisjon,    Braxton 

County. 
1872-3 — Winston   Shelton,    Nicholas    County;   Albert   E.    Summers,   Kanawha 

County. 
1875 — Winston    Shelton,    Nicholas    County:    William    T.    Burdette,    Kanawha 

County. 
1877 — Felix  J.  Baxter,  Braxton  County  ;  William  T.  Burdette,  Kanawha  County. 
1879 — Felix  J.  Baxter,  Braxton  County;  Albert.  E.  Summers,  Kanawha  County. 
1881 — Albert  E.  Summers,  KanaAvha  County;  Harvey  Samples,  Clay  County. 
1883 — Benjamin  W.  Byrne,  Kanawha  County;  Harvey  Samples,  Clay  County. 
1885 — Benjamin  W.  Byrne,  Kanawha  County ;  J.  W.  Morrison,  Braxton  County. 
1887 — Robert  S.  Carr,  Kanawha  County;  J.  W.  Morrison,  Braxton  County. 
1889 — Robert  S.  Carr,  Kanawha  County;  J.  W.  Morrison,  Braxton  County. 


58  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

1891 — C.  C.  Watts,  Kanawha  County;  J.  W.  Morrison,  Braxton  County. 
1893 — C.  C.  Watts,  Kanawha  County;  John  E.  Peck,  Nicholas  County. 
1895 — George  W.  Patton,  Kanawha  County;  John  E.  Peek,  Nicholas  County. 
1897 — E.  G.  Pierson,  Clay  County;  George  W.  Patton,  Kanawha  County. 
1901 — Walter  L.  Ashley,  Kanawha  County;  A.  J.  Horan,  Nicholas  County. 
1903- -R.  F.  Kidd,  Gilmer  County;  A.  J.  Horan,  Nicholas  County. 
1905 — P.  F.  Kidd,  Gilmer  County;  Jake  Fisher,  Braxton  County. 
1907 — R.  F.  Kidd,  Gilmer  County;  Jake  Fisher,  Braxton  County. 
1909— R.  F.  Kidd,  Gilmer  County;  Jake  Fisher,  Braxton  County. 
1911 — R.  F.  Kidd,  Gilmer  County;  Jake  Fisher,  Braxton  Coiinty. 
1913 — R.  F.  Kidd,  Gilmer  County;  Fred  L.  Fox,  Braxton  County. 
1915— E.  H.  Morton,  Webster  County;  Fred  L.  Fox,  Braxton  County. 

In  the  apportionment  of  the  Congressional  District  made  under  the  census 
of  1830,  what  is  now  Braxton  County  was  located  in  the  two  districts,  the  Nine- 
teenth and  Twentieth.  The  Nineteenth  District  was  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Fayette,  Nicholas,  Greenbrier,  Monroe,  Kanawha,  and  Cabell.  The  Twentieth 
was  composed  of  the  counties  of  Harrison,  Wood,  Lewis,  Mason,  Jackson,  Ran- 
dolph and  Pocahontas.  Braxton  County  having  been  made  up  of  territory 
taken  from  the  counties  of  Nicholas  and  Lewis,  was  therefore,  in  both  of  these 
districts. 

In  the  census  of  1840,  Braxton  County  was  placed  in  the  Fourteenth  Con- 
gressional District  of  Virginia,  composed  of  the  countie-s  of  Kanawha,  Jackson, 
Mason,  Cabell,  Wayne,  Lewis,  Harrison,  Braxton,  Wood,  Fayette  and  Nicholas. 

Under  the  census  of  1850,  Braxton  County  was  placed  in  the  Eleventh 
Congressional  District  of  Virginia,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Lewis,  Upshur, 
Harrison,  Barbour,  Randolph,  Braxton,  Doddridge,  Richie,  Gilmer,  Wood, 
Wirt,  Jackson,  Mason,  Putnam,  Cabell,  and  Kanawha.  This  apportionment  contin- 
ued until  the  formation  of  West  Virginia.  The  names  of  the  gentlemen  who  were 
elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  district  in  which  Braxton 
County  was  included  appear  below,  the  date  of  their  election  preeeeding  their 
respective  names. 

1836 — Joseph  Johnson  of  Harrison  County;  Andrew  Beirne  of  Monroe  County. 
1838 — Joseph  Johnson  of  Harrison  County;  Andrew  Beimc  of  Monroe  County. 
1840 — George  W.   Summers  of  Kanawha  County;  Samuel  L.  Hays  of   (now) 

Gilmer  County. 
1842 — George  W.  Summers  of  Kanawha  County. 
1844 — Joseph  Johnson  of  Harrison  County. 
1846 — Robert  A.  Thompson  of  Kanawha  County. 
1848--James  M.  H.  Bealle  of  Mason  County. 
1850— James  M.  H.  Bealle  of  Mason  County. 
1852 — John  F.    Snodgrass   of  Wood   County;   Charles  S.   Lewis  of  Harrison 

County. 
1854 — John   S.  Carlisle  of  Harrison  County;  Albert  G.  Jenkins  of  Harrison 
County. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  59 

1858 — Albert  G.  Jenkins  of  Mason  County. 

1860 — John  S.  Carlisle  of  Harrison  County;  Jacob  B.  Blair  of  Wood  Comity. 
John  F.  Snodgrass  died  in  office  and  Charles  S.  Lewis  was  elected  for  his 
unexpired  term.     John  S.  Carlisle  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in 
1861  and  Jacob  B.  Blair  was  elected  to  succeed  him  for  the  unexpired  term. 

After  the  formation  of  West  Virginia,  the  state  was  divided  into  three  Con- 
gressional Districts  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  September  10,  1863. 
Braxton  County  was  placed  in  the  Third  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Kanawha.  Jackson,  Mason,  Putnam,  Cabell,  Clay,  Wayne,  Logan,  Boone,  Brax- 
ton, Nicholas,  Roane,  McDowell,  Wyoming,  Raleigh,  Fayette,  Mercer,  Monroe 
and  Greenbrier. 

This  district  continued  until  1882.  On  March  14,  1882,  an  act  was  passed 
dividing  the  state  into  four  districts,  Braxton  was  placed  in  the  First  District, 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Hancock,  Brooke,  Ohio,  Marshall,  Wetzel,  Tyler, 
Doddridge,  Harrison,  Gilmer,  Lewis  and  Braxton. 

In  1901,  the  state  was  divided  into  five  districts.  Braxton  County  was 
placed  in  the  Fourth  District,  composed  of  the  counties  Tyler,  Pleasants,  Wood, 
Richie,  Doddridge,  Gilmer,  Braxton,  Calhoun.  Wirt,  Roane  and  Jackson. 

In  1915  the  state  was  divided  into  six  districts,  Braxton  County  was  placed 
in  the  Third  District  composed  of  the  counties  of  Harrison,  "Upshur,  Lewis, 
Braxton,  Nicholas,  Webster,  Doddridge,  Gilmer,  Calhoun,  Clay  and  Richie. 

Since  the  formation  of  West  Virginia,  the  County  of  Braxton  has  been 
represented  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  the  following  named  gentlemen, 
the  dates  of  their  election  preceding  their  names. 

1866 — Daniel  Polsley  of  Mason  County. 

1868— John  S.  Witcher  of  Cabell   County. 

1870— Frank  Hereford  of  Monroe  County. 

1872 — Frank  Hereford  of  Monroe  County. 

1874 — Frank  Hereford  of  Monroe  County. 

1876 — John  E.  Kenna  of  Kanawha  County. 

1878 — John  E.  Kenna  of  Kanawha  County. 

1880— John   E.   Kenna   of  Kanawha   County. 

1882— Nathan  Goff  of  Harrison  County. 

1884 — Nathan  Goff  of  Harrison  County. 

1886 — Nathan  Goff  of  Harrison  County. 

1888 — George  W.  Atkinson  of  Ohio  County. 

1890— John  C.  Pendleton  of  Ohio  County. 

1892— John  C.  Pendleton  of  Ohio  County. 

1894— B.  B.  Dovenor  of  Ohio  County. 

1896— B.  B.  Dovernor  of  Ohio  County. 

1898— B.  B.  Dovenor  of  Ohio  County. 

1900— B.  B.   Dovenor  of  Ohio   County. 

1902 — Harry  C.  Woodyard  of  Roane  County. 

1904 — Harry  C.  Woodyard  of  Roane  County. 

1906 — Harry  C.  Woodyard  of  Roane  County. 


60  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

1908 — Harry  C.  Woodyard  of  Roane  County. 
1910 — John  M.  Hamilton  of  Calhoun  County. 
1912— H.  H.  Moss,  Jr.,  of  Wood  County. 
1914—  H.  H.  Moss,  Jr.,  of  Wood  County. 
1916 — Stewart  F.  Reed  of  Harrison  County. 

In  the  fall  of  1861  the  Braxton  county  records  were  removed  from  the 
clerk's  offices  in  Sutton  to  the  residence  of  the  late  Felix  Sutton.  They  were 
kept  there  for  awhile  and  then  sent  to  Weston  where  they  were  kept  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  William  Gibson,  a  citizen  of  Sutton,  hauled  the  records  out 
in  a  wagon  drawn  by  oxen.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  records  and  papers  were 
thus  preserved  from  destruction. 

BRAXTON  COUNTY  COURT  RECORDS. 

At  a  Circuit  Court  held  for  the  County  of  Braxton  at  the  Courthouse 
thereof  on  Monday,  the  9th  day  of  October,  1865,  present  the  Hon.  Robert  Ir- 
vine. Judge  of  the  5th  Judicial  Circuit. 
Grand  Jury  to-wit: 

James  W.  Morrison,  foreman,  David  U.  Bright,  Jesse  Shaver,  Archibald 
Taylor,  Samuel  E.  Rollyson,  James  Carr,  Daniel  B.  Friend,  Daniel  Engle,  Fred- 
erick Gerwig,  Christian  F.  Gerwig,  Isaac  N.  Loyd,  Craven  Berry.  George  W. 
Mealy,  John  D.  Armstrong,  Ezekial  0.  Marple,  Benjamin  F.  Fisher,  Allen  Skid- 
more,  Washington  H.  Berry,  and  Francis  Carr,  were  empaneled  and  sworn  a 
Grand  Jury  of  Inquest  for  the  body  of  the  County  who  after  receiving  their 
charge,  retired  to  their  room  to  consider  of  their  indictments  and  present- 
ments, and  after  some  time  returned  into  Court  and  presented  an  indictment 
against  Marcellus  B.  Cogar  for  Trespass,  Assault  and  Battery.  "A  true  Bill," 
also  a  presentment  against  Thomas  Cadle  and  Clark  Cadle  for  Robbery,  "A 
true  Bill;"  and  the  said  Grand  Jury,  having  further  business  before  them,  aud 
it  growing  late,  were  adjourned  until  tomorrow  morning,  ten  o'clock. 

Wm.  Newlon,  gentleman,  is  by  the  Court  appointed  Prosecuting  Attorney, 
Protempore,  of  this  County,  thereupon  the  said  Newlon  appeared  in  open  Court, 
took  and  subscribed  the  several  oaths  prescribed  by  law. 

George  H.  Morrison,  Sheriff  of  this  County,  with  the  consent  of  the  Court, 
this  day  appointed  Ephraim  A.  Berry,  his  Deputy,  whereupon  said  Berry  ap- 
peared in  .Court,  and  took  the  several  oaths  prescribed  by  law. 

Addison  McLaughlon,  Jos.  A.  Alderson,  Homer  A.  Holt,  Henry  Brannon, 
Felix  J.  Baxter,  Wm.  Newlon,  Gentlemen,  who  have  been  duly  licensed  to  prac- 
tice law  in  the  Courts  of  Virginia  on  their  motion,  have  leave  to  practice  in 
this  Court,  whereupon  they  appeared  in  Court  and  took  the  several  oaths  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning  at  nine 
o  'clock. 

ROBERT   IRVINE. 


■SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  61 

THE  FIRST  COURT  RECORDS  AFTER  THE  CLOSE 
OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

West  Virginia  to-wit: 

Whereas  a  vacancy  exists  in  the  office  of  Recorder  for  the  county  of  Brax- 
ton. State  of  West  Virginia,  I,  Robert  Irvine,  Judge  of  the  5th  Judicial  Cir- 
cuit, in  vacation,  do  hereby  appoint.  Gustavus  F.  Taylor,  a  citizen  of  Braxton 
county,  Recorder,  to  fill  the  said  vacancy  until  his  successor  is  qualified. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  as  such  Judge,  as  aforesaid,  in  vacation, 
this  the  12th  day  of  January,  A.  D.,  1865. 

ROBERT  IRVINE.       [Seal] 

William  D.  Baxter,  having  produced  to  the  Recorder,  credentials  of  his 
ordination  as  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and 
of  his  being  in  regular  communion  with  that  Christian  society,  leave  is  given 
him  to  celebrate  the  rites  of  matrimony,  agreeable  to  the  forms  and  customs  of 
said  church,  and  thereupon  the  said  William  D.  Baxter,  together  with  Wesly  C. 
Frame,  his  security,  entered  into  an  acknowledged  bond  in  the  penalty  of  fifteen 
hundred  dollars,  payable  to  the  state  of  West  Virginia. 

G.    F.   TAYLOR,   Recorder. 

Given  under  my  hand  this  10th  day  of  August,  1865. 

William  B.  Rose,  having  produced  to  the  Recorder,  credentials  of  his  or- 
dination as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  the.  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  of 
his  being  in  regular  communion  with  that  Christian  society,  leave  is  given  him 
to  celebrate  the  rites  of  matrimony  agreeable  to  the  customs  and  usuages  of 
said  church,  and  thereupon  the  said  William  B.  Rose,  together  with  Francis  B. 
Stewart,  his  security,  entered  into  and  acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of 
fifteen  hundred  dollars,  payable  to  the  state  of  West  Virginia. 

Given  under  my  hand  as  Recorder  for  said  county,  this  15th  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1865.  G.  F.  TAYLOR,  Recorder. 

David  Frame,  having  produced  to  the  Recorder,  credentials  of  his  ordina- 
tion as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  the  Baptist  church,  and  of  his  being  in  regu- 
lar communion  with  that  Christian  society,  leave  is  given  him  to  celebrate  the 
rites  of  matrimony,  agreeable  to  the  forms  and  customs  of  said  church,  and 
thereupon  the  said  David  Frame,  together  with  Philip  Troxell,  his  security, 
entered  into  and  acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars, payable  to  the  state  of  West  Virginia. 

Given  under  my  hand  as  Recorder  for  said  county,  this  10th  day  of  October, 
1865.  G.  F.  TAYLOR,  Recorder. 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  we,  Morgan  H.  Morrison,  John  Given, 
James  Saulisberry,  Elijah  Perkins,  James  A.  Boggs  and  Homer  A.  Holt  are 
held  and  firmly  bound  to  the  state  of  West  Virginia,  in  the  penal  sum  of  Three 


62  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Thousand  Dollars  to  the  payment  of  which  we  bind  ourselves  jointly  and  sev- 
erally, and  by  each  of  us,  binds  his  heirs,  executors  and  administrators,  wit- 
ness our  hands  and  seals  this  13th  day  of  December,  1865.  The  conditions  of 
the  above  obligation  is  such  that  whereas  the  above  bond  Morgan  H.  Morrison 
was  on  the  26th  day  of  October,  last,  duly  elected  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court 
cf  Braxton  County,  by  the  qualified  voters  of  said  county,  to  continue  in  office 
until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified.  Now,  therefore,  if  the  said  Morgan 
H.  Morrison  shall  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  said  office  during  his  con- 
tinuance in  office,  then  shall  his  obligation  be  void;  otherwise,  it  shall  remain 
hi  full  force  and  effect. 

MORGAN  H.  MORRISON.     [Seal] 
JOHN  GIVEN.  -      [Seal] 

JAMES  SALISBERRY.  [Seal] 

ELIJAH  PERKINS.  [Seal] 

JAMES  A.  BOGGS.  [Seal] 

HOMER  A.  HOLT.  [Seal] 

The  within  bond  was  this  day  acknowledged  before  and  approved  by  the 
undersigned  Judge  of  the  5th  Judicial  Circuit  of  West  Virginia,  December  13, 
1865. 

ROBERT  IRVINE. 
A  copy  Teste. 

M.  H.  MORRISON,  Recorder. 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  as  stated  elsewhere,  Robert  Irvine,  Judge  of 
the  5th  Judicial  Circuit,  in  vacation,  appointed  G.  P.-  Taylor,  Recorder  of  Brax- 
ton county,  on  the  12th  day  of  January,  1865.  who  served  in  that  capacity  until 
the  loth  of  December,  1865.  He  was  succeeded  by  Morgan  H.  Morrison  who 
was  elected  to  the  office  of  Recorder,  and  also  Circuit  Clerk,  on  the  26th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1865,  and  held  the  office  of  Recorder  until  January  1st,  1867.  He  was 
succeeded  by  John  H.  Cunningham  who  remained  in  office  until  April,  1868, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  N.  B.  Squires  who  remained  in  office  until  January 
1st,  1873.  at  which  time  the  office  of  Recorder  ceased,  and  W.  L.  J.  Corley  as 
County  Clerk  succeeded  to  the  duties  of  that  office. 

Francis  0.  Boggs  was  on  the  24th  day  of  May,  1860,  elected  to  the  office 
of  Sheriff  for  a  period  of  two  years,  and  was  the  last  Sheriff  of  Braxton  under 
the  Old  State.  George  H.  Morrison  was  on  the  8th  day  of  September,  1865, 
appointed  by  Robert.  Irvine,  Judge  of  the  5th  Judicial  Circuit,  Sheriff  of  Brax- 
ton county,  to  serve  until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified,  he  being  the 
first  Sheriff  of  Braxton  county  after  the  Civil  war,  and  was  succeeded  by  James 
AY.  Morrison,  Sr. 

The  last  Board  of  Supervisors  under  the  Constitution  of  1863  was  John 
Given,  President,  M.  H.  Morrison,  Asa  GT'eathouse  and  John  H.  Cunningham, 
W.  P.  Morrison,  Clerk.     Their  last  meeting  was  held  December  20,  1872.    The 


SUTTON'S     HI  STORY.  63 

County  Court,  under  the  Constitution  of  1872,  held  their  first  meeting  at  the 
Courthouse  on  the  28th  day  of  January,  3873. 

MINOR  CIVIL  DIVISIONS. 

On  the  31st  day  of  July,  1863,  the  legislature  passed  a  bill  entitled  an 
"Act  to  provide  for  the  division  into  townships  of  the  various  counties  com- 
posing this  State."  The  act  also  provided  for  the  appointment  of  several 
gentlemen  in  each  county,  who  should  perform  the  work  m  their  respective  coun- 
ties. Those  named  for  Braxton  were  Charles  S.  Hall,  James  W.  Morrison.  James 
J.  McCoy,  Jacob  Shaver,  and  Elmore  Frame.  These  gentlemen,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  county  surveyor,  proceeded  to  perform  the  work  assigned  to 
them,  and  divided  the  county  into  four  townships  (name  changed  to  district:; 
under  the  constitution  of  1872)  and  named  them  as  follows:  Clay,  Lincoln, 
Franklin   and  "Washington. 

By  these  names  they  were  known  until  the  July  term  of  court,  1873,  when. 
in  accordance  with  a  petition  of  the  citizens  of  the  county,  their  names  were  all 
changed  on  the  24th  day  of  the  above  month.  Clay  was  changed  to  Kanawha, 
Lincoln  to  Otter,  Franklin  to  Holly,  and  Washington  to  Birch. 

Thus  ihey  continued  until  the  year  1875,  when  the  citizens  of  Kanawha 
district  petitioned  the  court  asking  that  the  said  district  be  divided.  The  court 
at  its  July  term  granted  the  request,  and  adopted  the  division  line  as  presented 
in  the  petition,  viz:  Beginning  at  the  three  corners  of  Braxton,  Gilmer  and 
Lewis  counties  and  terminating  at  the  Webster  county  line.  The  new  district 
thus  formed  was  named  Salt  Lick.  The  present  districts  are  Kanawha,  Salt 
Lick,  Otter,  Holly  and  Birch.  Kanawha  district  has  since  been  embraced  in 
Salt  Lick. 


64  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Mound   Builders;   Cliff  Dwellers;  Indians;   Early   Emigration;   Defenses   and 
Early  Forts. 

DEFENSES. 

As  the  Indian  method  of  warfare  was  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  all 
ages  and  sexes,  it  was  necessary  for  the  settlers  to  provide  ;for  the  safety  of  the 
women  and  children  as  well  as  for  the  men,  and  each  neighborhood  generally 
combined  together  and  built  rude  log  structures  called  forts,  in  which  they 
could  take  refuge  when  warned  by  the  scouts  that  Indians  were  approaching 
the  settlements. 

The  regularly  constructed  forts  were  rectangular  in  shape,  the  outside  walls 
being  in  part  cabins  joined  to  one  another  by  a  stockade,  which  was  com- 
posed of  strong  logs  set  on  end  firmly  in  the  ground  in  contact  with  one  another. 
The  outer  wall  of  these  cabins  were  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  high  with  the  roofs 
sloping  inward.  The  doors  of  the  cabins  opened  into  a  common  square  or 
Court.  Blockhouses  or  bastions  were  sometimes  erected  at  two  or  more  corners 
of  the  fort  and  projected  foeyond  the  cabins  and  stockade,  so  as  to  sweep  the 
outside  walls. 

A  large  folding  gate  made  of  thick  slabs  nearest  the  spring  closed  the  fort. 
The  cabin,  walls  and  gates  were  pierced  with  port  holes  at  proper  heights  and 
distances  and  the  whole  structure  made  bullet  proof. 

The  block  house  was  a  square  two  story  log  structure,  with  port  holes  both 
above  and  below. 

The  walls  of  the  upper  story  projected  on  all  sides  about  two  feet  over 
those  of  the  lower  story,  thus  leaving  an  open  place  through  which  the  inmates 
could  fire  from  above  and  downward  upon  an  enemy,  attempting  to  force  the 
heavy  slab  doors  or  to  climb  or  set  fire  to  the  walls. 

In  some  less  exposed  locality  the  cabins  would  be  surrounded  by  a  stock- 
ade enclosing  them  in  a  square.  These  were  called  stockades  but  generally  the 
name  of  fort  was  applied  to  all  of  these  different  places  of  defense. 

The  families  belonging  to  these  forts  were  so  attached  to  their  own  cabins 
on  their  clearings  that  they  seldom  moved  into  their  fort  in  the  spring  until 
compelled  by  some  alarm  as  they  called  it ;  that  is,  when  it  was  announced  by 
some  murder  that  the  Indians  were  raiding  the  settlements. 

Dr.  Doddridge  says  that  the  Fort  to  which  his  father  belonged  was,  during 

the  first  years  of  the  war,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  his  cabin.     He  says: 

,  "I  well  remember  that,  when  a  little  boy,  the  family  were  sometimes  waked  up 

in  the  dead  of  night  by  an  express  rider  with  a  report  that  the  Indians  were 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  65 

at  hand.  My  father  seized  his  gun  and  other  implements  of  war.  My  step- 
mother waked  up  and  dressing  the  children  as  well  as  she  could,  and  being 
myself  the  oldest,  I  had  to  take  my'  share  of  the  burdens  to  be  carried  to  the 
fort.  There  was  no  possibility  of  getting  a  horse  to  aid  us  in  removing  to  the 
fort.  Besides  the  little  children,  wc  caught  up  what  articles  of  clothing  and 
provisions  we  could  get  hold  of  in  the  dark  for  we  durst  not  light  a  candle  or 
stir  the  fire. 

"All  this  was  done  with  the  utmost  dispatch,  and  with  the  silence  of 
death.  The  greatest  care  was  taken  not  to  waken  the  youngest  child.  As  for  the 
older  ones  it  was  enough  to  say  'Indian'  and  not  a  whimper  was  heard 
afterwards. 

"Thus  it  often  happened  that  the  whole  number  of  families  belonging  to 
a  fort  who  were  in  the  evenings  at  their  homes,  were  all  in  their  little  fortress 
before  the  dawn  of  the  next  morning. 

"In  the  course  of  the  succeeding  day,  their  household  fimiiture  was 
brought  in  by  parties  of  the  men  under  arms." 

All  of  these  works  were  built  without  the  use  of  a  nail,  spike  or  any  other 
piece  of  iron  for  the  simple  reason  that  such  articles  were  not  to  be  had. 

Such  places  of  refuge  seem  very  trifling  in  a  military  point  of  vieAV,  but 
they  answered  the  purpose  in  a  frontier  war,  as  the  Indians  had  no  artillery. 

The  Indians  rarely  made  an  attack  on  one  of  these  rude  fortresses  and 
seldom  captured  one  of  them  when  a  determined  resistance  was  made.  But  at 
times  the  forest  diplomats  have  lulled  the  garrison  of  one  of  them  to  a  sense  of 
false  security  to  surrender  under  promise  of  protection,  which  was  no  sooner 
done,  than  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  was  at  once  begun. 

FORTS. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  forts  or  places  of  defense  built  by  the  settlers 
in  what  was  originally  Harrison  county,  between  the  years  1774  and  1795 : 

Belleville. 

This  fort  stood  on  the  Ohio  river  below  Parkersburg  on  the  site  of  the 
present  village  of  Belleville,  Wood  county.  It  was  built  in  1785  and  1786  by 
Captain  Joseph  "Wood,  and  was  considered  a  strong  fort. 

BUCKHANNON   FORT. 

Buckhannon  fort  stood  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  town  of  Buckhannon,  and 
when  the  settlement  was  abandoned  by  the  whites,  it  was  burned  by  Indians  in 
1782.    The  renegade  Timothy  Dorcnan  was  of  this  party. 

Bushes  Fort. 

This  was  situated  on  the  Buckhannon  river,  one  and  a  half  miles  northeast 
of  the  Upshur  county  court  house  on  land  first  settled  by  John  Hacker,  and 
near  where  is  now  the  Heavener  cemetery. 


66  sutton's    history. 

Currance  Port. 

A  small  fort  in  the  upper  part  of  Tygart's  Valley,  a  half  mile  east  of  the 
present  village  of  Crickard  in  Randolph  county.  It  has  sometimes  been  called 
Cassino's  Fort. 

Coon's  Port. 

This  fort,  was  situated  on  Coon's  run  near  the  West  Pork  river  below  the 
town  of  Shinnston  and  now  in  Marion  county. 

Edward's  Port. 

This  was  a  small  place  of  defense  built  in  Booth's  creek  district,  now  in 
Taylor  county. 

Herbert's  Block  House. 

Was  situated  on  Jones  run  in  Eagle  district. 

Hadden's  Port. 

Was  in  Tygart's  Valley  at  the  mouth  of  Elk  water,  Randolph  county. 

Jackson's  Block  House. 
Was  situated  on  Ten  Mile  creek  in  Sardis  district,  exact  location  not  known. 

Minear's  Port. 

This  fort  was  located  on  Cheat  river  at  the  present  site  of  St.  George,  Tucker 
county,  and  was  built  by  John  Minear,  in  1776. 

Neal's  Station. 

Was  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  about  one  mile 
from  its  mouth  in  the  Ohio  river,  now  in  Wood  county.  It  was  built  by  Captain 
James  Neal  and  was  a  prominent  place  of  defense  in  the  Indian  wars. 

Plinn's  Port. 

Was  situated  on  the  Ohio  river  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lee  creek,  Harris  dis- 
trict, Wood  county. 

Nutter's  Fort. 

This  was  located  on  the  southern  bank  of  Elk  creek,  two  miles  from  Clarks- 
burg on  the  Buckhannon  road  on  the  land  of  Thomas  Nutter.  It  bore  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  defense  of  the  county,  and  was  a  house  of  refuge  for  settlers 
fleeing  from  a  savage  foe  for  many  miles  around. 

Power's  Port. 

Was  on  Simpson's  creek,  Harrison  county,  below  Bridgeport  and  was  built 
by  John  Powers. 

Richard's  Fort. 

This  was  near  the  mouth  of  Sycamore  creek,  six  miles  from  Clarksburg  on 
the  land  of  Jacob  Richards. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Westf all's  Fort. 


This  was  a  large  house  enclosed  in  a  stockade,  and  was  built  by  Jacob 
Westfall  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  Beverly,  about  the  commencement 
of  Dunmore's  war. 

West's  Fort. 

This  fort  was  on  Hacker's  creek  near  the  present  town  of  Jane  Lew  in 
Lewis  county,  and  was  in  a  locality  that  suffered  more  from  Indian  raids  than 
any  portion  of  the  Virginia  frontier. 

Wilson's  Fort. 

Was  built  by  Colonel  Benjamin  Wilson  in  Tygart's  Valley,  now  Randolph 
county,  near  the  mouth  of  Chenowith  creek,  between  Beverly  and  Elkins,  and 
bore  a  prominent  part  in  the  Indian  wars. 

In  addition  ,to  the  forts  mentioned  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Ohio  river  in 
Harrison  county,  the  United  States  government  built  Fort  Harmer  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Muskingum,  now  Marietta,  in  1786,  and  a  fort  built  by  the  settlers  at 
Belpre,  opposite  Parkersburg,  in  1789,  called  Farmer's  Castle,  gave  additional 
security  to  the  frontier. 

MOUND  BUILDERS  AND  GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS. 

The  question  has  been  asked  in  every  age  of  our  civilization,  "Who  were 
the  Mound  Builders  ? ' '  And  while  volumes  have  been  written  and  many  theories 
advanced,  and  after  research  by  men  of  science  and  learning,  no  satisfactory 
answer  has  been  given,  and  we  know  as  little  now,  perhaps,  as  we  did  when  the 
first  Anglo-Saxon  discovered  their  little  mound  of  earth,  save  the  fact  that  they 
were  far  more  numerous  in  sections  where  the  Indians  were  known  to  have  their 
habitations.  It  may  have  been  that  many  centuries  in  the  past,  a  nation  civil- 
ized and  learned  in  many  of  the  arts  inhabited  this  continent.  Whether  they 
were  the  progenitors  of  the  Red  Men  of  America  and  degenerated  into  bar- 
barism, or  whether  they  were  driven  out  of  the  land  by  a  fierce  and  more  war- 
like nation,  is  unknown. 

Geologists  tell  us  that  great  portions  of  the  earth  have  at  different  periods 
been  submerged  beneath  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  only  to  rise  up  again  and  be- 
come exposed  to  the  ah*,  warmth  and  sunlight  of  heaven.  History  informs  us 
that  civilization  has  often  been  dashed  beneath  the  waves  of  cruel  barbarity, 
superstition  and  savagery.  In  Mexico,  the  land  of  the  Mound  Builder,  excava- 
tions have  disclosed  the  fact  that  these  mounds  were  not  only  sepulchres  of  the 
dead,  but  receptacles  for  many  articles  indicating  a  knowledge  of  the  arts. 
Judging  by  the  amalgamated  savagery  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  that  coun- 
try, it  is  a  question  whether  they  possess  the  moral  fibre  of  civil  government 
and  social  purity  of  the  ancient  Mound  Builders. 

Some  of  the  mounds  are  large  and  pretentious.  These  might  indicate 
the  resting  places  of  great  governors  or  warriors.     They  may  have  had  their 


68  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Washingtons  and  Lincolns.  They  may  have  built  in  commemoration  of  great 
events;  and  the  little  mounds  of  earth,  over  which  we  plow  and  cultivate  the 
soil,  covering  those  less  distinguished,  we  see  the  analogy. 

How  striking  it  is  compared  with  our  own  and  other  civilized  nations. 
"We  build  monuments,  statues  and  obelisks,  on  down  to  the  less  pretentious 
humble  slab.  And  alas !  how  many  noble  men  and  women  rest  beneath  the  sod 
in  a  spot  forgotten  and  unknown. 

Whether  the  Mound  Builder  was  a  race  preceding  the  Indian,  of  greater 
intelligence  and  more  skilled  in  the  arts,  we  know  not ;  but  true  it  is,  if  the  sav- 
age followed  the  Mound  Builder,  he  adopted  many  of  his  customs,  for  in  all 
the  mounds  of  West  Virginia  there  are  found  evidences,  of  Indian  war-fare — 
the  tomahawk,  the  flint,  the  arrowhead  and  other  implements  known  to  have 
been  used  by  the  savage  race. 

It  is  not  unreasonable  to  conjecture  that  if  Powhattan — the  once  most  pow- 
erful monarch  of  the  Red  Man,  governing  a  confederacy  of  tribes  extending 
from  the  Atlantic  for  hundreds  of  miles,  covering  the  tidewater  regions  of  the 
Alleghenies,  living  in  two  rude  palaces  decorated  with  all  the  art  and  refinement 
known  to  his  nation,  and  within  his  palace  when  he  slept,  one  of  his  wives 
standing  at  the  head  and  one  at  the  foot  of  his  richly  furnished  couch — had 
died  before  the  advent  of  the  white  man  that  at  his  tomb  would  have  been 
erected,  within  the  sound  of  the  breakers  of  the  mighty  ocean,  a  fitting  monu- 
ment, whether  of  pebbles  or  of  earth,  to  honor  the  memory  of  the  great  chieftain. 
When  we  consider  the  character  of  Tecumseh,  a  great  leader  of  men,  a  mighty 
warrior,  a  man  gifted  in  oratory, — if  he  and  his  nation  had  been  undisturbed 
by  a  vastly  superior  race  in  numbers,  and  civilization,  and  had  been  gathered 
to  his  fathers  in  the  quietude  of  his  wigwam — who  can  say  how  magnificently 
grand  would  have  been  the  monument  erected  to  his  memory?  But  whoevei' 
were  the  Mound  Builders,  if  they  were  not  the  Indians,  it  is  evident  that  they 
used  and  buried  with  their  dead,  implements  such  as  were  later  used  by  the 
Indians  of  North  America. 

The  greatest  number  of  mounds  have  been  found  in  Randolph  county  on 
the  Tygart's  Valley  river,  a  region  noted  as  a  favorite  hunting  ground,  and  on 
the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac  where  the  Indians  dwelt  in  great  numbers. 
The  streams  of  this  region  abounded  with  fish  and  eels  in  countless  millions. 
The  West  Fork  and  its  tributaries  were  famous  for  fish  and  game.  Near  the 
city  of  Clarksburg,  many  Indian  trinkets  and  war  implements  have  been  dis- 
covered. One  of  these  articles,  now  in  the  hands  of  a  citizen  of  that  town,  is  a 
fish  hook  made  of  bone.  It  is  very  hard  and  smooth,  and  thought  to  be  made 
from  the  shank  of  a  deer.  But  in  every  section  of  the  country  where  condi- 
tions were  favorable  for  hunting  wild  game,  collecting  together  in  towns  or 
cultivating  the  rich  bottom  lands,  there  are  found  the  mounds  and  the  greatest 
evidence  left  by  the  Red  Men  of  the  forest,  showing  their  habits  of  savagery, 
civilization  and  warfare. 

In  Braxton  County,  on  Laurel  fork  of  Grannie's  creek,  there  is  a  mound 
situated  on  a  beautiful  flat  about  two  hundred  yards  west  of  the  creek.     The 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  69 

mound  is  about  forty-five  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  and  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  high.  Originally,  it  must  have  been  much  higher.  It  has  been  there  over 
four  hundred  years  from  its  own  record,  and  how  many  hundred  years  more, 
we  have  no  knowledge.  Over  fifty  years  ago,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  who  cleared  the 
land  around  the  mound,  built  a  dwelling  house  and  lived  there  for  several  years, 
cut  a  large  chestnut  tree  which  stood  on  top  of  the  mound.  This  tree  was  per- 
fectly sound,  and  showed  by  its  growth  that  it  was  over  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  old.  Mr.  Baxter  worked  it  up  into  fence  rails,  the  first  cut  of 
which  made  one  hundred  and  four  rails.  Mr.  Baxter  said  that  its  circumference 
was  so  great  that  he  had  to  chop  clear  around  the  tree  in  order  to  get  it  down, 
it  being  too  large  to  be  felled  with  an  ordinary  saw.  He  brought  a  cedar  sprout 
from  Parkersburg  during  the  Civil  war,  and  planted  it  where  the  chestnut  tree 
stood.     This  cedar  is  now  a  tree  of  considerable  size. 

There  is  a  mound  on  Duck  creek,  at  the  Mollohan  farm,  which  is  sixty  feet 
or  more  in  diameter  at  the  base.  It  seems  to  liave  worn  down  in  height,  owing 
perhaps  to  the  quality  of  the  soil,  or  it  may  not  have  been  built  in  proportion 
to  the  mound  found  on  Laurel  fork. 

There  is  a  mound  on  the  farm  of  the  late  Felix  Sutton  at  the  head  of 
Grannie's  creek.  This  mound  is  situated  on  a  fiat,  north  of  the  creek  about  one 
hundred  and  fifiy  yards.  It  is  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  and  two  and  a  half 
feet  high.  In  exploring  the  mound,  we  found  a  little  stratum  of  white  clay  one 
inch  thick  which  had  been  placed  at  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Immediately 
below  this  stratum  there  was  a  little  dark  earth  or  mold,  evidently  the  decom- 
posed substance  of  some  human  body.  We  found  nothing  in  this  excavation  in 
addition  to  that  described,  except  a  piece  of  broken  flint  and  a  lump  of  shining 
metal  or  substance  called  "fool's  gold."  There  is  a  whitewash  bank,  as  we 
used  to  term  it,  where  the  family  of  my  father  and  his  neighbors  obtained  clay 
with  which  to  whitewash  their  houses.  The  clay  found  in  this  burial  place  was 
evidently  taken  from  this  bank  which  is  near  the  mound.  We  have  often  plowed 
over  this  spot  of  ground  in  working  the  field  surrounding  it,  and  have  discov- 
ered many  flints  and  arrowheads. 

There  is  a  large  mound  situated  on  the  waters  of  Kanawha  run,  not  far 
from  the  mouth  of  Holly  river,  similar  in  size  to  the  mound  on  Laurel  fork. 
There  have  been  many  flints  and  arrowheads  found  in  the  location  of  this 
mound. 

It  is  evident  from  the  vast  number  of  mounds  scattered  over  the  State, 
and  usually  located  on  the  most  fertile  lands  or  flats  suitable  for  cultivation  and 
for  camps  or  villages,  that  many  years,  or  perhaps  many  centuries,  before  West 
Virginia  was  settled  by  white  people,  great  numbers  of  Indians  inhabited  this 
region.  They  were  known,  to  cultivate  corn,  squashes  and  other  vegetables  in 
Ohio  and  other  western  states,  and  it  is  not  improbable,  and  most  reasonable  to 
suppose,  that  the  Indians  did  not  live  on  wild  game  alone,  but  cultivated  some 
of  the  richest  spots  of  land.  Prom  the  growth  of  the  timber  near  these  mounds, 
it  is  evident  that  they  were  built  centuries  ago.  Near  the  mound  on  the  Sutton 
farm,  was  a  giant  poplar  tree  which  stood  for  many  years  after  all  the  timber 


70  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

around  it  had  fallen  and  decayed.  The  fact  that  the  pioneers  found  only  a  few 
Indians  in  West  Virginia,  is  no  evidence  that  at  the  time  the  mounds  were  built, 
there  were  not  numerous  settlements  and  vast  numbers  of  Red  Men,  or  some' 
prehistoric  race,  reveling  in  the  luxuries  that  West  Virginia  has  ever  so  boun- 
tifully bestowed  on  her  inhabitants. 

The  great  range  of  mountains,  the  abundant  herds  of  game,  buffalo,  elk, 
deer,  the  bear,  raccoon  and  other  smaller  game;  the  salt  springs,  the  sparkling 
falls,  the  boundless  number  of  fish  and  the  shelter  of  the  ivy  and  the  spruce, 
rendered  this  a  land  not  to  be  abandoned  even  by  the  untutored  savage  or  the 
nations  preceding  them  without  a  cause,  and  that  cause  was  doubtless  a  battle- 
field that  reddened  the  streams  and  forests  of  West  Virginia  with  human  blood, 
centuries  before  the  presence  of  the  white  man. 

It  is  not  presumed  that  all  Indians  were  buried  in  mounds,  no  more  than 
that  all  white  citizens  were  buried  beneath  imposing  monuments.  What  the 
general  mode  of  burial  by  the  Indians  was,  we  are  not  fully  informed.  It  is 
stated  somewhere  that  some  tribes  placed  their  infants  above  the  ground  on 
scaffolds  built  in  trees.  While  in  battle  or  on  raids,  they  disposed  of  their  dead 
by  throwing  them  in  streams  or  concealing  the  bodies  with  brush  and  leaves. 
The  bodies  of  those  who  died  in  their  wigwams  were  either  covered  with  piles 
of  stone  or  buried  in  shallow  graves.  Some  of  the  older  Indians  now  inhabiting 
a  number  of  the  western  states,  say  that  the  early  tribes  buiied  their  dead  by 
covering  the  bodies  with  loose  stone.  This  has  often  been  found  to  be  the  case 
in  West  Virginia  as  many  skeletons  have  been  discovered  beneath  piles  of  stone. 
This  is  more  particularly  true  in  a  rocky  country;  and  where  the  land  is  free 
from  stone  and  easy  to  excavate,  they  buried  in  graves.  It  may  be  true  that 
the  wild  and  untutored  tribes  had  no  well-established  method  of  disposing  of 
their  dead,  but  were  governed  by  circumstances  most  suited  to  their  indolent 
habits. 

OLD  CHIMNEY  AND  MOUND  BUILDERS. 

Near  the  Union  Mills  on  the  Elk  river,  when  Jordan  Cogar  was  having  a 
well  dug,  the  workmen  foimd  a  fire-place  with  a  backwall,  at  a  depth  of  eighteen 
feet.  The  land  where  the  well  was  dug  is  at  the  upper  end  of  a  narrow  bottom. 
This  land  had  been  cleared  for  over  a  hundred  years,  and  had  been  covered  by 
large  timber.  One  of  the  persons  making  the  discovery,  related  that  on  the 
backwall  there  was  soot  which  seemed  as  fresh  as  if  it  had  been  but  recently 
burned.  Many  ages  must  have  come  and  gone  since  some  unknown  race  dwelt 
around  that  fire-place  on  the  banks  of  the  Elk. 

Just  below  Baker's  run,  there  is  a  spur  of  a  mountain  running  down  from 
Poplar  Ridge  to  the  Elk  river.  Near  the  river,  the  hill  is  something  like  three 
hundred  feet,  high,  and  back  a  half  mile  from  its  temiinus,  there  is  a  very  low 
gap  where  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad  crosses.  There  are  marks  in  this  low 
gap  which  show  conclusively  that  the  Elk  river  at  one  time  ran  through  the 
gap  at  this  point.     Going  up  the  ridge,  it  rises  to  a  considerable  height,  and  a 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  71 

short  distance  above  the  first  low  gap  where  the  railroad  crosses,  there  is  another 
gap  which  has  every  appearance  that  the  river  at  a  much  earlier  period  passed 
through  the  mountain  at  that  point. 

There  is  a  similar  appearance  to  this  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river  just 
above  the  falls.  The  river  at  one  time  ran  around  a  high  point  and  came  into 
the  present  channel  of  Fall  run,  about  a  half  mile  above  its  present  mouth.  The 
marks  are  visible  and  indisputable  that  the  river  at  some  unknown  age  cut  its 
way  through  the  earth  and  rocks,  and  plunged  across,  making  the  waterfall 
which  some  day  may  be  of  great  value  for  its  power.  In  the  great  floods  of 
1861  and  later,  floods  ran  around  the  old  channel.  This  break  through  the  hill 
made  the  famous  Kanawha  Falls,  where  the  TIaymond  mill  has  so  long  been 
located. 

We  conclude  that  the  fire-place  referred  to  was  at  the  surface,  but  as  the 
river  receded  from  near  its  level  the  land  filled  up  by  the  slow  growth  of  vege- 
table matter,  and  may  have  been  covered  at  some  time  by  great  floods;  about 
that  time  the  river  cut  its  present  channel  through  the  mountain  and  shortened 
its  distance  to  the  sea,  for  the  natural  tendency  of  water  courses  is  to  straighten 
their  channels.  This,  we  believe,  to  be  a  law  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  grav- 
itation. None  who  have  ever  seen  the  turbulent  water  where  the  elevation  is 
great,  or  from  heavy  rains,  but  have  observed  the  movements  of  the  sand  and 
pebbles  cutting  down  the  channels  of  streams,  however  slow  and  seemingly  im- 
perceptible the  process  may  be. 

The  two  causes  which  affect  the  surface  of  the  earth  are  the  elevating  and 
the  depressing  forces — fire  and  water — two  all-powerfid  and  (never-ceasing 
agencies  which  seem  to  be  in  continual  warfare  to  keep  an  equilibrium  between 
the  land  and  the  sea.  The  whole  science  of  geology  rests  on  certain  natural 
laws.  If  we  eordd  look  back  to  the  time  when  the  rivers  first  began  to  flow 
from  the  Appalachian  mountains,  we  would  probably  see  the  Elk  river  gently 
flowing  down  from  a  plateau  just  beginning  to  rise  above  the  surrounding 
country,  and  as  the  mountains  grew  in  height,  its  elevation  became  greater  and 
the  process  of  cutting  down  was  increased  by  its  greater  velocity.  How  many 
thousands  of  years  have  gone  by  since  this  grand  old  river  flowed  through  the 
low  gap  where  it  once  ran,  geologists  can  only  approximately  give  an  answer. 
If  the  process  of  filling  up  is  as  slow  as  the  process  of  cutting  down,  the  ages 
must  be  great  since  some  prehistoric  family  lived  at  the  fire-place  referred  to 
which  was  buried  beneath  the  solid  earth  and  clay  so  far  beneath  the  surface. 

Lying  near  the  base  of  the  Freeport  coal  measures,  there  is  what  is  termed 
a  black  flint,  a  very  hard  substance,  and  this  rock  is  harder  for  the  river  to  cut 
down  than  ordinary  rocks.  This  flint  outcrops  at  Queen  Shoals  in  Clay  county, 
and  at  some  points  south  of  that  on  the  New  river,  but  the  New  river  has  cut 
a  deeper  channel  through  this  formation  than  has  the  Elk.  In  speaking  to  a 
geologist  about  this  flint  formation,  he  claims  that  the  New  river  is  a  much  older 
stream  than  the  Elk  Reasonable  as  this  appears,  we  conclude  that  there  may 
be  additional  agencies,  the  New  river  being  much  the  larger  of  the  two  streams, 
with  a  heavier  body  of  water  and  perhaps  a  coarser  sand,  thus  cutting  faster 


72  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

than  the  Elk.  If  in  the  course  of  time,  the  Appalachian  mountains  should  rise 
to  a  greater  height,  it  is  not  improbable  that  many  streams  might  change  their 
courses  or  that  new  ones  might  be  formed. 

Near  MeNutt  switch  on  the  B.  and  0.  railroad,  there  is  an  anticlinical  for- 
mation. The  rock  which  the  stream  is  trying  to  wear  down,'  is  so  very  hard  that 
the  flat  lands  and  bottoms  have  been  formed  above  this  narrow  passage,  and  m 
time,  if  the  present  process  of  wearing  away  continues,  this  rock  may  lie  at  the 
base  of  the  low  gap  in  the  Bison  range,  and  Grannie's  creek  may  flow  either  into 
Salt  Lick  or  Cedar  creek,  as  these  low  gaps  are  wearing  down  much  faster  than 
the  rocks  below.  Hence  we  conclude  that  there  have  been  many  changes  in  the 
streams  and  the  elevation  underlying  them. 

If  an  anticlinical  formation  would  cross  Salt  Lick  and  Cedar  creeks,  thence 
crossing  Steer  creek,  continuing  to  cut  off  the  headwaters  of  the  West  fork  and 
minor  streams,  and  terminate  somewhere  at  the  Ohio  river  north  of  Point 
Pleasant,  Granny's  creek,  Salt  Lick  and  Cedar  creek  would  form  the  headwaters 
of  a  new  river  which  would  flow  into  the  Ohio  somewhere  above  Point  Pleasant ; 
or  we  might  imagine  an  anticlinical  formation  southeast  of  the  head  of  the  Elk, 
cutting  off  parts  of  the  waters  of  the  Greenbrier,  the  Gauley  and  the  head- 
waters of  Birch,  crossing  the  Elk  between  Sutton  and  Clay  Courthouse,  con- 
tinuing west,  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Two  Sandys,  Poca  and  the  minor 
streams,  and  terminating  at  the  Great  Kanawha  above  Point  Pleasant,  forming 
a  new  river.  Thus  we  can  see  how  it  is  possible  for  one  river  to  be  older  than 
another  though  the  elevations  guiding  them  to  their  outlet  might  be  a  million 
or  ten  million  years  in  forming.  Considering  these  natural  changes,  great 
changes  may  also  have  taken  place  in  the  different  prehistoric  nations  which 
may  have  dwelt  amid  the  mountains  and  along  the  stream  of  our  rivers. 

Whether  a  nation  more  warlike  drove  out  a  weaker  nation  of  a  different  peo- 
ple, or  whether  the  same  people  continued  in  the  long  lapse  of  years  to  inhabit 
the  land,  alternately  lapsing  into  barbarism,  then  rising  to  a  greater  degree  of 
civilization,  the  evidence  disclosed  by  the  different  mounds  scattered  throughout 
the  Mississippi  Valley  tends  to  the  latter  conclusion.  However,  the  final  and 
conclusive  proof  must  be  revealed  by  discoveries  yet  to  be  made. 

Various  views  are  entertained  as  to  the  birthplace  of  man.  Some  writers 
claim  that  America  was  first  his  home;  others,  that  it  was  the  Jewish  tribe  that 
once  possessed  our  land.  Some  think  that  wild  tribes  from  India  drove  out  the 
more  pastoral  people  who  were  acquainted  with  many  of  the  arts. 

The  works  of  Chambers,  Hardesty,  Taylor,  Squier,  McLean,  Dickinson  and 
others  which  we  have  examined,  are  all  forced  to  incline  to  one  conclusion — 
that  a  prehistoric  race  occupied  this  country  in  the  ages  of  the  unknown  past, 
and  the.  disclosures  tend  to  link  the  Indian  very  closely  with  a  prehistoric,  an- 
cestry, with  customs  and  habits  identical. 

Chambers,  in  his  work  published  sixty-eight  years  ago,  observed  that  the 
Red  Man  in  America  was  becoming  extinct.  This  prediction  is  being  rapidlv 
fulfilled. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  73 

CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

If  the  Mohawks,  in  their  fierce  savagery,  exterminated  the  various  Indian 
tribe.s  of  West  Virginia,  is  it  not  also  probable  that  age  after  age  witnessed  eon- 
test  after  contest,  war  .and  extermination  amongst  the  nations  that  dwelt  in 
America?  The  Mound  Builders  of  West  Virginia,  whether  thejr  were  Indians 
centuries  prior  to  the  knowledge  of  the  present  age,  or  whether  they  were  a 
people  further  advanced  in  the  arts  and  possessed  a  higher  degree  of  civilization 
and  pastoral  pursuits,  which  may  seem  probable,  though  the  ages  have  rolled 
on,  covering  more  deeply  and  obscurely  the  mysteries  of  the  past,  may  there  not, 
after  all,  be  an  analogy  between  the  obscurity  of  the  Mound  Builders  and  the 
Cliff  Dwellers? 

There  may  be  some  reason  for  the  belief  that  these  people,  driven  from  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  by  more  warlike  people  found  temporary  shelter,  at  least,  in 
the  great  canons,  gorges  and  cliffs  cut  out  by  the  river  of  that  wonderful  coun- 
try where  they  dwelt.  The  advent  of  the  Cliff  Dwellers  to  their  lofty  abode  in 
the  cliffs,  their  departure  or  their  nationality  is  as  much  a  mystery  as  the  nativ- 
ity or  the  advent  of  the  savage.  What  may  seem  to  be  retributive  justice,  is  that 
the  savage  is  now  being  driven  and  exterminated  near  the  beautiful  gorges  and 
valleys  where  the  Cliff  Dwellers  bvalt  their  temples  to  the  sun,  before  their  final 
extermination. 

When  we  speak  of  a  period  in  the  past  that  is  prehistoric  and  obscure,  we 
associate  the  time  with  the  biblical  chronology  of  a  few  thousand  years ;  but  when 
we  consider  that  the  word  "day"  with  reference  to  the  creation  means  an  age 
or  a  period  of  time  divided  into  six  parts,  there  can  be  no.  discord  in  relation 
to  science  and  the  Bible.  The  truth  of  the  Bible  as  revealed  to  man  has  in  all 
the  ages  of  enlightenment  been  proven  by  science  and  discovery.  He  who 
would  close  his  eyes  to  science  would  be  less  able  to  defend  the  truths  of  the 
Bible. 

In  the  limited  space  which  we  have  to  devote  to  this  topic,  we  quote  briefly 
from  the  pen  of  such  authorities  as  Dr.  Lund,  Prof.  McLean  and  others,  whose 
investigations  have  led  them  back  to  the  darker  ages  of  the  world  from  dis- 
coveries of  human  skulls  and  other  parts  of  the  human  anatomy,  fixing  a  period 
as  far  back  as  eighty  thousand  years,  and  no  author  gives  man's  existance  in 
America  as  less  than  ten  thousand  years,  or  eight  thousand  years  before  the  birth 
of  Christ. 

Geologists  go  down  into  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  and  read  there  the  language 
so  plainly  written  upon  the  fossils  and  the  rocks  with  the  same  accuracy  that 
we  estimate  the  ages  of  the  forest  trees  by  their  growth,  or  the  nationality  of 
men  by  the  shape  of  their  skulls. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENTS  AND  INDIAN  TROUBLES. 

Nearly  thirty  years  elapsed  after  settlements  were  planted  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Potomac  before  the  tide  of  emigration  gained  sufficient  force  to 
cross  the  Alleghenies  and  take  possession  of  the  valleys  of  the  west.    The  country 


74  SUTTON'S     HISTOBY. 

beyond  the  mountains,  when  spoken  of  by  the  Virginians,  was  called  ' '  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi,"  because  the  streams  having  their  sources  on  the  western 
slope  flowed  into  the  Mississippi  River,  while  those  rising  eastward  of  the  summit 
found  their  way  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It  was  usual,  from  about  1760  to 
1780  for  the  Virginia  records  to  distinguish  between  the  eastern  and  western 
country  by  calling  the  former  "Hampshire  County,"  and  the  latter  "the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi,"  because  Hampshire  included  the  most  important  settlements 
between  the  Valley  of  Virginia  and  the  summit  of  the  Alleghenies,  and  did  not 
include  any  country  on  the  western  slope,  except  about  eighty  square  miles  in 
the  present  county  of  Tucker.  Hunters  and  explorers  crossed  the  mountains 
occasionally  from  very 'early  times,  and  the  country  westward  gradually  be- 
came known.  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  mention  the  routes  by  which 
the  early  settlers  and  explorers  found  their  way  over  the  Alleghenies  to  the 
upper  valleys  of  the  Cheat  River  and  the  Monongahela,  particularly  that  section 
now  included  in  Randolph  and  Tucker  counties.  The  subject  has  been  much 
neglected  by  writers  who  have  pretended  to  cover  the  field,  they  having  given 
their  attention  to  the  great  highway  to  the  west,  from  Cumberland  to  Pittsburg, 
and  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  were  other  paths,  which  were  of  no  small 
importance  although  now  almost  forgotten.  Before  proceeding  to  a  considera- 
tion of  some  of  them,  a  brief  history  will  be  given  of  the  highway  from  Cumber- 
land west,  by  which  settlers  of  the  lower  Monongahela  found  their  way  across 
the  mountains. 

About  the  year  1750  the  Ohio  Company,  a  wealthy  corporation  engaged 
in  trading  with  Indians,  and  also  dealing  in  lands  west  of  Laurel  Hill,  employed 
Colonel  Thomas  Cx*esap,  who  lived  fifteen  miles  east  of  Cumberland,  to  survey 
a  path  by  which  traders  could  carry  their  goods  to  the  Ohio  River.  The  com- 
pany had  a  store  and  a  fort  at  Cumberland,  then  called  Will's  Creek.  Colonel 
Cresap  offered  a  reward  to  the  Indian  who  would  mark  the  best  route  for  a 
path  from  Cumberland  to  the  site  of  Pittsburg.  An  Indian  named  Nemacolin 
received  the  reward,  and  a  path  was  marked.  Part  of  the  way  it  followed  a 
buffalo  trail  by  which  those  animals  had  crossed  the  mountains  for  ages. 
Traders  with  their  packhorses  traveled  the  path  from  that  time,  if  indeed,  they 
had  not  been  traveling  it,  or  one  similar  to  it,  for  years.  Traders  by  the  hun- 
dred, and  packhorses  by  the  thousand,  had  made  their  way  to  the  Ohio  before 
that  time.  In  1748  three  hundred  English  traders  crossed  the  Alleghenies, 
some  by  way  of  the  Kanawha,  others  by  Cumberland,  and  others  by  still  other 
routes.  In  1749  the  French  explorer.  Celeron,  met  a  company  of  six  traders  in 
Ohio,  with  fifty  horses  loaded  with  furs,  bound  for  Philadelphia.  The  Nemacolin 
trail  was  widened  into  a  wagon  road  as  far  as  the  Monongahela  in  1754,  by 
George  AVashington.  This  was  the  first  wagon  road  made  from  the  Atlantic 
slope  over  the  mountains  to  the  Mississippi  basin.  The  next  year,  1755,  Brad- 
dock,  with  his  army,  widened  the  road  and  completed  it  within  nine  miles  of 
Pittsburg.  He  was  defeated  and  the  road  remained  unfinished.  The  National 
Road  now  follows  nearly  the  route  of  that  road.     Braddock  took  1500  horses 


SUTTON'S    HISTOEY.  75 

over  the  route,  and  more  than  one  hundred  wagons,  besides  several  heavy  can- 
non. Although  the  road  was  a  good  one,  yet  for  twenty-five  years  not  a  wagon 
loaded  with  merchandise  passed  over  it.  Traders  still  packed  on  horses.  In 
1784  the  people  on  the  Monongahela,  in  Pennsylvania,  paid  five  cents  a  pound 
to  have  their  merchandise  carried  from  Philadelphia,  and  in  1789  they  paid 
four  cents  for  carrying  from  Carlisle  to  Uniontown.  Packing  was  a  trade. 
There  were  those  who  followed  it  for  a  living.  Wages  paid  the  packhorsc 
driver  were  fifteen  dollars  per  month,  and  men  were  scarce  at  that  price.  In 
1789  the  first  wagon  loaded  with  merchandise  reached  the  Monongahela  River, 
passing  over  the  Braddock  road.  It  was  driven  by  John  Hayden,  and  hauled 
two  thousand  pounds  from  Hagerstown  to  Brownsville,  and  was  drawn  by  four 
horses.  One  month  was  consumed  in  making  the  trip,  and  the  freight  bill  was 
sixty  dollars.    This  was  cheaper  than  packing  on  horses. 

Prior  to  the  time  the  first  wagonload  of  merchandise  reached  the  western 
waters,  a  movement  had  been  set  on  foot  for  opening  a  canal  along  the  bank 
of  the  Potomac  from  Alexandra,  in  Virginia,  to  a  point  on  the  North  Branch 
of  the  Potomac  near  where  the  Northwestern  pike  crosses  that  stream  at  Gor- 
mania,  in  Grant  County,  West  Virginia.  Thence  a  road  was  to  be  made  across 
the  mountain,  thirty  or  more  miles,  to  Cheat  River,  and  a  canal  constructed 
down  that  stream  to  a  point  where  it  could  be  navigated,  or,  if  more  practi- 
cable, the  road  was  to  be  made  from  the  North  Branch  to  the  nearest  navigable 
point  on  the  Monongahela.  The  prime  mover  in  this  scheme  was  George  Wash- 
ington. He  had  thought  over  it  for  years,  and  in  1775  he  was  about  to  take 
steps  to  organize  a  company  to  build  the  canal  when  the  Revolutionary  War 
began,  and  he  could  do  nothing  further  till  the  war  closed.  As  soon  as  peace 
was  established  he  took  up  again  the  canal  scheme.  He  believed  that  easy 
and  adequate  communication  should  be  opened  between  the  Atlantic  Coast  and 
the  great  valleys  west  of  the  Alleghanies;  because,  if  those  valleys  remained 
cut  off  from  the  East  by  the  mountain  barriers,  the  settlers  who  were  flocking 
there  by  thousands,  would  seek  an  outlet  for  trade  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississ- 
ippi, and  their  commercial  interests  would  lead  to  political  ties  which  would 
bind  them  to  the  Spanish  colonies  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  gradually  they 
would  become  indifferent  to  the  Atlantic  Coast  States.  Washington  believed 
that  the  people  west  of  the  mountains  should  be  bound  to  the  East  by  commerce 
and  community  of  interest,  or  they  would  set  up  an  independent  republic,  and 
enter  into  an  alliance  or  union  with  the  Spanish.  He  therefore  urged  that  two 
canals  be  built,  one  by  way  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Monongahela;  the  other  by 
way  of  the  James  and  the  Kanawha.  In  1784,  the  year  after  peace  was  signed 
with  England,  he  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  and  visited  the  Monongahela,  on  a 
tour  of  observation,  as  well  as  to  look  after  large  tracts  of  land  which  he  owned 
in  the  West.  On  his  return  he  ascended  Cheat  River  and  crossed  the  mountains 
to  Staunton.  The  wisdom  of  America's  greatest  man  is  shown  no  more  in  his 
success  in  war  and  his  foresight  in  politics  than  in  his  wonderful  grasp  and 
understanding  of  the  laws  governing  trade,  and  the  effects  of  geography  on  the 
future  history  of  a  country. 


76  Sl'TTON'g     HISTOB  ¥. 

SETTLEMENTS  AND  MASSACRES. 

The  nearest  neighbors  of  the  emigrants  who  lived  on  the  South  Branch,  on 
the  one  side,  at  the  month  of  the  Youghiogheny,  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  other, 
while  southward  there  were  two  white  men  living  in  the  present  territory  of 
Pocahontas  county,  and  a  settlement  still  further  south  in  Greenbrier  county. 
It  is  stated  by  Withers,  the  earliest  historian,  that  an  Indian  village  was  near 
the  settlement.  This  was  doubtless  a  mistake.  No  Indian  town  is  known  to 
have  been  in  that  part  of  West  Virginia  at  the  time  under  consideration.  Bull- 
town,  on  the  Little  Kanawha,  in  the  present  county  of  Braxton,  about  fifty 
miles  from  this  settlement,  was  probably  meant.  It  was  near  enough  to  be 
considered  dangerously  near ;  but,  fortunately,  the  village  was  not  there  at  that 
time.  It  was  not  founded  until  about  twelve  years  afterwards,  when  a  Delaware 
chief,  Bull,  with  five  families  came  there  and  settled.  They  were  from  Orange 
county,  New  York,  and  were  living  in  New  York  as  late  as  1764,  at  which  time 
Bull  was  arrested,  charged  with  taking  part  in  Pontiac  's  conspiracy,  was  carried 
to  New  York  City  and  subsequently  was  released,  and  he  moved  with  his  fam- 
ilies to  Bulltown,  and  remained  about  five  years.  The  settlers  from  Hacker's 
Creek,  in  Lewis  county,  destroyed  the  town  in  1772.  It  is  further  stated  by 
Withers  that  an  Indian  trail  passed  near  the  settlement.  This  was,  no  doubt 
the  path  up  the  Little  Kanawha  and  down  the  North  Pork  of  the  Potomac,  or 
that  branch  called  the  Shawnee  Trail,  which  led  into  Pendleton  county. 

MAD  ANN. 

A  remarkable  female  character  penetrated  the  forests  of  West  Virginia, 
and  aided  the  native's  in  their  warfare  with  the  Indians.  This  eccentric  person 
lived  in  this  section  of  the  country  towards  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  century. 
Her  name  was  Ann  Bailey.  She  was  born  in  Liverpool,  and  had  been  the  wife 
of  an  English  soldier.  She  generally  went  by  the  cognomen  of  Mad  Ann.  Dur- 
ing the  wars  with  the  Indians,  she  very  often  acted  as  a  messenger,  and  con- 
veyed letters  from  the  fort,  at  Covington,  to  Point  Pleasant.  On  these  occasions 
she  was  mounted  on  a  favorite  horse  of  great  sagacity,  and  rode  like  a  man, 
with  a  rifle  over  her  shoulder,  and  a  tomahawk  and  a  butcher's  knife  in  her 
belt.  At  night  she  slept  in  the  woods.  Her  custom  was  to  let  her  horse  go  free, 
and  then  walk  some  distance  back  on  his  trail,  to  escape  being  discovered  by  the 
Indians.  After  the  Indian  wars  she  spent  some  time  in  hunting.  She  pursued 
and  shot  deer  and  bears  with  the  skill  of  a  backwoodsman.  She  was  a  short, 
stout  woman,  very  masculine  and  coarse  in  her  appearance,  and  seldom  or  never 
wore  a  gown,  but  usually  had  on  a  petticoat,  with  a  man's  coat  over  it,  and 
buckskin  breeches.  The  services  she  rendered  in  the  wars  with  the  Indians, 
endeared  her  to  the  people,  Mad  Ann.,  and  her  black  pony  Liverpool,  were 
always  welcome  at  every  house.  Often,  she  gathered  the  honest,  simple-hearted 
mountaineers  around,  and  related  her  adventures  and  trials,  while  the  sym- 
pathetic  tear  would  course  down  their  cheeks.     She  was  profane,  often  became 


SUTTON'S     HISTOE1'.  77 

intoxicated,  and  could  box  with  the  skill  of  one  of  the  fancy.  Mad  Ann  possessed 
considerable  intelligence,  and  could  read  and  write.  She  died  in  Ohio  many 
years  since. 

INDIANS. 

It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  western  Virginia  was  a  savage  empire 
when  the  white  man  first  entered  its  wilderness  and  penetrated  its  forests,  but 
early  historians  tell  us  that  it  was  a  wilderness  in  solitude.  It  is  said  that  be- 
tween the  years  1656  and  1672,  there  was  a  war  of  extermination  waged  by  the 
Mohawks,  a  fierce,  warlike  race,  whose  home  was  in  western  New  York.  They 
had  obtained  firearms  from  the  white  settlers  by  the  use  of  which  they  became 
a  nation  of  conquerors.  Having  driven  out  and  exterminated  a  race  supposed 
to  have  been  the  Hurons,  they  abandoned  the  territory  which  they  had  con- 
quered, and  on  the  approach  of  the  white  race  into  western  Virginia,  they  met 
only  roving  bands  of  warriors  and  hunters  from  the  different  tribes  whose 
towns  were  principally  in  Ohio. 

Picturesque  and  lonely  must  have  been  the  solitude  where  the  buffalo,  the 
deer  and  the  elk  browsed  amid  the  abundance  of  the  rich  valleys  and  the  winter 
fern  of  the  lofty  peaks,  whilst  the  savage  and  vulturous  panther,  wolf  and  cata- 
mount, ferocious  and  predatory  in  their  nature,  made  the  forest  hideous  with 
their  midnight  shrieks.  All  these  things,  we  presume,  had  a  fascination  which 
nothing  else  could  give  to  the  frontiersman  whose  native  cunning  and  trusty 
rifle  gave  inspiration  to  their  onward  conquests.  The  cruelty  of  the  savage, 
and  the  intense  suffering  of  the  people  who  were  unfortunate  enough  to  fall 
within  their  power,  is  too  revolting  to  be  minutely  related. 

The  Virginia  frontiersmen  in  1774  were  dwelling  upon  the  borderland  of 
a  savage  empire,  the  boundary  of  which  they  had  been  forcing  back  for  many 
years.  By  the  treaty  of  Albany  in  1720,  the  Blue  Ridge  was  agreed  upon  as 
the  boundary  line  between  the  possessions  of  White  and  Red  men.  In  1744, 
by  that  of  Lancaster,  this  was  made  an  imaginary  line  extending  from  the  Po- 
tomac through  the  sites  of  the  present  cities  of  Martinsburg,  Winchester  and 
Staunton,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  At  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix — now 
Rome,  New  York, — between  the  English  representative,  Sir  William  Johnson 
and  the  Six  Nations — Cayugas,  Onondagas,  Onedias,  Senecas,  Mohawks  and 
Tuscaroras — the  Ohio  was  made  the  bondary.  the  title  to  all  the  region  east  of 
that  river  being  transferred  to  the  King  of  England. 

From  it,  the  tribes  that  once  dwelt  therein  had  previously  removed.  The 
Kanawhas  had  gone  from  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  river  which  bears  their 
name,  to  join  their  kinsmen,  the  Troquois  in  New  York;  the  Shawnees  had 
abandoned  the  Indian  Old  Fields  of  the  valley  of  the  South  of  the  Potomac ;  the 
Cherokees  who  claimed  all  the  region  between  the  Great  Kanawha  and  the 
Big  Sandy  rivers,  had  never  occupied  it.  The  Indian  Nations  who  were  to  be 
history  makers  in  their  wars  with  the  Virginians,  were  dwellers  in  the  Ohio 


78  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Wilderness.     These  were  as  follows:     Miamis,  Ottawas,  Shawnees,  Delawares, 
Wyandots  and  Mingoes. 

The  Miamis  were  a  powerful  nation  whose  habitat  was  in  the  region  drained 
by  the  great  Miami  and  Maumee  rivers.  Their  ancient  name  was  ' '  Twightwee, ' ' 
and  they  claimed  to  be  the  original  proprietors  of  the  lands  they  occupied — 
that  they  had  always  had  them.  They  were  the  only  Indians  that  ever  waged 
successful  war  with  the  Six  Nations.  This  ended  in  1702  by  a  council  between 
the  two  belligerant  powers.     (Journal  of  Capt.  "William  Trent.) 

They  were  a  warlike  people,  and  were  much  of  the  time  in  broils  with  their 
neighbors.  In  1763,  they  removed  from  Piqua,  their  chief  town,  the  site  of 
which  is  now  in  Miami  county,  Ohio,  to  the  Miami  of  the  Lakes. 

The  Shawnees  were  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  people  inhabiting  the 
region  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Thirty-one  of  them  were  present  at  the  treaty 
with  William  Penn  at  Shackamaxon  in  1682.  Soon  thereafter,  they  fell  under 
the  rule  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  henceforth,  for  more  than  half  a  century  they 
existed  in  branches  in  various  regions.  Some  of  them  occupied  the  Lower 
Shenandoah  Valley  where  they  had  a  town  at  "Shawnee  Springs"  now  Win- 
chester, Virginia;  at  one  time  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  principal  part  of 
them  were  in  Kentucky;  thence  they  removed  to  the  valleys  of  the  Cumberland 
and  Tennessee  rivers,  but  were  forced  by  the  Cherokees  to  abandon  this  region ; 
and  four  hundred  of  them,  in  1678,  found  a  home  on  the  Mobile  river,  in  New 
Spain ;  where,  in  1745,  they  had  four  hundred  and  fifty  warriors.  Four  hundred 
more  leaving  the  Mississippi  Valley,  settled  on  the  Congaree  river  in  South 
Carolina.  Seventy  families  later,  removed  from  here  to  the  valley  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna in  Pennsylvania;  others  followed,  and  in  1732  there  were  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  Shawnee  warriors  on  that  river.  But  now  there  was  to  be  a  gath- 
ering of  all  the  Shawnee  people.  Their  future  home  was  to  be  on  the  Scioto, 
where,  on  the  Pickaway  Plains,  the  "Wilderness  Garden"  of  the  valley  of  that 
river,  their  principal  towns  were  located.  Here  prior  to  1760.  the  nation  was 
completely  reunited.  It  was  composed  of  four  tribes  or  branches — the  Piqua, 
men  born  in  ashes ;  the  Kiskapoke,  men  of  war ;  the  Mequacheke,  the  fat  men ; 
and  the  Chilicothe,  dwellers  in  a  permanent  home.  They  could  put  into  the  field 
a  thousand  warriors.  Because  of  their  past  wanderings,  they  have  been  called 
the  "Bedouins  of  the  American  Wilderness;"  and  because  of  their  braverv 
and  heroism  in  defending  their  wilderness  home  against  the  advance  of  white 
invaders,  they  won  the  proud  title  of  "Spartans  of  their  Race."  ("Hist,  of  the 
Shawnee  Indians"  by  Henry  Harvey.) 

"Of  all  the  Indains,  the  Shawnees  were  the  most  bloody  and  terrible,  (they) 
holding  all  other  men,  Indians  as  well  as  Whites  in  contempt  as  warriors  in 
comparison  with  themselves.  This  opinion  made  them  more  restless  and  fierce 
than  any  other  savages;  and  they  boasted  that  they  had  killed  ten  times  as 
many  white  people  as  had  any  other  nation.  They  were  a  well  formed,  active 
and  ingenious  people. — were  assuming  and  imperious  in  the  presence  of  others 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  79 

not  of  their  own  nation,  and  were  sometimes  very  cruel."  ("Memoirs  of  the 
Indian  Wars  and  Other  Occurrences"  by  Capt.  John  Stuart.) 

The  Delaware  Nation  consisted  of  five  tribal  organizations.  They,  like  the 
Shawnees,  were  one  of  the  parties  to  the  treaty  with  William  Penn  in  1682. 
They  once  occupied  New  Jersey  and  both  sides  of  the  Delaware  river  from 
which  they  derived  their  English  name.  From  here  they  were  driven  by  the 
Six  Nations,  and  took  ref  age  in  the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  then  in  that  of 
the  Monongahela,  and  finally,  about  1760,  in  the  Ohio  Wilderness,  where  they 
established  themselves  in  the  valley  of  the  Muskingum  and  Tuscarawas  rivers 
and  their  tributaries.  Here,  in  1770,  they  had  their  densest  population,  though 
they  were  really  in  possession  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  present  state  of  Ohio. 
They  had  now  reached  their  highest  degree  of  greatness,  and  could  put  in  the 
field  six  hundred  and  fifty  warriors.  In  history,  tradition  and  fiction,  the 
Delawares  have  been  accorded  a  high  rank  among  the  Indians  of  North  Amer- 
ica. ("History,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Indian  Nations"  by  John 
Heckewelder.) 

The  Wyandot  Nation  had  its  chief  towns  in  the  valley  of  the  Sandusky 
river,  in  what  is  now  Wyandot  county;  but  they  were  spread  out  over  the 
whole  region  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio  river,  with  villages  along  the  Hock- 
ing and  other  adjacent  streams.  By  the  French  they  were  called  Hurons, 
and  sometimes  Guyandots.  They  were  of  the  Iroquois  linguistic  stock.  It  was 
a  common  saying  along  the  border  that  a  "Wyandot  will  not  be  taken  alive." 
("Indian  Nations"  by  Heckewelder.) 

The  tribe  of  Mingoes  of  the  Ohio  Wilderness,  was  a  small  organization  of 
the  Senecas,  one  of  the  Six  Nations  of  New  York.  When  first  known  to  the 
Whites,  they  occupied  the  Mingo  Bottom  and  all  the  region  round  about  the 
present  city  of  Steubenville  in  eastern  Ohio;  but  later  gave  place  to  the  Dela- 
wares, and  removed  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Scioto,  where  they  built  their 
towns  on  the  lands  on  which  Columbus,  the  capital  city  of  Ohio  now  stands. 
(Ohio  Archaeological  and  Historical  Society  Publications.) 

These.  Nations  of  the  Ohio  Wilderness  denied  the  right  of  the  Six  Nations 
of  New  York,  to  convey  to  the  English  a  title  to  the  hunting  grounds  south  of 
the  Ohio ;  and  they  prepared  to  defend  them  against  their  White  invaders. 
They  had  commingled  to  some  extent  from  the  beginning  of  their  sojourn 
in  Ohio;  and  this  increased  as  their  animosities  toward  each  other  were  sup- 
planted by  a  common  fear  of  the  enemy  of  their  race.  They  gradually  grew 
stronger  in  sympathy,  and  more  compact  in  union  as  the  settlements  encroached 
upon  their  forest  domain.     ("History  of  the  Lower  Scioto  Valley.") 

Colonel  James  Smith,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  was  captured  by  Indians, 
in  1755,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  and  detained  amongst  them  five  years ; 
but  being  adopted  into  the  tribe,  was  treated  with  great  kindness.  He  became 
a  prominent  citizen  of  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  and  in  1899  published  an 
account  of  his  life  and  travels.  He  says :  "I  am  of  the  opinion  that  from  Brad- 
dock's  war  until  the  present  time,  there  never  were  more  than  three  thousand 
Indians  at  any  time  in  arms  against  us,  west  of  Fort  Pitt,  and  frequently  not 


80  SUTTON'S     HISTOKY. 

half  that  number.  According  to  the  Indians'  own  accounts,  during  the  whole 
of  Braddock's  war,  or  from  1755  till  1758,  they  killed  or  took  fifty  of  our  peo- 
ple for  one  that  they  lost."  Afterwards,  the  frontiersmen,  especially  the  Vir- 
ginians, learned  something  of  the  Indian  mode  of  warfare,  and  fewer  whites 
and  more  Indians  were  killed;  yet,  even  then,  the  savages  claimed,  and  Smith 
believed  with  good  reason,  that  they  killed  or  took  ten  of  our  people  for  one 
that  they  lost.  Colonel  Smith  thinks  the  Indians  displayed  admirable  skill  in 
warfare. 

Kercheval  states  that  the  Catawba  and  Delaware  Indians  were  said  to  have 
been  engaged  in  war  at  the  time  the  Valley  was  first  entered  by  white  people, 
and  that  the  feud  was  continued  for  many  years  afterwards.  Several  bloody 
battles  were  fought  between  these  tribes  on  or  near  the  Potomac.  One  of  these 
occurred  at  the  mouth  of  Antietam  creek,  in  1736,  it  is  believed.  "The  Dela- 
warcs, "  says  Kercheval,  "had  penetrated  far  to  the  south,  committed  some  acts 
of  outrage  on  the  Catawbas,  and  on  their  retreat  were  overtaken  at  the  mouth 
of  this  creek,  when  a  desperate  conflict  ensued.  Every  man  of  the  Delaware 
party  was  put  to  death,  with  the  exception  of  one  who  escaped  after  the  battle 
was  over,  and  every  Catawba  held  up  a  scalp  but  one.  This  was  a  disgrace  not 
to  be  borne;  and  he  instantly  gave  chase  to  the  fugitive,  overtook  him  at  the 
Susquehanna  river,  (a  distance  little  short  of  one  hundred  miles),  killed  and 
scalped  him,  and  returning  showed  his  scalp  to  several  white  people,  and  ex- 
ulted in  what  he  had  done."  Other  battles  between  these  tribes  occurred  at 
Painted  Rock,  on  the  South  Branch ;  at  Hanging  Rock,  in  Hampshire ;  and  near 
the  site  of  Franklin,  Pendleton  county.  According  to  Kercheval,  a  few  Shaw- 
nee continued  to  live  in  the  lower  valley  till  1754,  when  they  removed  west  of 
the  Alleghany  mountain. 

According  to  tradition,  a  battle  between  Indians  occurred  on  the  Cowpas- 
ture  river,  near  Millborough,  Bath  comity,  Avhere  there  is  a  small  mound  sup- 
posed to  cover  the  remains  of  the  slain.  In  the  spring  of  1886  the  floods  washed 
away  a  portion  of  the  mound,  and  exposed  to  view  five  large  skeletons  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation.  Tradition  also  says  that  an  Indian  maiden,  from  a  neigh- 
boring eminence,  watched  the  battle  in  which  her  lover  was  engaged.  (Waddell.) 

The  Indians  east  of  the  Mississippi  were  not  in  the  habit  of  violating  the 
persons  of  their  female  captives ;  it  was  otherwise  with  the  Western  Indians. 

Logan  was  the  chief  of  the  Mingos,  a  part  of  the  Senecas. 

John  Hacker  located  on  Hacker's  creek  in  1773,  from  whom  the  stream 
took  its  name. 

Tecumseh  was  killed  in  1813,  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

Logan  and  Tecumseh  were  said  to  have  been  born  on  the  West  fork  waters, 
and  it  was  also  the  birth  place  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  all  being  eminent  warriors. 

INDIANS  ON  SKIDMORE  RUN. 

About  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Mrs.  Eliza  Ann  Davis,  who  moved 
to  Skidmore  run,  camped  a  few  days  under  a  ledge  of  rocks  about  a  half  mile 


SUTTON'S     HISTOB  Y.  81 

above  the  mouth  of  the  run,  while  she  repavred  a  house. which  stood  near  by. 
Some  time  after  that,  her  boys  wanted  some  stone  to  fortify  the  bank  of  the 
run,  and  in  getting  some  flag  stone  which  bad  evidently  fallen  from  the  over- 
hanging ledge,  they  unearthed  five  human  skeletons  which  were  covered  about 
two  feet  deep  with  this  shelly  stone.  Three  of  the  skeletons  were  lying  side  by 
side  with  their  heads  pointing  clown  stream.  Two  were  lying  a  little  below 
them  with  their  heads  up  stream.  One  of  these  was  a  large  skeleton  and  the 
other  a  small  one.  evidently  a  small  woman  or  girl.  The  skulls,  jawbones  and 
teeth,  also  some  of  the  other  bones  were  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation.  Evi- 
dently no  white  person  has  been  missing  or  unaccounted  for  since  the  first  set- 
tlement of  the  country  which  dates  back  to  about  1793. 

William  Davis,  who  is  a  correct  and  reliable  young  man,  and  one  of  the 
persons  making  the  discovery,  gave  us  a  very  minute  description  of  the  cir- 
cumstance. He  said  there  were  some  flints,  a  broken  piece  of  stone  or  earthen 
pottery,  and  two  tusks,  supposed  to  be  beaver  teeth,  buried  with  the  skeletons. 
John  Humphreys,  who  assisted  in  unearthing  the  skeletons,  sent  the  tusks 
which  were  about  two  inches  in  length  and  of  a  reddish  cast,  to  Washington 
to  have  them  examined,  but  received  no  report.  Mr.  Humphreys,  who  was  a 
man  of  unquestioned  truthfulness,  says  that  he  found  among  the  bones  some 
human  hair,  in  appearance  a  dai'k  auburn  color.  The  natural  conclusion  would 
be  that  they  were  Indians  camping  under  the  rock,  and  that  within  the  night 
while  they  were  asleep — and  the  position  in  which  their  skeletons  were  found 
would  indicate  that  they  had  retired — a  portion  of  the  overhanging  rock  be- 
came detached  and  fell  on  them.  The  rock  indicates  a  slate  or  flag-like  forma- 
tion. There  are  two  other  questions  to  be  considered :  Would  human  hair  last 
a  hundred  years  when  buried?  And  would  it  change  its  cast?  If  not,  it  was 
not  the  hair  of  an  Indian.  If  human  hair  would  last  for  a  century  in  the  grave 
and  not  change  its  color,  it  must  have  been  the  hair  of  a  captive.  If  this  theory 
is  correct,  it  would  indicate  that  there  were  three  Indians  and  two  prisoners, 
the  small  skeleton  being  that  of  a  girl ;  or  the  Indians  may  have  had  a  bunch 
of  scalps.  Some  historian  has  said  that  the  Indians  usually  selected  from  their 
prisoners  to  be  tomahawked  and  scalped  those  having  auburn  hair,  and  those 
they  chose  to  keep  in  captivity  were  brunettes.  But  however  this  may  be,  we 
are  of  the  opinion  from  all  the  circumstances  that  the  skeletons  found  were 
those  of  Indians  with  one  or  more  captives. 

INDIAN  SKELETON. 

Within  the  month  of  February,  1917,  while  some  workmen  were  digging 
holes  for  telephone  poles  on  the  side  of  Chestnut  street  where  Mat  James 
now  lives  in  Skidmore  addition,  one  of  the  workmen  discovered  some  bones 
about  two  feet  under  the  ground,  and  upon  examination  they  proved  to  be 
human  remains,  partly  decayed,  supposed  to  be  that  of  an  Indian.  There  were 
quite  a  number  of  beads  and  some  animal  teeth  with  holes  through  them,  and 
these  doubtless,  had  been  worn  on  a  sti'inff  around  the  neck. 


82  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

The  authorities  made  no  effort  to  collect  the  bones  and  trinkets,  but  in- 
stead, the  town  boys  gathered  the  beads  and  teeth  and  sold  them  at  about  ten 
cents  each.  A  portion  of  the  skull  and  jaw  bone  were  given  to  a  dentist,  but 
no  effort  was  made  to  ascertain  the  age  or  sex  nor  of  the  number  of  beads  and 
teeth  the  savage  sported  as  a  necklace.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  such  careless 
indifference  was  manifested  by  the  physicians  and  authorites  of  the  town. 
Some  scientific  knowledge  might  have  been  gained  and  some  human  considera- 
tion shown  to  the  crumbling  remains  of  a  human  being  though  he  had  long 
been  dead. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  83 


CHAPTER  V. 

Stats  and  County  Roads;  County  Towns;  Central  Counties  of  the  State. 


CENTRAL  WEST  VIRGINIA. 

Central  West  Virginia  embraces  the  counties  of  Braxton,  Lewis,  Upshur, 
Webster,  Nicholas.  Clay,  Roane,  Calhoun  and  Gilmer,  and  contains  4,100  square 
miles.  This  section  is  penetrated  by  the  Balt.iro.ore  &  Ohio  railroad,  the  Coal 
&  Coke,  the  West  Virginia  Midland,  the  Spruce  Lumber  railroad,  the  Buckhan- 
non  &  Pickens,  the  Elk  &  Little  Kanawha,  and  various  lumber  railroads. 

This  central  territory  is  watered  principally  by  the  Elk,  the  Little  Kan- 
awha, the  Buckhannon,  the  Holly,  the  Gauly,  the  Big  Birch,  and  Little  Birch 
rivers,  the  West  Fork,  Steer  Creek,  Cedar  Creek,  Laurel  Creek,  Buffalo,  and 
many  smaller  streams.  Along  the  shores  and  mountain  ranges  of  these  streams 
are  some  of  the  finest  soils  of  the  state,  and  on  the  shores  of  these  streams  grow 
the  largest  and  finest  timber  of  any  section  of  our  country.  The  Bison  Range, 
running  for  a  distance  of  over  ninety  miles  through  the  center  of  its  territory, 
divides  its  principle  streams,  and  forms  its  highest  elevations.  On  the  north 
of  this  divide  is  the  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny  coal  seams,  and  on  the  south 
are  the  Freeports,  the  Kanawha  &  New  River  coals. 

This  central  region  of  the  state  was  once  referred  to  as  the  mountains 
where  the  people  dwelt  in  cabins,  and  grew  up  without  education  and  refine- 
ment. Now  we  pass  this  on  to  the  mountains  beyond  us,  and  when  we  arrive 
there,  the  people  will  have  to  discover  mountains  and  a  wilderness  some  place 
beyond.  This  region  of  West  Virginia  is  destined  in  the  future  to  become 
valuable  as  a  grazing  and  agricultural  country. 

Braxton  county  is  not  only  the  central  county,  but  it  is  becoming  one  of 
the  richest  oil  and  gas  producing  sections  of  the  state.  Cropping  out  from 
the  Bison  range  and  the  numerous  streams  flowing  from  its  summits  and  under- 
lying its  valleys,  are  some  of  the  greatest  coal  deposits  of  the  state.  We  do  not 
hesitate  to  give  it  as  our  opinion  that  the  valley  of  the  Elk,  will  in  time  become 
the  greatest  coal  producing  country  in  the  United  States,  the  Bee  Hive  of 
America,  when  her  valleys  shall  be  tapped  and  her  mountains  penetrated  for 
the  rich  and  exhaustless  deposits. 

CLAY  COUNTY. 

Clay  county  was  formed  in  1858  from  Braxton  and  Nicholas  counties;  it 
has  390  square  miles.  The  Elk  river  traverses  the  county  from  east  to  west  for 
a  distance  of  over  40  miles.  The  counti*y  contains  some  small  sections  of  superior 
farming  and  grazing  lands,  but  the  greater  portion  of  the  county  is  hilly  and 


84  SUTTON'S     HISTORV". 

rough  with  a  light  soil.  The  county  is  rich  in  mineral  products,  being  under- 
laid with  the  Kanawha  and  Freeport  coals,  with  numerous  mining  operations 
along  the  Elk  river.  The  Coal  &  Coke  railroad  runs  through  the  county  along  the 
Elk  river,  a  branch  road  leading  from  the  mouth  of  Big  Buffalo  creek  some  twenty 
miles  up  that  stream  to  the  Widen  coal  field.  There  is  also  a  branch  road  up 
Middle  creek  for  about  ten  miles,  which  opens  up  a  new  coal  field.  The  county  is 
rich  in  oil  and  gas,  already  having  many  producing  wells.  Henry,  the  county 
seat,  is  situated  on  the  Elk  river  opposite  the  mouth  of  Big  Buffalo  creek  48 
miles  from  Sutton  and  54  miles  from  Charleston.  It  has  a  bank,  several  stores, 
good  High  School,  new  court  house  and  churches.    The  population  is  about  450. 

Jacob  Summers 

of  Clay  county,  came  from  Virginia  about  the  year  1813,  and  settled  on  the 
Elk  river.  Mr.  Summers  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  married  a  Miss 
Davis,  and  by  this  union,  fourteen  children  were  born. 

For  his  second  wife,  he  married  Eleanor  Cozad,  and  seven  children  were 
born.  Mr.  Summers  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six  years,  leaving  a 
great  many  descendants.  His  twenty-one  children  lived  to  become  heads  of 
families.  His  son,  David  C,  is  a  prominent  citizen,  serving  his  countrymen  as 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

A.  J.  Stephenson 

son  of  Franklin  Stephenson,  formerly  of  Nicholas  county,  and  grandson  of 
Samuel  Stephenson,  came  to  Clay,  county  in  1863  and  volunteered  in  Captain 
Stephenson's  State  company.  He  was  made  Clerk  of  the  Court  in  1865,  and 
held  the  office  for  about  thirty-five  years.  ■  He  accumulated  considerable 
property. 

Madison  Stephenson 

came  from  Nicholas  in  an  early  day.  He  was  the  son  of  Johnson  Stephenson. 
He  was  extensively  engaged  in  stockraising.  This  entire  family  has  taken  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  county. 

CALHOUN  COUNTY. 

Calhoun  county  was  formed  in  1856  from  Gilmer.  It  contains  260  square 
miles,  and  was  named  for  John  C.  Calhoun.  Its  county  seat  is  Grantsville,  40 
miles  from  Sutton  and  22  miles  below  Glenville  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river. 
The  first  county  seat  was  located  at  Brooksville  at  the  mouth  of  Yellow  creek 
and  from  there  it  was  moved  to  Arnoldsburgh  on  the  West  Fork,  and  was  after- 
ward removed  to  its  present  location.  The  county  is  rich  in  oil  and  gas  deposits, 
and  its  lands  are  excellent  for  farming  purposes. 

Colonel  Dewees  says  in  his  sketches  of  Calhoun  county,  that  after  the  death 
of  his  parents,  he  stayed  with  Daniel  McCune's  family.  He  gives*  quite  a  little 
histoiy  of  two  or  three  families  that  figured  conspicuously  in  the  wild  regions 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  85 

of  the  West  fork  of  the  Little  Kanawha.  Daniel  McCune  then  lived  on  what 
is  now  known  as  McCunes  run  which  empties  in  the  West  Fork  just  below 
Arnoldsburg,  Calhoun  county.  Daniel  McCune  was  a  son  of  the  old  original 
Peter  McCune,  an  Irishman,  who  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  married  a  daughter  of  Adam  O'Brien,  famous  as  a  noted  character  on  the 
frontier  border  prior  to  and  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  roamed  over 
the  then  wilderness  comprising  the  counties  of  Calhoun,  Braxton,  Gilmer, 
blazing  the  paths  that  were  ultimately  to  lead  the  hardy  pioneers  who  were 
to  found  homes  in  the  wilderness  of  central  and  western  West  Virginia.  Daniel 
McCune  was  along  with  Joseph  Parsons,  Alexander  Turner  and  Jackson  Cot- 
trell,  convicted  of  the  murder  of  Jonathan  Nicholas,  about  the  year  of  1843, 
they  being  members  of  a  clan  that  was  organized  by  an  element  of  pioneers  who 
were  early  settlers  on  the  West  Fork  waters,  calling  themselves  the  Hell-fired 
band,  roving  from  place  to  place,  living  in  camps  and  desiring  the  wilderness 
country  of  the  West  Fork  for  a  paradise  for  hunters  and  those  who  desired, 
to  live  a  roving  life,  discouraging  improvement  of  every  kind,  such  as  clearing 
of  land,  making  settlements,  opening  up  roads,  organizing  churches  and  civili- 
zation in  general.  The  foregoing  parties  were  all  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary 
at  Richmond,  Virginia,  for  eighteen  years  each,  all  of  whom  died  except  Jack- 
son Cottrell  who  on  the  account  of  his  being  only  about  seventeen  years  old  was 
pardoned  after  serving  five  years,  leaving  Daniel  McCune  in  the  penitentiary, 
the  other  two  being  dead;  in  fact,  Alexander  Turner  dying  on  the  road  to  the 
penitentiary,  near  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  in  Greenbrier  county.  Parsons 
died  soon  after  going  to  the  penitentiary,  and  McCune  lived  two  or  three  years 
after  Cottrell  was  pardoned.  Jackson  Cottrell  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Cottrell, 
whose  father  in  turn  was  Thomas  Cottrell,  the  old  and  original  Cottrell  of  all 
the  Cottrells  of  the  West  Fork  and  adjacent  territory.  iThomas  Cottrell  married 
a  daughter  of  Adam  O'Brien,  and  consequently  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Peter 
McCune.  Thomas  Cottrell  had  sons,  Thos.,  Andrew,  Smith,  William,  John 
or  Whig,  and  Silas,  together  with  several  daughters  all  of  whom  were  the  prop- 
agators of  a  large  posterity,  which,  together  with  the  O'Briens  and.  McCunes 
are  widely  disseminated  over  central  West  Virginia,  an  account  of  which  is 
given  on  another  page. 

Mr.  Arbogast  relates  that  while  he  was  a  member  of  Captain  Stevenson's 
company  that  the  County  Seat  of  Clay  county  was  called  Marshall  in  honor  of 
Marshall  Triplett  who  was  then  in  the  South.  He  also  relates  that  the  late 
Felix  Sutton,  who  being  on  his  way  to  Wheeling  as  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, proposed  that  the  County  seat  be  called  Henry,  in  honor  of  Patrick  Henry, 
and  that  a  vote  of  his  company  was  taken  and  the  name  was  changed  from  Mar- 
shall to  that  of  Henry,  in  1863. 

At  an  election  held  at  the  Walker  voting  place  in  Pleasant  district,  Clay 
county,  in  1860,  there  were,  Douglas,  Bell,  Brackenridge  and  Lincoln,  and  as 
the  custom  was  at  that  day,  each  candidate  had  a  bucket  of  whiskey  at  the  poll- 
ing places.     The  platform  of  Douglas  was  that  Slavery  is  Right,  but  that  it 


86  SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 

should  exist  only  where  the  majority  of  the  people  say.  The  platform  of  Lin- 
coln was  that  Slavery  is  wrong,  but  we  have  it  under  the  law.  and  it  should 
exist  only  where  the  majority  of  the  people  say  it  should. 

When  George  Arbogast  stepped  up  to  vote,  James  Wolter  cried  the  vote 
and  pulled  his  "specks"  down  and  looked  up  and  said,  "George,  there  is  no 
bucket  here  for  Lincoln,  but  you  drink  out  of  my  bucket,  the  platforms  are  so 
near  alike,  you  may  be  right." 

HISTORY  OF  GILMER  COUNTY. 

The  first  white  men  who  stood  within  the  present  limits  of  Gilmer  county, 
were  William  Lowther,  Jesse  Hughes  and  Elias  Hughes,  the  latter  of  whom  was 
tthe  last  survivor  of  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  fought  October  10,  1774.  It 
was  in  tthe  autumn  of  the  year  1772,  that  these  three  daring  adventurers,  whose 
names  are  all  illustrious  in  the  annals  of  pioneer  history,  left  the  spot  where 
Clarksburg  now  stands,  and  traveled  up  the  West  fork  of  the  Monongahela 
river  to  the  place  where  Weston,  the  county  seat  of  Lewis  county,  now  stands. 
From  there,  they  crossed  the  dividing  ridge,  and  journeyed  down  Sand  creel", 
to  its  junction  with  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  upon  the  banks  of  which  they 
halted. 

Here  was  a  beautiful  mountain  river,  upon  whose  rapid  current  the  eye 
of  civilized  man  had  never  before  rested,  and  amid  the  surrounding  hills  the 
sound  of  his  voice  had  never  befoi'e  been  heard.  But  they  must  follow  its  tor- 
tuous course — its  windings  like  a  silver  thread — to  its  junction  with  some  other 
mighty  river,  they  knew  not  what.  So  the  journey  was  continued  down  the 
river,  and  as  they  proceeded  they  bestowed  the  names  upon  its  tributaiies 
which  they  have  borne  ever  since.  The  first  they  reached,  from  its  general 
course,  they  supposed  was  the  one  which  they  should  have  descended  from  the 
point  near  Weston,  instead  of  Sand  creek,  it  being  a  more  direct  route  to  the 
river  which  they  were  now  exploring,  and  they  christened  it  Leading  creek. 
And  the  next  stream  was  one,  the  banks  of  which  were  fringed  with  cedar,  and 
Cedar  creek  was  left  behind ;  then  one  flowed  out  from  beneath  lofty  pines,  and 
it  was  named  Pine  creek;  then  high  yellow  clay  banks  indicated  the  mouth  of 
another,  and  Yellow  creek  was  passed ;  after  this,  a  stream  stretched  away  into 
the  hills,  a  long  line  of  its  course  being  visible,  and  it  was  called  Straight  creek; 
then  one  flowed  in  from  towards  the  setting  sun,  and  it  was  West  Fork.  From 
another  they  drank  of  its  cool,  transparent  waters,  and  it  has  ever  since  been 
known  as  Spring  creek;  then  the  descent  continued  a  short  distance,  and  upon 
the  banks  of  the  river,  the  course  of  which  they  were  now  traversing,  was  dis- 
covered no  less  a  curiosity  than  a  burning  spring,  and  the  creek  which  here 
discharged  its  waters  was  called  Burning  Spring  creek. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  87 

GILMER. 

A  New  County. 

Until  the  year  1845,  what  is  now  Gilmer  county,  continued  to  be  parts  of 
the  counties  of  Lewis  and  Kanawha ;  hut  in  that  year  the  Legislature  on  the 
3rd  day  of  February,  1845,  passed  a  bill  entitled  "An  act  establishing  the 
county  of  Gilmer  out  of  parts  of  the  counties  of  Lewis  and  Kanawha." 

By  the  first  section  of  that  bill,  the  boundaries  of  the  new  county  were  de- 
fined to  be  as  follows :  ' '  Beginning  at  the  corner  of  Braxton  county  line,  situ- 
ated at  the  left-hand  ford  of  Three  Lick  fork  on  Oil  creek;  thence  a  straight 
line  to  the  fork  of  the  road  on  Leading  creek,  between  Robert  Benson's  and 
Aai'on  Schoolcraft's;  thence  with  the  Ritchie,  Wood  and  Jackson  county  lines, 
to  a  point  thence  such  lines  as  will  embrace  all  the  waters  of  the  said  "West 
fork  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river  to  Braxton  county  to  the  beginning;  the 
enclosed  area  to  form  one  distinct  and  new  county,  and  to  be  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  Gilmer  county." 

The  fourth  section  provided  for  the  location  of  the  seat  of  Justice. 

Section  fifth,  provided  for  the  holding  of  the  first  County  Court,  as  follows: 
"The  Justices  of  the  Peace,  commissioned  and  qualified  for  the  said  county  of 
Gilmer,  shall  meet  at  the  house  now  the  residence  of  Salathiel  G.  Stalnaker, 
in  the  town  of  DeKalb,  on  the  fourth  Monday  in  March  next." 


First  County  Court. 


-  'A,   m:ii  u.;ii;  -m  ?! 


In  compliance  with  the  above  section,  the  first  County  Court  ever  held  in 
Gilmer  county,  convened  at  the  residence  of  Salathiel  G.  Stalnaker,  on  the 
24th  day  of  March,  1845.  The  following  Justices,  each  holding  commissions 
from  his  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth,  composed  the  Court, 
viz:  Benjamin  Riddle,  Michael  Stump,  Beniah  Maze,  Barnabas  Cook,  Samuel 
L.  Hays,  Alexander  Huffman,  Salathiel  Stalnaker, '  Currence  B.  Conrad,  Wil- 
liam Bennett,  Philip  Cox,  Jr.,  Robert  A.  Benson,  Joseph  Knotts,  John  F.  W. 
Holt,  James  N.  Norman  and  William  Arnold. 

Jonathan  M.  Bennett,  was  appointed  by  the  court  as  Prosecuting  Attorney 
for  the  County. 

Michael  Stump  was  appointed  surveyor  for  the  County. 

Salathiel  G.   Stalnaker  was  appointed  as  Commissioner  of  the  Revenue. 

Joseph  Knotts  and  Benjamin  Hardman  were  granted  license  to  celibrate 
the  rights  of  matrimony. 

James  M.  Camp  was  appointed  Clerk,  protem. 

Glenville,  the  County  Seat. 

Is  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  27  miles  south- 
west of  Weston  and  125  miles  from  Parkersburg.  It  was  laid  out  by  S.  L. 
Hays  on  lands  belonging  to  William  H.  Ball,  in  the  year  1845,  and  made  the 


SS  S  UTTON'S     HISTO  B  Y. 

county  seat  the  same  year.  It  was  named  by  Colonel  0.  B.  Conrad,  the  name 
being  suggested  by  the  glen  or  valley  in  which  it  is  situated.  The  place  had 
before  that  date  been  known  as  ' '  The  Ford, ' '  for  the  reason  that  the  old  State 
road  leading  from  Weston  to  Charleston  here  crossed  the  Little  Kanawha. 
The  first  merchant  was  Jesse  Miller.  The  town  was  incorporated  by  act  of  the 
legislature  in  1871.  There  are  at  present  four  general  mercantile  stores,  one 
book  store,  two  drug  stores,  two  newspaper  offices  (Gilmerite  and  Crescent), 
two  blacksmith  shops,  one  wagon  shop,  one  barber  shop,  one  flouring  mill,  one 
saw  mill,  two  churches,  one  public  school,  one  normal  school,  two  hotels,  and  a 
population  in  1910  of  500. 

The  Glenville  Normal  School. 

The  State  normal  school  at  Glenville  was  established  by  an  act  of  the  legis- 
lature, passed  on  the  19th  day  of  February,  3872,  and  was  opened  for  the  ad- 
mission of  students  on  the  14th  day  of  January,  1873.  The  building,  donated 
by  the  citizens  of  the  town,  to  the  State,  is  fitted  up  with  the  best  modem  school 
furniture,  and  stands  on  a  three  acre  lot  which  has  been  improved  and  beauti- 
fied by  the  State.  The  site  of  the  school  is  an  excellent  one  in  all  respects.  Al- 
though within  the  corporate  limits  of  Glenville,  it  is  on  an  eminence  outside 
of  the  town,  where  it  readily  receives  the  pure  air  and  bright  sunshine  of  this 
notably  healthful  climate. 

WEBSTER  COUNTY. 

The  movement  for  the  formation  of  a  new  county  out  of  parts  of  Nicholas. 
Braxton  and  Randolph  began  in  1848.  In  compliance  with  the  law  of  Virginia, 
a  notice  was  posted  on  the  front  door  of  the  court  house  of  the  three  counties 
concerned,  stating  the  intention  of  the  citizens  to  ask  the  General  Assembly  for 
the  creation  of  a  new  county.  Thomas  Miller  took  the  notice  to  Braxton  county 
and  Adonijah  Harris  posted  the  notice  in  Nicholas. 

The  act  creating  Webster  county  provided  that: 

The  court  bouse  or  seat  of  justice  of  said  county  of  Webster  shall  be  located 
on  the  farm  of  Addison  McLaughlin  at  the  Fork  Lick  on  the  Elk  river,  between 
the  said  river  and  the  Back  fork  of  same;  Avhich  said  seat  of  justice  shall  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Addison. 

The  following  persons,  to-wit,  Samuel  Given,  Thomas  Cogar,  William  Given, 
and  Thomas  Reynolds  shall  be  and  are  hereby  appointed  commissioners,  a  ma- 
jority of  whom  may  act,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  site  for  a  court  house, 
jail  and  other  public  buildings  for  said  county  of  Webster,  who  are  hereby  re- 
quired to  meet  at  Fork  Lick  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1860. 

The  following  county  officers  were  elected  on  the  fourth  Thursday  in  May, 
I860:  Sheriff,  Walter  Cool  of  Holly  district;  clerk  of  the  County  Court,  and 
also  clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  Albert  J.  Baughman  of  Glade  district;  commis- 
sioner of  revenue,  Thomas  Cogar  of  Fork  Tack  district,  and  attorney  for  the 
Commonwealth,  David  Lilly  of  Randolph  county.     The  following  Justices  of 


SUTTON'S     HISTOfi  Y.  89 

the  Peace  were  elected:  Fork  Lick  district,  William  6.  Gregory,  Adam  G. 
Hamric,  Ezra  B.  Clifton  and  David  Baughman;  Glade  district,  Edward  Morton, 
Arthur  Hickman,  Thomas  M.  Reynolds  and  Enos  Weese;  Holly  district,  Wil- 
liam H.  Mollohan,  A.  G.  J.  Burns,  Christopher  C.  Cogar  and  Ezra  Clifton. 
Thomas  M.  Reynolds  was  elected  presiding  justice  of  the  county  court  by  the 
other  justices  at  their  first  meeting. 

The  first  Court  House  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  seventeenth  day  of 
June,  1888.     The  board  of  supervisors  employed  Patrick  Carr  to  build  a  jail. 

All  governmental  functions  were  suspended  during  the  four  years  of  the 
Civil  war.    Neither  taxes  were  collected  nor  courts  held. 

But  one  election  was  held  in  Webster  county  within  the  Civil  war  period, 
and  but  one  officer  was  elected.  Moreover,  polls  were  opened  at  but  one  pre- 
cinct. William  Gregory,  at  that  time,  lived  at  the  mouth  of  Leathemvood,  and 
the  election  was  held  in  his  residence  in  1863. 

At  this  election  Benoni  Griffin  was  elected  a  member  of  the  house  of  dele- 
gates for  the  fourth  delegate  district,  composed  of  the  comities  of  Webster 
and.  Pocahontas.  But  few  citizens,  besides  a  number  of  Federal  soldiers,  cast 
their  votes.  Many  of  the  voters  did  not  know  that  an  election  was  being  held. 
The  following  persons  voted:  William  G.  Hamric,  William  McAvoy,  Addison 
Fisher,  James  Green,  James  M.  Cogar,  Addison  Dodrill,  Benjamin  Hamric, 
William  G.  Gregory  and  James  Wooddell. 

The  second  general  election  held  in  the  county  of  Webster  occurred  on  the 
fourth  Thursday  of  October,  1865. 

The  following  county  officers  were  elected:  Sheriff,  William  G.  Gregory; 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  David  Lilly;  Surveyor  of  Lands,  Bernard  Mollohan, 
Recorder,  Joseph  Dodrill;  Assessor,  Arthur  Hamric;  Clerk  of  Circuit  Court, 
Isaac  Mynes.  Lilly  and  Mynes  could  not  prove  their  loyalty  to  the  Union  from 
1861  to  1865,  therefore  they  were  ineligible.  Robert  Irwine,  Judge  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court,  appointed  Robert  G.  Putman  to  fill  the  place  of  Lilly,  and  Adam 
Gregory  that  of  Mynes. 

The  following  were  elected  as  Supervisor  for  each  of  the  three  townships : 
Fork  Lick,  James  Hamric;  Glade,  Thomas  Reynolds;  Holly,  John  E.  Hall. 
Reynolds  was  elected  president  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  at  their  first  meeting. 

Isaac  Gregory. 

One  of  the  very  prominent  and  early  settlers  in  Webster  county  was  Col. 
Isaac  Gregory,  who  built  a  two  story  log  house  just  above  the  mouth  of  Beaver 
run  on  a  hill  overlooking  Gauley  in  the  year  1800.  A  large  crowd  of  people 
came  from  Bath  and  Greenbrier  counties  to  the  hanging  of  the  crane,  and  at 
that  time  it  is  said  the  first  meeting  of  Free  Masons  in  central  West  Virginia 
was  held  in  the  house.  Col.  Gregory  becoming  dissatisfied  with  his  location 
moved  to  Elk  river  five  miles  above  Webster  Springs.  He  raised  a  company  of 
soldiers  in  1813  to  fight  the  British.    He  reared  a  large  family  of  children. 


90  sutton's    histo  b  y. 

William  Hamric. 
Wm.  Hamric,  a  son-in-law  of  Col.  Gregory,  lived  on  Elk  river.     He  was 
a  noted  hunter  and  kept  a  well  trained  pack  of  dogs,  and  it  is  related  that  he 
sometimes  killed  as  high  as  lifty  bears  and  one  hundred  deer  in  one  season. 

William  Doddrill. 

Wm.  Doddrill  settled  on  Birch  river  near  Boggs  in  1799;  he  came  from 
Greenbrier  county  and  was  a  tailor  by  trade.  The  Hamrick  and  Doddrills 
raised  large  families  that  scattered  over  Webster  county  and  other  portions  of 
the  country. 

Some  of  the  early  and  most  prominent  pioneer  families  of  Webster  County 
are  the  Hamricks,  the  Doddrills,  the  Gregorys,  the  Arthurs,  Cogars,  Givins, 
Cools  and  others,  who  bore  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life,  raised  large  families, 
and  established  churches  and  schools.  Men  and  women  of  character,  who  set 
an  example  to  a  generation  of  noblemen,  who  were  to  follow  in  their  footsteps 
and  impart  to  their  country  and  state  a  name  that  is  as  firmly  established  as 
the  lofty  lulls  upon  which  they  dwell. 

NICHOLAS  COUNTY. 

Nicholas  county  was  fomied  in  1818  from  Kanawha,  Randolph  and  Green- 
brier counties  and  has  720  square  miles.  Summersville,  the  county  seat,  has 
a  population  of  about  350;  real  estate  assessed  at  $92,335  and  personal  pi'operty 
assessed  at  $148,140.  Its  altitude  is  1894  feet,  and  is  beautifully  situated  on 
two  small  water  courses  which  empty  into  Peters  creek  and  Muddlety  creek.  It 
is  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  flat  country  and  on  many  of  the  streams  are  wide 
bottom  lands.  The  town  has  one  newspaper  called  the  Nicholas  Chronicle,  edited 
by  A.  L.  Stewart;  two  Methodist  churches,  one  Baptist,  one  Presbyterian  and 
one  Catholic ;  has  fine  county  buildings,  one  very  fine  bank  building  made  of 
native  stone,  and  some  very  elegant  private  residences.  The  distance  from  Sut- 
ton is  36  miles,  from  Gauley  Bridge  31  miles  and  from  Charleston  75  miles. 

Standing  in  the  public  lot  is  a  handsome  monument  erected  by  George  A. 
Alderson  in  memory  of  the  Morris  children,  killed  on  Peters  creek  in  May, 
1792,  Betsy  14,  Peggy  12,  daughters  of  Henry  Morris.  The  Monument  is  dedi- 
cated to  the  pioneers  of  Nicholas  county. 

Some  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county  are  the  McCues,  the  Hutchinsons, 
Raders,  McClungs  and  Hamiltons.  One  of  the  very  early  settlers  of  the  terri- 
tory now  embraced  in  Nicholas  county  was  Benjamin  Lemasters,  born  in  1751, 
died  in  1837.  He  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  his  wife,  Rebecca  Martin 
Lemasters,  was  born  in  1759  and  died  in  1844;  they  were  married  in  1778  or 
'79.  and  lived  together  for  59  years.  Their  children  were  Jennie,  who  married 
Charles  Boggs,  Polly,  married  James  Boggs,  Nancy,  married  John  Boggs,  Cath- 
erine,   married   David   Given,   Agnus,    married   Frame;    Betsy,  married 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKY.  91 

James  Robinson,  Charity,  married  John  Stephenson,  Kasiah,  married  Abraham 
Campbell.  Rebecca,  married  Joseph  Rader.  Thus  we  see  this  large  family  of 
girls  married  into  prominent  and  respectable  families.  They  reared  large  fam- 
ilies from  whom  are  many  descendants  of  prominence. 

Richwood,  a  large  lumber  center,  is  situated  on  Cherry  river,  65  miles 
from  Sutton  and  at  the  terminus  of  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  in  Nicholas  county.  It 
has  a  population  of  about  5,000.  Besides  large,  lumber  plants,  there  is  a  pulp 
and  paper  mill,  one  of  the  largest  taneries  in  the  world,  a  clothes  pin  and  tray 
factory,  extract  plant,  and  other  industries.  Richwood's  total  wealth  is  about 
$6,000,000. 

Curtin  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  Cherry  river  on  Gauley  river,  55  miles 
from  Sutton,  on  the  B.  &  O.  railroad.  Lumber  is  the  chief  industry,  one  of  the 
large  plants  of  the  Pardee  &  Curtin  Lumber  Company  being  located  there. 
General  G.  W.  Curtin  established  the  town,  which  has  a  population  of  about 
400,  and  an  assessed  valuation  of  $800,000.  Hominy  Mills,  another  large  plant 
of  the  Pardee  &  Curtin  Lumber  Company,  is  situated  on  Hominy  creek  at 
the  mouth  of  Grassy  creek,  about  60  miles  distant  from  Sutton.  The  popula- 
tion is  about  300. 

Tioga,  on  the  head  of  Strouds  creek,  with  a  population  of  300,  is  another 
one  of  the  large  manufacturing  centers  of  the  county. 

Powell's  Mountain. 

Powell's  Mountain,  situated  in  Nicholas  comity,  is  one  of  the  greatest  ele- 
vations in  the  central  part  of  the  state.  It  is  the  source  and  fountain  of  several 
water  courses,  the  Big  Birch  river,  Powell's  creek,  Strange  creek,  Buffalo, 
Muddlety,  Beaver.  Glade  creek,  McMillan's  creek,  Antiny,  Poplar  and  other 
smaller  streams  have  their  sources  at  the  base  of  this  mountain.  It  is  about 
nine  miles  across  the  mountain  by  way  of  the  Weston  &  Gauley  Turnpike  which 
crosses  near  its  summit. 

Powell's  Mountain  is  2,552  feet  above  sea  level  at  its  highest  point  on  the 
pike,  but  its  greatest  elevation  is  3,015  feet  between  Beaver  and  Stroud's  creek, 
and  from  one  of  its  elevated  peaks,  it  is  said  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  can  be  ob- 
served, sixty  miles  in  the  distance. 

The  general  quality  of  the  land  on  Powell's  Mountain  is  thin  on  the  Birch 
and  Powell's  creek  side.  There  is  very  little  first-class  farming  land  on  its 
tributaries,  but  on  the  streams  flowing  from  the  southwest  side  of  the  mountain, 
there  is  some  fine  land. 

Underlying  this  great  mountain  and  along  its  water  courses  on  either  side, 
is  a  wonderful  deposit  of  coal,  and  was  once  covered  with  a  magnificent  forest 
of  timber.  Near  the  summit  of  this  mountain,  Henry  Young,  a  southern  soldier, 
was  approaching  the  Turnpike  from  a  path  leading  up  the  mountain,  and  as 
he  stepped  out  into  the  open  space  in  the  road,  he  came  in  full  view  of  a.  regi- 
ment of  Federal  soldiers  coming  up  the  pike.  Young  refused  to  surrender  or 
save  himself  by  flight;  undaunted  even  in  the  presence  of  an  entire  regiment. 


92  SUTTON'S     HISTOKY. 

he  stood  his  ground  until  he  fell.  Some  years  since,  his  friends  assembled  at 
the  lonely  grave  on  the  mountain  near  where  he  fell,  and  erected  a  monument 
to  mark  the  resting  place  of  this  daring  citizen. 

FORMATION  OF  LEWIS. 

Settled  in  1780. 

In  1816,  while  John  McWhorter  and  E.  B.  Jackson  were  Representatives  of 
Harrison  County,  an  Act  was  passed  creating  a  new  county,  the  boundary  as 
follows : 

Beginning  at  the  head  of  the  left  hand  fork  of  Jerry's  Run,  thence  a 
straight  line  to  Kinchelo  Creek;  thence  up  said  creek  to  the  dividing  ridge; 
thence  a  west  course  to  the  Wood  County  line,  to  include  all  of  the  west  part 
of  Harrison,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Buckhamion  River ;  thence  up  straight  line  to 
the  beginning. 

This  county  was  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Charles  Lewis.  At  the  time  of  its 
formation  it  included  1754  square  miles,  but  has  been  reduced  to  400  square 
miles.  The  Act  directed  that  the  first,  court  should  be  held  at  Westfield,  and 
named  the  following  Committee  to  locate  a  County  Seat:  Edward  Jackson, 
Elias  Lowther,  John  McCoy,  Lewis  Maxwell  and  Daniel  Stringer. 

The  first  Court,  held  March  10th,  1817,  the  Rev.  Henry  Camden,  Elijah 
Newlon.  James  Keith,  Samuel  Jones,  Jacob  Lorentz,  Payton  Byrne,  George 
Bozarth,  John  Hardman,  Abner  Abbott,  Wm.  Peterson,  Wm.  Simms,  Wm. 
Hacker,  John  Mitchell,  John  Jackson,  Daniel  Stringer,  John  Bozorth,  Wm. 
Powers,  John  Hacker,  Thomas  Cunningham,  and  Philip  Regar,  each  a  Justice, 
met  at  Westfield  and  resolved  themselves  into  the  first  Court  of  Lewis. 

The  first  lawyers  admitted  to  the  Bar  were  Samuel  E.  Davison,  George 
I.  Davison,  James  McCauley,  Jonathan  Jackson,  (father  of  Stonewall)  and 
James  Pindell. 

Wm.  Martin  and  Thos.  I.  Hacker  were  appointed  Deputy  Sheriffs  and 
George  Bush  Surveyor.     Robert  W.  Collins  was  appointed  Deputy  Clerk. 

Westfield  is  located  on  the  West  Fork  River,  about  five  miles  below  Weston. 
The  next  Court  was  held  in  April,  at  the  home  of  a  Mrs.  Newlon.  It  was  then 
ordered  that  on  the  farm  of  Henry  Flesh  er  was  the  most  suitable  place  for  the 
Court.  This  farm  was  near  the  mouth  of  Stone  Coal,  east  side  of  the  river.  It 
was  ordered  that  the  next  court  should  be  held  there,  and  be  called  Preston. 

The  first  road  order  was  from  Elk  River  by  way  of  Nathan  Prince's  by 
Salt  Works  to  Col.  Haymond's  mill;  viewers,  Nicholas  Gibson,  John  Hills  and 
Jacob  McMahan.  The  Court  of  December  8,  1819,  ordered  that  Lucy,  a  slave 
belonging  to  Thomas  H.  Batton.  who  had  been  sentenced  to  be  hung  for  murder 
of  a  child  on  the  14th  day  of  February,  at  the  town  of  Fleshersville,  between 
the  hours  of  12  and  4  o'clock. 

Of  the  first  Court  house,  little  is  known.     Order  April  11,  1820,  for  Court 


SDTTON'S     HISTOBY.  93 

house,  at  Weston,  to  be  built  of  brick,  and  has  since  been  the  seat  of  justice  of 
a  flourishing  town  of  great  wealth,  and  an  able  citizenship.  22  miles  from 
Clarksburg,  and  43  miles  from  Sutton. 

Weston  is  one  of  the  richest  inland  towns  in  the  state.  It  is  situated  in 
the  valley  of  the  West  Fork  river,  and  surrounded  by  a  fine  mineral  and  agri- 
cultural country.  The  West  Virginia  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  one  of  the  finest 
public  institutions  in  the  state  is  located  there,  and  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  shops 
for  the  Richwood  and  Piekins  division  contribute  largely  to  the  business  inter- 
ests of  the  town.  Weston  has  long  been  noted  for  her  prominent  citizens  and 
business  men.  Albert  A.  Lewis,  Mathew  Edmiston,  Draper  Camden,  Jackson 
Arnold,  John  and  Henry  Brannon.  J.  M.  Bennett,  and  Minter  Bailey  are 
among  the  many  prominent  citizens  who  gave  character  and  impress  to  the. 
town.  Judge  Henry  Brannon,  for  many  years  a  member  .of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State,  was  perhaps  her  greatest  jurist. 

UPSHUR  COUNTY. 

Settled  in  1767. 

The  first  effort  by  petition  to  establish  a  new  county  was  made  in  1S48. 
A  vote  being  taken  at  the  regular  spring  election  of  1848.  A  large  majority  o£ 
the  voters  were  in  favor  of  the  new  county  of  Upshur,  which  was  to  be  formed 
out  of  parts  of  Lewis,  Randolph  and  Barbour  counties.  It  was  not  until  1851 
that  the  new  county  was  organized.  The  county  was  named  in  honor  of  Abel 
P.  Upshur,  who  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  the  Administration  of  President 
William  Henry  Harrison. 

The  Governor  of  Virginia  commissioned  the  following  gentlemen  as  justices 
of  the  peace  for  the  new  county:  Adam  Spitler,  Simon  Rohrbough.  George 
Bastable,  James  T.  Hardman,  Jacob  Lorentz,  Daniel  Bennet.  K.  Hopkins, 
George  Clark,  and  John  W.  Marple.  The  first  magisterial  court  met  at  the 
house  of  Andrew  Poundstone  in  April,  1851.  John  Reger  was  recommended  to 
the  Governor  as  a  suitable  person  for  sheriff,  and  Stewart  Bennet  was  nomi- 
nated as  Commissioner  of  the  Revenue.  The  first  circuit  court  was  held  at  the 
residence  of  Andrew  Poundstone  on  the  17th  day  of  June,  1851. 

The  town  of  Buckhannon  was  made  the  county  seat  and  the  new  county 
started  off  with  all  the  functions  of  a  well  organized  county.  Buckhannon  is 
now  a  town  of  about  4,000  inhabitants.  For  many  years  it  has  been  recognized 
as  a  school  town,  and  more  recently  the  West  Virginia  Wesleyan  College  has 
been  established  there.  The  town  is  beautifully  located  on  the  Buckhannon 
river.  Its  railroad  facilities  are  a  branch  of  the  B.  &  0.  running  from  Weston 
to  Piekins,  and  the  Coal  &  Coke  from  Elkins  to  Charleston  going  near  the 
town,  with  a  branch  road  running  to  the  town.  Buckhannon  is  16  miles  from 
Weston,  38  miles  from  Clarksburg  and  46  miles  from  Sutton. 


94  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

ROADS. 

Following  is  a  very  interesting  letter  written  by  Harrison  Kelley,  now  in  his 
ninety-third  year: 

Mabie,  West  Virginia,  Oct.  1,*1909. 

I  notice  a  letter  in  the  Barbour  Democrat  of  Thursday,  September  2,  1900, 
from  N.  Poling,  Phillipsburg,  Kansas,  wondering  whether  there  were  any  be- 
sides himself  living  who  w7as  employed  on  the  Philippi  bridge  in  1852.  ■  I  was 
employed  on  the  Philippi  bridge  in  its  construction  from,  start  to  finish,  and 
was  one  of  the  following  workmen: 

Lemuel  Chenoweth,  architect,  builder  and  contractor,  Jacob  Sargeant, 
Christian  Capito,  John  Capito,  Carr  McCutcheon,  John  S.  Chenoweth,  Wm. 
Marstiller,  David  Boyles  and  Harrison  Kelley,  carpenters. 

I  was  employed  by  Mr.  Chenoweth  for  fourteen  years  in  the  building  of 
bridges  on  the  Staunton  and  Parkersburg  turnpike.  Within  that  time  we  built 
the  following  bridges:  Stalnaker  bridge,  two  miles  above  Beverly;  the  Beverly 
bridge;  Middlefork  bridge;  Buckhannon  bridge;  Stone  Coal  bridge;  Weston 
bridge;  Polk  creek  bridge;  South  Pork  Hughes  river  bridge;  North  Fork 
Hughes  river  bridge.  I  built  the  Jane  Lew  bridge  and  the  Salt  Lick  bridge 
over  the  Salt  Lick  Fork  of  the  Little  Kanawha,  in  Braxton  county,  myself. 
I  also  repaired  the  bridge  over  the  Cheat  river  on  the  Staunton  and  Parkers- 
burg pike.  The  Cheat  river  bridge  was  built  by  Captain  Kidwell.  The  above 
bridges  wrere  all  covered  structures. 

I  also  helped  to  build  open  bridges  over  the  following  creeks  and  rivers : 
Leading  creek,  Randolph  county;  Files  creek  at  Beverly;  Mill  creek,  Huttons- 
ville;  the  Bull  Pasture  liver,  Highland  county.  Va. ;  Ramsey's  draft,  Augusta 
county.  Va. ;  and  Walker 's  creek,  Wood  county.  Nearly  all  these  useful  struc- 
tures went  down  in  the  Civil  war,  and  have  been  replaced  by  steel  ones. 

I  am  a  citizen  of  Mabie,  Randolph  county,  West  Virginia,  and  reside  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Staunton  and  Parkersburg  turnpike,  hard  by  the  viaduct 
of  the  Roaring  Creek  and  Charleston  railroad.  I  recollect  Mr.  Poling  very 
well,  and  together  with  my  wife  and  five  sons,  hasten  to  send  him  and  family 
our  best  regards. 

I  was  born  on  the  12th  of  September,  1822,  on  Kelly's  Mountain,  near  Bev- 
erly, Randolph  county.    My  exact  age  is  87  years,  and  19  days  today. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

HARRISON  KELLEY. 

The  bridge  over  Little  Kanawha  and  Salt  Lick,  are  in  a  good  state  of  pres- 
ervation, they  withstood  the  movements  of  troops  during  the  Civil  war  and  the 
great  floods,  that  have  occurred  since  their  construction. — Editor. 

The  foregoing  is  copied  from  the  Barbour  Democrat  of  October,  1909,  and 
A.  W.  Corley  of  our  town  tells  us  he  knew  many  of  those  people  when  he  was 
a  boy;  that  he  often  saw  Lemuel  Chenoweth  who  was  known  as  the  "Bridge 
Builder  of  West  Virginia;"  that  Chenoweth  has  often  been  here;  that  Benj. 
Skidmorc  was  his  uncle,  and  his  grandfather,  Andrew  Skidmore,  is  buried  in 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  95 

the  Skidmore  graveyard  in  South  Sutton;  that  John  S.  Chenoweth  was  also  a 
grandson  of  Andrew  Skidmore  and  has  been  here ;  that  Mr.  Coiiey  has  seen  and 
crossed  many  of  the  bridges  referred  to,  and  is  well  acquainted  with  Harrison 
Kelley;  that  he  was  at  Mr.  Kelley's  house  this  Fall;  that  he  is  now  in  his 
ninety-third  year,  is  well  preserved  and  intelligent,  and  very  interesting  to  talk 
with.  He  claims  to  be  the  oldest  Free  Mason  in  this  state.  His  memory  is 
clear  on  the  historical  events  of  this  county,  and  in  conversation  could  interest 
and  entertain  a  person  exceptionally  for  a  day  or  two.  He  is  the  survivor  of  q 
family    of    eighteen. 

When  the  Weston  &  Gauley  Bridge  Turnpike  was  being  constructed  in 
1851-1852,  the  only  recollection  we  have  of  the  road-making,  was  watching  a 
large  fleshy  Irishman  digging  a  ditch  in  Father's  meadow,  leading  from  the 
culvert  under  the  pike  to  the  creek.  Wm.  Haymond  was  the  engineer,  and  we 
had  his  field  notes  until  they  were  destroyed  in  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  old 
homestead  in  1897.  Felix  Sutton  was  the  superintendent,  and  as  we  remember, 
spent  much  of  his  time  on  the  road  from  Weston  to  Gauley  Bridge. 

Singleton  Anawalt  had  a  five-mile  section  near  Kanawha  and  Salt  Lick 
Bridge.  John  Stout  had  section  from  Flatwoods  to  Sutton.  Jesse  Jackson  had 
section  south  of  the  Elk.  The  abutments  of  bridge  were  built  in  the  Fall  oi 
1853,  and  the  span  was  completed  the  following  summer.  The  road  was  mac- 
adamized in  the  Fall  of  1853,  extending  from  near  Benjamin  Skidmore 's  to 
near  the  lime  kiln,  distance  one  mile.  The  contract  was  let  to  Anawalt  parties 
working  on  the  road,  Henry  Perrine,  Wm.  B.  Davis,  Jack  Skidmore,  Simon  and 
George  Dean,  Peter  Coger,  Henry  MeKisic  and  Peter  McAnnia. 

The  first  explorers  west  of  the  mountains  came  on  foot  and  carried  all  their 
effects  on  their  backs,  following  the  trails  made  by  wild  animals  and  the  Indians. 

As  the  settlements  increased,  pack  horses  were  used  and  all  the  early  set- 
tlers brought  their  belongings  in  this  way. 

Long  before  the  permanent  occupation  of  the  county,  traders  with  a  string 
of  horses  loaded  with  goods  crossed  the  mountains  in  Pennsylvania  to  trade 
with  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  first  mention  of  vehicles  crossing  the  mountains  was  in  General  Brad- 
dock's  disastrous  expedition  against  the  French  at  Fort  Duquesne  (Pittsburg) 
in  1775.  Upon  this  occasion  a  large  number  of  wagons  carrying  supplies  and 
ammunition  accompanied  the  army,  and  a  fairly  good  road  was  cut  out  through 
the  forest  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  the  Monongahela  river. 

The  General  Assembly  in  1776  appointed  commissioners  "to  view,  lay  out 
and  direct  a  road  to  be  cleared  from  the  North  branch  of  the  Potomac  to  Fort 
Pitt  on  the  Ohio,  by  or  near  the  road  called  Braddock's  road,  in  the  most  direct 
and  cheapest  manner  the  said  commissioners  think  fit,"  and  two  hundred 
pounds  were  appropriated  for  that  purpose. 

Over  the  Braddock  road  most  of  the  early  pioneers  traveled  to  Western 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 


96  SUTTOS'S     HISTOEY. 

Some  time  later,  the  Assembly  authorized  the  construction  of  a  road  called 
the  State  road  from  Winchester  by  way  of  Romiiey  to  Morgantown. 

The  Assembly  in  October,  1786,  appointed  a  commission  consisting  of  Wil- 
liam Haymond,  Nicholas  Carpenter,  Hezekiah  Davisson,  Thomas  Webb,  John 
Powers  and  Daniel  Davisson,  of  Harrison  county,  to  lay  out  and  open  a  wagon 
road  from  some  point  on  the  State  road  as  deemed  best  by  them  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  now  Parkersburg. 

The  work  was  to  be  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  the  road  to  be  thirty  feet  wide, 
the  commissioners  to  receive  five  shillings  a  day  (83  1-3  cents),  and  the  ex- 
penses to  be  borne  by  Harrison  county. 

This  road  was  the  first  made  from  Claifeburg  east  to  some  point  at  or  near 
the  Cheat  river,  where  it  is  supposed  to  have  joined  the  State  road. 

The  work  west  from  Clarksburg  must  have  been  very  deliberately  con- 
ducted, as  from  the  report  of  a  traveller  as  late  as  1798  it  appears  that  there 
was  nothing  but  a  blazed  way  through  the  woods  on  this  end  of  the  road  at  that 
time. 

Another  traveler  in  going  east  from  Clarksburg  in  1790,  speaks  of  a  wagon 
road  near  the  Cheat  river. 

Another  one  says  he  left  Alexandria  with  wagons  June  30  and  arrived  at 
Morgantown  July  18,  1796. 

The  celebrated  National  road,  which  practically  followed  the  Braddock 
route,  was  the  work  of  the  National  Government.  It  went  by  Cumberland, 
Uniontown  and  Wheeling,  and  was  completed  in  1820. 

The  original  intention  was  to  extend  it  to  the  Mississippi  river,  but  the 
era  of  railroads  prevented  this  being  carried  out. 

This  road  was  the  most  traveled  thoroughfare  in  this  country,  being  the 
great  commercial  artery  from  the  west  to  the  east.  Taverns  were  strung  all 
along  the  road  and  from  Wheeling  east  to  the  mountains  droves  of  cattle,  horses, 
hogs,  sheep,  wagons,  carriages  and  stage  coaches  were  always  in  sight. 

Rut  the  shriek  of  the  locomotive  caused  the  taverns  to  close  their  doors, 
and  the  grass  to  grow  on  the  path  which  the  great  procession  had  trod  for  years. 

The  National  road  cost  the  government  seventeen  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  was  fourteen  years  in  process  of  construction. 

The  North  Western  Turnpike. 

[n  1827  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  Northwestern  Turnpike  Company 
to  construct  a  turnpike  road  from  Winchester  to  Parkersburg  by  way  of  Rom- 
ney and  Clarksburg,  the  State  being  a  large  stockholder. 

In  1831  the  State  practically  assumed  charge  of  the  construction  of  the 
road  which  reached  Clarksburg  in  1836,  and  where  it  passed  through  the  town 
is  still  known  as  Pike  street. 

The  chief  engineer  of  the  road  was  Colonel  Claudius  Crozet,  a  French  en- 
gineer, who  was  said  to  have  been  a  soldier  in  the  wars  of  Napoleon.  Ho  was 
assisted  by  Charles  B.   Shaw. 


SUTTON  'S     HISTORY.  97 

Iii  1848  the  State  appropriated  $60,000  for  macadamizing  the  road  from 
the  Valley  river  to  Parker sburg. 

The  distance  from  Winchester  to  Parkersburg  is  given  as  236%  miles, 
of  which  8%  miles  was  in  Maryland.  The  cost  of  construction  was  given  at 
$400,000. 

The  building  of  this  road  was  looked  forward  to  with  the  highest  antic- 
ipation by  the  people  living  along  its  course,  as  it  gave  them  a  much  better  out- 
let to  the  east  than  they  had  ever  had  before. 

Stage  lines  were  put  on,  tavern  stands  opened,  mails  were  carried  and  con- 
nections made  at  Parkersburg  with  steamboats. 

The  first  coaches  or  public  conveyances  in  Harrison  county  ran  from 
Clarksburg  to  the  National  road  at  Uiiioiitown  about  1830. 

The  Clarksburg  merchants  rode  on  horseback  to  Baltimore,  generally  mak- 
ing the  trip  in  six  days. 

Wagons  hauling  4000  pounds  of  goods  were  about  fifteen  days  on  the  road 
from  Baltimore;  the  bills  of  lading  allowed  twenty  days  for  the  trip.  The 
round  trip  from  Clarksburg  to  Baltimore  was  considered  to  be  thirty  days. 
Freight  rates  were  from  2y2  to  3  cents  per  pound. 

Live  stock  was  driven  east  at  an  ea.rly  day  as  they  furnished  their  own 
transportation. 

The  drivers  of  these  freight  wagons  would  often  have  a  number  of  bells 
attached  to  the  harness,  and  took  pride  in  making  a  good  appearance  and  pre- 
sented an  interesting  sight. 

The  driver  of  a  stage  coach  was  an  important  personage  along  the  road, 
and  the  arrival  of  a  coach  at  a  town  always  caused  a  crowd  to  assemble  to  view 
the  passengers  and  hear  the.  news. 

Long  after  the  stage  coach  had  given  way  to  the  locomotive  old  drivers  used 
to  boast  of  their  crack  teams,  and  how  they  had  driven  Andrew  Jackson,  Henry 
Clay,  Thomas  H.  Benton  and  General  Zachary  Taylor  and  other  celebrities 
safely  on  their  way  to  Washington,  over  the  National  road. 

An  act  of  incorporation  was  granted  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
Company  by  Maryland  February  28.  1827,  which  was  confirmed  by  Virginia 
March  8,  1827,  and  by  Pennsylvania  February  22,  1S28. 

The  road  was  opened  to  Ellieott's  Mills  and  the  first  locomotive  ran  on  it 
August  30,  1830. 

Frederick  was  reached  December  1.  1831,  Harpers  Ferry,  December  1, 
1834,  Cumberland  November  5,  1842,  Piedmont  June  21,  1851,  Fairmont  June 
22,  1852,  and  Wheeling  December  24,  1852,  a  distance  of  379  miles. 

The  work  of  constructing  the  Parkersburg  branch  from  Grafton  was  com- 
menced in  August,  1852.  at  Brandy  Gap  Tunnel,  Thomas  S.  Spates  being  the 
contractor,  and  same  was  completed  in  January,  1857. 

The  first  locomotive  reached  Clarksburg  in  July,  1856,  from  Grafton.  As 
the  construction  of  the  railroad  progressed  west  from  Baltimore,  freight  and 
passengers  were  hauled  from  the  terminus  of  the  road  to  Clarksburg,  Fetter- 
man  being  .the  last  station  hauled  from,  beginning  in  1852  and  ending  in  1856. 


•98  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

The  Kanawha  turnpike  was  an  incentive  to  the  opening  of  several  later 
lines.  By  1827  there  was  a  post  road  from  Gauley  Bridge  to  Nicholas  county. 
In  1838,  the  Charleston  and  Point  Pleasant  turnpike  was  built.  About  1848 
the  Giles,  Fayette  and  Kanawha  turnpike  (begun  in  1838)  was  completed,  start- 
ing at  Pearisburg  and  passing  through  Peterstown,  Red  Sulphur  Springs  and 
the  present  site  of  Beekley,  Mt.  Hope,  Oak  Hill  and  Fayetteville,  joining  the 
Kanawha  turnpike  at  Kanawha  Palls.  About  1850  a  "state  road"  was  con- 
structed from  Logan  through  Boone  to  Cbarleston,  and  over  it  passed  much 
traffic  which  declined  after  the  completion  of  the  Norfolk  and  Western  in  1891. 
About  1850,  a  turnpike  (begun  in  1848)  was  constructed  from  Gauley  Bridge 
via  Summersville,  Sutton,  Platwoods  and  Bulltown  to  Weston,  at  which  it 
connected  with  another  road  leading  to  the  Northwestern  turnpike  at  West 
Union. 

One  of  the  first  roads  leading  into  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Braxton 
was  a  road  ordered  by  the  county  court  of  Randolph  county  in  the  year  1793. 
This  was  a  road  from  Beverly  to  the  Carpenter  settlement  on  the  Elk  river. 
This  road  evidently  came  by  way  of  the  Hackers  creek  settlement,  the  forts  on 
the  West  Fork,  Bulltown  and  followed  the  buffalo  trail  by  way  of  Salt  Lick 
Bridge,  and  either  up  Salt  Lick  and  some  of  its  tributaries  heading  toward  the 
Elk  or  by  way  of  O'Briens  fork  and  Granny's  creek  to  the  Elk  river,  and  up 
the  Elk  to  the  Carpenter  settlement. 

THE   BUCKHANNON  AND  LITTLE    KANAWHA   TURNPIKE. 

On  March  15,  1849,  an  act  passed  by  the  Virginia  Assembly  authorizing 
the  opening  of  books  for  receiving  subscriptions  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
twelve  thousand  dollars,  in  shares  of  twenty-live  dollars  each,  looking  to  the 
incorporation  of  The  Buckhannon  and  Little  Kanawha  Turnpike  Company, 
who  shall  construct  a  turnpike  road  from  Buckhannon,  by  way  of  Haymonds 
Mills,  in  Braxton  county,  to  some  convenient  point  in  said  county  to  intersect 
the  road  from  Weston  to  Sutton. 

D.  S.  Haselden,  George  Bastable,  A.  R.  Ireland,  James  Mullins  and  C.  G. 
Miller  of  Buckhannon;  Samuel  T.  Talbot,  David  Bennett,  Samuel  Wilson, 
Ezra  Morgan  and  A.  B.  See  of  French  Creek ;  F.  Berry,  W.  P.  Haymond,  and 
C.  L.  Hurley  of  Haymonds  Mills  were  appointed  to  superintend  at  their  re- 
spective places  the  reception  of  the  subscription. 

The  state  subscribed  three-fifths  of  the  capital  stock  which  was  to  be  paid 
parapassu  as  the  individual  subscriptions  were  paid.  The  road  was  not  to  be 
less  than  fifteen  feet  wide  and  constructed  on  a  grade  not  to  exceed  four  degrees, 

The  act  also  provided  that  three-fourths  of  -the  two-fifths  had  to  be  sub- 
scribed by  individuals  before  the  company  could  be  formed.  This  road  was 
built  during  the  50 's. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  99 

THE  CLARKSBURG  AND  BUCKHANNON  TURNPIKE. 

The  act  authorizing  the  formation  of  a'joint  stock  company  to  construct 
this  turnpike  road  was  passed  March  8,  184.8. 

The  books  were  opened  at  Clarksburg  and  Buckhannon.  The  necessary 
two-fifths  of  the  capital  stock  was  subscribed  by  private  citizens  in  these  two 
town's'  and  along  the  proposed  nrate.  The  road  was  built  on  the  same  grade 
and  with  the  same  width  as  all  the  turnpike  roads  in  the  state  of  Virginia. 

STAUNTON  AND  PARKERSBURG  TURNPIKE. 

In  18-..,  the  Virginia  Assembly  passed  an  act  authorizing  a  committee  of 
citizens  of  Staunton  and  Parkersburg,  Virginia,  the  two  termini  of  the  pro- 
spected road  to  open  up  books  of  subscription  to  private  citizens.  The  state 
promised  to  subscribe  three-fifths  of  the  capital  stock  for  the  construction  of 
this  turnpike. 

The  road  was  begun  and  constructed  out  of  Staunton,  Virginia,  eastward 
along  the  most  feasible  and  practicable  route  suggested  by  the  board  of  super- 
vision elected  by  the  stockholders  of  this  turnpike  company. 

As  it  proceeded  westward,  the  company  deemed  it  advisable  to  open  its 
books  in  order  that  the  citizens  of  any  town  or  county  might  be  permitted  to 
bid  and  subscribe  its  bids  in  capital  stock  for  the  construction  of  the  road 
through  the  county  and  town. 

Pursuant  to  this  policy  of  the  company,  on  November  15,  1840,  there  was 
signed  on  condition  that  the  road  pass  through  both  Beverly  and  Buckhannon, 
and  that  the  money  subscribed  be  expended  in  making  the  road  between  these 
two  towns.  This  subscription  was  an  inducement  to  bring  the  road  to  Buck- 
hannon. It  was  completed  in  the  year  1847,  and  previously  was  constructed 
from  Buckhannon  to  Weston. 

PHILLIPI  AND  BUCKHANNON  TURNPIKE. 

The  act  opening  the  subscription  books  for  the  formation  of  the  Philippi 
and  Buckhannon  Turnpike  Company  was  passed  March  7,  1849. 

The  capital  stock  was  limited  to  ten  thousand  dollars,  three-fifths  of  which 
was  subscribed  by  the  board  of  public  works  of  Virginia  and  two-fifths  by  the 
citizens  of  Philippi  and  Buckhannon,  and  other  citizens  along  the  proposed 
turnpike. 

The  same  act  named  Laird  D.  Morrall,  Edwin  D.  Wilson,  Charles  S.  Hall, 
Isaac  Strickler,  Elam  D.  Talbot  of  Philippi  and  D.  S.  Haselden,  Mifflin  Lorentz, 
James  Miller,  George  Bastable  and  George  W.  Miller  of  Buckhannon,  a  commit- 
tee to  solicit  and  receive  subscriptions  from  private  individuals. 

The  turnpike  was  not  to  be  less  than  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  was  to  be  built 
on  a  grade  not  to  exceed  four  degrees.  This  road  was  completed  in  the  early 
50 's. 


100  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

POSTAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  WEST  VIRGINIA. 

Postal  service,  established  in  the  colony  of  Virginia  as  early  as  1692,  was 
first  extended  to  the  trans-Allegheny  territory  of  Western  Virginia  in  1794  by 
the  creation  of  post  offices  at  Morgantown  and  Wheeling. 

The  first  later  official  reference  to  improved  mail  routes  in  what  is  now 
West  Virginia  occurs  in  a  report  on  the  "finest"  route  in  the  country,  from 
New  York  to  Cincinnati.  Railroad  service  extended  to  Cumberland,  Md., 
thence  to  Wheeling  by  four-horse  coach  daily,  at  a  "running  speed"  of  seven 
miles  an  hour.  Troubles  seemed  to  center  at  Wheeling.  The  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral complained  that  "this  important  mail  was  always  detained  at  the  ferry  of 
the  Ohio  River  some  ten  or  twelve  hours, ' '  because  ' '  the  proprietor  of  the  f erry 
could  not  be  induced  to  encounter  the  danger  of  crossing  the  mail  stages  in 
the  night. ' '  He  regrets  that  ' '  the  General  Government,  while  expending  much 
money  in  constructing  the  Cumberland  road  east  and  west  of  the  Ohio,  omitted 
to  construct  a  bridge  over  that  stream." 

There  was  a  controversy  Avith  Virginia  as  to  tolls  at  the  toll-gate  east  from 
Wheeling.  The  General  Government  had  ceded  the  National  road  to  the  states 
tthrough  which  it  passed,  reserving  the  right  to  alter  the  conditions  of  the 
cession  at  will  regardless  of  Congress.  The  cession  appears  to  have  been 
made  in  1832  and  in  1836  Virginia  receded  and  proceeded  to  charge  toll. 
The  toll  for  each  mail  coach  was  eighty-eight  cents  and  the  contractor  refused 
to  pay.  Mail  from  the  east,  when  stopped,  returned  to  Triadelphia  and  re- 
mained there  until  the  Wheeling  postmaster  supplied  the  necessary  cash.  There 
was  much  correspondence,  but  the  records  fail  to  disclose  how  the  matter  was 
adjusted. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  the  "running  time"  from  New  York 
to  Wheeling  in  1835,  was  83  hours ;  in  1837,  67  hours ;  in  1885,  18  hours  and  15 
minutes,  and  in  1913.  17  hours  and  45  minutes. 

The  first  Post-Office  Directory  obtainable  was  included  in  the  report  of 
the  Postmaster-General  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1841.  At  that  time 
there  were  206  post-offices  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, embraced  in  28  counties,  as  follows : 

Berkeley,  7 ;  Braxton,  4 ;  Brooke,  4 :  Greenbrier,  10 ;  Hampshire,  16 ;  Hardy, 
6;  Harrison,  14;  Jefferson,  7;  Kanawha,  13;  Logan,  4;  Marshall,  6;  Mason,  5; 
Nicholas,  3;  Ohio,  3;  Pendleton,  7;  Pocahontas,  5;  Preston,  5;  Randolph,  6; 
Tyler,  7;  Wood,  13. 

Hampshire  headed  the  list  with  16  officers,  while  Mercer  had  but  one, 
Princeton,  the  county  seat.  Jefferson  paid  her  post-masters  $1,584.96,  and  af- 
forded $3,818.49  revenue  to  the  Department.  Ohio  comity  came  next  paying 
postmasters  $2,162.49,  leaving  but  $2,589.30  "net  proceeds."  The  salary  of  the 
postmaster  at  Wheeling  was  $2,000. 

The  Postal  Guide  for  1912  reports  2,117  post-offices  in  the  State,  two- 
thirds  of  which  have  money-order  facilities.  About  600  offices  have  been  dis- 
continued by  rural  delivery.    Post-offices  of  the  first  class  arc  Bluefield,  Charles- 


SUTTON'S     II  I  S  T  0  R  Y.  101 

ton,  Clarksburg,  Fairmont,  Huntington,  Parkersburg  and  Wheeling.  Those 
of  the  second  class  are  Buckhannon.  Charles  Town,  Elkins,  Grafton,  Hinton, 
Keyser,  Mannington,  Martinsburg,  Morgantown,  Moundsville,  New  Martins- 
ville, Piedmont,  llichwood,  Sistersville,  Welch,  Wellsburg,  Weston  and  Wil- 
liamson. There  are  76  third-class  offices,  in  all,  101  Presidential  post-offices  in 
the  State.  Postal  development  during  the  past  fifteen  years  has  been  phenom- 
enal. West  Virginia  has  kept  pace  with  her  most  progressive  sisters  and  has 
distanced  many  of  them  in  the  race. 

RURAL  FREE  DELIVERY. 

To  West  Virginia  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  State  selected  for  the 
first  experiment  in  rural  free  delivery.  .  The  first  rural  service  in  the  United 
States  was  installed  at  Charles  Town,  Jefferson  County,  October  6,  1896.  Hon. 
William  L.  Wilson  was  Postmaster-General,  the  only  West  Virginian  to  hold 
that  position.  A.  W.  Machen,  the  Superintendent  of  Free  Delivery  was  in- 
trusted with  the  task  of  installing  the  service.  The  matter  had  been  passed 
over  for  two  years  by  Mr.  Wilson's  predecessor,  and  it  can  truthfully  be  said 
that  he  was  not  favorably  inclined,  fearing  the  cost.  Supt.  Machen  detailed 
his  chief  clerk  and  instructed  him  to  proceed  to  Jeffei*son  county  and  arrange 
the  service,  as  a  compliment  to  Mr.  AVilson.  The  recommendation  was  for  three 
routes  at  Charles  Town,  one  at  Halltown,  and  one  at  Uvilla.  Carrier  Gibson, 
Route  No.  1,  Charles  Town,  is  still  in  the  service  and  is  Carrier  No.  1,  United 
States  of  America.  Salaries  of  carriers  were  fixed  at  $200  the  year.  Service 
was  crude  but  highly  appreciated  by  the  people. 

ROADS. 

According  to  J.  H.  DisDebar,  who  visited  Clarksburg  in  1846,  the  citizens 
were  "a  somewhat  exclusive  conservative  set  with  all  the  traditions  and  social 
prejudices  pertaining  to  an  ancient  moss-grown  aristocratic  town"  with  pre- 
tentions "by  common  consent  founded  upon  antiquity  of  pedigree  and  superior 
culture  and  manners." 

In  1845,  the  town  had  a  population  of  1100,  seven  stores,  two  newspaper 
offices,  two  churches  and  two  academies,  and  the  county  had  an  estimated  min- 
eral wealth  which  was  already  regarded  as  an  element  of  prosperity. 

Connection  with  the  National  road  by  a  line  of  coaches  or  stages  was  estab- 
lished about  1830,  enabling  merchants  to  reach  Baltimore  by  horseback  in  six 
days,  although  their  loaded  wagons  required  fifteen  days  or  more.  The  town 
especially  felt  the  influence  of  the  wide  Northwestern  turnpike  which  was  com- 
pleted about  1836,  and  macadamized  from  Tygart's  Valley  river  to  Parkersburg 
in  1848,  increasing  facilities  for  travel  and  news.  By  1845  tri-weekly  stages 
connected  on  the  west  with  Parkersburg  and  on  the  east  with  Romney  and 
thence  with  Green  Springs  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad. 

With  the  increase  in  he  number  of  settlers  and  the  development  of  settle- 


102  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

merits  around  the  headwaters  of  the  West  Fork,  the  inconveniences  of  commu- 
nication with  the  county  seat  at  Clarksburg  found  expression  in  the  demand 
for  the  formation  of  a  new  county.  This  demand  was  satisfied  in  1816  by  an 
act  of  the  assembly  which  created  Lewis  and  provided  for  the  location  of  a 
permanent  county  seat  by  five  commissioners.  Fleshersville,  which  was  chosen, 
was  incorporated  in  1818  as  a  town  under  the  name  of  Preston,  changed  in  1819 
to  Fleshersville,  and  later  to  Weston  which  has  since  borne  the  honor  with  no 
serious  opposition.  In  the  following  spring  the  first  survey  of  the  West  Fork 
and  the  Monongahela,  with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of  navigation,  was  be- 
gun just  below  the  Weston  court  house. 

Gradually  the  earlier  log  houses  were  succeeded  by  better  structures  ex- 
pressing refinement,  social  tastes  and  prosperity.  The  early  settlements  of  the 
northern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  county  were  supplied  with  lumber  from  choice 
yellow  poplars  and  black  walnuts  prepared  by  water  power  saw  mills  located 
along  the  neighboring  streams.  Trees  which  were  too  large  to  be  easily  sawed 
were  split  into  fence  rails  or  burned  in  the  clearings.  Although  in  1843  por- 
tions of  Lewis  were  detached  to  contribute  to  the  formation  of  Barbour  and 
Ritchie  counties,  the  population  of  the  county  steadily  increased — about  2,000 
each  decade — until  1850,  after  which  it  Avas  decreased  by  loss  of  territory  occa- 
sioned by  the  formation  of  Upshur  county  in  1851.  By  1845,  Weston  contained 
about  sixty  dwellings. 

The  large  development  and  aspirations  of  the  people  of  Leivis  at  the  middle 
of  the  century  found  expression  in  many  ways — the  most  prominent  of  which 
probably  were  the  Weston  and  Fairmont  turnpike  the  Weston  and  Gauley 
Bridg  turnpike,  and  the  Weston  and  West  Union  turnpike.  A  branch  of  the  Ex- 
change Bank  of  Virginia  was  established  in  1853.  On  the  eve  of  the  Civil  war, 
Weston  secured  the  location  of  the  hospital  for  the  insane. 

RAILROADS. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Depot  was  established  in  1856  in 
Clarksburg,  at  the  East  End  at  the  base  of  Pinnickiirnick  on  the  Jackson  place, 
and  remained  there  for  forty-two  years. 

In  June,  1898,  it  was  removed  to  its  present  location  opposite  the  center  of 
the  town. 

The  Monongah  Railroad  was  built  1889. 

Short  Line  Railroad  built  1901. 

West  Virginia  and  Pittsburgh  Narrow  Gauge  road  to  Weston  1879. 

The  Standard  Gauge  road  was  built  to  Weston  in  1891,  and  the  line  com- 
pleted to  Sutton  in  April,  1892,  and  to  Richwood  in  1893. 

The  Coal  and  Coke  Railroad  from  Charleston  to  Elkins  was  completed  in 
1904. 

The  Elk  and  Kanawha  narrow  gauge  railroad  was  built  from  Gassaway 
to  Rosedale  in  1912,  and  has  since  been  extended  from  Rosedale  down  the  creek 
as  far  as  Shock. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


103 


SUTTON. 


The  County  Seat. 


Sutton  is  the  central  town  of  the  state  of  "West  Virginia,  and  was  formerly 
called  Kewville.  It  was  a  small  village  containing  only  a  few  residences.    John 

D.  Sutton  says  that  when  he  visited  the  place 
in  the  year  1798,  there  was  but  one  small 
cabin  in  the  bottom  where  the  town  now 
stands,  but  we  learn  that  a  few  years  prior 
to  this  John  O'Brien  lived  in  a  sycamore 
tree  which  stood  at  the  upper  end  of  the  bot- 
tom. This  was  after  the  year  1792,  for  at 
that  date  O'Brien  had  his  cabin  on  O'Brien's 
Fork  of  Salt  Lick.  His  home  at  that  time 
was  presumably  a  rude  camp.  How  long 
O'Brien,  the  first  resident  of  Sutton,  occu- 
pied Iris  dwelling  place  in  the  hollow  syca- 
more, has  not  been  handed  down  to  poster- 
ity ;  neither  is  it  known  who  lived  in  the 
cabin  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Sutton  (evidently 
a  sauatter)  nor  is  it  definitely  known  who 
the  residents  of  Newville  were  at  the  time  of 
the  formation  of  the  county. 

John  D.  Sutton  settled  on  the  land  about 
the  year  1810,  Andrew  Skidmore,  about  the 
year  1812;  then  followed  his  son,  Benjamin, 
and  perhaps  other  members  of  his  family,  but  Benjamin  succeeded  to  the  own- 
ership of  his  fathers'  land  which  embraced  what  was  known  as  the  Skidmore 
bottom,  now  called  the  Skidmore  addition,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until 
his  death.  The  record  does  not  show  that  there  were  auy  lots  laid  off  or  sold 
prior  to  the  formation  of  the  county  in  1836. 

There  was  a  road  leading  from  the  settlements  of  Harrison  and  what  is 
now  Lewis  county,  coming  by  Bulltown,  Salt  Lick  following  in  part  the  Buffalo 
path  which  led  from  the  saline  springs  of  Salt  Lick  to  those  on  the  island  at 
the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek.  In  a  very  early  day,  there  was  another  road  or 
path  leading  to  Newville  from  Union  Mills,  also  down  the  Elk  to  the  settlement 
near  the  mouth  of  Otter  and  Frametown  on  the  Elk,  but  at  what  date  the  vil- 
lage received  the  name  of  Newville  we  have  no  record,  but  that  the  village  was 
settled  by  a  sturdy,  industrious  citizenship,  there  is  no  question.  Some  of  them 
had  seen  service  in  the  border  warfare,  and  sought  homes  in  the  forest  where 
they  might  provide  for  themselves  and  families,  the  comforts  of  life. 

From  Baxtor's  history,  we  learn  that  Mr.  Sutton,  the  founder  of  the  town, 
was  cultured  and  scholarly,  and  doubtless  the  villagers  from  the  beginning  as- 


JOHN  P.  BYRNE 


104  S  U  T  T  ON'S     H  I  S  T  O.K  Y. 

) 

sumed  an  air  of  refinement  that  has  been  a  distinct  characteristic  of  tha 
community. 

"William  and  Robert  Jackson  who  built  a  small  mill  at  Sutton,  are  said  to 
have  kept  the  first  groceries  for  sale.  They  were  carried  on  horseback  from 
Clarksburg.  The  settlement  was  called  Newville,  and  a  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished, the  place  retaining  this  name  until  the  county  seat  was  established  in 
1836. 

Thomas  Barnett  lived  near  the  village,  and  it  is  said  he  died  from  cholera. 
He  had  just  returned  from  Charleston  where  he  was  supposed  to  have  con- 
tracted the  disease. 

When  the  town  was  established,  John  D.  Sutton  lived  where  the  John 
Byrne  residence  stands,  now  owned  by  Wm.  Fisher.  Nathan  Bamett  lived  on 
the  hill,  not  far  from  the  Cary  Mines'  residence.  Thomas  McElwain  was  the  first 
settler  on  the  south  side  of  the  Elk,  and  he  later  moved  across  to  the  McElwain 
residence  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  James  Sutton  lived  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  Buckeye  bottom,  and  perhaps  the  first  school  house  in  Sutton  was  built 
near  his  residence.  Henry  Eye,  a  blacksmith  lived  near  where  the  Gas  office 
is  now  located.  James  Jones  is  said  to  have  been  a  resident  of  the  place.  A 
man  named  Murrey  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  was  from  eastern 
Virginia.  He  died  here,  and  was  probably  the  first  person  buried  in  the  Skid- 
more  cemetery.  His  widow  moved  back  to  Virginia.  Benjamin  Skidmore 
lived  on  the  south  side  of  the  Elk  at  the  Skidmore  bottom.  His  father,  Andrew 
Skidmore,  having  settled  on  the  bank  of  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  Skidmore 
run,  about  the  year  1812.  Andrew  Sturett  lived  above  the  mouth  of  Buckeye, 
and  owned  the  Sterrctt  mill,  later  called  the  Dyer  and  Spriggs'  mill.  Aaron 
Facemire  was  a  resident  near  the  town.  Jerry  Mace  was  an  early  settler,  and 
lived  on  Cranny's  creek. 

Sutton  has  two  commercial  flouring  mills,  one  wholesale  grocery,  one 
wholesale  hardware,  four  drygoods  stores,  one  hardware,  several  grocery  stores, 
two  blacksmith  and  one  repair  shop,  three  hotels,  two  drug  stores,  an  opera 
house  and  an  armory. 

The  Court  House  was  built  in  1886-87,  same  being  a  well  arranged  build- 
ing with  office  rooms  for  the  county  officials.  The  County  Jailwas  built  in 
1005  from  native  stone. 

Sutton  has  five  churches,  M.  E.,  M.  E.  South,  Baptist,  Presbyterian  and 
Episcopal.  It  is  96  miles  N.  E.  from  Charleston  and  46  miles  south  from 
"Weston. 

The  citizens  of  Sutton  have  evei  been  exemplarly  in  character,  model  hi 
Christain  spirit,  scarcely  willing  that  the  law  should  be  enforced  on  those  who 
might  chance  to  err.  The  town  has  always  maintained  the  best  schools  possi- 
ble, commensurate  with  her  means.  Her  enterprising  citizens  erected  a  large 
and  elegant  school  building,  and  recently  there  has  been  added  a  normal  course 
of  training  which  will  give  Sutton  a  great  impetus  as  an  educational  center. 

As  a  residence  town,  it  is  unsurpassed  for  natural  scenery,  situated  on  the 
most  beautiful  river  in  the  state,  surrounded  with  smooth  rolling  hills,  covered 


S  UTTON'S     li  I  S  T  O  R  Y.  105 

with  a  rich  native  soil.  A  magnificent  wire  suspension  bridge  spans  the  Elk 
at  this  point.  The  town  iias  more  paved  streets  than  any  other  town  in  the 
state  perhaps,  according  to  her  wealth  and  population.  It  has  long  been  con- 
ceded that  Sutton  maintains  the  strongest  bar  of  any  town  in  central  West 
Virginia.  Her  board  of  physicians  have  occupied  enviable  positions  in  their 
professions.  The  services  of  her  professional  citizens  have  not  been  confined 
to  the  county  or  the  state  alone,  hut  they  have  rendered  distinguished  service 
in  other  states.  Sutton  has  ever  maintained  a  ministry  above  reproach,  men 
of  piety  and  learning. 

The  population  of  the  town  at  the  last  census  was  1,200,  and  her  taxable 
property  is  $592,155,  real  estate,  and  $263,940,  personal. 

John  D.  Sutton  gave  one  acre  of  ground  for  a  public  square,  together  with 
the  streets  and  alleys  to  the  town  whose  name  it  bears. 

Fiom  a  letter  written  by  William  E.  R.  Byrne  to  the  Braxton  Democrat, 
giving  his  recollection  of  Sutton  in  1885,  he  states  that  the  principal  hotel  was 
kept  by  Mrs.  A.  V.  Kelly.  The  Sutton  Brass  Band  was  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing members:  Leader,  Houston  Humphreys,  and  John  Humphreys,  Granville 
S.  Berry,  Charles  Y.  Byrne,  Marshall  I.  Griffin,  Taylor  Frame,  Frank,  Harry 
and  Lee  Bland,  L.  H.  Kelly  and  C.  Armstrong. 

Henry  Brannon  was  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  William  E.  Haymond. 
Prosecuting  Attorney,  Wm.  L.  J.  Corley,  Clerk  County  Court,  C.  Y.  Byrne, 
Clerk  Circuit  Court,  and  A.  N.  Lough,  Sheriff. 

The  County  Court  consisted  of  Abel  M.  Lough,  Jacob  M.  Evans  and  John 
W.  White. 

Attorneys  living  in  Sutton  at  that  time  were  Major  P.  B.  Adams,  Felix 
J.  Baxter,  Edwin  S.  Bland,  William  E.  Haymond,  A.  W.  Corley,  Alex  Dulin, 
and  L.  M.  Wade. 

At  that  time  Sutton  was  a  little  shoestring  town  of  practically  one  street — 
what  is  now  Main  street — from  Old  Womans  Run  to  the  L.  M.  Wade  property. 
There  was  the  Methodist  parsonage  out  near  the  mill  dam,  Neal  Armstrong's 
residence  and  a  few  shanties  on  back  street,  but  it  is  not  missing  it  much  to  say 
it  was  a  village  of  one  street.  There  was  but  one  house  in  what  is  now  North 
Sutton.  That  was  a  small  frame  dwelling  owned  and  occupied  by  Felix  J. 
Baxter,  on  the  site  of  which  the  Baxter  residence  now  stands.  On  the  South 
side  of  the  river,  the  only  buildings  at  that  time  were  the  E.  D.  Camden  resi- 
dence. "Uncle  Benny"  Huffman's  residence  and  mill,  John  Poole's  residence 
on  the  site  of  which  W.  E.  Haymond's  residence  now  stands,  the  Fred  Sprigg 
residence,  a  small  house  at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  and  further  down,  the  Jen- 
nings Skidraore  residence.  There  was  not  a  building  in  what  is  now  "Skidmore 
Addition." 

There  was  but  one  brick  building  and  that  was  the  courthouse.  The  "Uncle 
Charh e''  Frame  brick  residence  further  up  the  street  was  in  process  of  con- 
struction at  that  time.  There  are  very  few  of  the  buildings  of  thirty  years  ago 
standing  today-  -in  fact,  only  fifteen  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  which  was 


106  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

then  the  town  proper:  the  Blagg  residence,  the  Baptist  church,  the  J.  S.  Hyer 
residence,  the  C.  Y.  Byrne  cottage  just  below  and  in  the  same  block,  the  cottage 
just  above  Lee's  Hardware  store,  the  Methodist  parsonage,  the  courthouse,  the 
T.  J.  Berry  residence,  the  old  John  Byrne  residence,  the  Wade  residence,  are 
all  on  that  side  of  the  street.  On  the  other  side  of  Main  street  was  the  Troxell 
housi;,  the  Democrat  office  (since  enlarged)  the  old  G.  F.  Taylor  store  room, 
now  a  dwelling,  the  G-illespie  residence,  the  Jackson  Evans'  residence  and  the 
Taylor  Frame  residence  across  the  creek. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  citizens  of  Sutton  who  lived  here  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  war: 

Wm.  and  John  Kelley,  merchants,  John  S.  Camden,  hotel  keeper,  Pem- 
brooke  Berry,  cabinet  maker,  B.  W.  Byme,  attorney,  P.  B.  Adams,  attorney, 
Levi  Waybright,  carpenter,  Hanson  Byrne,  deputy  clerk,  Wm.  McCorkle,  tan- 
ner, John  and  James  Addison  Sterrett,  farmers,  Benjamin  Skidmore,  farmer 
and  hotel  keeper,  J.  M.  Coxiey,  deputy  sheriff  and  farmer,  Joseph  Dillon,  tailor, 
Benjamin  Canfield,  saddle  maker,  Jacob  Irvin,  jailer,  David  .Irvin,  town  ser- 
geant, Isaac  Dilly,  wagon  maker,  Hanson  and  Frank  Pierson,  blacksmiths,  B. 
G.  Sprigg,  miller,  Mrs.  Jane  Byrne,  widow  of  John  P.  Byrne,  Wm.  Gibson, 
miller,  John  and  Samuel  Heffner,  carpenters,  Harvey  Heffner,  merchant, 
Thomas  Wayne,  farmer,  Edwin  Barker,  miller,  H.  A.  Holt,  attorney,  Luther 
Haymond,  attorney,  A.  C.  Kincaid,  M.  D.,  F.  G.  Boggs,  merchant  and  sheriff, 
A.  0.  Humphrey,  M.  D.,  Benjamin  Starbuck.  saddler,  Charles  E.  Singleton, 
eonnty  clerk,  Charles  S.  Evans,  farmer  and  teamster,  Captain  James  Berry, 
carpenter.  L.  A.  Griffin,  hotel  and  bar,  Joseph  Osborn,  boot  and  shoemaker, 
Elizabeth  Dunlap,  school  teacher,  Phillip  Duffy,  merchant,  R.  M.  White,  cab- 
inet maker,  Phillip  Troxell,  hotel  and  bar,  James  Wing,  farmer  and  teamster, 
Wm.  Mace,  miller,  Isaac  Evans,  carpenter,  Wm.  Tonkins,  miller  Ezekiel  Boilen, 
tanner,  and  Isaac  Evans. 

RESIDENT  LAWYERS  OF  SUTTON  1918. 

W.  E.  Haymond,  Fred  L.  Fox,  B.  P.  Hall,  Van  B.  Hall,  C.  F.  Greene,  W. 
E.  Hines,  L.  H.  Kelly,  Alex.  Dulin,  0.  0.  Sutton,  W.  L.  Armstrong,  C.  C. 
Hines,  R.  M.  Cavendish,  C.  H.  Bland,  L.  M.  Wade,  W  F.  Morrison,  Jr.,  E. 
G.  Rider,  W.  F.  Frame,  James  E.  Cutlip  and  Judge  Jake  Fisher. 

RESIDENT   PHYSICIANS    OF   SUTTON. 

W.  P.  Newlon,  W.  II.  MeCauley,  M.  T.  Morrison,  R.  J.  Brown,  and  H. 
II.  Brown. 

DENTISTS. 
L.  Beagle  and  J.  B.  Plate. 


SUTTON'S    HISTORY.  107 

FLATWOODS. 

Flatwoods,  a  thriving  village  six  miles  northeast  of  Sutton  on  the  Western 
and  Gauley  Bridge  turnpike,  and  on  the  B.  &  0.  railroad,  contains  two  churches, 
four  drygoods  stores,  one  hardware,  two  blacksmith  shops,  two  barber  shops, 
and  one  shoe  and  harness  shop.  The  railroad  runs  through  the  town,  its  depot 
and  junction  of  the  branches  leading  to  Sutton  and  Richwood,  are  located  at 
the  southwest  end  of  the  town.  The  population  is  about  two  hundred.  The 
town  maintains  a  fine  school,  is  incorporated,  and  has  no  indebtedness. 

Flatwoods  was  so  named  by  reason  of  the  flat  and  rolling  land  lying  on 
the  headwaters  of  Salt  Lick  of  the  Little  Kanawha,  Granny's  creek,  Flatwoods 
run  and  other  small  tributaries  of  the  Elk. 

The  first  post  office  named  Flatwoods  was  kept  at  Elijah  Squires.'  It  was 
later  moved  to  Dr.  Jno.  L.  Rhea's  and  kept  until  its  discontinuance  during  the 
Civil  war.  In  the  fall  of  1865,  it  was  re-established  at  the  residence  of  Felix 
Sutton,  and  kept  by  J.  D.  Sutton  until  1872.  It  was  then  discontinued  for  a 
short  time,  and  re-established  with  Dr.  John  L.  Rhea,  as  postmaster.  For 
many  years,  mail  was  carried  on  a  horse  once  a  week,  and  later  the  trip  was 
made  three  times  a  week.  Since  that  time  the  office  has  been  kept  by  different 
parties  in  Shaversville  at  the  junction  of  the  Salt  Lick  road  with  the  pike  at 
Flatwoods. 

The  M.  E.  church  and  M.  E.  church.  South,  had  each  built  a  church  house 
before  the  Civil  war.  These  were  both  destroyed  by  Guerillas  in  time  of  the 
war,  and  have  since  been  rebuilt  on  the  same  ground  that  the  others  occupied. 

The  first  permanent  settlers  of  Flatwoods  were  Nathan  Prince,  Isaac 
Shaver,  Elijah  Squires,  Christian  Hyer,  John  and  James  W.  Morrison, 
Felix  Sutton,  Wm.  Fisher,  Sanford  Skinner,  and  others. 

About  the  year  1880  Perry  Currance  and  A.  C.  Dyer  built  a  store  house 
and  entered  the  mercantile  business. at  the  junction  of  the  roads.  The  place 
was  then  designated  Shaversville.  While  the  post  office  is  called  Flatwoods, 
the  town  has  assumed  permanently  the  name  of  Shaversville.  The  place  is 
often  referred  to  by  a  great  many  persons  as  the  "Burned  Churches." 

O'Brien's  fork  of  Salt  Lick  creek  has  its  rise  near  Shaversville.  About  two 
miles  from  its  source,  Adam  0  'Brien,  the  great  Indian  fighter  and  scout,  had  his 
cabin,  and  from  him  the  stream  took  its  name. 

His  camp  is  reported  to  have  stood  near  the  old  Baily  place.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  it  was  0  'Brien  whom  the  Indians  had  trailed  from  the  settlements 
north  of  here,  and  failing  to  find  him  at  his  cabin,  discovered  the  Carpenter 
settlement  at  the  mouth  of  Holly,  an  account  of  which  is  given  elsewhere. 

About  the  year  1892,  A.  C.  Dyer  and  James  Lemons  put  in  a  roller  mill 
near  the  depot,  and  this  mill  has  changed  hands  several  times  since.  The  rail- 
road was  built  to  Flatwoods  in  1892.  The  town  has  been  growing  steadily  ever 
since.    The  eastern  portion  of  this  section  lying  on  Flatwoods  ran  and  embrac- 


10S 


SUTTON'S     H  I  ,S  T  0  R  Y. 


ing  the  Morrison  settlement  and  Boling  Green,  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  upper 
Flatwoods. 

Flatwoods  was  incorporated  in  1902.  Its  first  Mayor  was  A.  B.  Sparks, 
and  its  first  Council  consisted  of  the  following  men :    F.  H.  Stout,  N.  W.  Linger, 

A.  L.  Shaver,  W.  C.  Bartlett,  and  A.  H.  Goad.    Town  Sergeant,  A.  V.  Mahone. 

The  taxable  property  of  the  town  is  $244,371.00.  Population  of  the 
town  about  three  hundred,  present  mayor,  E.  W.  Squires. 

One  of  the  indi  dents  relating  to  "the  burial  place  of  some  of  our  earliest 
citizens  to  be  regretted  is  the  total  wiping  out  and  obliteration  of  the  old  grave- 
yard at  Flatwoods,  where  Nathan  Prince  was  buried.  He  was  son  of  Captain 
Prince,  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  was  an  early  settler  where  the  town  of 
Flatwoods  now  stands.  One  of  Mr.  Prince's  daughters  died  young.  She  was 
a  sister  of  the  late  Levi  and  Simon  Prince  and  Barbara  High,  of  Kanawha 
county.  On  account  of  wolves  and  other  animals  they  buried  her  near  the  cabin 
in  which  Mr.  Prince  lived.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the  graveyard  at  that 
place.  Afterward  Mr.  Prince  was  buried  there  and  also  some  of  his  neighbor's 
children.    The  Prince  heirs  sold  the  land  to  B.  C.  McNutt,  who  sold  it  to  James 

B.  Hyer,  and  he  built  a  blacksmith  shop  on  or  near  the  grave.  Other  encroach- 
ments were  made  until  now  buildings  cover  the  graveyard,  thus  wiping  out 
forever  this  old  historic  burial  place  of  one  of  Braxton  county's  early  pioneers. 

BURNS  VILLB. 


creel 


This  town  is  located  on  Little  Kanawha  river  at  the  mouth  of  Salt  Lick 
and  where  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  crosses  the  river,  sixteen  miles  north  of 

Sutton.  The  town  was  established  by  Cap- 
tain John  Burns  from  whom  it  derived  its 
name.  In  1866,  Captain  'Burns  and  two 
brothers  came  from  Monongalia  county 
shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  and 
bought  'large  quantities  of  poplar  and  wal- 
nut timber  on  the  Little  Kanawha  and  its 
tributaries.  This  region  was  noted  for  its 
magnificent  timber ;  walnut  trees  that  would 
make  from  one  to  five  thousand  feet  of  sawed 
lumber,  and  poplars  were  not  uncommon 
that  would  saw  from  four  to  six  thousand 
feet.  When  we  consider  that  much  of  this 
timber  standing  on  the  banks  of  the  streams 
sold  as  low  as  one  cent  per  lineal  foot,  it 
seems  almost  incredible  at  this  day,  and  yet 
the  method'  of  handling  timber  at  that  time 
and  the  hazardous  and  expensive  way  of  get- 
ting the  lumber  to  market,  left  no  alluring 
profit  to  the  operator,  and  but  a  pittance  to 
DR.  J.  w.  kidd  the    owner.      Captain    Burns    marketed    his 


S  U  T  T  O  N  '  S     HISTO  R  i".  109 

lumber  at  Parkersburg  and  towns  along  the  Ohio  river,  transporting  it  in  flat- 
boats  from  Burnsville  to  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river. 

Captain  Burns  died  in  the  80 's  after  which  time  the  business  was  carried 
on  for  many  years  by  his  two  brothers,  David  and  Gideon  Burns.  About  the 
year  18....,  they  associated  with  the  firm  of  Huffman  who  installed  a  band  saw, 
the  first  one  used,  it  is  said,  in  the  state.  About  1.899,  the  company  moved  their 
plant  to  Elizabeth  in  Wert  county,  this  state.  In  the  meantime,  other  industries 
located  in  the  town.  In  1892,  the  West  Virginia  &  Pittsburg  railroad  was  built 
through  the  town,  and  in  1906,  the  Coal  &  Coke  railroad  was  completed  from 
Elkins  to  Charleston,  passing  through  Burnsville.  When  the  road  running 
from  Parkersburg  or  beyond,  which  is  now  completed  as  far  as  Elizabeth  in 
Wert  county,  passing  through  the  rich  coal  fields  of  Gilmer,  and  a  fine  farming 
and  grazing  section  in  the  Little  Kanawha  valley,  tapping  the  Coal  &  Coke  and 
the  B.  &  0.  at  Burnsville,  that  town  will  have  the  finest  railroad  facilities  of 
any  town  in  the  central  part  of  the  state. 

In  addition,  Burnsville  secured  th°  Growing  Veneering  plant,  the 
Star  Wagon  factory,  three  wholesale  groceries, — one  of  them  including  the  mill- 
ing industry.  The  Philadelphia  and  the  Hope  Gas  companies  each  has  a  pump- 
ing statiion.  There  are  two  hardware  stores,  four  general  stores,  one  retail 
grocery,  one  meat  market,  four  restaurants,  two  insurance  agencies,  one  black- 
smith shop,  four  churches  and  five  church  organizations,  and  one  jewelry  shop. 
But  what  perhaps  gave  Burnsville  its  greatest  uplift  was  the  interest  her  cit- 
izens manifested  in  education.  In  the  year  1895,  the  citizens  erected  a  commo- 
dious school  building,  and  established  a  fine  school.  Professor  Brown,  a  man 
of  high  moral  character  and  splendid  attainments,  was  for  several  years  its 
principal.  We  cannot  measure  in  dollars  and  cents  the  benefit  to  the  town  or 
the  surrounding  country  derived  from  such  an  influence,  nor  do  the  years  as 
they  come  and  go,  cease  to  return  and  give  back  in  increased  measure  for  all 
the  effort  that  these  splendid  citizens  put  forth.  At  the  present  time,  the  num- 
ber attending  the  school  is  about  369. 

Burnsville  was  incorporated  in  1902,  the  first  mayor  having  been  P.  H. 
Kidd.  The  first  Council  consisted  of  W.  H.  Gough,  H.  H.  Cuberly,  LL.  L.  Mc- 
Kinny,  W.  T.  Brosious  and  J.  B.  Hefner.  Alvin  Barker  was  town  sergeant  and 
C.  A.  Wade,  Recorder. 

The  taxable  property  in  1902  was  $18,360  Realty,  and  $21,945  Personal, 
while  in  1917,  the  real  estate  was  valued  at  $334,095,  and  the  personal  at  $336,- 
791,  thus  showing  a  considerable  increase  within  a  few  years'  time.  In  1902, 
the  population  of  the  town  was  270,  in  1910  it  had  increased  to  770,  and  at  the 
present  time,  1917,  the  ppulation  is  1200.  The  town  has  one  mile  of  paved  street 
which  has  recently  been  completed,  two  railroad  bridges,  one  wagon  bridge,  and 
one  foot  bridge. 

The  present  officers  of  the  town  are:  Dr.  W.  S.  Barns,  Mayor,  W.  L.  Mc- 
Coy, Recorder,  J.  H.  Dodrili,  Collector  and  Street  Commissioner,  Luther  Hef- 
ner, Police,  and  the  council  consists  of  John  I.  Bender,  S.  F.  Davis,  W.  C. 
Kuhn,  J.  Lee  Jefries,  and  H.  J.  Lloyd. 


110 


SUTTON'S     HISTOE  Y. 


GASSAWAY. 


MAIN  STREET,  GASSAWAY 


Gassaway  is  a  flourishing  town  on  the  Coal  &  Coke  railway,  situated  mid- 
way between   Charleston  and   Elkins,   ninety-one  miles  from  Charleston  and 

eighty  miles  from  Elkins, 
on  the  south  bank  of  the 
beautiful  Elk,  and  contains 
about  twelve  hundred  in- 
habitants. The  railroad 
company  have  their  shops 
at  this  point  which  is  the 
main  industry  of  the  town. 
The  land  ijpon  which  the 
town  is  built  was  formerly 
owned  by  Israel  J.  Friend 
and  Jas.  A.  Boggs.  The 
railroad  was  completed  be- 
tween the  years  1902  and 
1904.  The  town  was  laid 
out  in  1904,  and  the  building  commenced  in  the  spring  of  1905. 

The  Gassaway  Development  Company  composed  of  the  following  gentle- 
men, C.  M.  Henry,  Arthur  Lee  and  W.  H.  Bowers,  bought  the  land  and  laid 
off  the  town  in  accordance  with  the  shape  of  the  land,  making  the  streets  70 
feet  wide.  The  town  was  incorporated  in  1906,  with  the  following  named  gen- 
tlemen acting  as  the  official  body:  Wm.  Chinowith,  Mayor,  P.  M.  Dumond, 
Recorder,  W.  M.  Funk,  Dr.  A.  S.  Boggs  and  Henry  Tuidon,  Members  of 
Council.  The  Gassaway  Hotel,  now  called  the  Valley  House,  was  erected  in 
1905.  Natural  gas  was  installed  in  the  town  in  1907.  The  first  public  build- 
ings erected  were  the  Bank,  schoolhouse  and  railroad  shops.  The  schoolhouse 
was  used  as  a  place  of  public  worship  until  1907,  when  two  churches  were 
built,  one  M.  E.  and  one  M.  E.,  South.  In  1909,  Senator  Kehrens  built  a  Catho- 
lic church.  This  building  cost  about  $20,000,  being  an  elegant  and  substantial 
structure  made  of  native  stone.  The  town  inherited  one  church  building,  a  Bap- 
tist frame  church  that  stands  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elk,  just  below  the  mouth 
of  Otter,  but  this  denomination  has  since  built  a  more  modern  church. 

In  1907,  the  Gassaway  Development  Company  established  the  Water  Plant." 

Nineteen dates  the  beginning  of  the  Gassaway  Times.    In  1910  and  1911, 

Senator  Henry  G.  Davis  erected  a  very  elegant  Presbyterian  church  which  cost 
$20,000.  This  church  was  erected  as  a  memorial  to  his  wife,  and  is  called  the 
Davis  Memorial  church.  It  is  also  built  of  native  stone.  In  1912  and  1913, 
the  iron  bridge  was  built  across  the  Elk.  The  county  had  been  asked  to  contrib- 
ute to  this  enterprise,  and  the  matter  being  placed  before  the  people,  it  was 
voted  down,  and  the  town  of  Gassaway  bore  the  entire  burden  of  its  construc- 
tion. In  1914  and  1915,  the  railroad  built  a  very  handsome  and  commodious 
depot. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y.  Ill 

A  few  years  ago,  the  town  was  enlarged  by  the  Stewart  addition.  A  plot 
of  ground  was  laid  off  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elk  and  sold  in  town  lots.  Dr. 
Perry  installed  a  planing  mill,  and  was  active  in  building  up  this  new  addition. 
A  wire  suspension  foot  bridge  connected  the  addition  with  the  main  town  in 

the  year  19 The  Standard  Oil  Company  who  owned  a  large  tract  of  timber 

on  the  waters  of  Steer  creek,  built  a  narrow  gauge  railroad  from  Gassaway  to 
Frametown,  ten  miles  below,  thence  to  Shock  and  on  to  Bear's  Fork  of  Steer 
creek.  This  road,  called  the  Elk  River  &  Little  Kanawha,  penetrates  a  rich  and 
fertile  country,  underlaid  with  Freeport  coal  and  a  magnificent  forest  of  native 
timber  that  is  being  principally  sawed  into  oil  barrel  staves.  The  distance  from 
Gassaway  to  where  the  Coal  &  Coke  R.  R.  crosses  the  B.  &  0.  R.  R.  at  Orlando 
is  twenty-eight  miles.  Gassaway  is  six  miles  below  Sutton,  the  county  seat. 
Gassaway  has  several  dry  goods  stores,  two  jewelry  stores,  one  hardware,  one 
fine  millinery  store,  bowling  alley,  photograph  studio,  a  commodious  school 
building  and  armory,  flouring  mill,  and  many  minor  enterprises.  It  has  a  fine 
hospital  building,  but  at  present  is  not  in  use.  Senator  Davis  laid  off  a  beautiful 
park,  adjoining  the  depot. 

The.  town  is  composed  of  an  industrious,  enterprising  people.  J.  A.  Pat- 
terson, who  was  one  of  the  first  citizens  of  the  town,  also  the  engineer  who  laid 
it  off,  has  been  very  active  in  promoting  its  interests,  and  to  him  belongs  more 
credit  perhaps  than  to  any  other  private  citizen  for  the  rapid  progress  the  town 
has  made  in  the  few  brief  years  of  its  existance. 

„  As  stated,  Gassaway  is  on  a  line  of  railroad  leading  from  the  state  capitol 
to  Elkins,  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  road  where  it  has  connections  with  the 
Western  Maiwland  and  other  roads.  From  Gassaway,  there  is  a  branch  road 
of  six  miles  which  terminates  at  Siitton. 

Some  years  ago,  the  town  built  a  wh*e  suspension  foot  bridge  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  town,  and  a  very  substantial  iron  bridge  at  the  head  of  town.  Gassa- 
way is  poorly  situated  to  county  roads  leading  to  the  toAvn.  The  river  hill 
on  the  south  of  town  is  rugged  and  steep,  while  the  river  road  on  the  north 
side  from  Gassaway  to  Frametown  is  almost  exclusively  occupied  or  made  dan- 
gerous by  the  Elk  &  Little  Kanawha  railroad. 

Gassaway  is  quite  a  business  place  with  many  enterprising  and  business 
citizens.  The  post  office  in  1908  was  made  a  Presidential  office.  It  pays  about 
$1,000.  The  railroad  shops  work  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  hands,  and  its 
weekly  pay-roll  is  $3,000.  Gassaway  is  situated  near  a  gas  and  oil  field  that 
is  being  developed  on  the  northwest  side,  while  a  great  coal  field  undeveloped 
lies  on  her  south. ' 

Resident  lawyers  are,  Van  Wilson,  C.  W.  Flesher  and  G.  D.  Armstrong. 

FRAMETOWN. 

Frametown  is  situated  on  the  Elk  river  sixteen  miles  southwest  of  Sutton. 
The  place  has  been  known  as  Frametown  for  a  great  many  years,  James  Frame 
having  built  a  water  mill  there  about  the  early  part  of  the  first  decade  of  the 


112  SUTTOK'S     HISTO  R  Y. 

eighteenth  century,  and  many  years  later  Henry  Waggy  put  up  a  steam  mill 
there  with  the  roller  process  for  making  flour,  but  both  mills  have  gone  out  of 
use. 

Frametown  had  a  post  office,  blacksmith  shop,  one  or  more  stores,  M.  E. 
Church  and  a  country  inn  in  1903.  When  the  Coal  &  Coke  railroad  was  com- 
pleted, the  principle  business  was  moved  to  the  south  side  of  the  Elk.  The 
county  built  an  iron  bi'idge  across  the  Elk  river  a  short  distance  below  where 
the  old  frame  mill  stood.  There  is  a  large  tract  of  beautiful  bottom  and  flat 
land  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elk,  extending  back  and  up  the  river  from  the 
old  village  that  would  be  a  splendid  site  for  a  town  of  eight  or  ten  thousand 
inhabitants. 

In  1912,  the  Elk  &  Kanawha  narrow  gauge  railroad  was  built  from  Gassa- 
way  to  Rosedale  on  Steer  creek,  and  has  since  been  extended  from  there  down 
the  creek.  This  road  is  said  to  belong  to  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  and  was 
primarily  built  to  ship  oil,  staves  and  lumber  from  the  company's  land  lying 
principally  in  Gilmer  and  Calhoun  counties.  This  road  passes  through  Frame- 
town.  It  traverses  the  north  side  of  the  Elk  from  Gassaway  to  the  mouth  of 
Frame's  mill  ran,  thence  up  that  stream  to  its  source,  and  crosses  Bison  ridge 
to  the  waters  of  Steer  creek.  At  present  however  the  road  has  but  slight  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  the  town. 

Frametown  is  surrounded  with  an  excellent  class  of  citizens,  many  of  the 
families  having  settled  that  portion  of  the  county  in  an  early  day.  The  town 
maintains  an  elegant  graded  school.  The  town  was  incorporated  at  one  time, 
but  the  incorporation  was  not  kept  up.  It  will  always  make  a  good  up-to-date 
town  on  account  of  its  location,  the  surrounding  country  and  its  railroad  fa- 
cilities.   Its  population  is  about  150. 

COWEN. 

Cowen,  often  called  i:The  Savannah  of  the  Mountains,"  is  a  beautiful  and 
thriving  town  situated  in  Glade  district  of  Webster  county,  on  the  B.  &  O. 
railroad,  about  thirty-eight  miles  east  of  Sutton.  It  is  situated  in  a  beautiful 
country  called  Welch  Glades,  embracing  one  thousand  acres  of  flat  land,  with 
a  gentle  sloping  country  surrounding  the  town.  It  is  watered  by  Glade  run 
which  empties  into  the  Gauley  river.  The  town  occupies  an  altitude  of  2,255 
feet  above  sea  level.  The  first  white  settler  in  that  region  of  country  was  a 
German  named  Stroud  whose  family  was  murdered  by  the  Indians  about  the 
year  1785  or  1790.  Stroud's  Glade  took  its  name  from  this  man.  Some  of  the 
early  settlers  in  the  Glade  before  the  Civil  Avar  were  Caleb'  Gardner,  Arthur 
Hickman,  Jas.  Hamric,  John  Woods,  Major  Reynolds,  and  several  families  of 
the  Mortons  settled  Stroud's  creek. 

The  soil  of  this  region  is  well  adapted  to  grass,  and  part  of  the  glade  land 
produces  good  corn  and  vegetables.  The  town  and  glade  district  has  recently 
completed  a  very  fine  high  school  building.  A.  L.  Goff  had  the  contract  at  $2.- 
300.     The  same  contractor  built  during  the  year  a  Baptist  church  which  is  a 


SUTTON'S     HISTOR  Y.  113 

very  neat  and  substantial  brick  building  at  a  cost  of  $6,000.  There  is  an  M. 
E.  church,  also  an  M.  E.  church,  South.  The  town  has  six  stores,  planing  mill, 
two  barber  shops,  blacksmith  shop,  pool  room,  etc. 

Mr.  Caleb  Gardner  who  has  reached  the  good  old  age  of  ninety,  moved  from 
Augusta  county  to  the  Glade  in  1853.  We  found  Mr.  Gardner  to  be  a  very  in- 
telligent and  hospitable  gentleman.  lie  had  quite  a  varied  experience  during 
the  Civil  war.  His  home  was  burned,  all  his  property  destroyed,  as  was  that 
of  some  of  his  neighbors,  by  the  Federal  soldiers.  There  was  a  battle  fought  on 
his  farm  called  the  Gardner  battle. 

Cowen  is  only  a  few  miles'  drive  from  the  famous  Salt  Sulphur  Springs 
in  Webster  County.  The  Kessler  Bros,  have  a  hospital  building  at  Cowen. 
Dr.  D.  P.  Kessler  who  lives  there,  enjojrs  a  very  large  and  lucrative  practice. 
He  is  also  largely  interested  in  coal  lands  and  mining. 

The  town  was  established  about  the  year  1895,  and  a  few  years  later  was. 
incorporated.  Its  first  Mayor  was  M.  L.  Shriver,  and  the  first  Council  consisted 
of  C.  D.  Howard,  Luke  Pitzsimmons  Wallace  Holden,  D.  P.  Kessler,  and  E.  H. 
Isenhart. 

CENTRALIA. 

Centralia,  fifteen  miles  east  of  Sutton  in  Holly  district,  is  located  at  the 
mouth  of  Laurel  creek  on  the  Elk  river,  and  on  the  B.  &  0.  railroad.  It  was 
laid  off  for  a  town  about  the  year  IflOO.  It  is  well  situated  with  good  building 
ground.  It  is  in  the  heart  of  a  coal  field,  and  is  surrounded  with  a  vast  timber 
region.  A  railroad  coming  down  the  Elk  River  will  tap  the  B.  &  0.  at  this 
point.  A  company  owning  a  large  tract  of  timber  on  the  Elk  is  preparing  to 
build  mills  at  this  point.  A  circular  saw  mill  has  recently  been  put  in  opera- 
tion on  the  site  of  the  old  mill  which  was  recently  removed  to  another  point. 
The  town  consists  of  one  M.  E.  church,  hotel,  two  stores,  and  quite  a  number  of 
new  homes  are  being  built.  Centralia  is  destined  in  the  near  future  to  be  a 
town  of  considerable  interest.  In  its  immediate  vicinity,  some  of  the  first 
settlers  of  the  county  lived. 

SLABTOWN. 

This  place  is  eight  miles  east  of  Sutton  in  Holly  District. 

Shortly  after  the  Civil  war,  Griffin  Gillespie  pivt  up  a  store  house  and 
sold  goods  at  the  mouth  of  Flatwoods  run.  Adam  Gillespie  for  many  years  had 
run  a  grist  mill  at  this  point,  and  this  mill  was  equipped  with  an  up-and-down 
saw,  and  the  ploee  was  called  Slabtown.  The  store  house  in  Slabtown  was  one 
of  the  first  voting  places  after  the  war. 

Afterward,  for  several  years,  J.  S.  Hyer  kept  a  store  at  this  point.  From 
there,  he  removed  his  store  to  Sutton  after  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  was  built.  The 
business  continued  at  the  mouth  of  Ben's  run,  about  a  mile  above,  and  the 


114  SUTTON'S     HISTOfil'. 

place  was  called  Hyer.    It  has  one  or  more  stores,  M.  E.  church,  B.  &  O.  depot, 
■a  post  office  and  several  residences. 

Two  miles  above  Hyer  is  located  the  Holly  Sand  Company.  An  elegant 
quality  of  sand  is  deposited  on  a  large  sand  bar  on  the  south  side  of  the  Elk, 
opposite  the  B.  &  0.  depot  at  Holly  Junction.  A  fine  railroad  bridge  spans 
the  river  at  this  point.  The  rocks  from  ten  thousand  shoals  and  ravines  on  the 
Elk  and  Holly  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  are  being  washed  down  by  every 
freshet.  The  sand  deposited  on  these  streams  is  inexhaustible.  The  company 
ships  to  the  various  towns  for  building  purposes,  cement  blocks,  paving  blocks, 
engine  sand,  etc.     Hyer  is  about  ten  miles  east  of  the  county  seat. 

TESLA. 

Tesla.  a  post  office  village  on  Two  Lick  run  in  Holly  district,  is  six  miles 
south  of  Sutton  on  the  Turnpike  leading  from  Sutton  to  Gauley  Bridge.  There 
are  two  or  three  residences,  one  store,  post  office  and  schoolhouse. 

Some  of  its  citizens  are  Dr.  0.  0.  Eakle,  Henry  Long,  member  of  County 
Court,  Wm.  Davis,  a  prosperous  farmer  and  cattle  dealer,  Rev.  Perry  Roberts 
and  others. 

NEWVILLE. 

Newville  is  in  Holly  district,  twelve  miles  east  of  Sutton,  situated  on  Bee 
run,  a  tributary  of  the  Elk  river,  and  on  the  county  road  leading  from  the 
Platwood  road  to  the  Holly  river,  and  a  road  leading  from  the  Elk  river  to 
High  Knob,  Salt  Lick  crossing  the  main  road  at  that  point. 

Newville  was  established  as  a  post  office  village  soon  after  the  close  of  the 
Civil  war.    It  has  an  M.  P.  Church,  blacksmith  shop  and  two  stores. 

Silas  Morrison,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  kept  the  post  office  for  twenty- 
three  years.  L.  P.  Cuireiice,  a  Confederate  veteran,  has  been  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  for  a  number  of  years.  Qirite  a  number  of  the  descendants 
of  Captain  John  Skidmore  of  the  Revolutionary  war  are  clustered  near  the 
village. 

BIRCH  RIVER. 

Birch  River  post  office  is  fourteen  miles  south  of  Sutton  at  a  point  midway 
between  Sutton  and  Summersville  on  the  Big  Birch  river  where  the  Weston 
&  Gauley  Bridge  Turnpike  crosses.  For  many  years,  this  place  has  contained 
one  or  more  stores,  a  tavern  and  post  office. 

The  place  was  first  settled  by  Wm.  Frame,  Col.  John  Brown,  and  later, 
Richard  Scott  for  many  years  sold  goods.  Here  Powell's  creek  empties,  and 
near  its  mouth  Wm.  Frame  had  a  small  corn  mill  before  the  Civil  war.  There 
was  a  saw  mill  on  the  river  a  short  distance  above  the  village.    In  time  of  the 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  115 

war.  Captain  Wm.  H.  Kantner  who  commanded  a  military  post  at  Birch  river, 
used  this  mill  to  saw  timber  with  which  to  build  a  fort. 

This  village  is  situated  in  the  center  of  a  great  coal  and  timber  region. 
There  is  a  branch,  road  leading  from  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  at  Erbacon  in  Web- 
ster county  that  strikes  the  Big  Birch  river  a  few  miles  above  the  village,  thence 
down  to  the  mouth  of  Powell's  ci*eek,  and  up  Powell's  creek  to  its  source.  The 
Eakin  Lumber  Company  owns  a  large  boundary  of  timber  along  this  route, 
and  has  built  a  large  band  mill  on  the  Birch  river. 

Birch  post  office,  where  the  pike  crosses  the  river,  is  fifteen  miles  above  its 
mouth.  This  region  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  great  Powell's  Mountain,  and  its 
lands  are  all  underlaid  with  the  finest  coal  seams. 

LITTLE  BIRCH. 

The  Little  Birch  is  seven  miles  south  of  Sutton,  midway  between  Sutton 
and  Big  Birch  River  post  office,  and  situated  on  the  Weston  and  Gauley  Bridge 
Turnpike  where  it  crosses  the  Little  Birch.  This  village  was  settled  about  1812 
or  1815  by  Jesse  Jackson,  John  Crites,  Joe  Barnett,  Wm.  Ellison,  John  Cutlip, 
Dr.  A.  N.  Ellison,  Robert  Jackson  and  John  Cutlip. 

Jesse  Jackson  built  a  mill  where  the  pike  now  crosses  the  Little  Birch 
about  75  or  80  years  ago.  David  M.  Jackson,  now  in  his  77th  year,  is  running 
the  same  old  mill.  For  many  years  a  post  office  has  been  kept  at  this  point, 
a  store,  etc.  There  is  a  public  road  leading  up  and  down  the  river,  crossing 
the  pike  at  this  point. 

SAVAGE  TOWN. 

In  about  the  period  of  1875  or  1876,  a  Mr.  Savage  of  Ohio  discovered  iron 
ore  on  the  waters  of  Strange  creek,  and  proceeded  to  erect  an  iron  furnace. 
Strange  creek  empties  into  the  Elk  river  twenty  miles  below  Sutton.  The 
county  made  extensive  preparations  for  the  manufacture  of  pig  iron.  The  ore 
found  in  the  locality  was  said  to  be  of  superior  quality,  but  the  only  means  of 
transportation  to  the  markets  was  by  flat  boats  on  the  Elk.  The  river  being 
navigable  for  flat  boats  only  in  freshets,  and  as  tides  occurred  occasionally  in 
the  spring  of  the  year,  the  business  was  found  to  be  unprofitable,  and  the  enter- 
prise was  soon  abandoned.  The  town  lost  its  name  of  Savage,  and  is  now  called 
Strar.c?--  Creek.  It  has  a  post  office,  hotel,  one  or  more  stores  and  a  few  good 
residence  buildings.  Strange  Creek  is  in  Birch  district,  and  is  one  of  the  voting 
places.    See  the  derivation  of  the  name  of  Strange  Creek  on  another  page. 

John  Frame,  James  Panter,  Isaac  Evans  and  other  old  settlers  have  resided 
at  or  in  the  vicinity  of  this  village.  The  Hon.  George  Goad  whose  death  oc- 
cured  in  July,  1917,  has  long  been  a  resident  of  Savage  Town. 


116  SUTTON'S     HIST  OKY. 

SERVIA. 

Servia,  a  small  village  about  twenty  miles  west  of  Sutton,  is  situated  on 
Duck  creek  in  Birch  district,  on  the  main  road  leading  from  Sutton  to 
Charleston. 

It  contains  three  stores,  a  Baptist  church  and  blacksmith  shop.  Nathan 
Mollohan,  one  of  Braxton  county's  most  worthy  citizens,  owned  a  large  farm 
and  lived  for  many  years  at  this  place  where  some  of  his  descendants  now  re- 
side. A  large  Indian  mound  stands  on  the  bank  of  the  creek  near  the  old  Mol- 
lohan residence.  Duck  creek  flows  through  a  wide  fertile  bottom,  surrounding 
the  village. 

BULLTOWN. 

Bulltown  is  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river  where  the  Weston  &  Gauley  Bridge 
Turnpike  crosses  fifteen  miles  north  of  Sutton,  and  two  miles  below  the  falls. 
It  has  long  been  noted  as  the  Indian  town  where  Chief  -John  Bull  and  four  or 
five  other  families  perished  at  the  hands  of  the  white  man ;  and  for  the  further 
fact  that  it  was  a  point  at  which  for  many  years  salt  was  manufactured  in 
quantities  sufficient  to  supply  a  great  region  of  country.  It  was  carried  on 
pack-horses  to  various  neighborhoods  in  Braxton,  Lewis,  Upshur,  Gilmer  and 
Webster  counties  before  the  Civil  war.  A  very  substantial  wooden  bridge  was 
constructed  across  the  Little  Kanawha,  and  notwithstanding  its  constant  use 
for  over  half  a  century,  carrying  large  bodies  of  troops,  artillery,  cavalry,  and 
thousands  of  heavily  laden  army  wagons,  the  bridge  is  still  in  general  use. 
John  B.   Byrne  settled  at  this  point  many  years  ago. 

Early  in  the  18th  century,  in  the  early  settlement  of  Braxton,  there  lived  at 
Bulltown  and  in  its  vicinity,  many  prominent  men :  John  B.  Byrne,  Col.  B.  W. 
and  John  P.  Byrne,  Win.  Haymond,  Col.  Addison  McLaughlin,  Gen.  Curance 
Conrad,  Jesse  Cunningham  and  others.  At  Bulltown  was  fought  the  battle  be- 
tween the  Union  and  Confederate  forces,  an  account  of  which  is  given  on 
another  page. 

At  Falls  Mills,  two  miles  above  Bulltown,  is  the  finest  water  power  in  the 
central  part  of  the  state.  Bulltown  is  surroimded  by  the  best-lying  and  most 
productive  lands  of  the  county,  embracing  the  fine  bottom  lands  once  owned  by 
the  Conrads  and  Currences.    The  adjacent  grazing  lands  are  unexcelled. 

ROANE  COUNTY. 

Roane  county  was  formed  in  1S5C  from  Kanawha,  Jackson  and  Gilmer 
counties.  It  contains  350  square  miles;  was  settled  about  the  year  1791,  and 
was  named  for  Judge  Roane  of  Virginia.  Its  county  seat  is  Spencer,  50  miles 
from  Sutton,  located  on  the  head  waters  of  Spring  creek.  The  county  is  rich 
in  oil  and  gas  and  its  soil  is  fine  for  grazing  and  agricultural  purposes. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  117 

CANFIELD. 

Canfield  is  a  village  on  Middle  run  of  the  Little  Birch  river,  teu  miles 
southwest  of  Sutton,  in  Otter  district.  It  contains  one  or  more  stores,  a  black- 
smith shop,  Baptist  Church  and  schoolhouse.  It  was  named  for  B.  T.  Canfield 
who  owned  a  farm  and  lived  for  many  years  adjacent  to  the  village. 

John  S.  Garee,  James  Dunn  and  Hiliard  Skidmore  were  some  of  the  older 
citizens  who  lived  near  the  town. 

CORLEY. 

A.  little  village  situated  on  Salt  Lick  creek  in  Salt  Lick  district,  less  than 
a  mile  below  Tom  Hughes'  Fork,  is  ten  miles  northeast  of  Sutton.  There  was  a 
water  mill  there  before  the  Civil  war,  known  as  the  Hutchison  mill,  afterward 
owned  by  Eugeus  Haymond,  then  by  Frank  Harper.  Still  later,  it  assumed  the 
name  of  Corley  by  reason  of  a  party  by  that  name  keeping  goods  there  for  sev- 
eral years.  Mortimer  Rose  &  Sons  have  kept  goods  at  Corley.  The  mill  has 
disappeared,  and  there  is  nothing  but  a  store,  post  office-  and  a  few  residences 
in  the  place. 

NAPIER. 

Napier  is  a  post  office  village  on  the  Weston  &  Gauley  Bridge  Turnpike, 
fourteen  miles  north  of  Sutton  in  Salt  Lick  district.  It  contains  a  store  and 
post  office.  The  surrounding  country  is  fertile,  and  well  adapted  for  grazing 
purposes.  The  village  is  on  Big  run  of  Little  Kanawha,  two  miles  above  its 
mouth,  and  on  the  Weston  &  Gauley  Bridge  Turnpike. 

The  widow  of  Addison  Rader,  whose  maiden  name  was  Curry,  an  estimable 
lady,  has  for  many  years  resided  there,  and  kept  a  country  inn. 

ROLLYSON. 

A  flag  station  in  Salt  Lick  district,  named  for  Major  Wm.  D.  Rollyson 
who  kept  a  store  there  when  the  railroad  was  first  built.  The  store  is  now  kept 
by  Daniel  Singleton.  Rollyson  is  two  miles  below  Heater  on  O'Brien's  Fork, 
and  near  its  mouth.  A  considerable  amount  of  stock  is  shipped  from  this  point 
to  market. 

HEATER, 

A  railroad  station  and  village  on  the  B.  &  0.  railroad  in  Salt  Lick  district, 
ten  miles  north  of  Sutton.  It  contains  two  stores,  post  office,  blacksmith  shop, 
schoolhouse,  M.  P.  church,  also  several,  good  dwellings. 


118  SUTTON'S     HISTOBY. 

It  is  at  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  O'Brien's  Pork  and  the  Berry 
Fork,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  splendid  farming  and  grazing  country.  Heater 
took  its  name  from  the  Heater  family  who  have  owned  the  land  and  resided 
there  for  three  generations. 

In  1792,  Captain  John  O'Brien's  cabin  stood  about  one  mile  above  the 
station. 

SALT  LICK  BRIDGE. 

The  village  called  Salt  Lick  Bridge  is  one  among  the  oldest  settlements  in 
the  county.  It  is  situated  in  Salt  Lick  district,  and  has  been  a  voting  place 
since  the  formation  of  the  state.  It  is  twelve  miles  north  of  Sutton  on  the  Wes- 
ton &  Gauley  Bridge  Turnpike. 

About  the  year  1807,  Asa  Squires  and  Jackson  Singleton  settled  on  ad- 
joining lands,  Salt  Lick  creek  dividing  their  possessions.  For  many  years, 
Charles  E.  Singleton  and  D.  S.  Squires  each  carried  on  a  mercantile  business, 
then  Major  Wm.  D.  Rollyson  and  C.  E.  Singleton  conducted  the  business  for 
several  years.  Nicholas  Mick  had  a  grist  and  saw  mill.  Jas.  D.  Sprigg  carried 
on  a  boot,  shoe  and  harness  shop.  John  Colerider  had  a  blacksmith  shop.  Salt 
Lick  bridge  is  a  wooden  structure  built  several  years  before  the  Civil  war,  and 
is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation  yet.  The  lands  on  Salt  Lick  and  its  tributaries 
are  very  fertile,  with  a  deep  red  soil  that  produces  elegant  grain  and  blue  grass. 
Salt  Lick  creek  has  its  rise  on  the  Bison  range,  and  heads  directly  opposite 
Granny's  creek,  a  tributary  of  he  Elk.  One  of  its  principle  tributaries  is 
O'Briens  Fork  that  heads  near  the  main  head  of  Salt  Lick.  It  takes  a  more 
northerly  course,  and  empties  into  the  main  stream  about  a  mile  below  Salt 
Lick  Bridge.  The  main  creek  runs  east,  and  receives  one  of  its  main  tributaries, 
called  Tom  Hughes'  Fork,  near  the  little  village  of  Corley.  The  creek  then 
turns  north  and  makes  a  long  circuitous  route,  turning  soutlnvest  until  it  flows 
beyond  the  mouth  of  O'Briens  Fork.  This  stream  was  once  famous  for  fish, 
especially  pike  and  catfish.  It  empties  its  water  into  the  Little  Kanawha  river 
at  Burnsville. 

The  old  store  house  of  Singleton  and  Rollyson,  also  that  of  D.  S.  Squires, 
have  all  been  torn  down,  and  the  fine  lands  that  they  owned  are  principally  in 
the  hands  of  their  descendants,  many  of  whom,  are  prosperous  farmers  and 
business  men. 

PALMER. 

A  lumber  town  which  is  the  oldest  inhabited  place  in  the  county,  the  land 
being  taken  up  and  settled  by  Benjamin  Carpenter  about  the  year  1790  or 
possibly  a  year  or  two  before  that  time. 

Palmer  was  established  as  a  town  in  1896.  The  first  improvement  was  a 
very  fine  band  saw  mill  built  by  the  Holly  Wood,  Lumber  &  Coal  Co.  This 
mill  claimed  a  capacity  of  75,000  feet  per  day.  The  company  that  operates  this 
mill,  owned  large  holdings  of  timber  in  Braxton  and  Webster  counties. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  119 

About  this  time,  the  West  Virginia  Midland,  a  narrow  guage  railroad  was 
constructed  from  a  point  on  the  B.  &  0.  railroad,  one  mile  below  the  mouth  of 
Holly  to  Addison,  a  distance  of  31  miles.  The  Lumber  Company  built  from 
the  forks  of  Holly  a  branch  road  for  several  miles  up  the  left  hand  branch  of 
Holly.  On  this  branch  and  on  the  main  line  to  Webster  Springs  are  situated 
seven  saw  nulls,  besides  a  great  many  logs  are  shipped  to  Palmer  and  other 
points.  A  few  years  ago,  Nicholas  Ruth  established  a  veneering  mill  at  Palmer, 
but  after  operating  the  mill  for  two  or  three  years,  he  moved  his  machinery  to 
Buckhannon.  He  claimed  the  rates  were  too  high,  and  the  service  unsatisfac- 
tory on  the  Midland  railroad. 

In  1913,  the  large  and  valuable  saw  mill  at.  Palmer  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  has  recently  been  replaced  by  a  large  circular  saw  mill,  having  a  capacity 
of  from  25,000  to  30,000  feet  per  day.  This  mill  is  largely  owned  and  managed 
by  J.  W.  Cook  of  Pennsylvania.  The  shops  of  the  Midland  railroad  are  located 
at  Palmer.  There  is  one  M.  E.  Church,  a  post  office,  one  large  mercantile  store 
owned  by  Henry  Gillespie  and  Robert  Lynn.  Henry  Gillespie  is  the  present 
post  master.     The  population  of  the  town  is  about  300. 

Palmer  is  spread  out  along  the  shores  of  two  beautiful  rivers.  The  country 
surrounding  Palmer  is  rough,  the  hills  are  high  and  precipitous,  but  the  natural 
scenery  is  magnificent.  The  spruce  that  skirts  the  river  banks,  interspersed 
with  a  numerous  growth  of  holly  wood  and  the  rhoderdendrum,  makes  the 
scenery  when  the  snows  are  falling,  one  of  rapturous  beauty,  and  no  less  so 
in  the  verdure  of  spring  when  the  wild  honeysuckle  and  the  ivy  are  in  bloom. 

ROSEDALE. 

Rosedale,  a  thriving  town,  is  situated  on  Steer  creek,  twenty  miles  west  of 
Sutton  in  Birch  district.  It  has  two  or  three  dry-goods  stores,  one  hardware 
store,  two  churches,  M.  E.  and  Baptist,  post  office,  two  taverns,  schoolhouse, 
blacksmith  shop,  flouring  mills,  etc, 

Rosedale  is  in  the  center  of  the  Rosedale  Oil  field,  with  several  producing 
oil  wells.  It  is  on  the  Elk  &  Little  Kanawha  narrow  gauge  railroad,  and  is  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  timber  region  that  is  being  worked  principally  by  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  into  tight  barrel  staves,  though  large  quantities  of  tim- 
ber are  floated  down  the  streams  to  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  thence  to  Par- 
kersburg,  W.  Va. 

The  land  of  the  surrounding  country  is  very  fertile,  and  is  fine  for  grain 
and  grazing  purposes. 

Rosedale  is  built  on  the  old  Jacob  Shock  farm.    It  was  laid  off  as  a  town 

in  19....  and  incorporated  with  the  following  officers:  Mayor, , 

Councilmen, 

The  town  is  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  gas  field.  Quite  a  number  of  wells  have 
been  bored  for  oil  and  gas,  and  a  number  of  fine  gas  wells  have  been  struck. 

A  certificate  of  incorporation  was  granted  the  town  of  Rosedale  by  the 
circuit  court  of  Braxton  county  on  the  24th  day  of  August.  1911.     The  com- 


120  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

missioners  of  election  for  or  against  the  incorporation  were  B.  E.  Rider,  ('.  B. 
Beatty,  Jr.,  and  C.  T.  King.  Election  resulted  in  favor  of  the  incorporation, 
and  B.  E.  Rider,  J.  W.  Twyman  and  U.  S.  Upton  were  appointed  by  C.  H. 
Bland,  clerk,  to  hold  first  election,  which  resulted  as  follows:  For  Mayor, 
C.  N.  Snodgrass,  Recorder,  H.  M.  Turner,  Oouncilraen,  T.  P.  Dobbins,  C.  B. 
Beatty.  Sr.,  C.  T.  King,  M.  E.  Riffle,  J.  W.  Smith. 

The  present  population  of  the  town  is  180 :  the  value  of  real  and  personal 
property,  including  the  property  assessed  by  the  Board  of  Public  Works  is  for 
the  year,  1918,  $91,947.00 

ERBAOON. 

Erbaeon  contains  about  two  hundred  inhabitants,  and  is  situated  on  the 
B.  &  0.  railroad,  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Sutton  in  Webster  Co.  There  is  a 
lumber  railroad  running  from  the  town  to  a  point  on  the  Big  Birch  river.  Other 
lumber  camps  are  located  near  the  town. 

Erbaeon  was  settled  as  early  as  1798  by  a  Carpenter  family.  Laurel  creek, 
from  a  short  distance  below  Erbaeon  to  Wainville,  is  a  smooth  stream  with 
some  beautiful  bottom  lands,  surrounded  with  high  precipitous  mountains  on 
both  sides  of  the  valley.  These  hills  are  filled  with  numerous  coal  veins,  rang- 
ing from  a  few  inches  to  over  six  feet  in  depth,  and  some  of  this  coal  is  of  a 
superior  quality.  In  the  Pall  and  Winter  of  1916-17,  the  Sutton  Coal  Com- 
pany began  to  operate  a  colliery  at  Erbaeon,  and  the  Lewis  Coal  Company  of 
Baltimore  began  operating  about  the  same  time.  Some  years  previous,  Dr. 
Kessler  operated  what  is  known  as  the  Kessler  seam.  In  1917,  the  Sutton 
Coal  Company  transferred  its  mining  plant  to  the  Withville  Black  Coal  Com- 
pany.    The  coal  field  surrounding  Erbaeon  is  a  very  desirable  one. 

Erbaeon  has  two  stores,  postoffice,  M.  P.  church  and  two  hotels. 

NEEDMORE. 

Needmore  is  a  post  village  on  a  star  route  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river, 
about  sixteen  miles  northeast  of  Sutton,  near  the  great  Bison  range.  It  has 
one  dwelling  and  the  ashes  of  one  store  building  which  recently  burned.  Need- 
more  embraces  all  that  its  name  implies,  and  needs  more  of  all  that  it  now 
possesses.  Its  future  depends  upon  its  ability  to  acquire  more  of  that  which 
its  name  suggests.  Its  motto  is  symbolical  of  its  future,  and  its  future  will 
always  justify  the  wisdom  bestowed  upon  its  name. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY 


121 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Organization  of  the  County  Court:  First  Court;  Last  Circuit  and  County  Court 
Held  in  the  County  Before  the  Organization  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors: 
First  Owcers  Appointed  and  Elected,  County  Roads,  Early  Marriage  Li- 
censes, etc. 

COUNTY  COURTS. 

The    institution    of    County    Courts    originated    'in    Virginia    as    early    as 
1623-1624,  and  as  the  most  ancient,  so  it  has  ever  been  one  of  the  most  important. 

of  our  institutions,  not 
only  in  respect  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice, 
but  for  police  and  fiscal 
affairs.  They  were  first 
called  Monthly  Courts, 
and  at  first  only  two  of 
them  were  established, 
their  jurisdiction  jealous- 
ly limited  to  the  most  pet- 
ty controversies,  reserving 
the  right  of  appeal  for  the 
party  east,  to  the  Gover- 
nor and  Council  who  were 
the  Judges  of  what  were 
then  called  the  Quarter 
Courts. 

In  1642-1643,  the 
style  of  Monthly  Courts 
was  changed  to  County 
Courts,  the  Colonial  As- 
sembly having  previously 
begun,  and  continuing 
thenceforward  to  enlarge 
their  duties,  powers  and 
SIMON  PRINCE  AND  HIS  GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON  jurisdiction,  and  to  ex- 
SPURGEON  HEPPNER  tend    the   gystem    to    eyery 

county  as  it  was  laid  off. 

As  eaiiy  as  1645,  they  had  been  matured  into  courts  of  general  jurisdiction 
in  law  and  equity,  and  the  most  important  matters  of  police  and  fiscal  affairs 
were  confided  to  them. 


122  SUTTON'S    HISTOEY. 

Previous  to  1661-1662,  the  Judges  of  the  County  Courts  had  been  styled 
Commissioners  of  the  Monthly  Courts,  and  afterwards  Commissioners  of  the 
County  Courts;  but  at  the  time,  it  was  enacted  that,  they  should  take  the  oath 
of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  be  called  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

These  tribunals  now  assumed  a  perfectly  regular  form,  and  their  functions 
have  ever  since  been  so  important  that  their  institution  may  well  be  considered 
as  a  part  of  the  constitution  both  of  the  colonial  and  present  form  of  govern- 
ment. No  material  change  was  introduced  by  the  war  of  the  Revolution  in  their 
jurisdiction  or  general  powers  and  duties  of  any  kind. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  State  constitution  in  1852,  the 
Justices  composing  the  County  Court  were  appointed  by  the  Governor  for 
life,  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  members  of  the  Court,  thus  making  that 
body  self -continuous.  They  also  recommended  a  candidate  to  the  Governor  for 
appointment  of  Sheriff,  Surveyor  and  Militia  officers,  and  also  appointed  their 
Clerk,  Assessors  and  Constables.  The  only  local  officers  elected  by  the  people 
were  members  of  the  Legislature  and  Overseers  of  the  Poor. 

By  the  Constitution  adopted  in  1852,  the  Justices  were  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple for  short  terms,  as  were  also  the  Sheriff  and  other  county  officers  but  in 
other  particulars,  the  system  underwent  no  change. 

When  West  Virginia  was  created,  the  system  was  changed  to  a  Board  of 
Supervisors  for  each  county,  which  discharged  the  same  duties  as  the  old  County 
Court,  except  that  it  was  shorn  of  its  powers  as  a  Court  of  law  and  equity  jur- 
isdiction; each  county  district  elected  one  member. 

The  Constitution  of  1872  abolished  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  we  now 
have  a  County  Court  that  still  discharges  the  important  duties  of  all  matters 
concerning  county  affairs,  but  has  no  law  and  equity  jurisdiction. 

FIRST  COURT  HELD  AFTER  THE  ORGANIZATION 

OF  THE  COUNTY. 

At  a  Circuit  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Chancery  held  for  the  county 
of  Braxton  at  the  house  of  John  D.  Sutton  on  this  11th  day  of  April  1836, 
and  in  the  60th  year  of  the  Commonwealth ;  present,  the  Hon.  Edwin  S.  Dun- 
can, a  Judge  of  the  General  Court,  and  by  Law  appointed  to  hold  a  Circuit 
Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Chancery  for  the  said  county  of  Braxton. 

Ordered  that  William  Newlon  be  appointed  Clerk  pro  tempore  of  this 
Court,  whereupon  the  said  William  Newlon  appeared  in  Court,  and  took  the 
several  oaths  required  by  Law. 

Ordered  that  Samuel  Price  be  appointed  Attorney  for  the  Commonwealth 
to  prosecute  in  this  Court,  whereupon  the  said  Samuel  Price  appeared  in  Court, 
and  took  the  several  oaths  required  by  law. 

Gideon  D.  Camden,  Samuel  Price,  Solomon  Wyatt  and  Cabell  Tavennen, 
Gentlemen,  who  have  been  licensed  to  practice  to  law  in  the  Courts  of  this 
Commonwealth,  on  this  motion  have  leave  to  practice  in  this  Court,  whereupon 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


123 


the  said  Gideon,  Samuel,  Solomon  and  Cabell  took  the  several  oaths  prescribed 
by  law. 

Ordered  that  the  Clerk's  office  of  this  Court  be  held  at  William  Newlon's 
residence  in  the  Flatwoods  till  the  next  Court. 

Ordered  that  Samuel  Price,  Attorney  for  the  Commonwealth,  be  allowed 
fifty  dollars  for  his  ex-officio  services  during  the  present  term  which  is  ordered 

to  be  certified  to  the  auditor  of  public  ac- 
counts for  payment. 

Ordered  that  William  Newlon,  Clerk 
pro  tempore  of  tins  Court,  be  allowed  fif- 
teen dollars  for  his  ex-officio  services  during 
the  present  term  which  is  ordered  to  be  cer- 
tified. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn 
till  the  first  day  of  the  next  term. 

THE   FIRST    GRAND   JURY. 

The  first  Grand  Jury  that  ever  sat  as  a 
jury  of  inquest  for  the  body  of  the  county 
was  impaneled  at  the  second  term  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Coiirt  which  convened  on  the  ]2th  day 
of  September,  1836,  and  the  following  nam- 
ed gentlemen  composed  it: 

John  C.  Haymond,  foreman,  William  D. 
Baxter,  Peter  Conrad,  Andrew  Skidmore, 
Robert  Chenoweth,  Samuel  Skidmore,  An- 
drew Sterrett,  John  Given,  Nathaniel  Davis, 
George  Keener,  Peter  Hamric,  Lamastas  M. 
Boggs,  Nathan  Mollohan,  James  Duffield, 
Sinnett  Triplet,  John  I.  Murphy,  Robert  G. 
Duffield,  John  B.  Byrne  and  Marshall  Triplet.  They  found  but  one  indictment, 
and  that  was  "a  true  bill  against  Alexander  R.  Ireland  for  a  nuisance." 


WM.    CRAIG 
■Who  lived  to  be  a  hundred  and  one 
years  of  age,  and  the  five  gen- 
erations, all  lived  together 
in    the    same    house. 


COURT  RECORDS. 


April  26,  1836. 

Asa  Squires  receiving  the  following  vote  of  Justices,  viz:  Nicholas  Gibson, 
John  Clifton,  John  B.  Byrne,  Peyton  B.  Byrne,  Andrew  Sterrott,  Lorenzo  D. 
Camden,  Marshall  Triplett  and  William  Given,  is  elected  Commissioners  of  the 
Revenues  for  the  said  county,  whereupon  the  said  Asa  Squires,  together  with 
Nicholas  Gibson  and  Gideon  Camden,  his  security,  entered  into  and  acknowl- 
edged a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  one  thousand  dollars,  conditioned  as  the  law 
directs. 


124  SUTTON'S     II I  S  T  0  K  Y. 

The  .Court  proceeded  to  appoint  a  Crier  of  the  Superior  and  Inferior  Court 
of  this  County,  whereupon  Charles  Byrne  receiving  the  following'  vote  of  Jus- 
tices, viz:  Nicholas  Gibson,  Asa  Squires,  John  Clifton,  John  B.  Byrne,  Andrew 
Sterrett,  Lorenzo  D.  Camden,  Peyton  B.  Byrne,  Henry  Duffield,  William  Given, 
for  the  said  office,  and  at  the  same  time  was  appointed  a  Constable  who  to- 
g-ether with  Joseph  Wyatt,  Jacob  Gibson,  Samuel  Morrison  and  John  Morrison, 
his  security,  entered  into  and  acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  two  thous- 
and dollars,  conditioned  as  the  law  directs,  whereupon  the  said  Charles  ap- 
peared in  open  court  and  took  the  several  oaths  required  by  law. 

April  27,  1836. 

Charles  Byrne  and  William  Rose,  and  by  Asa  Squires,  Commissioner  of 
the  Revenue  of  this  County,  appointed  assistant  under  him.  they  appeared  in 
Court  and  took  the  several  oaths  required  by  law. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  surveyor  of  the  County  ;of  Brax- 
ton, whereupon,  Felix  Sutton,  George  Berry  and  Samuel  Skidmore  were  con- 
sidered for  said  office.  They  proceeded  to  vote  viva  voce ;  votes  for  Felix  Sut- 
ton, the  following  Justices,  viz:  Nicholas  Gibson,  Asa  Squires,  John  Clifton, 
John  B.  Byrne,  Lorenzo  D.  Camden,  Andrew  Sterrett  and  Peyton  B.  Byrne; 
for  George  Berry,  the  following  Justices,  viz :  Marshall  Triplet!,  Henry  Duffield, 
William  Given.  The  said  Felix  Sutton  having  a  majority  of  the  Justices  pres- 
ent and  voting,  was  duly  elected  for  the  term  of  seven  years  which  is  ordered 
to  be  certified  to  the  Governor  to  be  commissioned  as  Surveyor  as  aforesaid. 

Ordered  that  the  new  house  of  John  B.  Sutton  on  the  Elk  river  be  the 
place  for  holding  the  Courts  of  this  County  until  further  provided  for. 

Ordered  that  William  Newlon,  Clerk  of  this  Court,  keep  his  office  at  his 
residence  in  the  Flatwoods  until  further  provided  for. 

William  Rose,  Adam  Given,  John  Morrison,  Samuel  B.  Byrne  and  John 
Sisk,  and  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Court,  appointed  Constables  for  the 
County  of  Braxton  until  June  Court  next,  the  Court  being  of  opinion  that  they 
are  men  of  honesty,  probity  and  good  demeanor. 

May  24,  1836. 

Andrew  Sterrett,  Asa  Squires,  David  Given,  John  0.  Haymond,  and  John 
B.  Byrne  are  appointed  Commissioners  under  the  act.  of  the  General  Assembly 
for  the  said  County  passed  March  3,  1835.  Considering  Commissioners  of 
Roads  who  after  taking  the  oath  required  by  law,  shall  enter  upon  the  duties 
of  their  office. 

Benjamin  Skidmore,  having  produced  to  the  Court,  William  Newlon 's  re- 
ceipt (Clerk  of  this  Court)  for  two  dollars,  the  amount  imposed  by  law,  leave 
is  granted  him  for  keeping  a  house  of  private  entertainment  in  the  said  County 
until  the  first  day  of  May  Court  next. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  regulate  the  charges  of  all  ordinances  to  be  kept 
within  the  County,  and  adopt  the  following  rates,  viz :  For  breakfast,  25  cents, 


S  U  TTON'S     HISTOfi  Y.  125 

dinner,  25  cents,  supper,  25  cents ;  lodging,  61/4  cents ;  horse  to  hay  over  night, 
18%  cents,  oats  per  gallon,  12y2  cents,  corn  per  gallon,  12i/2  cents;  French 
brandy  per  half  pint,  25  cents ;  wine  per  half  pint,  25  cents ;  rum  per  half  pint, 
C1/^  cents;  whiskey  per  half  pint,  12y2  cents;  apple  brandy,  per  half  pint, 
12y2  cents. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  regulate  the  charges  for  keeping  property,  stock, 
etc.,  taken  by  Sheriffs  and  other  officers  by  virtue  of  exeeixtions,  and  lay  the 
same  at  the  following  prices,  viz:  for  keeping  every  slave  per  day,  20  cents; 
for  keeping  every  horse  or  mule  per  day,  8  cents;  for  all  homed  cattle  or 
hogs,  41/2  cents  each  per  day;  for  keeping  sheep  or  goats,  every  day  3  cents 
each. 

Ordered  that  the  Sheriff  summon  all  the  acting  Justives  of  this  County  to 
appear  here  on  the  first  day  of  the  next  term  to  take  into  consideration  the 
propriety  of  adopting  or  rejecting  the  1st  and  2nd  sections  of  the  Act  of  As- 
sembly paper,  March  3,  1835,  concerning  roads,  etc. 

Wednesday,  July  6,  1836. 

The  Court  most  agreeable  to  the  adjournment,  of  yesterday,  present,  John 
Clifton,  Asa  Squires,  John  B.  Byrne,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Lorenzo  D.  Camden, 
Marshall  Triplett,  Peyton  B.  Byrne  and  William  Given,  Gent.  Justices. 

Ordered  that  Andrew  Sterrett,  John  B.  Byrne  and  Solomon  Wyatt  be, 
and  they  are  hereby  appointed  Commissioners  on  behalf  of  this  Court  to  make 
a  contract  with  James  Sutton,  the  owner  of  the  Court  house  of  this  County,  for 
holding  courts  therein  until  a  new  one  is  provided  for  by  the  County,  and  that 
they  report  to  Court. 

The  Commissioners  appointed  in  the  foregoing  order  to  contract  with  James 
Sutton  for  the  preesent  Court  house  of  this  County,  this  day  returned  their  re- 
port which  is  received  and  confirmed. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  liquidate  the  claims  of  the  County  and  order  that 
the  following  claims  be  paid  to-wit: 

To  John  McHamilton,  Com.  for  locating  County  Site $30.00 

To  William  Carnefix  for  same 33.00 

To  James  Radcliff,   for  same 33.00 

To  John  Gilliland,  for  same 8 45.00 

To  George  H.  Beall,  for  same 33.00 

To  William  Newlon,  Clerk,  for  extra  services 12.50 

To  Solomon  Wyatt,  attorney,  for  the  Court,  for  same 12.50 

To  the  Crier  of  Braxton  County 12.50 

To  John  James,  1  young  wolf  scalp 1.50 

To  Jepa  Shaver,  1  old  wolf  scalp 3.00 

To  Robert   Shock,   2   old   wolf   scalps 6.00 

To  Alexander  Shock,  1  old  wolf  scalp 3.00 


126  S  IT  T  TON'S     II I  fe  T  O  R  Y. 

To  Joseph  James,  3  young  wolf  scalps 4.50 

To  William  Newlon,  for  procuring  books,  etc 4.50 

To  David  Evans,  for  repairing   Court  house 6.9934 

To  Richard  P.  Camden,  for  books,  etc 74.62i/2 

Ordered  that  old  wolf  scalps  be  three  dollars  and  those  under  six  months, 
$1.50  for  the  present  year. 

Ordered  that  each  tithable  pay  the  sum  of  two  dollars. 

Ordered  that  John  Haymond,  Asa  Squires  and  Alex.  Spinks,  be  appointed 
Commissioners  to  report  to  the  next  Court  of  this  County  suitable  plans  to 
build  the  jail  of  said  County,  and  that  the  Sheriff  notify  them  of  their 
appointments. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  nominate  suitable  persons  to  his  Excellency,  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  to  be  added  to  the  Commission  of  the  Peace  of  this 
County,  pursuant  to  an  order  of  Court  made  at  the  last  term  of  this  Court, 
summoning  them  for  that  and  other  purposes  which  being  returned  by  the 
Sheriff  '"Executed."  The  following  persons  were  put  in  nomination,  viz: 
Thomas  B.  Friend,  Jacob  Friend,  Felix  Sutton,  William  V.  Hutt,  Samuel  Skid- 
more,  Charles  Mollohan,  Robert  Chenoweth,  James  Morrison,  Asa  Squires,  Jr., 
Elijah  Squires,  Peter  Lough,  Thornton  Berry,  Fielding  Berry,  Samuel  Cut- 
lip,  Jacob  P.  Conrad,  Benjamin  L.  Boggs  and  Archibald  Taylor.  The  Court 
proceeding  to  elect  eight  persons  out  of  the  foregoing  number.  These  voted  for 
Thomas  B.  Friend,  viva  voce,  the  following  Justices,  viz:  Asa  Squires,  John 
B.  Byrne,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Lorenzo  D.  Camden,  William  Given;  for  Jacob 
Friend,  the  following  Justices,  viz:  John  Clifton,  Peyton  B.  Byrne,  Marshall 
Triplett;  for  Felix  Sutton  and  William  0.  Hutt,  the  following  Justices,  viz-. 
John  Clifton,  Asa  Squires,  John  B.  Byrne,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Lorenzo  D.  Cam- 
den, Peyton  B.  Byrne,  Marshall  Triplett  and  William  Given ;  for  Samuel  Skid- 
more,  the  following  Justices,  viz:  Andrew  Sterrett;  for  Charles  Mollohan,  the 
following  Justices,  viz:  John  Clifton,  Asa  Squires,  John  B.  Byrne,  William 
Given,  Marshall  Triplett  and  Peyton  B.  Byrne;  for  Robert  Chenoweth,  the 
following  Justices,  viz:  Lorenzo  I).  Camden;  for  Asa  Squires,  Jr.,  the  follow- 
ing Justices,  viz:  John  B.  Byrne,  William  Given,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Marshall 
Triplett,  Peyton  B.  Byrne  and  Lorenzo  D.  Camden;  for  Elijah  Squires,  the 
following  Justices,  viz:  John  Clifton,  John  B.  Byrne,  William  Given,  Andrew 
Sterrett,  Peyton  B.  Byrne  and  Lorenzo  D.  Camden  ;  for  Thornton  Berry,  the 
following  Justices,  viz:  Marshall  Triplett;  for  Fielding  Berry,  the  following 
Justices,  viz :  John  Clifton,  Asa  Squires,  William  Given ;  for  Jacob  P.  Conrad, 
the  following  Justices,  viz:  Andrew  Sterrett,  Marshall  Triplett,  Peyton  B. 
Byrne  and  Lorenzo  D.  Camden ;  for  Benjamin  L.  Boggs,  the  following  Jus- 
tices, viz:  John  Clifton,  William  Given,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Marshall  Triplett 
and  Lorenzo  D.  Camden;  for  Archibald  Taylor,  the  following  Justices,  viz: 
Asa  Squires  and  John  B.  Byrne.  The  aforesaid  Thomas  B.  Friend,  Felix  Sut- 
ton, Wdliam  V.  Hutt,  Charles  Mollohan,  Asa  Squires,  Jr.,  Elijah  Squires,  Ja- 
cob P.  Conrad  and  Benjamin  L.  Boggs,  receiving  a  majority  of  the  Justices 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY".  127 

present  and  voting  as  aforesaid  were  by  the  Court  declared  duly  elected  as 
Justices  of  the  Peace  as  aforesaid  which  is  ordered  to  be  ceritfied  to  the  Gover- 
nor of  Virginia  to  be  commissioned  as  such. 

Nicholas  Gibson,  Crier  of  the  said  County,  this  day  appeared  in  open 
Court  and  resigned  his  office,  whereupon  James  Sutton  of  the  said  County 
Constable,  was  appointed  in  his  stead. 

July  7,  1836. 

The  Court  met  agreeable  to  the  adjournment  of  yesterday.  Present,  Asa 
Squires,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Lorenzo  D.  Camden,  Peyton  B.  Byrne,  Marshall 
Triplett,  Gent.  Justices. 

Ordered  that  Robert  G.  Duffield,  Archibald  Taylor,  David  Duffield,  John 
Given  and  John  Rogers  be  appointed  commissioners  to  view  and  mark  a  way 
for  a  road  from  John  Howell 's  mill  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elk  river,  running 
directly  up  the  Elk  river  to  Braxton  Court  house  (or  any  three  of  them  after 
being  sworn  for  the  purpose,  and  report  to  Court.  We  are  not  advised  where 
Howell's  mill  was  situated. 

Ordered  that  David  Given,  Robert  Given.  Jonathan  Pierson,  James  G.  Mur- 
phy or  any  three  of  them  after  being  first  duly  sworn  for  the  purpose,  do  view 
and  mark  a  way  for  a  road  from  the  forks  of  the  Leatherwood  run,  the  nearest 
and  best  way  to  Braxton  Court  house,  and  that  they  report  to  Court. 

Ordered  that  William  V.  Hutt,  Thomas  Given,  Asa  Squires,  Jr..  Lorenzo 
D.  Camden,  and  Andrew  Sterrett  or  any  three  of  them  after  being  first  duly 
sworn,  for  the  purpose  do  view,  and  mark  a  way  for  a  road  from  the  Union 
mills  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elk  river  to  the  Court  house  of  Braxton  county, 
and  that  they  report  to  Court. 

Ordered  that  James  G.  Peebles,  Robert  Chenoweth,  Charles  Mollohan,  and 
Henry  Roberson,  or  any  three  of  them,  after  being  first  sworn,  for  the  purpose 
do  view  and  mark  a  way  for  a  road  from  James  Peebles  Mill  on  Holly  river  and 
up  the  same  to  the  forks,  and  that  they  report  to  Court. 

Ordered  that  William  Fisher  be  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the  head  of 
Granny's  creek  down  the  same  to  Braxton  Court  house,  and  that  Jeremiah 
Mace  and  David  Evans  assist  said  surveyor  in  keeping  the  land  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  Samuel  B.  Byrne,  Peyton  B.  Byrne  and  Elijah  McNemar, 
after  being  first  sworn,  do  view  and  mark  a  way  for  a  road  from  the  long 
Shoal  run  to  the  mouth  of  Oil  creek,  and  from  thence  to  Wilson  Haymond's 
mill  on  Salt  Lick,  and  that  they  report  to  Court- 
Ordered  that  Samuel  Cutlip,  Benjamin  Conrad,  Isaac  Riffle,  Peyton  B. 
Byrne,  or  any  three  of  them,  after  being  sworn  for  the  purpose,  do  view  and 
mark  a  way  for  a  road  from  the  mouth  of  Oil  creek  up  the  Kanawha  river  to 
Bull  Town  Salt  works,  and  that  they  report  to  Court. 

On  motion  of  John  Sisk,  it  is  ordered  that  Jacob  Westfall,  John  Sisk,  Mar- 
tin Riffle,  after  being  first  sworn,  do  view  and  mark  a  way  for  a  road,  leading 


128  S  U  T  T  OX'S     HIS  T  0  E  V . 

from  John  Sisk's  mill,  the  nearest  and  best  way  to  George  Wilson's  on  O'Brien's 
fork,  and  that  they  report  to  Court. 

Ordered  that  Moses,  and  Nelly,  his  wife,  colored  people,  be  exempt  from 
the  payment  of  county  levy. 

Ordered  that  Cato  and  Mill,  his  wife,  colored  people,  be  exempt  from 
payment  of  county  levy. 

August  2.  1836. 

Felix  Sutton,  Gent,  producing  to  the  Court  a  commission  under  the  hand 
and  seal  of  the  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Virginia,  bearing  date  the  7th  of  July, 
1836,  appointing  him  surveyor  of  this  county,  this  day  appeared  in  open  court 
together  with  Andrew  Skidmore,  William  D.  Baxter  and  John  Conrad,  his 
security,  entered  into  and  acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  three  thous- 
and dollars  which  is  in  the  words  and  figures,  following,  viz:  "Know  all  men, 
etc."  Conditioned  as  the  law  direct,  the  said  Felix  Sutton  appeared  in  open 
court  and  took  the  several  oaths  required  by  law. 

December  6,  1836. 

Ordered  that  Thomas  Byrne,  Elijah  Squires,  Lewis  Perrine,  William 
Fisher,  Archibald  Taylor,  James  Boggs  and  Marshall  Triplett  be  appointed 
School  Commissioners  of  the  County,  and  that  the  Sheriff  notify  them  of  their 
appointment. 

On  November  8th,  1860,  the  County  Court  laid  off  the  county  into  sixteen 
school  districts,  and  appointed  the  following  persons  as  School  Commissioners: 

Lewis  Perrine  to  be  School  Commissioner  of  District  No.  1,  Henry  Pierson 
of  District  No.  2,  James  Sutton  of  District  No.  3,  James  Hefner  of  District  No. 
4,  Thomos  Skidmore  of  District  No.  5,  Geo.  W.  Huffman  of  District  No.  6, 
Felix  Sutton  of  District  No.  7,  Wm.  Hutchison  of  District  No.  8,  John  Heater 
of  District  No.  9,  Fielding  Berry  of  District  No.  10,  Benjamin  Posey  of  Dis- 
trict No.  11,  Andrew  J.  Hopkins  of  District  No.  12,  Samuel  Cutlip  of  District 
No.  13,  Willis  Thompson  of  District  No.  14,  Wm.  B.  Frame  of  District  No. 
15  and  James  G.  McCoy  of  District  No.  16. 

LAST    GRAND   JURY   BEFORE    THE    CIVIL   WAR. 

June  4,  1861. 
Grand  Jury,  To-wit: 

C.  W.  Kelly,  foreman,  Benj.  Huffman,  B.  F.  Fisher,  Archibald  Taylor, 
Wm.  G.  Squires,  Wm.  D.  Keener,  Thos.  McElwain,  John  Given,  F.  F.  Single- 
ton, A.  B.  Keener,  Levi  Prince,  S.  R.  McCorkle,  Jno  S.  Hefner,  Wm.  Perkins, 
Philip  Moyers  and  Wm.  Cart  were  empanneled  and  sworn  a  grand  jury  of  in- 
quest for  the  body  of  the  county,  who  after  receiving  their  charge,  retired  to 
their  chamber  to  consider  of  their  indictments  and   presentments,   and  after 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  129 

some  time  returned  into  Cmu*t  and  presented  an  indictment  against  Isaac 
Thrasher  for  trespass,  assaidt  and  battery — a  true  bill — and  an  indictment 
against  Benjamin  Dobbins  for  seditious  speaking — a  true  bill — and  the  grand 
jury  having  nothing  further  to  present  are  discharged,  and  in  motion  of  the 
attorney  for  the  commonwealth,  it  is  ordered  that  summons  issiie  against  the 
defendants  on  the  foregoing  indictments  returnable  on  the  first  day  of  August 
term  next. 

Upon  the  petition  of  Philip  Duffy  and  of  the  sureties  in  the  official  bond 
of  Francis  C.  Bogg,  Sheriff  of  this  county,  the  Court  doth  require  the  said 
Boggs  to  give  a  new  bond  as  such  Sheriff,  whereupon  the  said  Francis  C.  Boggs, 
this  day  appeared  in  Court  and  together  with  Felix  Skidmore,  James  A.  Boggs, 
John  C.  Taylor,  Joseph  James,  William  Hutchison,  J.  M.  Corley,  Samuel  Fox, 
H.  F.  Hyer,  John  Morrison  and  Martin  Rollyson,  his  securities  entered  into 
and  acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  condi- 
tioned for  the  faithful  execution  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  which  bond  is  or- 
dered to  be  recorded  by  the  clerk  of  this  Court  who  is  also  directed  to  trans- 
mit a  copy  of  said  bond  and  a  copy  of  this  order  to  the  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts. 

May  9,  1861. 

The  justices  of  the  county  of  Braxton,  having  been  summoned  to  meet 
this  day,  and  being  present,  to  consider  the  propriety  of  arming  and  equiping 
the  militia  of  said  county,  and  of  providing  means  for  that  purpose  under  an 
act  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  enacted  on  the  19th  day  of  January,  1861, 
entitled  an  act  to  authorize  the  Coimty  Court  and  any  incorporated  city  or 
town  to  own  the  militia  of  their  respective  counties,  cities  and  towns,  and  to 
provide  means  therefor,  and  all  of  the  Justices  of  this  county  being  present 
and  accepting  said  act,  it  is  ordered  that  the  sum  of  $4,000  be  raised  and  appro- 
priated for  the  purpose  of  arming  and  equiping  the  militia  of  said  county  or 
such  portion  thereof  as  may  hereafter  be  deemed  proper.  And  Jno.  S.  Cam- 
den, P.  B.  Adams,  Chas.  E.  Singleton,  B.  W.  Byrne  and  H.  A.  Holt  are  hereby 
appomted  agents  for  the  purpose  of  making  such  purchases  of  arms  and  other 
military  equipments  as  they  may  deem  proper,  within  the  limits  of  said  appro- 
priation, and  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  necessary  means — are  hereby  au- 
thorized to  negotiate  loan  or  loans  for  and  in  the  name  of  said  county  or  to 
execute  bonds  as  agents  of  said  county  as  they  may  see  fit.  And  to  act  in  the 
matter  subject  to  the  directions  of  the  County  Court  of  this  county  at  any  term 
thereof. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  the  next  term. 

A.  S.  BEERY. 

At  a  Court  held  on  the  4th  day  of  June,  1861,  Allen  S.  Berry,  this  day 
resigned  his  office  as  Presiding  Justice  of  this  Court,  to  take  effect  on  the  1st 
day  of  August  Court  next. 


130  S  U  T  T  O  N  '  S     H  I  S  T  O  R  Y. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  make  choice  of  a  Presiding  Justice  of  this  Court. 
Allen  S.  Berry  and  James  M.  Corley  were  put  in  nomination,  and  the  Court 
proceeding  to  vote.  There  voted  for  Allen  S.  Berry,  the  following  Justices, 
viz :  Samuel  Cutlip,  Asa  Coger,  Jac.  M.  Evans,  John  C.  Taylor  and  James  M. 
Corley;  and  for  James  M.  Corley,  the  following  Justices,  viz:  Martin  Eollyson, 
I.  J.  Friend,  W.  Thompson,  A.  J.  Young,  A.  R.  Cunningham,  U.  Duffield,  S. 
W.  Hines,  Thomas  Skidmore,  Nathan  Mollohan,  Thomas  Saulsbury,  M.  H.  Mor- 
rison, E.  Rader  and  A.  S.  Berry;  and  the  said  James  M.  Corley,  receiving  a 
majority  of  the  votes,  was  declared  duly  elected  Presiding  Justice,  to  take  effect 
on  the  1st  day  of  August  term  next. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  now  adjourn  till  tomorrow  morning  10  o'clock. 

The  Court  adjourned  on  the  following  day,  June  5,  1861,  and  was  the 
last  County  Court  held  by  that  body.  The  following  Court  met  during  the 
interim,  and  proceeded  to  transact  business. 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  county  of  Braxton  in  the  Jail  of  said  County, 
the  Courthouse  having  been  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1862. 

Present  gentlemen  Justices  James  M.  Corley,  Martin  Rollyson,  Felix 
Sutton  and  Henry  A.  Baxter. 

Felix  Sutton  and  Henry  A.  Baxter  came  forward  and  presented  their  cer- 
tificates of  qualification  as  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  County  of  Braxton. 

Asa  Squires  who  was  on  the  21st  of  November,  1861,  elected  by  the  quali- 
fied voters  of  said  county  for  the  term  prescribed  by  law,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
occurred  by  Charles  E.  Singleton  failing  to  take  the  oath  required  by  the  Wheel- 
ing Convention,  late  Clerk  of  said  County,  this  day  tendered  aloud  in  the 
words  and  figures  following: 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  we,  Asa  Squires,  John  Morrison  and 
Wm.  W.  Morrison,  hold  and  firmly  bound  unto  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
in  the  just  and  full  sum  of  Three  Thousand  dollars  for  the  payment  of  which 
we  bind  ourselves,  our  heirs,  executors  and  administrators,  jointly  and  sever- 
ally, firmly  by  these  presents,  sealed  with  our  seals,  and  dated  on  the  4th  day 
of  March,  1862. 

The  conditions  of  the  above  obligations  is  such  that  where  as,  the  above 
bound  Asa  Squires  was  on  the  21st  day  of  Nov.  1861,  elected  a  Clerk  of  the 
County  Court  by  the  qualified  voters  thereof  for  the  residue  of  an  unexpired 
term  of  said  office  for  the  term  of  six  years,  dating  from  the  1st  of  July,  1858. 
Now,  if  the  said  Asa  Squires  shall  faithfully  perform  the  duties  of  his  said 
office  of  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Braxton  County  for  the  residue  of  said 
term,  then  the  above  obligation  to  be  void;  otherwise,  to  remain  in  full  force 
and  virtue.     Witness  the  following  signatures  and  seals, 

ASA   SQUIRES  (seal) 

JOHN  MORRISON         (seal) 
Wm.   W.   MORRISON     (seal) 

which  bond  being  approved  of  by  the  said  Court,  the  said  Asa  Squires  ap- 
peared in  Court  and  took  the  several  oaths  prescribed  by  law. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  131 

Felix  J.  Baxter  appeared  in  Court,  and  qualified  as  Attorney  for  the 
Commonwealth. 

Ordered  that  John  Morrison  be  appointed  Crier  for  the  Court.  Ordered 
that  all  Justices  whose  offices  are  vacated  under  the  organization  of  the  state 
by  the  Wheeling  Convention,  return  their  books  to  the  Clerk  of  the  County 
Court,  viz:  the  new  edition  of  the  Code  of  Virginia,  together  with  the  Acts 
of  1859-60,  also  Mayo's  Guide. 

Ordered  that  the  House  belonging  to  the  heirs  of  Morgan  Dyer  be  taken 
in  custody  and  used  for  a  Courthouse,  and  J.  M.  Coriey  be  appointed  Commis- 
sioner to  repair  said  house  with  such  repairs  as  will  suit  the  convenience  of 
the  Court. 

Ordered  that  a  special  election  be  held  on  the  1st  Thursday  in  April  next, 
to  elect  a  Sheriff  and  Commissioner  of  the  Revenue  to  fill  the  vacancies  of  F. 
C.  Boggs  and  A.  R.  Given. 

Ordered  that  an  election  be  held  on  the  1st  Thursday  in  April  next  for 
the  election  of  a  Constable  in  each  District  in  said  County,  also  four  Justices 
of  the  Peace  in  District  No.  2. 

Ordered  that  an  election  be  held  to  elect  Overseers  of  the  Poor  in  each 
District  in  said  county  except  District  No.  4. 

Ordered  that  an  election  be  held  on  the  1st  Thursday  in  April  next  to 
elect  four  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  District  No.  1. 

The  Court  then  proceeded  to  appoint  officers  and  Commissioners  to  con- 
duct and  superintend  said  elections. 

It  is  therefore  .ordered  that  James  Skidmore,  Samuel  and  Hosey  Skidmore, 
be  appointed  Commissioners  to  superintend  the  election  at  the  old  house  for- 
merly  occupied  by  Thomas  Saulsbury  in  District  No.  1,  and  that  Morgan  Mor- 
rison be  appointed  conductor  of  said  election. 

That  Thomas  H.  Squires,  James  Blagg,  Joseph  Gregory.  Ananias  Ana- 
wolt  be  appointed  Commissioners  to  superintend  the  election  at  Raymond's 
mill  in  District  No.  2,  and  that  Samuel  P.  Leslie  be  appointed  conducting  of- 
ficer at  said  election. 

That  Peter  Conrad,  William  Cutlip  and  George  Williams  be  appointed 
Commissioners  to  superintend  the  election  at  the  Cunningham  store  house  in 
District  No.  2,  and  that  C.  P.  Townsend  be  appointed  conducting  officer. 

That  Benjamin  Skidmore,  John  Sterrett,  Joseph  Dillen  be  appointed  Com- 
missioners to  conduct  the  election  at  the  Court  house.  District  No.  3,  and  that 
John  Morrison  be  appointed  conducting  officer  at  said  election. 

That  Jesse  Jackson,  Robert  Jackson,  David  Cutlip  be  appointed  Commis- 
sioners to  superintend  the  election  at  the  old  Crites'  house.  District  No.  3,  and 
that  Allen  Skidmore  be  appointed  conducting  officer. 

That  Martin  Rollyson,  Daniel  Engle,  Benjamin  Dobbins  and  Michaei 
Smith  be  appointed  Commissioners  to  superintend  the  election  at  the  house  of 
Daniel  B.  Friend  on  Steer  creek,  and  that  Christian  Gerwig  be  appointed  eon- 
ducting  officer  in  District  No.  4. 


132  SUTTON'S     HIST03  Y. 

That  Israel  J.  Friend.  Sampson  Friend,  Daniel  Friend  be  appointed  Com- 
missioners to  superintend  the  election  at  the  old  Stonestreet  house,  and  that 
Able  Lough  be  appointed  conducting  officer  District  No.  4. 

That  James  F.  Given,  Samuel  Given,  George  Hamric  be  appointed  Com- 
missioners to  superintend  the  election  at  the  mouth  of  Birch,  District  No.  5, 
and  that  Joe  McMorrow  be  appointed  conducting  officer. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning  at  ten 
o  'clock. 

(J.  M.   CORLEY) 

Wednesday,  March  5,  1862. 

The  Court  met  in  pursuance  of  the  order  of  yesterday,  present  the  same 
Justices. 

Ordered  that  Martin  Rollyson  be  appointed  Commissioner  to  repair  the 
Jail. 

Ordered  that  William  Rollyson  be  appointed  Commissioner  to  furnish  Poll 
Books  for  the  elections  to  be  held  in  April  next. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  next  term. 

(J.  M.  CORLEY) 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  county  of  Braxton  at  the  Commissary  office  in 
the  town  of  Sutton,  on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1862,  present  Gentlemen  Justices, 
James  M.  Corley,  Felix  Sutton,  Martin  Rollyson,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  David  P. 
McMorrow. 

Ordered  that  Wesley  C.  Frame  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from 
the  Court  house,  down  the  Elk  river  to  the  creek  opposite  the  house  of  Archi- 
bald Taylor,  and  that  Archibald  Taylor  and  hands,  James  Skidmore,  James 
R.  Frame,  Elmore  Frame,  Marshall  Long,  James  Brady,  Thomas  Cogar,  John 
S.  Hannah  and  hands,  Thomas  McElwain  and  hands,  James  M.  Corley  and 
hands,  L.  A.  Griffin,  James  Wine,  John  N.  Skidmore,  John  Sterrett,  Benjamin 
Skidmore  and  hands,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in 
repair. 

Ordered  that  James  A.  Boggs  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
creek  opposite  the  house  of  Archibald  Taylor,  down  the  Elk  river  to  the  mouth 
of  Otter,  and  that  Isaac  Boggs,  II.  N.  Bell,  Israel  J.  Friend,  F.  B.  Stewart, 
Benjamin  S.  Boggs,  Anderson  Davis,  Henry  P.  Evans,  Abel  Lough,  Willis 
Thompson,  Morgan  Simmons,  Phillip  Troxell,  together  with  the  hands  of  J. 
A.  Boggs,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  Francis  C.  Boggs  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from 
the  mouth  of  Little  Otter,  down  the  Elk  river  to  lower  Rock  Camp  run,  and 
that  all  the  hands  living  on  both  sides  of  the  Elk  river  on  the  streams  running 
into  said  river  between  the  mouth  of  Otter  and  lower  Rock  Camp,  except  James 
W.  Gibson  and  hands,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in 
repair. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOSY.  133 

Ordered  that  Hiram  Frame  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  Lower 
Rock  Camp  run  to  the  mouth  of  Mill  creek,  and  that  all  the  hands  living  on  both 
sides  of  the  Elk  river  between  said  Rock  Camp  run  and  Mill  creek,  including 
the  hands  on  both  sides  of  Mill  creek  and  on  the  streams  running  into  the  Elk 
river,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  Samuel  Pox  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
mouth  of  Mill  creek,  down  the  Elk  river,  through  the  farm  of  said  Fox,  to  the 
line  of  Clay  county,  and  that  Archibald  Armstrong  and  James  McLaughlan  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Elk  river,  and  all  the  hands  on  the  north  side  of  said  river, 
between  said  Mill  creek  and  Clay  county  line,  to  the  head  of  the  streams  run- 
ning into  the  Elk  river,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in 
repair. 

David  McMorrow  who  has  been  commissioned  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
to  continue  in  office  until  the  first,  day  of  August,  1864,  this  day  presented  to 
the  Court  his  certificate  of  having  taken  the  several  oaths  of  office,  prescribed 
by  law. 

Ordered  that  this  Coui*t  do  now  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning,  8 
o  'clock. 

J.  M.  CORLEY.    . 
Wednesday,  April  2,  1862. 

Pursuant  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Court  met  present  Gentlemen 
Justices  James  M.  Corley,  Felix  Sutton,  Martin  Rollyson,  D.  P.  McMorrow. 

Ordered  that  David  Engel  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
forks  of  the  creek  above  William  C.  Rime's  place  to  the  mouth  of  Lick  Hollow, 
below  Daniel  Engel's,  and  that  John  H.  Weihert,  Daniel  B.  Friend,  Ballard  S. 
Rogers,  John  W.  Buckhannon,  John  Bender,  Andrew  Bender  and  John  Per- 
kins, aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  the  said  road  in  repair,  etc. 

Ordered  that  Jacob  Gerwig  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
mouth  of  Lick  Hollow,  down  Steer  creek  to  the  Gilmer  line,  and  that  Mathias 
Gerwig,  Andrew  Belknap,  Arthur  Kyer,  John  Moss,  Thos.  Belknap,  Wm.  Bel- 
knap, William  Shafer,  aid  and  assist  the  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  the  said  road 
in  repair,  etc. 

Ordered  that  Martin  Rollyson  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  Road  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Rush  fork  of  Little  Otter,  over  the  hill  by  Joseph  Dillion's 
to  intersect  the  Granney's  creek  road,  and  that  Joseph  Dillion  and  hands,  and 
all  the  hands  living  on  the  waters  of  Little  Otter,  except  those  on  Willis 
Thompson's  farm,  aid  and  assist  the  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  the  said  road 
in  repair,   etc. 

Ordered  that  John  Morrison  be  appointed  Commissioner  to  superintend 
the  taking  care  of  brick  on  the  public  square,  to-wit:  to  have  it  stacked  and 
covered,  also  to  have  the  lot  taken  care  of  by  having  the  fence  kept  up  around 
said  lot. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  Court  in  course. 

J.  M.  CORLEY. 


134  SUTTON'S    HISTORY. 

At  a  Court  held  in  the  county  of  Braxton  on  the  3rd  day  of  June,.  1862, 
at  the  Harvey  Hefner  house  in  Sutton,  Present  James  M.  Coi'ley,  Felix  Sutton, 
Henry  A.  Baxter,  Martin  Rollyson,  Gentlemen  Justices. 

Grand  Jury  to-wit:  James  W.  Morrison,  foreman,  Uriah  Singleton.  Wash- 
ington H.  Berry,  Harvey  F.  Hyer,  G.  D.  Mollohan,  David  H.  Bright,  B.  F. 
Fisher,  Thomas  McElwain,  Benjamin  Huffman,  Wm.  Huffman,  A.  J.  Hyer, 
Jesse  Shaver,  W.  D.  Baxter,  James  Skidmore,  Daniel  Engle,  Elijah  Perkins 
were  impanneled  and  sworn  a  Grand  Jury  of  Inquest  for  the  body  of  the  coun- 
ty, for  reasons  appearing  to  the  Court,  the  Jury  is  discharged.  This  was  the 
only  Grand  Jury  impaneled  under  the  authority  of  the  Wheeling  Convention 
or  during  the  interim. 

Samuel  Knicely,  this  day  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Court  that  his 
vote  on  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  polled  wrong,  being  polled  in  favor  of 
secession,  the  Court  being  satisfied  that  he  voted  for  the  Union. 

Ordered  Wm.  Brady  be  added  to  Daniel  Engle 's  Precinct  of  Road  to  aid 
and  assist  in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  this.  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  the  next  term. 

J.  M.  CORLEY. 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  County  of  Braxton  on  the  1st  day  of  July,  1862, 
at  the  Harvey  Heifner  house  in  Sutton,  present  James  M.  Corley,  Martin  Rol- 
lyson, Henry  A.  Baxter,  N.  M.  Hyer,  Gentlemen  Justices.  Ordered  that  the 
Crier  summon  all  the  acting  Justices  of  this  County  to  meet  here  on  the  first 
day  of  next  Court  to  lay  the  county  levy,  and  for  other  purposes. 

Ordered  that  Morgan  H.  Morrison  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from 
the  town  of  Sutton,  up  the  Elk  river  and  Bee  run  mill  to  the  bridge  across  Lit- 
tle Flatwoods  run,  opposite  Adam  J.  Hyre's,  and  that  Ancel  Tinny  and  hands, 
John  Sterritt,  Seth  Thayer  and  hands,  Michael  Carle,  Benjamin  Huffman  and 
hands,  Wm.  Huffman,  A.  L.  Hyre,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  Michael  Griffin  and  hands, 
Michael  McAnany  and  hands,  Elias  Perkins,  James  W.  Matthews,  E.  G.  Sprigg 
and  hands.  James  H.  Facemire  and  Andrew  Facemire,  aid  and  assist  said  Sur- 
veyor in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Ordered  Franklin  Beamer  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
bridge  across  Little  Flatwoods  run,  opposite  A.  J.  Hyre's  to  the  mouth  of 
Brock's  run  on  the  Holly  river,  and  that  James  Bleigh-  and  hands,  Simon 
Prince,  Marshall  Perkins,  Adam  Gillespie  and  hands,  Jeremiah  Gillespie,  Johu 
Hoover  and  hands,  Thomas  Thorp,  Thomas  Skidmore,  James  Skidmore,  Philip 
Rogers,  Sr.,  and  hands,  James  W.  Morrison  and  hands,  John  Irwin  and  hands, 
James  W.  Irwin,  John  Warford,  John  Gillespie,  Sr.,  and  hands,  John  J.  Skid- 
more, Phillip  Rogers,  Wm.  Cochran,  Thomas  Saulsbury  and  hands,  Enoch  Per- 
kins, Robert  J.  McClure,  aid  and  assist  said  Svxrveyor  in  keeping  said  road  hi 
repair. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjovirn  until  tomorrow  morning  at  8 
o  'clock. 

J.  M.  CORLEY. 


S  TJ  T  T  O  N  '  S     H  I  S  T  O  R  Y.  135 

July  2,  1862. 

Pursuant  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Court  met,  present  Gentlemen 
Justices,  J.  M.  Corley,  Martin  Rollyson,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  N.  M.  Hyre. 

Ordered  that  James  M.  Corley,  John  Morrison  and  Asa  Squires,  Jr.,  be 
appointed  a  committee  to  list  the  claims  of  the  county  for  the  year  ending  the 
31st  day  of  May,  1862. 

Ordered  that  George  Duffield  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from 
Benjamin  Skidmore's  down  the  Elk  river  on  the  Birch  road  to  the  ford  of  the 
Birch  river,  P.  A.  Griffin.  John  N.  Skidmore,  E.  B.  Cunningham,  James  W. 
Gibson  and  hands,  Ansel  Mollohan,  Berton  Pierson,  David  Frame,  Wm.  James, 
Arthur  Cotter  and  hands,  Washington  Pierson,  George  Keener  and  hands, 
Samuel  Keener,  Charles  D.  Keener,  Theodore  Given,  John  Given  and  hands, 
aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  Samuel  Given  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
ford  of  the  Birch  river  to  Strange  creek  at  John  Frame's,  and  that  Uriah 
Duffield  and  hands,  Samuel  Given  and  bands,  Thomas  Cox,  John  Frame  and 
hands,  Irvin  D.  Johnson,  aid  and  assist  said  Siu*veyor  in  keeping  said  road  in 
repair. 

Ordered  that  George  Cart  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  Strange 
creek  to  the  Clay  county  line,  that  Isaac  W.  Evans,  Thomas  Lamb  and  hands, 
A.  J.  Nottingham,  James  Painter,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said 
road  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  Havilah  Shaver  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
three  forks  of  Cedar  creek,  up  the  middle  fork  of  said  creek,  to  the  head  and 
down  the  Rush  fork  of  Granny's  creek  to  its  mouth,  and  that  Isaac  Shaver, 
Henry  Ulrich,  Elliott  McNeamer,  Hiram  Foster,  Alfred  Westfall,  Henry  Smith, 
Felix  Smith,  Isaac  Loyd  and  hands,  Jacob  Shaver  and  hands,  John  Crawford. 
Charles  Corrick,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Michael  Rollyson  was  this  day  authorized  by  the  Court  to  celebrate  the 
rites  of  matrimony  in  this  county,  whereupon  the  said  Michael  Rollyson,  to- 
gether with  Leonard  Hyer,  Martin  Rollyson,  his  securities,  entered  into  and 
acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  payable  to  the 
Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  conditioned  according  to  law,  whereupon  the  said 
Michael  Rollyson  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Commonwealth,  together  with 
an  oath  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  next  term. 

J.  M.  CORLEY. 

At  a  Court  held  for  Braxton  county  at.  the  Harvey  Heifner  house  in 
Sutton  on  the  5th  day  of  August,  1862, 

Present  James  M.  Corley,  Felix  Sutton,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  Israel  J.  Friend, 
David  H.  Bright,  Samuel  P.  Leslie.  Martin  Rollyson,  N.  M.  Hyre,  Michael 
Rollyson,  Gentlemen  Justices. 

David  H.  Bright,  Samuel  P.  Leslie  and  Michael  Rollyson,  who  having  been 


136  BUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y. 

commissioned  Justices  of  the  Peace,  to  continue  in  office  until  the  first  day  of 
August,  1864,  appeared  in  Court,  and  took  the  several  oaths  of  office  pre- 
scribed by  law  before. 

A  majority  of  the  Justices  of  the  county  being  present,  the  Court  pro- 
ceeded to  lay  a  levy  to  pay  a  list  of  claims. 

Ordered  that  the  Sheriff  of  this  county  collect  from  each  tithable  of  this 
county,  one  dollar  and  pay  these  claims. 

Ordered  that  the  Sheriff  of  this  county  collect  from  each  tithable  of  the 
county,  twenty-five  cents  and  pay  to  the  order  of  the  Court  for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor. 

The  Court  proceeded  to  classify  the  Justices  for  the  performance  of  their 
duties,  a  majority  of  all  the  acting  Justices  of  the  county  being  present,  the 
classification  being  as  follows: 

For  the  August  term,  1862,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  L.  J.  Friend. 

For  the  Sept.  term,  1862,  Martin  Rollyson,  David  H.  Bright. 

For  the  Oct.  term,  1862,  Michael  Rollyson,  David  P.  McMorrow. 

For  the  Nov.  term,  1862,  N.  M.  Hyer;  Felix  Sutton. 

For  the  Dec.  term,  1862,  Samuel  P.  Leslie,  Elias  Cunningham. 

For  the  Jan.  term,  1863,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  L.  J.  Friend. 

For  the  Feb.  term,  1863,  Martin  Rollyson,  David  H.  Bright. 

For  the  March  term,  1863,  Michael  Rollyson,  David  P.  McMorrow. 

For  the  April  term,  1863,  N.  M.  Hyer.  Felix  Sutton. 

For  the  May  term,  1863,  Samuel  P.  Leslie,  Elias  Cunningham. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning  nine 
o  'clock. 

J.  M.  CORLEY. 

In  pursuance  of  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Court  met  on  Wednesday, 
the  6th  day  of  August,  1862. 

Present,  J.  M.  Corley,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  L.  J.  Friend,  Gentlemen  Justices. 

Ordered  that  Harvey  Hyre  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road  from  the 
pike  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Samuel  J.  Singleton  farm,  up  the  left  hand  fork 
of  O'Brein'siork,  through  the  Flatwoods,  to  intersect  the  pike  at  the  farm  of 
Levi  Prince,  and  that  John  Daily,  "Washington  H.  Berry,  Allen  S.  Berry  and 
hands,  John  Eubank,  and  all  the  hands  living  on  the  Craven  Berry  farm,  the 
hands  living  on  the  Elijah  Squires  farm,  Hanson  B.  Hudkins,  Elijah  H.  Squires, 
Wm.  R.  Lancaster,  Jesse  Shaver  and  hands,  Richard  Stewart,  John  L.  Rhea 
and  hands,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keeping  said  road  in  repair. 

Ordered  that  Samuel  E.  Rollyson  be  appointed  Surveyor  of  the  road,  be- 
ginning at  the  Braxton  and  Gilmer  county  line  on  O'Brien's  fork  of  Steer 
creek,  and  up  said  fork  to  the  hill  above  the  Benjamin  Dobbins  farm,  and  that 
John  M.  Dobbins,  Allen  Meadows,  John  Clark,  Addison  Willson,  Jacob  Keener, 
William  Dobbins,  James  Dobbins,  Mason  Minny,  Seth  F.  Hambric,  William 
Perkins,  Andrew  Carr,  James  P.  Carr,  aid  and  assist  said  Surveyor  in  keep- 
ing said  road  in  repair. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  137 

On  motion  of  Win.  Griffin  who  made  oath  according  to  law,  and  at  his 
request  a  certificate  is  granted  Adam  J.  Hyer  for  obtaining  letters  of  adminis- 
tration of  the  goods  and  chattels  of  Joseph  N.  Griffin,  and  there  being  no  se- 
curity required,  said  A.  J.  Hyer  appeared  and  took  the  oaths  prescribed  by 
law. 

Ordered  that  Henry  A.  Baxter  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  superin- 
tend the  repairing  of  the  Dyer  house  in  Sutton,  with  such  repairs  as  will  make 
it  convenient  for  a  court  house  in  room  of  J.  M.  Corley. 

Ordered  that  B.  F.  Fisher,  Adam  Perkins,  Hanson  Stout  and  Joshua  Jones 
be  added  to  the  Precinct  of  road  that  Morgan  H.  Morrison  is  Surveyor  of. 

John  Morrison  who  was  appointed  Crier  at  a  former  term  of  this  Court, 
this  day  appeared  in  Court  and  took  the  several  oaths  prescribed  by  law. 

The  Court  has  this  day  prepared  a  list  of  eighty-four  inhabitants  of  this 
county,  being  persons  of  sound  mind  and  free  from  legal  exceptions,  to  serve 
as  Jurors  for  the  trial  of  causes  in  the  Circuit  and  County  Courts  of  this  county, 
in  which  Jurors  are  required  for  the  ensuing  year,  which  list  has  been  disposed 
of  as  required  by  law,  concerning  the  compensation  and  empanneling  of  Jur- 
ors, their  qualifications  and  manner  of  selection  in  certain  causes. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  next  term. 

J.  M.  CORLEY. 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  county  of  Braxton  at  the  Dyer  house  in  the  town 
of  Sutton  on  Tuesday,  the  6th  day  of  January,  I860, 

Present,  Felix  Sutton,  Martin  Rollyson,  L.  J.  Friend,  Henry  A.  Baxter, 
D.  P.  McMorrow,  Gentlemen  Justices. 

Ordered  that  a  special  election  be  held  in  this  county  on  Tuesday,  the  27th 
inst.,  to  elect  a  Commissioner  of  the  Revenue  for  said  county,  and  that  a  writ 
of  election  issue  to  the  Crier  to  cause  the  same  to  be  held  in  the  several  election 
districts  of  this  county,  and  that  the  Commissioners  and  Conductors  heretofore 
appointed,  superintend  said  elections. 

A  copy  of  the  last  will  and  testament  of  William  Morrison,  Dec,  late  of 
Galia  county,  Ohio,  was  this  day  presented  in  open  Court,  the  Court  being  of 
opinion  that  will  was  in  due  form  of  law,  ordered  the  same  to  be  recorded,  and 
on  motion  of  James  W.  Morrison,  the.  executor  therein  named,  who  made  oath 
thereto,  and  together  with  John  Morrison,  his  security,  entered  into  and  ac- 
knowledged a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  six  hundred  dollars,  payable  to  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Virginia,  cnditioned  according  to  law,  certificate  is  granted  the 
said  James  W.  Morrison  for  obtaining  a  probate  of  said  will  in  due  form,  and 
on  the  further  motion  of  said  executor,  it  is  ordered  that  George  D.  Mollohan, 
Harvey  F.  Hyer,  Elijah  H.  Squires  be  appointed  to  appraise  the  personal 
estate  of  said  deceased. 

Wm.  Newlon,  Gentleman,  who  hath  been  duly  qualified  to  practice  law  in 
the  Courts  of  this  Commonwealth,  on  his  motion,  hath  leave  to  practice  in  this 
Court,  whereupon  the  said  Newlon  appeared  in  open  Court,  and  took  the  sev- 
eral oaths  prescribed  by  law. 


138  Sl'TTON'S     HISTORY. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning  9  o'clock. 

MARTIN  ROLLYSON. 

"Wednesday,  January  the  7th,  1863. 

The  Court  met  in  pursuance  of  adjournment  of  yesterday,  present  Felix 
Sutton,  Martin  Rollyson,  L.  J.  Friend,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  David  P.  McMorrow, 
Michael  Rollyson,  Gentlemen  Justices. 

It  appealing  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Court  that  Elijah  Perkins  of  Brax- 
ton county  is  now  in  custody  of  Colonel  David  J.  Hews  of  the  3rd  Virginia 
Regiment  Int.  of  the  United  States,  upon  a  charge  of  felony  at  Bulltown  in 
said  county.  Upon  the  suggestion  of  Felix  J.  Baxter,  the  Attorney  for  the 
Commonwealth,  with  the  assent  of  the  Court,  it  is  ordered  that  John  Morrison, 
Crier  of  the  Court,  take  the  body  of  the  said  Elijah  Perkins,  and  take  him  be- 
fore some  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Braxton  county  who  is  hereby  authorized  to  take 
bail  of  the  said  Perkins,  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars,  with  one  or  more 
sureties  in  the  like  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars,  payable  to  the  Commonwealth 
of  Virginia,  conditioned  for  his  personnel  appealing  before  the  Court  of  Brax- 
ton county  at  the  February  term  next  of  said  Court,  then  and  there  to  answer 
to  such  charge  as  may  be  made  against  him,  touching  the  said  felony,  and  will 
not  depart  thence  without  leave  of  the  said  Court,  then  the  said  obligation  to  be 
void — else  to  remain  in  full  force  and  virtue,  the  said  Perkins  by  "Win.  Newkm, 
his  council  here  in  Court,  waiving  a  trial  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and 
that  said  Justice  make  return  of  his  proceedings  to  the  Clerk  of  this  Court 
without  delay. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  the  next 
Court.  MARTIN  ROLLYSON. 

February  4,  1863. 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  county  of  Braxton,  at  the  Dyer  house  in  Sutton, 
Present,  Felix  Sutton,  Michael  Rollyson,  David  P.  McMorrow,  L.  J.  Friend, 
Gentlemen  Justices. 

Henry  A.  Baxter  who,  on  the  27th  day  of  January,  1863,  was  duly  elected 
Commissioner  of  the  Revenue  for  the  county  of  Braxton,  by  the  qualified  vo- 
ters thereof,  for  the  term  of  two  years,  commencing  on  the  first  day  of  Febru- 
ary, 1863,  this  day  appeared  in  Court,  and  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  entered 
into  and  acknowledged  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  payable  to 
the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  conditioned  according  to  law,  with  Harvey 
F.  Hyre  and  Elijah  Perkins  his  securities,  which  bond  is  ordered  to  be  recorded 
by  the  clerk  of  the  Court  of  this  county,  who  is  also  directed  to  transmit  a  copy 
of  said  bond  to  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts. 

Ordered  that  Asa  Squires  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  see  to  the 
condition  of  the  papers  belonging  to  the  Clerk's  office  of  this  Court,  which  by 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  139 

military  authority,  having  been  removed  to  Weston,  Lewis  county,  Va.,  and  that 
he  as  Clerk  of  this  Court,  and  by  virtue  of  this  appointment  is  authorized  to 
take  in  care  all  papers  and  books  belonging  to  said  office,  and  to  do  all  things 
necessary  for  their  preservation. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  do  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  next  Court. 

MICHAEL  ROLLYSON. 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  county  of  Braxton,  in  the  Dyer  house  in  Sutton, 
on  Tuesday,  the  7th  day  of  April,  1863,  Present,  Felix  Sutton,  Martin  Rollyson, 
David  Bright,  Gentlemen  Justices. 

John  L.  Rhea,  this  day,  produced  before  the  Court,  a  certificate  of  his  hav- 
ing taken  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  United  States,  and  also  to  the  restored 
government  of  Virginia,  under  the  Wheeling  government,  dated  the  19th  of 
September,   1861. 

The  Court  being  of  the  opinion  that  there  has  been  no  intentional  violation 
of  the  law  on  the  part  of  the  said  John  L.  Rhea,  who  was  authorized  to  celebrate 
marriages  as  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
and  the  said  John  L.  Rhea,  has  sworn  to  and  subscribed  a  certificate  of  said 
oath  which  is  placed  on  file. 

John  G.  Morrison  was  this  day  appointed  Guardian  of  the  minor  children 
of  James  Shawver,  deceased ;  who  appeared  in  Court  and  gave  a  bond  with 
Harvey  F.  Hyer,  his  security,  in  the  penalty  of  one  thousand  dollars,  condi- 
tioned according  to  law  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  Trust. 

Ordered  that  this  Court  dc  now  adjourn  until  the  first  day  of  next  term. 

MARTIN  ROLLYSON. 

BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS. 

State  op  West  Virginia,  County  of  Braxton. 

First  day,  first  meeting,  held  June  20,  1867. 

The  following  named  persons  were  duly  elected  to  the  Offices  of  Super- 
susors  of  said  county  on  the  23rd  day  of  May,  1867,  to-wit : 

Washington  township,  Milton  Frame;  Lincoln  township,  Israel  J.  Friend; 
Franklin  township,  Asa  Squires;  Clay  township,  Robt,  H.  Mealy. 

In  accordance  with  law,  the  Supervisors  met  on  the  20th  day  of  June, 
1867,  all  present  and  organized  by  appointing  Israel  J.  Friend  President,  and 
Ellis  W.  Squires  Clerk.  Whereupon  the  said  Ellis  W.  Squires  together  with 
Craven  Berry,  his  security,  entered  into  and  acknowledged  a  Bond  in  the  pen- 
alty of  One  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of  his 
office.     The  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

Be  it  ordained  that  John  G.  Young  be  appointed  Assistant  Assessor  to  aid 
Felix  Sutton  in  completing  (he  assessment  of  said  county  for  the  year  1867. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Wm.  H.  Perkins  obtain  permit  to  retail  ardent  spirits 
at  his  house  in  Sutton,  Braxton  county,  upon  his  complying  with  the  law 
made  and  provided  in  such  eases. 


140  SUTTON'S    HISTOR  Y. 

Be  it  ordained  that  John  MeH.  Kelly  obtain  permit  to  keep  private  en- 
tertainment at  his  house  in  Sutton,  Braxton  county. 

Be  it  ordained  that  the  following  claims  after  being  considered  were 
allowed : 

Wm.  Newlon,  States  Attorney,  for  fractional  part  of  the  year  ending  20th 
day  of  June,  1867,  $50.00. 

Same  for  services  as  agent  for  O.  S.  Poor  for  year  ending  on  the  20th  day 
of  June,  1867,  $25.00. 

John  H.  Cunningham,  Clerk  of  Circuit  Court  for  ex-officio  services,  $75.00. 

Same  for  ex-officio  services  as  Recorder,  $37.50. 

Henry  Bender,  Justice  of  Lincoln  township,  for  holding  inquest  over  the 
dead  body  of  Peter  Cogar,  $5.00. 

Solathiel  Skidmore  for  summonsing  twelve  Jurors  for  said  Inquest,  $3.00. 

Ordered  that  this  meeting  do  now  adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning  at  ten 
o  'clock. 

ISRAEL  J.  FRIEND,  President. 
E.  W.  SQUIRES,  Clerk. 

Second  day,  first  meeting,  June  21,  1867. 

Pursuant  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Board  met,  same  members 
present.  The  orders  of  yesterday  being  read,  corrected  and  signed,  the  Board 
proceeded  to  business. 

Be  it  ordained  that  the  following  claims  were  considered  and  allowed : 

G-.  F.  Taylor  for  building  Bridge  as  per  contract  with  John  S.  Hannah, 
$36.00. 

John  S.  Taylor  for  building  Bridge  as  per  contract  with  John  S.  Hannah, 
$28.00. 

Archibald  Taylor  for  b adding  Bridge  as  per  contract  with  John  S.  Han- 
nah, $26.00. 

Abel  M.  Lough  for  building  Bridge  as  per  contract  with  John  S.  Hannah, 
$38.00. 

Henderson  H.  Beall  for  building  Bridge  as  per  contract  with  John  S. 
Hannah,  $90.00. 

The  above  claims  are  ordered  to  be  paid  out  of  a  levy  laid  in  Lincoln 
township  for  Bond  purposes. 

Be  it  Ordained  that  the  Books  and  Files  belonging  to  the  Clerk's  office 
of  this  county  be  removed  to  the  Clerk's  office  of  said  county,  and  that  John  H. 
Cunningham  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  superintend  the  same. 

Be  it  ordained  that  the  Books  and  Files  belonging  to  the  Recorder's  office 
of  this  county  be  removed  to  the  Recorder's  office  of  .said  county,  and  that 
John  H.  Cunningham  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  superintend  the  same. 

First  day,  second  meeting,  July  20,  1867. 

Agreeable  to  adjournment  of  June  21,  1867,  the  Supervisors  of  the  County 
of  Braxton  met,  the  members  all  being  present,  to-wit : 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  141 

Israel  J.  Friend,  President,  Milton  Frame,  Robt.  H.  Mealy  and  Asa 
Squires.     The  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

Be  it  ordained  that  an  order  made  by  the  Supervisors  of  this  county  at  a 
meeting  ln-ld  on  the  9th  day  of  April,  1867,  allowing  the  county  Superintendent 
of  Free  Schools  of  this  county,  Four  Hundred  Dollars  per  annum,  be  rescinded 
from  and  after  the  20th  day  of  June,  1867.  The  present  Supervisors  being  of 
opinion  that  said  allowance  was  extravagant,  and  not  warranted  by  law,  and 
that  the  Clerk  forward  a  copy  of  this  order  to  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Free  Schools. 

Be  it  ordained  that  John  Bender  be  appointed  Constable  of  Lincoln  town- 
ship, it  appearing  to  the  Supervisors  that  there  is  no  Constable  in  said  township. 

Be  it  ordained  that  the  following  claims  be  allowed  and  certified  for 
payment : 

David  E.  Cutlip  for  fractional  part  of  year  as  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors, $5.55. 

David  E.  Cutlip  use  Wm.  H.  Byrne  making  out  Poll  Books  for  county, 
$8.00. 

John  H.  Cunningham  for  removing  offices,  $10.00. 

Third  day,  second  meeting  July  23,  1867. 

Agreeable  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Supervisors  of  the  County  of 
Braxton  met,  same  members  present,  the  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

Be  it  ordained  that  the  following  claims  be  allowed  and  ordered  to  be  cer- 
tified for  payment: 

D.  P.  McMorrow  for  two  years'  clerking  in  Washington  township,  $40.00. 

M.  S.  Barnett  for  one  year's  clerking  in  Franklin  township,  $20.00. 

Mathias  Gerwig,  one  year's  clerking  in  Lincoln  township,  $25.00. 

Elijah  Perkins  presented  his  Bond  to  the  Supervisors  of  Braxton  county 
on  the  21st  day  of  June,  1867,  together  with  Geo.  H.  Morrison,  W.  L.  J.  Corley, 
J.  H.  Cunningham,  M.  Rollyson,  Jacob  Riffle,  Wm.  H.  Perkins  and  C.  W.  Kel- 
ley,  his  securities  who  severally  appeared  before  the  Board  on  that  day  and  ac- 
knowledged the  same  whereupon  the  Supervisors  confirmed  the  contract  with 
said  Perkins  for  building  Jail  for  said  county. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Asa  Squires  be  and  is  hereby  appointed  a  Commis- 
sioner to  furnish  the  Court  House  of  this  county  with  a  stove. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Ellis  W.  Squires  be  allowed  Fifty  Dollars  for  services 
rendered  as  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  that  the  same  be  certified 
for  payment,  $50.00. 

Ordered  that  this  meeting  do  now  adjourn  until  the  5th  day  of  November. 
1867. 

ISRAEL  J.  FRIEND,  President. 

E.  W.  SQUIRES,  Clerk. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at 
the  Court  House  of  said  county  on  the  5th  day  of  November,  1867,  it  being  the 


142  SUTTON'S    HISTOKY. 

12th  day  after  the  election  held  on  the  24th  day  of  October,  1867,  members 
present,  to- wit: 

Israel  J.  Friend,  President,  Milton  Frame,  Hobt.  H.  Mealy  and  Asa 
Squires.     The  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

By  carefully  and  impartially  examining  the  returns  of  the  election  held 
in  said  county  on  the  24th  day  of  October,  1867,  and  certify  that  for  the  office 
of  Senator  of  the  6th  Senatorial  district. 

That  Wm.  J.  Drummond  received  in  said  county  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five   (185)   votes,  and 

That  E.  J.  O'Brien  received  in  said  county  o^^e  hundred  and  twenty-four 
(124)   votes,  and 

For  County  Delegate,  Henry  Bender  received  in  said  county  one  hundred 
and  eighty-two   (182)   votes,  and 

Wm.  D.  Rollyson  received  in  said  county  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  (126) 
votes,  and 

For  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Free  Schools,  Norman  B. 
Squires  received  in  said  county  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  votes  (182),  and 

G.  F.  Taylor  received  in  said  county  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  (125) 
votes. 

Therefore,  be  it  ordained  that  Henry  Bender  was  on  the  24th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1867,  duly  elected  Delegate  to  the  Legislature  of  West  Virginia  from 
said  county. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Norman  B.  Squires  was  on  the  24th  day  of  October, 
1867,  duly  elected  to  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Free  Schools  for 
the  term  prescribed  by  law. 

At  a  Special  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at 
the  Court  House  of  said  county  on  the  28th  day  of  November,  1867,  members 
present  to-wit: 

I.  J.  Friend,  President,  Milton  Frame  and  Asa  Squires.  The  Board  pro- 
ceeded to  business. 

Be  it  ordained  that  G.  F.  Taylor  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  settle 
with  F.  C.  Boggs,  late  Sheriff  of  Braxton  county,  for  the  year  1861,  and  report  to 
this  Board  the  amount  of  taxes  collected  by  F.  C.  Boggs  for  said  year. 

Be  it  ordained  that  G.  F.  Taylor.be  oppointed  a  Commissioner  to  settle 
with  Geo.  H.  Morrison,  Sheriff  of  Braxton  county,  and  ascertain  the  amount  of 
tax  receipts  given  by  F.  C.  Boggs  for  taxes  collected  by  him  in  the  year  1861, 
designating  the  amount  of  state  tax  and  report  to  this  Board. 

This  day,  Henry  Bender  appeared  before  the  Supervisors  of  Braxton 
county,  and  tendered  his  resignation  as  Justice  of  Lincoln  township  which  was 
accepted  by  said  board. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Elmon  Frame  be  appointed  a  Justice  in  Lincoln  town- 
ship of  Braxton  county  in  place  of  Henry  Bender,  resigned,  until  his  successor 
is  elected  and  qualified. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  143 

February  5.  1868. 

Be  it  ordained  that  OJiver  L.  Jones  be  allowed  Five  Dollars  for  furnishing 
chairs  to  the  Court  House,  $5.00. 

The  above  order  to  be  issued  in  favor  of  Thomas  Kennedy. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Felix  Skidmore  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  for  the 
purpose  of  letting  out  the  Turn  Pike  "Road  in  this  county  from  the  Lewis 
county  line  to  the  Nicholas  county  line,  upon  contracts  for  a  certain  length  of 
time,  not  exceeding  five  years,  to  contractors  who  will  undei-take  to  repair  and 
keep  said  road  in  repair  for  the  tolls  on  same. 

Be  it  ordained  that  P.  B.  Duffy  be  permitted  to  occupy  the  south  end  of 
the  Clerk's  office  at  one  dollar  per  month  until  called  on  by  Mr.  Berry  to  be 
repaired  at  which  time  he  will  give  up  the  room. 

Be  it  ordained  that  Joel  Berry,  John  Heater  and  Thomas  H.  Squires  do 
view  and  mark  out  a  way  for  a  road  from  the  mouth  of  the  run  on  Salt  Lick 
on  Ellis  Singleton's  farm  to  the  Pike  at  his  store  house,  being  first  duly  sworn 
for  the  purpose  and  report  to  this  Board,  according  to  law. 

Be  it  ordained  that  F.  B.  Smith  obtain  permit  to  keep  private  entertain- 
ment at  his  house  in  Sutton,  Braxton  county,  by  his  complying  with  the  law 
made  and  provided  in  such  cases. 

The  Board  of  Supervisors  .doth  certify  that  Jhn  H.  Cunningham,  gentle- 
man, who  wishes  to  obtain  a  license  to  practice  as  an  attorney  in  the  courts  of 
this  state,  hath  resided  in  this  county  for  the  last  preceding  twelve  months,  that 
he  is  a  person  of  honest  demeanor,  and  is  over  twenty-one  years  old. 

The  Board  of  Supervisors  doth  certify  that  Geo.  H.  Morrison,  gentlemen, 
who  wishes  to  obtain  a  license  to  practice  as  an  attorney  in  the  courts  o^f  this 
state,  hath  resided  in  this  county  for  the  last,  preceding  twelve  month,  that  he 
is  a  person  of  honest  demeanor,  and  is  over  twenty-one  years  old. 

March  16,  1869. 

It  appearing  to  the  Board  that  Jacob  "W.  Westfall  is  assessed  with  100 
acres  of  land  on  the  waters  of  Cedar  creek,  Lincoln  township,  at  $11.06  per 
acre,  when  in  truth  said  land  is  not  worth  more  than  $6.00  per  acre.  Therefore, 
be  it  ordained, 

That  said  tract  of  land  be  assessed  at  $6.00  per  acre,  and  that  the  Clerk  of 
this  Board  certify  a  copy  of  this  order  to  the  Assessor  of  District  No.  2  of  said 
county,  that  he  may  correct  his  Books  thereby. 

Be  it  ordained  that  G.  F.  Taylor  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  settle 
with  H.  A.  Baxter,  State  Treasurer  of  said  county,  and  report  to  this  Board. 

March  17,  1869. 

It  appearing  to  the  Board  that  B.  F.  Fisher  is  assessed  with  a  tract  of  174 
acres  of  land  situated  on  Scott's  fork  of  Cedar  creek,  Lincoln  township,  at 


14-1  BUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

$4.74  per  acre,  when  in  truth  the  east  value  of  said  land  does  not  exceed  $3.00 
per  acre.     Therefore,  be  it  ordered 

That  the  said  tract  of  land  aforesaid  be,  and  the  same  is,  hereby  assessed 
at  $3.00,  the  actual  cast  value  aforesaid,  and  that  the  Clerk  of  this  Board  cer- 
tify a  copy  of  this  order  to  the  Assessor  of  District  No.  2  of  said  county,  that 
he  may  correct  his  books  thereby. 

March  18,  1869. 

By  order  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton,  bids  will 
be  received  by  E.  W.  Squires,  Clerk  of  said  Board,  for  the  construction  of  a 
fence  enclosing  the  public  lot  and  buildings  of  said  county  until  the  3rd  day 
of  April,  1869,  to  be  constructed  according  to  the  following  specifications, 
to- wit : 

Posts  to  be  of  locust,  not  less  than  six  (6)  inches  in  diameter,  and  not  more 
than  8  feet  apart,  from  center  to  center,  to  be  placed  at  least  20  inches  in  the 
ground,  to  be  boarded  with  white  Oak  plank,  not  less  6  inches  wire,  said  fence 
to  be  five  feet  high,  containing  six  planks  to  the  panel,  five  upon  the  side,  and 
one  upon  the  top.  Two  gates  one  9  feet  wide,  placed  on  the  south  side  of  the 
lot,  the  other  gate  to  be  4  feet  wide,  placed  on  style,  8  feet  wide  and  3  feet 
high,  constructed  of  2  inch  white  Oak  plank,  said  work  to  be  completed  by  the 
20th  day  of  June,  1869. 

Be  it  ordered  that  N.  B.  Squires  be  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  super- 
intend the  cleaning  up  of  the  loose  rubbish  on  public  lot,  said  work  not  to  ex- 
ceed four  days,   with  team. 

May  17,  1869. 

It  is  ordered  that  I.  C.  Ocheltree  be  allowed  TAvelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
for  services  rendered  as  Clerk  of  Clay  township,  and  that  the  same  be  certi- 
fied for  payment. 

Be  it  ordered  that  Norman  B.  Squires  be  allowed  Twenty-two  Dollars  and 
twelve  cents  for  cleaning  off  the  Public  Lot,  and  furnishing  Blanks  and  Station- 
ery for  the  county. 

September  2,  1869. 

At  a  called  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at 
the  Court  House  of  said  county  on  the  2nd  day  of  September,  1869,  members 
present,  to-wit: 

I.  J.  Friend,  President,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  Milton  Frame  and  Zebedee. 
Brown.     The  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

It  is  ordered  that  Henry  A.  Baxter,  Commissioner  of  Turn  Pike  road  in 
this  county,  be  allowed  One  Hundred  and  Sixty  Dollars  to  be  expended  on  said 


SUTTON'S    HISTOBY.  145 

road  by  said  Commissioner,  said  amount  to  be  issued  in  two  checks,  to-wit:  one 
$100.00,  and  one,  $60.00. 

Ordered  that  this  meeting  now  adjourn. 

ISRAEL  J.  FRIEND,  President. 

ELLIS  W.  SQUIRES,  Clerk. 

October  5,  1869. 

Ordered  that  N.  B.  Squires  be  allowed  Twelve  Dollars  and  thirty-five  cents 
for  stationery  furnished  Board  for  use  of  county. 

Ordered  that  N.  B.  Squires  be  allowed  Twenty-Five  Dollars  for  services 
rendered  in  examining  Commissioners'  Books  of  said  county. 

Ordered  that  G.  F.  Taylor  be  allowed  Five  Dollars  and  sixty-four  cents 
for  stationery  furnished  county. 

Ordered  that  H.  A.  Baxter  be  allowed  Eight  Dollars  and  eighty-four  cents 
for  services  rendered  as  member  of  Board  for  quarter  ending  September  30, 
1869. 

Ordered  that  N.  B.  Squires  be  allowed  Twenty-five  Dollars  and  thirty-six 
cents  for  copying  in  Book  delinquent  lands,  etc. 

Ordered  that  I.  J.  Friend  be  allowed  Seventeen  Dollars  and  sixteen  cents 
for  services  rendered  as  President  of  Board,  for  quarter  ending  September  30, 
1869. 

Ordered  that  Zebedee  Brown  be  allowed  Eleven  Dollars  and  sixty  cents 
for  services  rendered  as  member  of  Board  for  quarter  ending  September  30, 
1869. 

Ordered  that  Milton  Frame  be  allowed  Seventeen  Dollars  and  twenty  cents 
for  services  rendered  as  member  of  Board  for  quarter  ending  September  30, 
1869. 

Ordered  that  E.  W.  Squires  be  allowed  Fifty  Dollars  for  services  rendered 
as  Clerk  of  Board  for  quarter  ending  September  30,  1869. 

Ordered  that  this  meeting  now  adjourn  to  meet  tomorrow  morning  at  9 
o  'clock.  , 

ISRAEL  J.  FRIEND,  President. 
E.  AY.  SQUIRES,  Clerk. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at 
the  Court  House  of  said  county  on  the  2nd  day  of  November,  1869,  Members 
present  to-wit : 

I.  J.  Friend,  President,  Henry  A.  Baxter,  Milton  Frame  and  Zebedee 
Brown.     The  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

By  taking  up  and  fairly  and  impartially  examining  the  returns  of  the 
election  held  in  said  county  on  the  28th  day  of  October,  1869,  and  do  hereby 
certify  that  for  the  office  of  State  Senator  in  District  No.  6,  Spencer  Dayton 
received  in  said  county  Two  Hundred  and  sixty-two  (262)  votes,  and  that 
Blackwell  Jackson  received  in  said  county  four  (4)  votes. 


146  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

For  the  office  of  Delegate,  Alpheus  McCoy  received  in  said  county  One 
Hundred  and  Fifty  (150)  votes,  and  Wm.  D.  Rollyson  received  in  said  county 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five   (125)   votes. 

For  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Free  Schools,  Wellington  F.  Morrison 
received  in  said  county  One  Hundred  and  thirty-seven  (137)  votes,  and  tbat 
Asa  Squires  received  in  said  county  ninety-three  (93)  votes,  and  that  G.  F. 
Taylor  received  in  said  county  Forty-three    (43)    votes. 

BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS. 
First  Day — First  Meeting. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  county  and  State 
aforesaid,  held  at  the  Court  House  of  said  county,  on  the  4th  day  of  January, 
1870.     Members  present  to-wit: 

Craven  Berry,  Geo.  D.  Mollohan,  George  Dobbins  and  Geo.  McCoy.  Where- 
upon said  Board  proceeded  to  organize,  and  failing  to  agree  ujion  a  President, 
it  was  moved  and  ordered  that  Geo.  D.  Mollohan  be  appointed  President  pro- 
tempore.  Whereupon  the  said  Board  proceeded  to  business  by  electing  Ellis 
W.  Squires  Clerk.  Said  Ellis  W.  Squires  together  with  Norman  B.  Squires,  his 
escurity,  entered  into  and  acknowledged  a  Bond  in  the  penalty  of  Fifteen  Hun- 
dred Dollars  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of  his  said  office,  said 
Bond  being  approved  by  said  Board.  Said  Squires-  took  the  several  oaths  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

The  Board  further  proceeded  by  drawing  a  list  of  Jurors  for  the  year 
Eighteen  Hundred  and  Seventy  as  prescribed  by  law. 

E.   W.   SQUIRES,   Clerk. 

G.  D.  MOLLOHAN,  Pres.  Pro.  tem. 

First  Day — -Second  Meeting. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held 
the  Court  House  of  said  county  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1870.  Members 
present  to-wit: 

Geo.  D.  Mollohan,  Craven  Berry,  Geo.  Dobbins  and  Geo.  McCoy.  Where- 
upon said  Board  proceeded  to  elect  a  President,  having  failed  at  their  first 
meeting  to  agree  upon  a  President.  It  is  moved  and  ordered  that  Geo.  D.  Mol- 
lohan be  appointed  President  Protempore,  whereupon  said  Board  proceeded 
to  business. 

Order  No.  6. 

The  Supervisor  doth  certify  that  G.  F.  Taylor,  a  Gentleman  who  wishes 
to  obtain  a  license  to  praactice  as  an  Attorney  in  the  Courts  of  this  State,  hath 
resided  in  this  county  for  the  last  preceding  twelve  month,  that  he  is  a  person 
of  honest  demeanor,  and  is  over  twenty-one  years  old. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  147 

Order  No.  8. 

The  Supervisors  doth  certify  that  G.  P.  Taylor,  a  Gentleman  who  wishes 
to  obtain  a  license  to  practice  as  an  Attorney  in  the  Courts  of  this  State,  hath 
resided  in  this  county  for  the  last  preceding  twelve  months,  that  he  is  a  person 
of  honest  demeanor,  and  is  over  twenty-one  years  old. 

First  Day — Third  Meeting. 

v 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at  the 
Court  House  of  said  county  on  the  3rd  day  of  March,  1870.  Members  present 
to-wit : 

Craven  Berry,  Geo.  D.  Mollohan  and  Geo.  McCoy.  Whereupon  said  Board 
proceeded  to  elect  a  President,  and  failing  to  agree  upon  a  President,  it  is  moved 
and  ordered  that  Craven  Berry  be  appointed  President  protempore.  The 
Board  then  proceeded  to  business. 

Third  Day — Third  Meeting. 

March  5,  1870. 

Agreeable  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Supervisors  met.  Same  mem- 
bers present,  the  Board  proceeded  to  elect  a  President  by  ballot,  whereupon  it 
appears  that  Geo.  McCoy  was  duly  elected  President.  The  Board  proceeded 
to  business. 

Second  Day — Seventh  Meeting. 

August  4,  1870. 

Agreeable  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Supervisors  met,  the  same 
members  present,  the  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

Order  No.  83. 

The  Assessors  of  tliis  county  having  this  day  made  returns  showing  that 
the  Real  Estate  and  Personal  Property  of  this  county  subject  to  taxation 
amounts  to  $1,179,898.49,  and  that  the  indebtedness  of  the  county  amounts  to 
$3,835.00,  including  Road- and  Poor  Tax. 

Order  No.  84. 

Therefore,  be  it  ordained  that  the  sum  of  Thirty-eight  cents  be  levied  on 
the  One  Hundred  Dollars'  worth  of  all  the  personal  property  and  Real  Estate 
of  said  county  to  deft-ay  the  expenses  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  on  the  first  Wed- 
nesday in  August,  1871. 


148  suttok's   history. 

First  Day- -First  Meeting. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at 
the  Court  House  thereof  on  the  3rd  day  of  January,  1871.  Members  present 
to- wit : 

M.  H.  Morrison,  Washington  H.  Berry,  Nimrod  W.  Loyd  and  John  Carr. 
Whereupon  said  Board  proceeded  to  organize  by  electing  Morgan  H.  Morri- 
son President  and  Ellis  W.  Squires  Clerk.  Said  Squires  together  with  Geo. 
D.  Mollohan  and  Henry  Bender,  his  securities,  entered  into  Bond  in  the  penal 
sum  of  One  Thousand,  Five  Hundred  Dollars  for  the  faithful  performance  of 
the  duties  of  his  office  as  said  Clerk. 

Order  No.'l. 

The  Board  further  proceeded  to  business  by  directing  their  Clerk  to  make 
an  order  requesting  the  Board  of  Registration  of  this  County  to  call  a  meeting 
at  one  of  their  Board  for  the  purpose  of  placing  upon  the  Register  of  Voters 
the  names  of  all  persons  who  are  entitled  to  be  registered  in  order  to  enable  the 
Supervisors  to  draw  from  said  Register  a  list  of  Jurors  to  serve  for  the  year 
1871. 

Second  Day — First  Meeting. 

January  4,  1871. 

AgreeabLe  to  adjournment  of  yesterday,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  met, 
members  present  to-wit: 

M.  H.  Morrison,  President,  Washington  H.  Berry,  Nimrod  W.  Loyd  and 
John  ,Carr.     The  Board  proceeded  to  business. 

Order  No.  5. 

This  day,  Wm.  H.  Perkins,  a  citizen  of  this  county,  applied  to  the  Super- 
visors for  license  to  retail  ardent  spirits,  which  application  was  refused  by  the 
Board. 

Order  No.  6. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  that  a  Bounty 
or  Reward  of  seventy-five  cents  be  paid  for  the  scalps  of  every  full  grown  Red 
Fox,  and  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents  for  every  half  grown  Red  Fox,  killed  in 
said  county,  and  within  the  year  1871.  Any  and  all  persons  claiming  the  afore- 
said Bounties  or  Reward  must  make  it  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  this  Board 
that  they  were  the  identical  persons  who  did  kill  and  scalp  the  aforesaid  Foxes, 
and  that  the  same  was  done  in  this  county  and  the  year  aforesaid. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  Braxton  county  held  at  the  Court 
House  thereof  on  the  1st  day  of  November,  1871.    Members  present  to-wit: 

M.  H.  Morrison,  President,  W.  H.  Berry,  J.  A.  Boggs  and  John  Carr. 

The  Board  proceeded  to  business  by  taking  up,  and  fairly  and  impartially 
examining  the  returns  of  the  election  held  in  said  county  on  the  26th  day  of 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  149 

October,  1871 ;  and  do  hereby  certify  that  for  the  office  of  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, 6th  District,  Blackwell  Jackson  received  in  said  county  Eight  Hundred 
and  forty-four  (844)  votes;  Samuel  Woods  received  in  said,  county  Eight  Hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  (847)  votes;  M.  W.  Coburn  received  in  said  county  One 
Hundred  and  thirty-three  (133)  votes:  Craven  Berry  received  in  said  county 
One  Hundred  and  twenty-eight   (128)   votes. 

For  the  office  of  State  Senate,  6th  District,  Geo.  H.  Morrison  received  in 
said  county  Eight  Hundred  and  fifty  (850)  votes;  Hoy  McClain  received  in 
said  county  One  Hundred  and  twenty-four  (124)  votes. 

For  the  office  of  Constitutional  Convention  from  the  county  of  Braxton, 
Homer  A.  Holt  received  in  said  county  Nine  Hundred  and  twenty-three  (923) 
votes. 

For  the  office  of  Delegate  to  the  Legislature,  W.  D.  Rollyson  received  in 
said  county  Eight  Hundred  and  twenty-eight  (828)  votes;  Jas.  A.  Boggs  re- 
ceived in  said  county  ninety-eight  (98)   votes. 

For  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Free  Schools,  Thornton  J.  Ber- 
ry received  in  said  county  Nine  Hundred" and  twenty-five  (925)   votes. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Braxton  held  at 
the  Court  House  thereof  on  the  2nd  day  of  January,  1872,  members  present 
to- wit : 

John  Given,  M.  H.  Morrison,  Asa  Greathouse  and  John  H.  Cunningham. 

Whereupon  said  Board  proceeded  to  organize  by  electing  John  Given  Pres- 
ident and  Wellington  F.  Morrison  Clerk.  Said  Morrison  together  with  Samuel 
Fox,  Felix  J.  Baxter.  T.  J.  Berry,  H.  A.  Baxter,  L.  D.  Camden,  J.  W.  Morrison 
and  W.  L.  J.  Corley,  his  Securities,  entered  into  and  acknowledged  Bond  in 
the  penal  sum  of  Two  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the 
duties  of  his  office  as  said  Clerk.  Said  Bond  being  approved,  thereupon  the 
said  Wellington  F.  Morrison  took  the  several  oaths  prescribed  by  law. 

An  order  of  Survey  for  a  road  having  been  granted  by  the  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors of  this  county  on  the  4th  day  of  August,  1871,  from  the  Holly  and 
Kanawha  Road,  near  the  farm  of  N.  E.  Lake,  by  way  of  John  0.  McCoy's, 
crossing  England  run  to  Webster  county  line;  which  said  order  was  executed 
by  H.  Mollohan,  G.  D.  Mollohan  and  N.  E.  Lake,  the  Commissioners  appointed 
for  that  purpose.  And  by  a  subsequent  order  made  by  said  Board  on  the  2nd 
day  of  February,  1871,  John  C.  Cunningham,  Marcellus  Byrne  and  John  G. 
Morrison  were  appointed  to  review  and  mark  out  a  road  from  same  points., 
and  it  appearing  by  their  said  report  that  said  route  was  materially  changed, 
which  change  is  objected  to  by  George  D.  Mollohan  and  others,  tenants  and 
land  holders  on  said  route. 

It  is  ordered  by  the  Board  that  John  Morrison  be  appointed  a  Special 
Surveyor  to  survey  both  reviews,  and  report  to  this  Board  the  distance  of  each 
review,  together  with  the  grade  and  actual  cost  of  making  said  road  by  either 
route,  and  any  other  matter  touching  said  routes  that  he  may  deem  pertinent, 
and  report  on  the  20th  of  June  to  this  Board. 


150  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

And  it  is  further  ordered  that  M.  H.  Morrison  and  E.  W.  Squires  be  ap- 
pointed Chain  Carrieres  for  said  Surveyor  on  said  routes. 

Ordered  that  this  meeting  now  adjourn  until  to-morrow  morning  at  nine 
o  'clock. 

E.  W.  SQUIRES,  Clerk. 

M.  H.  MORRISON,  President. 

May  3,  1871. 

Asa  Long  this  day  produced  his  certificate  under  oath  of  his  having  taken 
and  destroyed  two  full  grown  Red  Foxes  for  which  he  was  allowed  75  cents 
each,  which  claim  was  ordered  to  be  certified  for  payment. 

COUNTY  HISTORY. 

March  4,  1862,  Win.  Hutchison,  County  Surveyor,  surveyed  for  Wm,  Ton- 
kin, one  hundred  acres  of  land,  lying  on  Salt  Lick  of  the  Little  Kanawha,  by 
virtue  of  part  of  a  land  office  treasury  warrant  for  10,000  acres,  No.  21107, 
dated  March  30,  1853.  This  was  the  last  entry  surveyed  and  recorded  by  Wm. 
Hutchison  under  the  laws  of  Virginia. 

On  May  3,  1866,  John  D.  Sutton,  County  Surveyor  of  Braxton  county, 
surveyed  303/2  acres  of  land  for  John  Rodgers,  by  virtue  of  part  of  a  land 
office  Treasury  Warrant  for  390  acres,  No.  21900,  dated  Dec.  16,  1853. 

This  was  the  first  tract  of  land  surveyed  and  patented  in  the  county  after 
the  formation  of  the  new  state.  The  law  provided  that  all  entries  made  prior 
to  June  20,  1863,  could  be  patented,  and  after  that  date,  vacant  lands  were  to 
be  sold  and  the  proceeds  go  to  the  state. 

O.  F.  Taylor  as  Recorder,  made  his  first  record  May  14,  1865,  and  closed 
his  office  work  December  13,  1865.  He  was  succeeded  by  Morgan  H.  Morrison 
who  was  also  elected  as  Recorder  and  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  as  Re- 
corder, made  his  first  entry  on  Dec.  15,  1866.  The  Recorder  was  elected  for  two 
years,  and  the  Circuit  Clerk  for  four  years. 

SHERIFFS  OF  BRAXTON  COUNTY,  VIRGINIA. 

John  Clifton,  John  B.  Byrne,  Andrew  Sterrett,  Nicholas  Gibson,  Felix 
Sutton  , Charles  Mollohan,  John  Morrison,  William  Hutchison,  James  M.  Corley, 
F.  C.  Boggs. 

SHERIFFS  OF  BRAXTON  COUNTY,  WEST  VIRGINIA. 

George  H.  Morrison,  James  W.  Morrison,  Henry  Bender,  Able  M.  Lough, 
John  Byrne,  A.  C.  Dyer,  A.  N.  Lough,  David  Berry,  Emory  A.  Berry,  John 
Adams,  George  Goad,  John  Adams,  B.  C.  McNutt,  R.  N.  Rollyson,  and  H.  Wirt 
Moyers. 


S  TJ  T  T  O  N  ;  S     HISTORY.  151 

MARRIAGE  LICENSES  FOR  THE  FIRST  TEN  YEARS 
OF  THE  COUNTY. 

The  average  number  is  only  a  fraction  over  20  per  year,  some  years  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  dirth,  while  other  years  the  spirit  of  matrimony  seems  to 
have  been  abroad  in  the  land. 

Some  of  the  names  may  be  mispelled  as  it  was  often  with  difficulty  we  were 
able  to  make  them  out  as  the  paper  upon  which  the  licenses  were  written  was 
badly  faded,  and  in  no  case  was  the  name  of  the  minister  given. 

A  penalty  of  $150.00  was  required  in  every  marriage  license  and  in  giving 
their  bonds  and  certificates  of  applicants'  age  and  consent  of  parents  and  guar- 
dians, we  find  the  clerk  often  spelled  the  names  differently  from  that  given  by 
the  parents,  and  we  sometimes  had  to  refer  to  these  certificates  to  enable  us  to 
decipher  what  had  been  written  in  the  body  of  the  license. 

We  find  many  familiar  names  of  old  citizens,  and  the  hand  writing  of  many 
that  could  nowhere  else  be  found.  The  perusal  of  some  of  these  certificates  is 
very  amusing.  Some  of  the  parties  whose  names  we  have  recorded  have  long 
since  left  the  country,  and  their  names  have  become  extinct. 

List  of  Marriage  Licenses. 

1836. 

Simon  Prince  (Son  of  Nathan  Prince)  and  Peggy  Sisk,  July  23,  1836. 

Sampson  Hoffman  and  Elizabeth  Baker,  Oct.  28,  1836. 

Wm.  G.  Pierson  and  Julian  Friend  (Daughter  of  A.  P.  Friend)  Aug.  25,  1836. 

John  Ward  and  Jane  Skddmore,  April  26,  1836. 

Nathan  G.  Duffield  and  Elizabeth  P.  Duffield,  Aug.  2,  1836. 

Samuel  Given  and  Cintha  Duffield  (Daughter  of  Robt.  Duffield),  Nov.  7,  1836. 

James  F.  Given  and  Ruth  Duffield  (Daughter  of  Robt.  Duffield),  Nov.  7,  1836. 

Benjamin  Wine  and  Nancy  Williams   (Daughter  of  Joseph  Williams).  May  3, 

1836. 
Nathan  D.  Barnett  and  Elizabeth  Sutton  (Daughter  of  J.  D-  Sutton),  Sept.  21, 

1836. 
Benjamin  Possey  and  Cyntha  Robinson    (Daughter  of  Mary  Robinson),  Nov. 

7,   1836. 
James  G.  Duffield  and  Eviline  M.  Duffield   (Daughter  of  John  L.  Duffield), 

Oct.  5,  1S36.    • 
George  Gibson  and  Martha  Ann  Chenoweth,  Dec.  22,  1836. 
Harrison  Sheltra  and  Danna  Chester,  Aug.  22,  1836. 

Elias  Perkins  made  oath  to  the  age  of  Danna  Chester,  21  years. 

1838. 

Uriah  Singleton  (Son  of  John  Singleton)  and  Elizabeth  Heater  (Daughter  of 

John  Heater),  Oct.  1,  1838. 
James  Pritt  and  Rachael  Miller,  Aug.  9,  1838. 


152  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Joseph  W.  Arnold  and  Elizabeth  Byrne,  Dec.  16,  1838. 

Joseph  W.  Westfall  and  Margaret  Brown,  Nov.  3,  1838. 

Adam  Given  and  Miss  Rose,  Nov.  23,  1838. 

Samuel   Cutlip    (Son   of  Henry)    and  Rachael   Brown    (Daughter   of  Joseph 

Brown),  Sept.  12,  1838. 
Silas  Dean  and  A.  Tunny,  May  20,  1838. 
Benjamin  Coger  and  Marian  Miller,  April  5,  1838. 
Norman  Boggs  and  Marian  Mollohan,  Aug.  3.1,  1838. 
L.  Knight  and  Nancy  Mace,  Aug.  1,  1838. 
Jesse  Shaver  (Son  of  Isaac  Shaver)  and  Matilda  C.  Squires  (Daughter  of  Asa 

Squires),  Aug.  1,  1838. 
John  High  and  Eleanor  Shields,  Sept.  26,  1838. 
Wm.  G.  Murphy  and  Susan  H.  Murphy   (Daughter  of  David  Murphy),  July 

3,   1838. 
Wm.  T.     McCoy  and  Lucinda  A.  Squires  (Daughter  of  Asa  Squires),  June  5, 

1838. 

1841 

Lewis  Keener  and James,  July  13,  1841. 

Jacob  Irwin  to  Catherine  Perrine,  April  22,  1841. 

Jacob  Tomblenson  and  Anna  Friend,  Oct.  13,  1841. 

Edward  Robinson  and  Mahola  Bickel  (Daughter  of  Geo.  Bickel),  Oct.  13,  1841. 

Peter  Dobins  and  Margaret  Hall  (Daughter  of  Alexander  Hall),  Oct.  3,  1841. 

Andrew  Carr  to  Sarah  Young,  Nov.  7,  1841. 

Arthur  Mollohan  (Son  of  George)  and  Susanna  Reep,  Feb.  23,  1841. 

Daniel  Heater  of  Randolph  Co.,  and  Mary  Heater,  Oct.  18,  1841. 

(Mary  Heater  makes  oath  that  her  son  Daniel  was  24  years  old  on  the 
24th  day  of  last  month). 
Allen    Skidmore    (Son  of  Andrew  &  Margaret  Skidmore)    and  Sally  Shaver 

(Daughter  of  Isaac  &  Mary  S.),  March  1,  1841. 

(Authority  was  given  by  Mary  Shaver). 
James  Lough  and  Francesca  Mollohan,  Jan.  21,  1841. 
Thomas  Skidmore  and  Mariah  W.  Hines,  Sept.  13,  1841. 
George  Brown  and  Elizabeth  Lough,  Aug.  3,  1841. 
Andrew  Carr  (Son  of  James  Carr)  and  Sarah  Young,  July  19,  1841. 
Allen  S.  Berry  (Son  of  Wm.  Berry)  and  Rebecca  Alkire  (Daughter  of  David 

Alkire),  June  19,  1841. 
Wm.  Fisher  and  Jane  Green,  Oct.  6,  1841. 
John  L.  Carpenter  and  Nancy  Perrine   (Daughter  of  Joseph  Perrine),  Nov. 

27,  1841. 
Simeon  Strader  and  Jane  Wine,  Aug.  19,  1841. 
Joseph  M.  Baxter  and  Catherine  Robinson  (Daughter  of  Henry  Robinson),  Oct. 

11,  1841. 
James  McCray,  of  Lewis  Co.,  and  Amanda  Jane  Berry   (Daughter  of  Lewis 

Berry),  Aug.  13,  1841. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  153 

Andrew  Ocheltree,  Jr.,  (Son  of  Hannah  Ocheltree,  widow  of  Isaac  Ocheltree) 

find  Ann  Williams  (Daughter  of  Margaret),  Feb.  27,  1841. 
James  R.  Dire  and  Romena  Catherine  Byrn,  Feb.  13,  1841. 
Andrew  Cutlip  and  Mary  Smar,  May  7,  1841. 

1837. 

Robert  Duffield,  Jr.,  and  Polly  Pritt  (Daughter  of  Wm.  Pritt),  Feb.  7,  1837. 

Moses  Cunningham  and  Pheba  Raymond,  Sept.  5,  1837. 

John  Posey  and  Maria  Gundecker  (Daughter  of  Michael  Gundecker).  Dec.  26, 

1837. 
Peyton  B.  Byrne  and  Sary  Ann  Gundecker  (Daughter  of  Michael  Gundecker), 

Dec.  26,  1837. 
Addison  Cutlip  and  Elizabeth  Friend,  Sept,  23,  1837. 
Silas  Wilson  and  Sarah  Cart,  Oct.  2,  1837. 

John  C.  Perrine  and  Nancy  Brickel  (Dnughter  of  Geo.  B.  Bickel),  July  31,  1837. 
Hiram  Hess  and  Phebe  Lough  (Daughter  of  Adam  Lough)  Sept.  14,  1837. 
George  Duffield  and  Virginia  Pierson,  April  4,  1837. 

Wm.  Posey-  and  Sarah  Sten ,  June  6,  1837. 

George  High  and  Barbara  Prince  (Daughter  of  Nathan  Prince),  Jan.  30.  1837. 
Lewis  Cutlip  and  Hannah  Brown  (Daughter  of  Josiah  Brown),  Aug.  2,  1837. 
Leonard    Hyer    (Son    of    Christian    Hyer)    and    Margaret    Anna    McPherson 

(Daughter  of  Jos.  McPherson),  Dec,  5,  1S37. 
Isaac   H.   Loyd   and   Catherine   Mary  McPherson    (Daughter   of   Joseph   Mc- 
Pherson), May  23,  1837. 
Samuel  Dobins  and  Elizabeth  James,  Feb.  24,  1837. 

Henry  Cart  and  Margaret  Irwin  (Daughter  of  Jacob  Irwin),  Aug.  14,  1837. 
John  Harris  and  Eleanor  Howell,  Aug.  14,  1837. 
Bazel  L.  Williams  and  Lucinda  Howell  (Daughter  of  John  Howell),  Aug.  1, 

1837. 
Philip  F.  Dyer  and  Jane  Miller  (Daughter  of  John  Miller),  May  21,  1837. 
Alexander  L.  Morrison  and  Agnes  Frame.  July  17,  1837. 
Andrew  Hollins  and  Elizabeth  Heffner  (Daughter  of  Jacob  Heffner),  June  10, 

1837. 
Wm.  Maee  and  Sarah  Green,  June  7,  1837. 
John  Horniek  and  Lydia  McMahon   (Daughter  of  Jacob  McMahon),  May  23, 

1837. 
John  Crawford  and  Nancy  C.  Conrad  (Daughter  of  John  Conrad),  June  19, 

1837. 
Samuel  Wyall  and  Louisa  Butcher,  June  22,  1837. 

1839 

Isaac  Hines  and  Mary  Skidmore,  Oct.  28,  1839. 
Edward  Ware  and  Elizabeth  Long,  Oct.  28,  1839. 
George  Lake  and  Solomo  Boggs,  Oct.  5,  1839. 


154  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Andrew  W.  Murphy  and  Caroline  Squires.  Oct.  1.  1839. 

Benjamin  Hutchison  and  Mary  Dobins   (Daughter  of  Samuel  Dobins),  Jan.  5, 

Calvin  M.  Gibson  and  Nancy  Wyatt,  Jan.  31,  1839. 

1839. 
Wm.  Singleton  and  Margaret  Lake.  Aug.  13,  1839. 
Thomas  Carpenter  and  Eunice  Cowger  (Daughter  of  John  Cowgar),  Dec.  20, 

1839. 
John  S.  Pharis  and  Cintha  Woods,  Oct.  8,  1839. 
Andrew  Boggs,  Jr.,  and  Molly  Lake,  Nov.  18,  1839. 

Allen  Hamrick  and  Martha  Miller  (Daughter  of  John  Miller),  Oct.  28,  1839. 
Chrisman  Conrad  and  Elizabeth  Wine    (Daughter  of  George  Wine),  Jan.   9, 

1839. 
James  Sands  and  Mary  Riffle,  Dec.  3,  1839. 
Milton  Frame  (Son  of  David  Frame)  and  Amanda  Rose  (Daughter  of  Ezekiel 

Rose),  Feb.  26,  139. 
Hezkiah  Boggs   (Son  of  Wm.  Boggs)    and  Diana  Shock   (Daughter  of  Jacob 

Shock),  Feb.  26,  1839, 
John  Roberts  and  Margaret  Davis  (Daughter  of  Wm.  Davis),  Aug.  21,  1839. 
Samuel  Heater  and  Jane  Robenson,  Jan.  18,  1839. 

1840 

Enoch  Roberts  and  Eliza  Wyatt,  June  3,  1840. 

Jonathan  Hall  and  Margaret  Young,  Sept.  14,  1840. 

Albert  N.  Ellison  and  Eliza  Mace,  Oct.  16,  1840. 

George  Cart  (Son  of  John  Cart)  and  Isabel  Duffield  (Daughter  of  Robert  V. 

Duffield),  Dec.  14,  1840. 
Isaac  McHenry  and  Amanda  Haymond,  Aug.  4,  1840. 
Francis  C.  Boggs  (Son  of  Jas.  Boggs)  and  Emsy  Bets  (Daughter  of  John  Bets), 

Jan.  30,  1840. 
John  G.  Bauer  and  Rachael  C.  Huffman  (Daughter  of  Michael  Huffman),  Mar. 

10,  1840. 
Wm.  R.  Arters  and  Mary  Baxter,  Nov.  27,  1840. 
Robert  V.  Duffield  and  Elizabeth  Notingham,  Aug.  13,  1840. 
Benjamin  Green  and  Jane  Clifton  (Daughter  of  John  Clifton),  Aug.  26,  1840. 
Jacob  Stump   (Son  of  Absalom  Stump)   and  Mary  Shock  (Daughter  of  Jacob 

Shock),    (no  date). 
Charles  W.  Duffield  and  Jane  Murphy,  April  13,  1840. 
Jacob  L.  Friend  and  Phebe  Gibson,  Nov.  19,  1840. 
Seth  Thayer  and  Rebecca  Carpenter,  June  23,  1840. 
Wm.  Conrad  and  Anna  Murphy,  Aug.  10,  1840. 

Hiram  Hines  and  Susana  Skidmore,  ,  1840. 

Tunis  Davis  and  Keziah  Given   (Daughter  of  David  Given),  Dec.  18,  1840. 
James  C.  Frame  and  Louisa  Gibson,  Aug.  5,  1840. 
Jesse  Clifton  and  Nancy  Green,  Oct.  26,  1840. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKY.  155 

1843 

Vincent  Lake  and  Rebecca  Ewing,  May  6,  1843. 

Asa  R.  Conrad  andLydia  Elizabeth  Singleton  (Daughter  of  John  F.  Singleton), 

Nov.  13,  1843. 
Samuel  S.  Cutlip  and  Nancy  J.  Murphy,  June  19,  1843. 
Alexander  C.  Riffle  and  Susanah  Lake,  June  7,  1843. 
Wm.  Fox  and  Sarah  Ann  Gibson,  Aug.  1,  1843. 
Joseph  C.  McNemer  and  Rocena  Heater,  Sept.  5,  1843. 

Wm.  A.  Davis  and  Hannah  Steel   ( Daughter  of  John  Steel),  July  14,  1843. 
Lemuel  Conrad  and  Ingra  Shields  (Daughter  of  John  Shields),  July  14,  1843. 
Wm.  Chapman  and  Matilda  Hanna,  Oct.  9,  1843. 
Christian  Long  and  Elizabeth  Murphy,  Dec.  11,  1843. 
Lamastus  Stephenson  and  Mary  Evans   (Daughter  of  David  Evans),  Aug.  19, 

1843. 
Uriah  Duffield  (Son  of  Robt.  V.  Duffield)  and  Melvina  James,  Aug.  29,  1843. 
William  Cutlip  and  Agnes  Berry   (Daughter  of  Wm.  Berry),  June  14,  1843. 
Felix  Skidmore  (Son  of  Andrew  Skidmore)  and  Cynthia  Frame  (Daughter  of 

David  Frame),  Sept.  28,  1843. 
Alfred  C.  Westfall  and  Anna  Riffle,  Nov.  15,  1843. 
Godfrey  C.  Heffner  and  Ruth  Ewing   (Daughter  of  Thomas  Ewing),  Oct.  17, 

1843. 
James  Chapman  (Son  of  Wm.  Chapman)  and  Love  Lamb,  July  3,  1843. 
John  P.  Brown  and  Malinda  McBain    (Daughter  of  Wm.   MeBain),   Aug.    1. 

1843. 
Esemund  D.  Collett  and  Sarah  Ann  Rader,  Dec.  7,  1843. 
Wm.  C.  Murphy  and  Lydia  Flyman,  Jan.  4,  1843. 
Henry  Pierson  (Son  of  Jonathan  Pierson)  and  Sarah  Jane  Rose  (Daughter  of 

Wm.  Rose),  Feb.  24,  1843. 
Joseph  H.  Goff  (Son  of  Alexander  Goff)  and  Angeline  S.  Davis,  Feb.  2,  1843. 

1842 

John  May  (Son  of  James  May)   and  Jemina  Wilson,  Feb.  19.  1842. 

Richard  A.  Cutlip  (Son  of  George  Cutlip)  and  Elizabeth  Rose,  ,  1842. 

Wm.  Hutchison  and  Elizabeth  Bell  (Daughter  of  Wm.  and  Mary  Bell).  Dee. 
28,  1842. 

Wm.  Gillespie  and  Mary  Hamrick,  Dec.  13.  1842. 

Samuel  Thorp  and  Matilda  Woods,  Dec.  24,  1842. 

Joel  Hamrick  and  Elizabeth  Gillespie,  Oct.  22,  1842. 

Salotheal  Riddle  and  Nancy  Betts,  Oct.  10,  1842. 

Josiah  Cowger  and  Sarah  Cowger,  March  3,  1842. 

Joe  Bland  and  Margaret  M.  Cunningham  (Daughter  of  Henry  and  Nancy  Cun- 
ningham), Sept.  7,  1842. 

Henry  C.  Murphy  and  Margaret  E.  Duffield  (Daughter  of  Henry  Duffield), 
Oct.  6,  1842. 


356  SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 

Council  H.  Rodgers  (Son  of  John  Rodders)  and  Catherine  Friend  (Daughter 

of  Israel  Friend),  Sept.  17,  1842, 
Francis  B.  Stewart  and  Rhoda  Dove,  Nov.  1.  1842. 
Owen  J.  Murphy  and  Emma  Ellen  Chenoweth  (Daughter  of  Robt.  Chenoweth), 

July  27,  1842. 
Ansil  P.  Tenney  and  Elisa  Davis,  Dec.  13,  1842. 
Samuel  Ellis  Stout,  of  Lewis  Co.,  and  Mary  Townsend    (Daughter  of  S.  B. 

Townsend),  Oct.  5,  1842. 

1844 

James  M.  Corley  and  Edith  Skidmore  (Daughter  of  Jas.  Skidmore  of  Randolph 

Co.),  Nov.  5,  1844. 
Jacob  Carpenter  and  Sarah  E.  Green    (Daughter  of  Robert  Green),   Oct.   3, 

1844. 
Enos  B.  Cunningham  and  Sarah  Long  (Daughter  of  Jacob  Long),  Nov.  9,  1844. 
Beverly  W.  Lewis  and  Margaret  Townsend  (Daughter  of  Solomon  Townsend), 

July  13,  1844. 
Jacob  W.  Notingham  and  Mary  L.  Chestnut    (Daughter  of  Jno  Chestnut  of 

Bath  Co.),  Aug.  7,  1844. 
Jonathan   H.    Burk   and  Phebe   Skidmore    (Daughter   of   Nancy   Skidmore), 

,  1844. 

¥m.  C.  Riffle  and  Polly  Perrine  (Daughter  of  Hannah  Perrine),  Dec.  16,  1844. 
Jacob  S.  Boggs  and  Clementina  Frame  (Daughter  of  Andrew  B.  Frame),  Oct. 

30,  1844. 
George  W.  Hickel  and  Nancy  M.  Oldham  (Daughter  of  Wm.  Oldham),  Nov. 

20,  1844. 
Henry  P.  Evans  and  Elizabeth  Rader  (Daughter  of  Robert  Rader),  June  22, 

1844. 
James  P.  Graham  and  Jane  C.  Ewing   (Daughter  of  Moses  Ewing)    Feb.  9, 

1844. 
James  B.  Tinney  and  Zutulba  Given  (Daughter  of  David  Given),  Jan.  20,  1844. 
John  S.  Hanna  and  Rebecca  Gillespie  (Daughter  of  Wm.  Gillespie),  Dec.  17, 

1844. 
Council  H.  Rodgers  and  Katherine  Kyer  (Daughter  of  Lewis  Kyer),  Dec.  17, 

1844.    ■ 
Christopher  M.   Hamrick  and  Eva  Gregory    (Daughter  of  Joseph  Gregory), 

March  4,  1844. 

Washington  Pearce  and  Matilda  Shield  (Daughter  of  Peter  Shield), ,  1844. 

Joshua  Ewing  and  Mary  Friend  (Daughter  of  Jonathan  Friend),  Oct.  21,  1844. 
Simon  Weese  and  Eady  Clifton  (Daughter  of  John  Clifton),  Jan.  12,  1844. 
Oswald  P.  Newby  and  Susanah  Fisher   (Daughter  of  Wm.  Fisher),  Jan.  24, 

1844. 
John  Ware  and  Mariah  Belknap  (Daughter  of  Jane  Belknap),  June  20,  1844. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKY.  157 


Daniel   Carper   and   Sarah   Jane   Squires    (Daughter   of  Asa    Squires).   Aug. 

20,  1845. 
Benjamin  Roberts  and  Rebecca  Jane  Given  (Daughter  of  David  Given),  March 

1,  1845. 

Wm.  Ellison  and  Catherine  Cutlip  (Daughter  of  David  Cutlip),  July  2,  1845. 
Win.  C.  Johnson  and  Elizabeth  Williams  (Daughter  of  Hugh  Williams),  July 
29,    1845. 

Peter  Bosley  and  Malinda  Dencho  (Daughter  of  Sarah  Dencho),  ,  1845. 

John  Conrad  and  Mary  May  (Daughter  of  James  May),  Aug.  11,  1845. 
Andrew  L.  Barnett  and  Emily  Cutlip  (Daugher  of  John  Cutlip),  Aug.  9,  1845. 
John  P.  Byrne  and  Sabina  C.  Sterrett  (Daughter  of  Andrew  Sterrett),  April 

2,  1845. 

John  Jenkins  and  Rebecca  Jane  Cutlip,  July  31,  1845. 

Wm.  P.  Ellison  and  Elizabeth  Skidmore  (Daughter  of  Nancy  Skidmore),  Nov. 

13,  1845. 

Samuel  B.  Heckle,  Jr.,  and  Mary  Ann  Gibson   (Daughter  of  James  Gibson), 

Marcb  19,  1845. 
Jacob  Heater  and  Susannah  Riffle  (Daughter  of  Isaac  Riffle);  Sept.  6,  1845. 
David  Grunt  and  Mary  M.  James  (Daughter  of  Joseph  James),  Dec  29,  1845. 
Wm.  Coger,  Jr.,  and  Mary  Bender  (Daughter  of  Isaac  Bender),  Jan.  13,  1845. 
Andrew  A.  Wilson  and  Rebecca  Frame   (Daughter  of  James  Frame),  April 

14,  1845. 

Adam  d.  Hyer  and  Hannah  Rodgers   (Daughter  of  Levi  Rodgers),  May   17, 

1845. 
Jesse  Shoulders  and  Mary  Posey  (Daughter  of  Edward  Posey),  Sept.  26,  1845. 

Lindsey  B.  Shield  and  Sarah  Shield  (Daughter  of  John  Shield), ...,  1845. 

Abel  R.  Cunningham  and  Mary  C.  Boggs  (Daughter  of  Benjamin  L.  Boggs), 

Sept.  10,  1845. 
David  Frae  and  Charlotte  Pierson  (Daugbter  of  Jonathan  Pierson),  Nov.  18, 

1845. 
Silvanus  N.  Dennis  and  Katherine  Boggs,  Aug.  15,  1845. 
Samuel  Lockard  and  Amy  Gibson  (Daughter  of  James  Gibson),  July  22,  1845. 
Wm.  M.  Hall  and  Agnes  Triplet  (Daughter  of  Sinnett  Triplett),  July  7,  1845. 
Thomas  Roby  and  Catharine  Townsend    (Daughter   of   Solomon   Townsend), 

July  28,  1845. 
Wm.  S.  Hall  and  Margaret  James  (Daughter  of  Joseph  James),  Jan.  7,  1845. 
James  Hosey  and  Naomia  Belknap  (Daughter  of  Thos.  Belknap),  Jan.  20,  1845. 
Thomas  James  and  Eliza  Pritt  (Daughter  of  Robert  Pritt),  Sept.  1,  1S-15. 
Wm.  G.  Squires  and  Maria  Morrison  (Daughter  of  John  Morrison),  Aug.  20, 

1845. 
Daniel  H.  Lough  and  Elizabeth  Jordan   (Daughter  of  Andrew  Jordan),  Jan. 

25,  1845. 
Norman  Frame  and  Susanna  Sands  (Daughter  of  George  Sands),  May  17,  1845. 


158  SUTTON'S     HISTOSY. 

John  Windon  (Windon  was  hung)  and  Nancy  Ross  (Daughter  of  Thomas  Ross), 

May  15,  1845. 
James  J.  Williams  and  Rebecca  Jane  Williams  (Daughter  of  Wm.  Williams), 

May  3,   1845. 

Number  Issued  Each  Year. 

1836 .* 16 

1837 25 

1838  15 

1839  17 

1840  18 

1841 23 

1842 15 

1843  ...„. 24 

1844 20 

1845  : 32 

Total  205 


i 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


159 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Virginia  in  the  Revolutionary  War;  General  Averill's  Great  Raid  to  Salem; 
Morgan's  Raid;  Confederate  Raids  in  the  State;  Cornology  of  Military 
Events;  Roster  of  Soldiers  of  Braxton  County,  both  Union  and  Confederate; 
Civil  War  incidents  and  Tragedies. 

We  cannot  read  the  speech  delivered  by  President  Lincoln  at  Gettysburg 
without  entertaining  the  belief  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  men ;  and 
when  we  read  Mr.  Bryan's  oration  ,we  class  it  as  one  of  the  great  productions 
of  the  human  mind  and  a  solace  to  the  Christian  world.  Again  we  read  a  gem 
from  the  pen  of  that  brilliant  statesman  and  gifted  orator,  the  late  John  J. 
Ingall,  when  he  portrays  in  the  richest  language  the  equality  of  all  things 
earthly  at  the  grave,  and  another  little  gem  called,  "Opportunity." 

We  publish  these  together  that  the  wayfaring  man,  the  student  and  the 
philosopher  may  read  for  himself  and  feel  an  inspiration  that  might  lift  him 
to  a  higher  plane: 


WILLIAM    J.  BRYAN,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,   JOHN  J.   INGALL 


160 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


■  'To  every  created  thing  God 
has  given  a  tongue  that  pro- 
claims   a   resurrection. 

"If  the  Father  deigns  to  touch 
with  divine  power  the  cold  and 
pulseless  heart  of  the  buried 
acorn  and  to  make  it  burst  forth 
from  its  prison  walls,  will  He 
leave  neglected  in  the  earth  the 
soul  of  man,  made  in  the  image 
of  his  Creator?  If  He  stoops  to 
give  to  the  rose  bush,  whose 
withered  blossoms  float  upon  thf 
Autumn  breeze  the  sweet  assur- 
ance of  another  springtime,  will 
he  refuse  the  words  of  hope  to 
the  sons  of  men  when  the  frosts 
of  winter  come?  If  matter,  mute 
and  inanimate,  though  changed 
by  the  forces  of  nature  into  a 
multitude  of  ftfrms,  can  never 
die,  will  the  spirit  of  man  suffer 
annihilation  when  it  has  paid  a 
brief  visit  like  a  royal  guest  to 
this  tenement  of  clay?  No,  I  am 
as  sure  that  there  is  another  life 
as    I    am    that   I    live   today  ! 

"In  Cairo,  I  secured  a  few 
grains  of  wheat  that  had  slum- 
bered for  more  than  three  thous- 
and years  in  an  Egyptian  tomb. 
As  I  looked  at  them,  this  thought 
came  into  my  mind:  If  one  of 
those  grains  had  been  planted  on 
the  hanks  of  the  Nile  the  year 
after  it  grew,  and  all  its  lineal 
descendants  planted  and  replanted 
from  that  time  until  now,  its 
progeny  would  today  be  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  feed  the  teem- 
ing millions  of  the  world.  There 
is  in  the  grain  of  wheat  an  in- 
visible something  which  has  power 
to  discard  the  body  that  we  see, 
and  from  earth  and  air  fashion 
a  new  body  so  much  like  the  old 
one  that  we  cannot'  tell  one  from 
the  other.  If  this  invisible  germ 
of  life  in  the  grain  of  wheat  can 
thus  pass  unimpaired  through 
three  thousand  resurrections,  I 
shall  not  doubt  that  my  soul  has 
power  to  clothe  itself  jvvith  a 
body  suited  to  its  new  existence 
when  this  earthly  frame  has 
crumbled    into    dust." 


"Fourscore-and-seven  years  ago 
our  fathers  brought  forth  on  this 
continent  a  new  nation,  conceived 
in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the 
proposition  that  all  men  are  cre- 
ated  equal. 

"Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great 
civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedi- 
cated, can  long  endure.  "We  are 
met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that 
war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a 
portion  of  that  field  as  a  final 
resting  place  for  those  who  here 
gave  their  lives  that  that  nation 
might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  should  do 
this. 

"But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we 
cannot  dedicate — we  cannot  con- 
secrate— we  cannot  hallow — this 
ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here, 
have  consecrated  it,  far  above  our 
power  to  add  or  to  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note  nor'  long 
remember  what  we  say  here,  but 
it  can  never  forget  what  they  did 
here.  It  is  for  us  the  living, 
rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the 
unfinished  work  which  they  who 
fought  here  have  thus  far  so  no- 
bly advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us 
to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great 
task  remaining  before  us — that, 
from  these  honored  dead  we  take 
increased  devotion — that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead 
shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that 
this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have 
a  new  birth  of  freedom — and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish    from    the    earth." 


"In  the  democracy  of  the  dead 
all  men  at  last  are  equal.  There 
is  neither  rank,  station  or  pre- 
rogative in  the  republic  of  the 
grave.  At  this  fatal  threshold  the 
philosopher  ceases  to  be  wise  and 
the  song  of  the  poet  is  silent. 
Dives  relinquishes  his  millions 
and  Lazarus  his  rags.  The  poor 
man  is  as  rich  as  the  richest,  and 
the  rich  man  as  poor  as  the  pau- 
per. The  creditor  loses  his  usury 
and  the  debtor  is  acquitted  of  his 
obligation.  There  the  proud  man 
surrenders  his  dignities,  the  poli- 
tician his  honors,  the  worldling 
his  pleasures,  the  invalid  needs 
no  physician,  and  <thte  laborejr 
rests  from  unrequited  toil.  Her* 
at  last  is  Nature's  final  decree  in 
equity.  The  strongest  there  has 
no  physician,  and  the  weakest 
needs  no  defense.  The  mightiest 
captain  succumbs  to  the  invinci- 
ble adversary,  who  disarms  alike 
the  victor  and  (he  vanquished." 


OPPORTUNITY 

Master   of   human   destinies   am   I, 
Fame,     love    and    fortune    on    my 

footsteps    wait  ; 
Cities   and   fields   I   walk ;    I   pene- 
trate 

Deserts     and     seas    gemote,     and, 
passing    by 

Hovel,  and  mart:  and  palace,  soon 

or  late, 

I    knock,    unbidden,    once    at   every 

gate. 
If  sleeping,  wake  ;  if  feasting,  rise 

before 
I    turu    away.       It    is    the    hour    of 

fate 
A  ad    they    who    follow    me    reach 

every   state 

Mortals   desire    and    conquer   every 

foe 
Save    death  ;    but    those    who    hesi- 

atate. 
Condemned  to   failure,   penury   and 

woe, 
Seek    me    in     vain    and     uselessly 

implore  ; 
I    answer    not    and    I    return    no 

more. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKV.  161 

VIRGINIA    IN    THE    REVOLUTIONARY    WAR. 

In  regard  to  the  Militia,  very  little  is  known,  and  that  little  is  extremely 
fragmentary. 

In  1776,  the  available  militia  in  Virginia  is  thought  to  have  been  about 
45,000  men;  probably  it  was  never  less  than  40,000,  of  whom  possibly  one-fourth 
saw  real  service.  Other  states  have  counted  their  militia  in  the  strength  which 
they  gave  to  the  .Revolutionary  cause.  For  the  lack  of  data,  Virginia  has  not 
received  credit  on  this  score.  The  reports  of  Secretary-of-War  Knox  fail  to 
do  justice  to  Virginia  along  this  line.  The  figures  given  by  him  are  mere 
estimates. 

In  1776,  a  large  number  of  Virginians  were  in  the  field  against  Dunmore. 
Some  went  to  the  relief  of  North  Carolina  and  others  were  in  the  Cherokee  Ex- 
pedition in  the  West. 

In  1778,  Virginia  had  a  number  of  militia  in  the  operations  in  the  West 
and  for  defense  along  the  frontiers. 

In  1779,  Virginia  was  authorized  to  send  militia  to  South  Carolina. 

In  1780,  the  militia  were  out  in  large  numbers. 

In  1781,  700  militia  joined  General  Gates,  some  were  at  King's  Mountain 
and  others  were  serving  around  Norfolk.  In  the  latter  part  of  this  year  Dan'l. 
Morgan  had  some  of  them  serving  in  Green's  Army.  In  1781,  practically  all 
of  the  available  militia  of  Virginia  were  summoned  into  service,  taking  part  in 
the  Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,  serving  with  Lafayette  and  at  the  Siege 
of  Yorktown. 

MILITARY. 

It  is  difficult  after  a  lapse  of  half  a  century  to  give  a  correct  roster  of  the 
soldiers  who  participated  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  as  no  regidar  or  authentic 
records  have  been  kept,  and  owing  to  the  destruction  of  the  records  of  the 
Revolution  by  the  British  in  1812,  but  few  of  the  names  of  the  soldiers  of  that 
war  are  now  known  who  served  from  the  territory  now  embraced  in  West  Vir- 
ginia or  who  may  have  emigrated  to  this  part  of  the  country. 

At  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Brax- 
ton county  belonged  to  the  county  of  Augusta,  and  while  that  grand  old  county 
was  noted  for  its  patriotism  and  the  splendid  soldiers  she  furnished  the  war, 
this  portion  of  the  county  was  yet  in  an  unconquered  wilderness.  It  had 
neither  soldiers,  scouts,  pioneers  nor  hunters.  While  a  few  of  the  old  soldiers 
came  to  the  bounds  of  Braxton  county  after  the  war  and  made  this  their  home 
and  were  buried  here,  yet  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle  there  were  no 
white  inhabitants  nearer  than  the  Monongahela  valley,  extending  as  far  south 
and  west  as  the  present  site  of  Clarksburg,  the  West  Fork  as  far  up  as  Hacker's 
creek  and  the  Buckhannon  settlement. 

The  Pringles  and  Simpsons  came  to  this  territory  about  the  year  1765, 
followed  later  by  the  Jacksons,  Hackers.  Hughs,  Cartrights,  Hefners  and  others. 
These  settlements  were  made  about  ten  years  before  the  Revolutionary  war 
began. 


162  SUTTON'S    HISTORY. 

At  the  time  of  the  war  of  1812,  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Braxton 
county  belonged  to  the  counties  of  Harrison  and  Kanawha,  and  was  very  sparse- 
ly settled,  and  we  have  no  account  of  any  organization  being  made  up  from  this 
section. 

We  have  received  a  few  names  of  soldiers,  either  residents  at  the  time  or 
became  so  later.  Andrew  Skidmore,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution  was  buried  in 
the  Skidmore  cemetery  at  Sutton;  his  grave  is  marked  by  a  plain  cut  stone. 
Martin  Delany,  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  served  in  Penna.  line,  died  near  the 
mouth  of  Birch  river  in  1837.  Joseph  Carpenter,  buried  on  the  Westfork  of 
Little  Kanawha  river.  Jacob  Fisher  of  Hardy  county,  Virginia,  lived  with 
William  Cutlip  on  Holly  river  in  1840 ;  was  a  pensioner  of  the  Revolution. 
Jeremiah  Carpenter,  buried  at  Union  Mills.  Benjamin  Carpenter  was  buried 
at  the  mouth  of  Holly  river. 

SOLDIERS  OP  THE  WAR  OP  1812. 

Nicholas  Gibson,  Jacob  Rose,  buried  on  Birch,  Peter  Cogar,  buried  on  Elk 
river,  John  Shawver,  buried  at  High  Knob,  was  a  pensioner,  Isaac  Gregory, 
William  Hamric,  Benjamin  Hamric,  they  were  likely  buried  in  Webster  county, 
John  Kyer,  Jacob  Cogar,  Daniel  Matheny,  Thomas  Cogar,  George  McElwaine, 
buried  on  Laurel  creek,  James  Miller,  Thomas  Belknap,  Robert  Chenoweth, 
Elijah  Squires,  buried  at  Platwoods,  Lewis  Berry,  buried  on  Kanawha,  Andrew 
Skidmore,  buried  on  Elk,  Jesse  Carico,  Jesse  Clifton,  buried  on  Holly,  Andrew 
P.  Friend,  buried  on  Elk,  Samuel  Skidmore,  buried  at  Union  Mills,  Jesse  Cun- 
ningham, buried  on  the  waters  of  the  Westfork,  John  D.  Sutton,  who  was  ap- 
pointed Adjutant  of  a  regiment  at  Norfork,  buried  at  Sutton,  James  P.  Carr, 
buried  near  Belf ont ;  his  father  James  P.  Carr  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution 
and  was  buried  in  Greenbrier  county,  Virginia. 

In  the  Mexican  war  we  find  the  names  of  Edga,r  Haymond  and  his  brother 
Alfred  from  Braxton  county,  enlisting  in  the  11th  U.  S.  Infantry.  Alfred  died 
while  in  the  service,  and  Edgar  shortly  after  his  return.  Ballard  Wyatt  aud 
Elwin  Morrison,  Jacob  and  Isaac  Evans  enlisted,  but  their  regiment  was  not 
called  into  service. 

MILITARY. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  when  a  young  and  stal- 
wart Nation  looked  upon  her  heroes  and  national  defenders  with  admiration 
and  delight.  The  men  who  fought  at  Lexington  and  Concord  and  whose  suffer- 
ings at  Valley  Forge  were  unequalled  and  had  no  parallel  in  the  annals  of  war- 
fare, were  the  heroes  wherever  the  people  gathered  together. 

These  men  who  made  our  free  government  a  possibility,  passed  away  one  by 
one,  while  a  grateful  people  cast  flowers  in  their  pathway  and  wept  at  their 
departure. 

A  half  century  ago  a  great  army  was  made  necessary  to  preserve  what  they 
had  gained.  Through  four  years  of  battle,  the  severest  of  the  world's  history; 
through  swamps  and  prison  pens,  these  men  endured  that  the  flag  might  nob 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  163 

perish  from  the  earth.  But  time  is  doing  her  work.  The  ranks  are  being  thin- 
ned. Fifty  years  of  toil,  of  wound  and  disease  have  transformed  the  once  young, 
strong  and  powerful  to  the  deerepid  and  aged.  Once  these  tottering  veterans 
whom  we  now  see,  marched  like  giants  to  the  battle.  Their  hearts  swelled  with 
emotion  when  the  drum  beat  and  the  flag  was  unfurled. 

A  few  more  years,  and  these  grand  old  men  will  not  be  in  our  midst.    As 
they  pass  by,  let  us  take  off  our  hats  for  they  are  ' '  heroes  forever. ' ' 

WEST  VIRGINIA  IN  THE  REVOLUTION. 

The  territory  of  the  present  State  of  West  Virginia  was  not  invaded  by 
a  British  army,  except  one  company  of  forty,  within  the  war  for  American  in- 
dependence. Its  remote  position  made  it  safe  from  attack  from  the  east ;  but 
this  very  remoteness  rendered  it  doubly  liable  to  invasion  from  the  west  where 
Great  Britain  had  made  allies  of  the  Indians,  and  had  armed  and  supplied 
them,  and  had  sent  them  against  the  frontiers  from  Canada  to  Georgia,  with 
full  license  to  kill  man,  woman  and  child.  No  other  part  of  America  suffered 
more  from  the  savages  than  West  Virginia.  Great  Britain's  purpose  in  employ- 
ing Indians  on  the  frontiers  was  to  harass  the  remote  country,  and  not  only 
keep  at  home  all  the  inhabitants  for  defense  of  their  settlements,  but  also  to 
make  it  necessary  that  soldiers  be  sent  to  the  west  who  otherwise  might  be  em- 
ployed in  opposing  the  British  near  the  sea  coast.  Notwithstanding  West  Vir- 
ginia's exposed  frontier  on  the  west,  it  sent  many  soldiers  to  the  Continental 
Army.  West  Virginians  were  on  almost  every  .battlefield  of  the  Revolution. 
The  portion  of  the  State  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  now  forming  Jefferson,  Berke- 
ley, Morgan,  Hampshire,  Hardy,  Grant,  Mineral  and  Pendleton  counties,  was 
not  invaded  by  Indians  within  the  Revolution,  and  from  this  region  large  num- 
bers of  soldiers  joined  the  armies  under  Washington,  Gates,  Greene  and  other 
patriots. 

As  early  as  November  5,  1774,  an  important  meeting  was  held  by  West 
Virginians  in  which  they  clearly  indicated  under  which  banner  they  would  be 
found  fighting,  if  Great  Britain  persisted  in  her  course  of  oppression.  This  was 
the  first  meeting  of  the  kind  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  few  similar  meetings 
had  then  been  held  anywhere.  It  occurred  within  the  return  of  Dunmore's 
Army  from  Ohio,  twenty-five  days  after  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant.  The 
soldiers  had  heard  of  the  danger  of  war  with  England,  and,  although  they  were 
under  the  command  of  Dunmore.  a  royal  Governor,  they  were  not  afraid  to 
let  the  country  know  that  neither  a  royal  Governor  nor  any  one  else  could 
c-Tverve  them  from  their  duty  as  patriots  and  lovers  of  liberty.  The  meeting  was 
held  at  Fort  Gower,  north  of  the  Ohio  river.  The  soldiers  passed  resolutions 
which  had  the  right  ring.  They  recited  that  they  were  willing  and  able  to  bear 
all  hardships  of  the  woods;  to  get  along  for  weeks  without  bread  or  salt,  if 
necessary;  to  sleep  in  the  open  air;  to  dress  in  skins  if  nothing  else  could  be 
had;  to  march  further  in  a  day  than  any  other  men  in  the  world;  to  use  the 
rifle  with  skill  and  with  bravery.    They  affirmed  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  right, 


164  SUTTON'S    HISTORY. 

and  promised  continued  allegiance  to  the  King  of  England,  provided  he  would 
reign  over  them  as  a  brave  and  free  people.  "But,"  they  continued,  "as  at- 
tachment to  the  real  interests  and  just  rights  of  America  outweighed  every 
other  consideration,  we  resolve  that  we  will  exert  every  power  within  us  for 
the  defence  of  American  liberty,  when  regularly  called  forth  by  the  unani- 
mous voice  of  our  countrymen. ' '  It  was  such  spirit  as  this,  manifested  on  every 
occasion  during  the  Revolution,  which  prompted  "Washington  in  the  darkest 
year  of  the  war  to  exclaim  that  if  driven  from  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  he  would 
retire  west  of  the  mountains  and  there  raise  the  standard  of  liberty  and  bid  de- 
fiance to  the  armies  of  Great  Britain. 

At  two  meetings  held  May  16,  1775,  one  at  Fort  Pitt,  the  other  at  Hamias- 
town,  several  West  Virginians  were  present  and  took  part  in  the  proceedings. 
Resolutions  were  passed  by  which  the  people  west  of  the  mountains  pledged 
their  support  to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  expressed  their  purpose  of  re- 
sisting the  tyranny  of  the  mother  country.  In  1775,  a  number  of  men  from  the 
valley  of  the  Monongahela  joined  Washington's  army  before  Boston.  The 
number  of  soldiers  who  went  forward  from  the  eastern  pai't  of  the  State  was 
large. 

THE   BATTLE   OF  POINT  PLEASANT. 

The  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  fought  on  Oct.  10,  1774,  between  the  Vir- 
ginia soldiers  under  Gen.  Andrew  Lewis  of  Augusta  county,  Va.,  and  the 
United  Indian  tribes,  commanded  by  the  celebi*ated  chief,  Cornstock,  is  but 
slightly  understood,  owing  to  the  meager  reports  that  have  been  handed  down 
to  posterity.  A  few  brief  accounts,  meager  in  their  details,  written  by  some  of 
the  officers  at  the  time,  is  the  basis  of  what  information  has  been  perpetuated 
in  history.  It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  the  country  or  the  outside  world 
appreciated  the  wonderful  importance  of  the  results  of  that  battle.  It  was  the 
last  battle  fought  under  the  Colonial  government,  and  the  first  test  made  by 
the  Virginia  frontiersmen  against  an  intrepid  foe.  The  flower  of  the  citizenship 
of  the  mountains,  men  inured  to  hardships  and  trained  to  the  use  of  the  rifle 
from  infancy,  men  who  knew  no  fear,  who  could  picture  the  consequences  to 
the  country  on  the  frontier  if  the  brave  Virginians  had  been  slaughtered  as  it 
was  the  design  of  the  enemy  to  do,  if  the  savage  army  of  the  Chickasaw  plains 
had  been  turned  loose  on  the  defenceless  inhabitants  of  the  country,  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains  would  have  been  no  barrier  to  their  depredations,  and  this 
catastrophe  was  averted  only  by  the  fact  that  two  soldiers  of  Gen.  Lewis'  army 
went  out  in  the  early  morning  to  hunt  for  deer,  and  discovered  the  enemy.  If 
the  army  had  been  taken  wholly  by  surprise  and  destroyed,  the  censure  of  the 
commander  would  have  been  greater  than  that  which  befell  Braddock  in  his 
great  disaster. 

Gen.  Lewis,  brave  soldier  that  he  was,  allowed  his  army  to  quietly  repose 
in  slumber  in  a  hostile  land,  without  an  advance  picket  or  a  scout  to  give  warn- 
ing of  danger.  We  are  told  that  on  the  evening  before  the  battle  that  his  scouts 
reported  (';;:!  (here  was  not  an  Indian  within  fifty  miles  of  the  camp,  but  that 


SUTTON'S     HISTOBY.^  165 

was  not  assuring,  for  if  the  scouts  had  been  fifty  miles  in  the  army's  front,  and 
saw  no  enemy,  it  was  no  evidence  that  the  Indian  being  as  fleet  and  intrepid 
as  themselves,  couldn't  reach  the  camp  as  soon  as  they  could.  The  circum- 
stances bear  out  the  belief  that  Gen.  Lewis  did  not  use  the  necessary  precaution 
in  the  very  midst  of  the' enemy's  land.  Captain  John  Stewart  says  that  two 
young  men  were  sent  out  early  to  hunt  deer  and  met  the  enemy  two  or  three 
miles  up  the  river.  He  gives  their  names  as  Joseph  Hughy  of  Captain  Shelby's 
company  and  James  Mooney  of  Russel's.  Haywood,  the  historian  of  Tennes- 
ese,  says  that  those  who  discovered  the  Indians  were  James  Robertson  ,and  Val- 
entine Servier,  Sergeants  in  Captain  Evan  Shelby's  company.  Captain  Shelby 
says  that  on  Monday  morning  about  a  half  hour  before  sunrise,  two  of  Cap- 
tain Russel's  company  discovered  a  large  body  of  Indians  about  a  mile  from 
camp,  one  of  which  scouts  was  shot  down,  and  the  other  made  his  escape  and 
brought  the  intelligence.  We  find  some  discrepency  here  as  to  the  names  of 
the  parties  sem  out  who  discovered  the  enemy,  the  companies  to  which  they  be- 
longed, and  the  distance  the  enemy  was  from  General  Lewis'  camp.  In  all 
that  has  been  recorded  in  reference  to  this  battle,  no  account  is  made  of  either 
pickets  .or  scouts  on  the  morning  of  the  battle,  whether  General  Lewis  over- 
looked the  importance  of  the  situation  or  felt  over-confident  in  the  strength  of 
his  command  the  student  of  that  occasion  may  judge.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind 
that  every  victory  in  battle  has  to  have  a  hero.  We  think  that  in  this  case  ample 
justice  has  been  done  General  Lewis,  while  but  few  lines  have  been  written  in 
commendation  of  any  other  officer  or  even  the  rank  and  file  in  that  great  battle. 
It  is  said  in  the  account  given  of  the  battle  in  Lewis'  History  that  Captain 
George  Matthews,  John  Stewai't  and  Evan  Shelby  were  called  from  the  front 
and  sent  up  Crooked  creek,  and  got  in  the  rear  of  the  Indians;  but  traditional 
history  does  not  say  this.  Captain  Arbuckle  of  Greenbrier  county,  one  of  the 
most  capable  and  renowned  Indian  fighters  in  that  expedition,  was  always 
said  by  the  old  soldiers  to  be  the  one  who  conceived  the  idea,  and  the  man  who 
led  a  company  of  volunteers  and  executed  that  great  strategic  movement.  Cap- 
tain John  Skidmore  who  was  on  the  right  wing  of  the  army,  being  next  to  the 
Kanawha  river,  told  Archibald  Taylor  and  others  that  the  army  was  being  so 
hotly  pressed  that  Captain  Arbuckle  called  for  volunteers  to  follow  him,  and 
that  they  jumped  over  Crooked  creek  at.  its  mouth  and  kept  under  cover  of  the 
high  bank  of  the  Kanawha  until  they  got  in  the  rear  of  the  Indians,  then  at- 
tacked them. 

Andrew  Skidmore,  brother  of  Captain  Skidmore,  gave  Felix  Sutton  the 
same  account  of  the  battle,  and  he  related  that  Arbuckle  called  to  all  men  who 
were  not  cowards  to  follow  him.  Jeremiah  Carpenter  who  belonged  to  Captain 
John  Lewis'  Company,  told  his  sons,  grandsons,  and  others,  some  of  whom  are 
yet  living,  that  they  were  being  hotly  persued  when  Captain  Skidmore  was 
shot  in  the  thigh  and  fell.  His  company  gave  way,  and  he  called  to  his  men 
to  stand  by  him,  that  he  was  not  dead,  and  just  as  the  company  made  a  charge 
to  secure  their  wounded  captain,  Arbuckle 's  flanking  company  opened  fire  and 
the  Indians  gave  way.     This  is  traditional  history.     That  it  came  down  from 


166  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

these  men  substantially  as  we  have  written  it,  there  is  not  the  least  shadow  of 
doubt.  Captain  Skidmore,  as  before  stated,  was  on  the  right  wing  of  the  army 
commanded  by  Colonel  Chas.  Lewis.  Andrew  Skidmore  was  wounded  in  the 
battle,  and  Jeremiah  Carpenter  was  onee  a  captive,  being  with  the  Indians  nine 
years,  and  there  undoubtedly  was  no  other  man  in  that  battle  more  alert,  or 
observed  with  keener  interest  the  various  movements,  than  the  brave  and  fear- 
less Carpenter.  These  three  men  told  the  same  story.  Captain  Skidmore  was 
from  Rockingham  county,  Va.,  Andrew  Skidmore  was  from  Randolph  county, 
Va.,  and  Carpenter's  home  was  near  the  big  bend  on  Jackson's  river  in  Vir- 
ginia. Captain  Taylor,  in  his  work  on  the  Aborigines  of  America,  says  that: 
''A  tradition  is  a  verbal  account  of  transactions  handed  down  from  father 
to  son,  through  successvie  generations,  and  where  strict  harmony  of  statements 
respecting  a  date,  an  event  or  a  condition  is  arrived  at  through  various  and  oppo- 
site channels,  we  are  fully  justified  and  authorized  by  the  rales  of  evidence  in 
giving  it  the  prominence  and  weight  of  a  fact;  as,  to  throw  aside  as  spurious 
all  the  traditional  history  of  this  world  Avould  be  to  sever  at  one  stroke  more 
than  one-half  of  our  knowledge  respecting  the  past.  Moses  was  the  first,  sacred 
writer  and  true  historian  of  his  time,  and  to  inform  us  of  the  creation  of  the 
world  and  following  events  down  to  his  own  time,  he  used  more  than  two  thous- 
and five  hundred  years  of  traditional  history.  And  as  to  profane  history, 
should  we  use  nothing  but  written  records,  we  at  once  lose  three  thousand,  two 
hundred  fifty  years  of  adopted  history  during  the  most  eventful  periods  in  the 
life  of  mankind,  as  all  knowledge  previous  to  750  B.  C,  is  termed  mythical  by 
the  interpreters  of  historical  textbooks." 

Now,  let  us  compare  the  accounts  given  of  tbe  battle  by  Isaac  Shelby  who 
was  a  Lieutenant  in  Captain  Evan  Shelby's  company.  This  account  was  writ- 
ten six  days  after  the  battle.  He  says  that  General  Lewis  being  informed  of 
the  presence  of  the  Indians,  ordered .  Colonel  Chas.  Lewis  to  take  command  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  Augusta  troops,  and  with  him  went  Captain  Dick- 
ison,  Captain  Harrison,  Captain  Wilson,  Captain  John  Lewis  of  Augusta  and 
Captain  Lockridge  which  was  the  last  division.  Colonel  Fleming  was  also  or- 
dered to  take  the  command  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  more  of  the  Botetourt,  Bed- 
ford and  Fincastle  troops,  viz:  Captain  Thos.  Bedford  from  Bedford,  Captain 
Love  of  Botetourt,  Captain  Sheldon  and  Captain  Russel  of  Fincastle,  which 
made  the  second  division. 

After  giving  these  fonnations,  he  says  among  other  things  in  his  account 
of  the  battle  that  shortly  the  line  was  reinforced  from  the  camp  by  Colonel 
Field  with  his  company,  together  with  Captain  McDowell,  Captain  Matthews, 
Captain  Stewart  from  Augusta,  Captain  John  Lewis,  Captain  Pauling.  Captain 
Arbuckle  and  Captain  McClennehan  from  Botetourt.  And  in  closing  his  de- 
scription of  the  battle,  says  the  line  of  battle  was  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in 
length  and  had  sustained  until  then,  a  constant  and  equal  weight  of  action  from 
wing  to  wing.  It  was  still  about  half  an  hour  of  sunset,  they  continued  firing 
on  us,  scattering  shots,  and  at  last  night  coming  on,  they  found  a  safe  retreat. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  167 

In  this  account,  Captain  Shelby  gives  no  account  of  any  flank  movement  being 
made. 

Colonel  Wm.  Fleming's  orderly  book  has  the  following  account  of  the  bat- 
etl.  This  was  written  on  Oct.  10,  1774,  the  day  of  the  battle.  We  will  give 
only  what  he  says  in  reference  to  the  formation  of  the  army.  "The  right 
column  headed  by  Colonel  Chas.  Lewis,  with  Captains  Dickison,  Harrison  and 
Skidmore,  the  left  column  commanded  by  Colonel  Fleming,  with  Captains 
Shelby,  Russel,  Love  and  Bedford."  Now,  this  formation  is  entirely  different 
from  the  one  given  by  Lieutenant  Shelby.  Colonel  Fleming  continues  in  closing 
by  saying  that  about  three  or  four  o'clock  the  enemy  growing  quite  despirited, 
and  all  attempts  of  their  warriors  to  rally  them,  proving  vain,  they  carried  off 
their  dead  and  wounded,  giving  us  now  and  then  a  shot  to  prevent  a  pursuit 
so  that  about  an  hour  by  sun  we  were  in  full  possession  of  the  field.  However. 
he  gives  no  account  of  any  flank  movement. 

Captain  John  Stewart,  nephew  by  marriage  to  General  Andrew  Lewis,  in 
his  account  of  the  battle,  says  that  the  troops  ordered  out  under  Colonel  Lewis 
and  Colonel  Fleming  were  composed  of  the  companies  commanded  by  the  oldest 
captain,  and  the  junior  captains  were  ordered  to  stay  in  camp,  and  aid  the  others 
as  occasion  might  require.  The  lines  marched  out  and  met  the  Indians  about 
four  hundred  yards  from  our  camp,  and  in  sight  of  the  guards.  After  further 
describing  the  battle,  he  says  that  the  Indians  formed  a  line  behind  logs  and 
trees  across  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  to  the  banks  of  the  Kanawha,  and  kept  up. 
their  fire  until  sundown.  General  Lewis  now  knew  that  if  the  battle  was  not 
ended  before  darkness  settled  down  upon  the  field,  it  would  be  a  night  of  mas- 
sacre, or  the  morrow  a  day  of  great  doubt.  He  resolved  to  throw  a  body  of  men 
in  the  rear  of  the  Indian  army,  and  accordingly  sent  three  of  the  most  renowned 
companies  on  the  field  to  execute  the  movement.  They  were  those  of  Captains 
George  Matthews,  John  Stewart  and  Evan  Shelby.  They  were  called  from  the 
front  to  a  point  where  the  two  rivers  meet,  and  there  proceeded  under  cover  of 
the  bank  of  the  great  Kanawha  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  mouth  of 
Crooked  creek,  and  along  the  bed  of  its  torturous  course  to  their  destination. 

In  reference  to  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  one  is  at  a  loss  to  know  whether 
the  commander  would  allow  his  army  to  slumber  without  pickets  to  apprise 
them  of  danger;  also,  the  statement  that  the  commanding  General  waited  until 
sundown  before  he  conceived  the  idea  of-  a  flanking  party  to  relieve  the  army 
that  was  hotly  pressed  between  two  rivers  and  a  savage  foe.  We  would  not 
detract  one  syllable  from  the  fame  of  these  old  Spartans  because  every  fiber 
of  their  nature  was  heroic,  every  drop  of  their  blood  was  immortal.  We  do 
believe,  however,  that  inadvertantly  the  heroic  Captain  Arbuckle  was  forgotten, 
and  that  the  traditional  account  which  we  have  is  stronger  and  more  authentic 
than  the  statment  which  found  its  way  into  print;  that  three  of  the  most  re- 
nowned companies  were  drawn  from  the  front  on  the  left  wing  at  sundown 
and  marched  to  the  mouth  of  the  two  rivers  which  was  a  mile  distant,  and  UP 
the  Kanawha  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  and  then  up  the  torturous  stream 
of  Crooked  creek,  and  made  an  attack.    No  commander  would  want  to  weaken 


168  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

his  force  by  the  withdrawal  of  three  of  his  best  companies  when  there  was  a 
reserve  force  in  camp,  and  the  further  fact  that  only  a  few  men  could  secrete 
themselves  and  gain  the  rear  of  the  enemy. 

GENERAL  AVERELL'S  GREAT  SALEM  RAID. 

December  3rd.  Averell  moved  from  Keyser  with  Federal  troops  upon  his 
great  Salem  raid,  which  he  concluded  on  Christmas  Day.  He  had  2500  cavalry, 
and  artillery..  It  was  a  momentous  issue.  General  Burnsides  was  besieged  at 
Knoxville,  Tennessee,  by  General  Longstreet,  and  it  was  feared  that  no  re- 
inforcements could  reach  Burnsides  in  time  to  save  him.  The  only  hope  lay 
in  cutting  Longstreet's  line  of  supplies  and  compelling  him  to  raise  the  siege. 
This  was  the  railroad  from  Richmond  to  Knoxville,  passing  through  at  Salem, 
sixty  miles  west  of  Lynchburg.  Averell  was  ordered  to  cut  this  road  at  Salem, 
no  matter  what  the  result  to  his  army.  He  must  do  it,  even  if  he  lost  every  man 
he  had  in  the  execution  of  his  work.  An  army  of  2500  could  be  sacrificed  to 
save  Burnsides'  larger  army.  With  his  veteran  cavalry,  mostly  West  Vir- 
ginians, and  equal  to  the  best  the  world  ever  saw,  Averell  left  Keyser  December 
8,  1863,  and  moved  through  Petersburg,  Monterey,  Back  Creek,  Gatewood's 
Callighan's,  Sweet  Sulphur  Springs  Valley,  Newcastle  to  Salem,  almost  as 
straight  as  an  arrow,  for  much  of  the  way  following  a  route  nearly  parallel 
with  the  summit  of  the  Alleghanies.  Four  Confederate  armies,  any  of  them 
larger  than  his,  lay  between  him  and  Salem,  and  to  the  number  of  12,000  they 
marched,  counter-marched,  and  maneuvered  to  effect  his  capture.  Still,  eight 
days  he  rode  toward  Salem  in  terrible  storms,  fording  and  swimming  overflow- 
ing mountain  streams,  crossing  mountains  and  pursuing  ravines  by  night  and 
by  day,  and  on  December  16th,  he  struck  Salem,  and  the  blow  was  felt  through- 
out the  Southern  Confederacy.  The  last  halt  on  the  downward  march  was 
made  at  Sweet  Sulphur  valley.  The  horses  were  fed  and  the  soldiers  made  cof- 
fee and  rested  two  hours.  Then  at  one  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  December 
15th,  they  mounted  for  the  dash  into  Salem. 

From  the  top  of  Sweet  Springs  Mountain  a  splendid  view  was  opened  be- 
fore them.  Averell,  in  his  official  report,  speaks  of  it  thus:  ''Seventy  miles 
to  the  eastward,  the  Peaks  of  Otter  reared  their  summits  above  the  Blue  Ridge, 
and  all  the  space  between  was  filled  with  a  billowing  ocean  of  hills  and  moun- 
tains, while  behind  us  the  great  Alleghenies,  coming  from  north  with  the  gran- 
deur of  innumerable  tints,  swept  past  and  faded  in  the  southern  horizon." 
Newcastle  was  passed  during  the  night.  Averell's  advance  guard  were  mounted 
on  fleet  horses  and  carried  repeating  rifles.  They  allowed  no  one  to  go  ahead 
of  them.  They  captured  a  squad  of  Confederates  now  and  then,  and  learned 
from  these  that  Averell's  advance  was  as  yet  unsuspected  in  that  quarter.  It 
was,  however,  known  at  that  time  at  Lynchburg  and  Richmond,  but  it  was  not 
known  at  what  point  he  was  strildng.  Valuable  military  stores  were  at  Salem, 
and  at  that  very  time  a  train-load  of  soldiers  was  hurrying  up  from  Lynchburg 
to  guard  the  place.    When  within  four  miles  of  Salem  a  troop  of  Confederates 


SUTTON'S    EISTOBY.  169 

were  captured.  They  had  come  out  to  see  whether  they  could  learn  anything 
of  Averell,  and  from  them  it  was  ascertained  that  the  soldiers  from  Lynchburg 
were  hourly  expected  at  Salem.  This  was  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  De- 
cember 16th.  Averell 's  men  had  ridden  twenty  hours  without  rest.  Averell 
saw  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost.  From  this  point  it  became  a  race  between 
Averell 's  cavalry  and  the  Lynchburg  train  loaded  with  Confederates,  each  try- 
ing to  reach  Salem  first.  The  whistling  of  the.  engine  in  the  distance  was  heard, 
and  Averell  saw  that  he  would  be  too  late  if  he  advanced  with  his  whole  force. 
So  he  set  forward  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  horsemen  and  two  rifled  cannon, 
and  went  into  Salem  on  a  dead  run,  people  on  the  road  and  streets  parting 
right  and  left  to  let  the  squadron  pass.  The  train  loaded  with  Confederates 
was  approaching  the  depot.  Averell  wheeled  a  cannon  into  position  and  fired 
three  times  in  rapid  succession,  the  first  ball  missing,  but  the  next  passing 
through  the.  train  almost  from  end  to  end,  and  the  third  following  close  after. 
The  locomotive  was  uninjured,  and  it  reversed  and  backed  up  the  road  in  a 
hurry,  disappearing  in  the  direction  whence  it  had  come.  Averell  cut  the 
telegraph  wires.  The  work  of  destroying  the  railroad  was  begun.  When  the 
remainder  of  the  force  came  up,  detachments  were  sent  four  miles  east  and 
twelve  miles  west  to  destroy  the  railroad  and  bridges.  The  destruction  was 
complete.  They  burned  100,000  bushels  of  shelled  corn;  100,000  bushels  of 
wheat;  2.000  barrels  of  flour;  50,000  bushels  of  oats;  1,000  sacks  of  salt;  100 
wagons;  large  quantities  of  clothing,  leather,  cotton,,  harness,  shoes;  and  the 
bridges,  bridge-timber,  trestles,  ties,  and  everything  that  would  burn,  even 
twisting  the  rails,  up  and  down  the  railroad  sixteen  miles. 

At  4  p.  m.,  December  16th,  Averell  set  out  upon  his  return.  Confederate 
troops  were  hurrying  from  all  sides  to  cut  him  off.  Generals  Fitzhugh  Lee, 
Jribal  A.  Early,  John  McCausland,  John  Echols  and  W.  H.  Jackson  each  had 
an  army,  and  they  occupied  every  road,  as  they  supposed,  by  which  Averell 
could  escape.  Rain  fell  in  torrents.  Streams  overflowed  their  banks  and  de- 
luged the  country.  The  cavalry  swam,  and  the  cannon  and  caissons  were  hauled 
across  by  ropes  where  horses  could  not  ford.  The  Federals  fought  their  way 
to  James  river,  crossed  it  on  bridges  which  they  burned  in  the  face  of  the 
Confederates,  and  crossed  the  Alleghenies  into  Pocahontas  county  by  a  road 
almost  unknown.  More  than  100  men  were  lost  by  capture  and  drowning  at 
James  River.  The  rains  had  changed'to  snow,  and  the  cold  was  so  intense  that 
cattle  froze  to  death  in  the  fields.  Such  a  storm  had  seldom  or  never  been 
seen  in  the  alleghenies.  The  soldiers'  feet  froze  till  they  could  not  wear  boots. 
They  wrapped  their  feet  in  sacks,  Averell  among  the  rest.  For  sixty  miles 
they  followed  a  road  which  was  one  unbroken  sheet  of  ice.  Horses  fell  and 
crippled  themselves  or  broke  the  riders'  legs.  The  artillery  horses  could  not 
pull  the  cannon,  and  the  soldiers  did  that  work,  100  men  dragging  each  gun 
up  the  mountains.  Going  down  the  mountains  a  tree  was  dragged  behind  each 
cannon  to  hold  it  in  the  road.  The  Confederates  were  hard  in  pursuit,  and 
there  was  fighting  nearly  all  the  way  through  Pocahontas  county,   and  was 


170  SUTTON'S     liJSTOEY 

carried  by  train  to  Martinsburg.     Averel]  lost  119  men  on  the  expedition,  one 
ambulance  and  a  few  wagons,  but  no  artillery. 

MORGAN'S  RAID. 

Letter  by  Granville  D.  Hall. 

Recalling  the  list  of  the  membership  of  the  old-time  first  West  Virginia 
Constitutional  Convention  printed  in  your  columns  several  weeks  ago,  I  have  a 
note  today  from  John  D.  Sutton  of  Sutton,  Braxton  county.  West  Virginia, 
mentioning  that  Gustavus  F.  Taylor,  who  was  next  to  the  youngest  of  the 
youngest  group  in  that  convention  "Died  but  a  few  weeks  since."  Mr.  Sutton's 
letter  is  dated  January  11th,  1916.  "So  far  as  I  know,"  Mr.  Sutton  adcLs, 
"Mr.  Taylor  was  the  last  survivor  of  that  convention."  Mr.  Taylor  married  in 
Wheeling,  I  believe,  and  resided  there  some  years  of  his  earlier  life." 

Mr.  John  D.  Sutton,  who  favors  me  with,  this  information,  is  the  son  of 
Felix  Sutton,  who  was  the  founder  and  gave  his  name  to  the  city  of  Sutton,  the 
present  capital  of  Braxton  county.  Felix  Sutton  was  a  member  of  the  first 
West  Virginia  house  of  Delegates  which  met  in  the  Linsly  Institute  June  20th, 
1863,  to  organize  the  then  (very)  new  state  of  West  Virginia.  I  remember 
him  well,  a  man  even  then  foil  of  years  (sixty-one  or  two)  quiet,  unassuming, 
thoughtful,  brainy,  gentle  and  kindly  in  his  intercourse  with  officers  and  col- 
leagues. 

Mr.  John  D.  Sutton  mentions  in  his  letter  that  his  father  joined  a  company 
for  the  protection  of  Wheeling  and  other  towns  against  the  Morgan  raid.  "I 
would  like  very  much,"  he  says,  "if  you  would  give  me  any  information  you 
may  have  in  reference  to  that  company,  its  officers,  etc.  My  recollection  is  that 
the  captain's  name  was  Cramer,  but  am  not  sure.  Father's  discharge  became 
lost.  Any  recollection  of  him  or  his  service,  either  in  the  Legislature  or  in  his 
brief  military  service,  would  be  greatly  appreciated.  Father  died  in  1884., 
in  his  82nd  year." 

It  was  a  ?nemorable  day  when  John  Morgan  was  moving  northward,  in 
eastern  Ohio,  seeking  a  crossing  of  the  river  into  West  Virginia,  and  the  "escape 
to  the  mountains"  vainly  enjoined  on  Lot.  at  Gomorrah  by  the  divine  injunc-- 
tion.  Co'.  Leroy  Kramer  of  Morgantown.  who  became  speaker  of  the  second 
West  Virginia  house,  quickly  became  the  storm  center  around  whom  the  mem- 
bership and  the  officership  of  the  two  houses  quickly  rallied,  upon  report  that 
Morgan  was  seeking  to  cross  at  or  near  Wheeling.  "Col.  Jim"  Wheat,  a 
brigadier  of  militia,  who  ought  to  be  yet  well  remembered  in  Wheeling,  was 
the  superior  in  rank,  to  whom  all  looked  for  information  and  direction.  As  the 
hot,  dusty  day  wore  on,  it  developed  that  Morgan  had  moved  northward;  and 
Hhe  aggregate  legislative  valor  was  later  in  the  afternoon  loaded  into  a  steam- 
boat, with  a  musket  for  each  man  (but  no  visible  "munitions")  and  run  up  to 
Brown's  island  where  rumor  said  Morgan  was  likely  to  attempt  a  crossing.  We 
spent  the  night  on  board  the  boat.    There  was  nothing  to  eat,  and  I  don't  think 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  171 

anybody  thought  it  worth  while  to  be  hungry.    As  I  remember,  my  next  chair 
neighbor  was  Mr.  Lewis  Ruffner  of  Kanawha. 

For  a  long  time  I  carried  the  remembrance  of  a  good  deal  of  the  detail  of 
this  adventure ;  but  it  got  away  from  me  at  last,  and  now  I  can  speak  only  in 
general  terms.  The  company  was  made  up  of  all  the  members  and  officers  of 
both  bouses.  An  old  man  whose  name  I  never  knew,  who  had  been  a  regular 
attendant  in  the  lobby  of  the  house,  went  to  work  after  the  excitement  was  over 
and  made  up  a  list  of  the  company  which  served  under  Captain  Kramer.  Then 
he  prepared  a  form  of  honorable  discharge  for  each  man,  certifying  that  the 
bearer  had  served  his  county  in  time  of  peril,  and  had  this  printed  in  good 
shape  with,  I  think,  a  good  display  of  Eagle  and  Stars  and  Stripes  at  the  top. 
These  he  took  to  Governor  Arthur  I.  Boreman,  the  first  governor  of  the  new 
state,  who  signed  the  discharges ;  and  the  old  father  of  the  scheme  presented 
one  to  each  of  the  heroes  who  had — as  John  Hay  said  of  the  Prairie  Bell — 
' '  Held  her  muzzle  agin  the  bank  till  every  galoot  was  ashore. ' ' 

I  should  mention  that  next  morning,  after  a  rather  restless  night,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  commissariat  became  more  acute,  and  a  party  left  the  boat  to  ex- 
plore the  neighborhood  with  a  view  to  breakfast.  There  was  a  generous  look- 
ing farmhouse  near  the  river,  just  at  the  head  of  Hoiliday's  Cove,  where  the 
party  met  a  warm  welcome  as  soon  as  it  was  found  they  were  not  Morgan's  men. 
At  first  on  their  approach,  the  family  was  much  frightened.  "Big  Bowyer," 
member  of  the  house,  from  Putnam,  walked  at  the  head  of  the  explorers.  He 
was  a  royal  looking  grenadier,  "six  feet  two"  in  his  stockings,  and  wore  a 
tremendous  beard  which  fell  down  to  his  breast;  while  he  had  the  broad  shoul- 
ders which  made  him  a  truly  splendid  specimen  of  physical  (and  martial) 
manhood.  "When  the  family  saw  Bowyer  in  the  lead,  they -thought  he  was  John 
Morgan,  and  gave  themselves  up  for  lost.  When  the  truth  had  been  explained 
to  them,  the  glad  and  generous  family  simply  threw  open  all  the  resources  of 
farm  and  family,  and  told  the  party  to  bring  on  their  men,  and  they  would 
feed  all  that  came.  And  every  one  of  the  hungry  men  who  had  breakfast  there 
that  morning,  if  he  were  alive  to  tell  the  tale,  would  testify  that  this  family 
did  feed  them  up  to  the  handle. 

It  is  one  of  the  many  regrets  a  failing  memory  leaves  that  I  cannot  give 
the  name  of  this  family.  I  knew  the  name  at  the  time  and  carried  it  many 
years,  but  at  last  it  dropped  out.  The  same  is  true  of  a  farmhouse  farther 
down  the  cove  where  the  Kramer  Guards  had  their  dinner.  It  was  the  same 
splendid  hospitality;  and  soon  after  dinner  definite  news  was  received  that  Mor- 
gan and  his  men  had  been  captured  farther  north  in  Columbiana  county. 

To  aid  a  failing  memory  of  the  details  of  this  company,  I  cannot  even 
appeal  to  the  journal  of  the  two  houses  of  legislature,  my  copies  having  been 
lost  many  years  ago.  So  far  as  the  story  is  told,  I  give  you  the  substantial 
truth,  and  regret  the  details  which,  once  familiar,  do  not  respond  to  my  call. 

I  would  hope,  if  such  a  thing  were  probable,  that  there  may  be  some  one 


172  SUTTON'S     HIS  T  O  K  V 

still  living,  within  reach  of  this  publication  who  could  give  other  details.  I 
have  even  forgotten  the  name  of  the  steamboat  which  gave  us  sleeping  accommo- 
dations that  Saturday  night — for  it.  is  my  recollection  the  following  day  was 
Sunday.  GRANVILLE    D.    HALL. 

Glencoe,  111.,  January  13,  1916. 


MAJOR  DUN'S  RAID 

A  raid  made  by  Major  Dun  of  the  Confederate  forces  made  a  feint  to  at- 
tack Sutton.  Major  Henry  H.  Withers  was  commanding  the  Post  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  10th  "West  Virginia  Infantry.  The  Confederates  approached  from 
the  south  side  of  Elk,  and  crossed  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  G-ranny's  creek, 
and  came  in  on  the  rear  of  town.  The  Federal  forces  were  down  in  town,  but 
the  presence  of  the  Confederates  was  discovered  in  time  for  the  Federals  to 
rally  their  forces,  and'  the  Confederates  instead  of  rushing  down  from  the  hill 
bark  of  the  Baxter  residence  in  North  Sutton,  and  occupying  the  breastworks, 
they  took  out  on  the  old  road  that  leads  to  the  Low  gap  on  the  Camden  hill, 
and  thence  up  through  Boling  green  and  upper  Flatwoods,  and  on  through 
Webster  county.  James  M.  Corley  had  loaded  his  goods  in  wagons  and  started 
them  for  Weston,  and  just  as  they  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  they  met  the 
Confederate  forces,  and  they  burned  the  wagons  and  what  goods  they  did  not 
want. 

Major  Withers  took  his  forces  and  struck  the  trail  of  the  enemy  on  the 
hill  above  the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek,  and  kept  the  hillstide  between  the  creek 
and  the  top  of  the- ridge,  and  marched  around  near  the  Camden  Low  gap  and 
stopped  to  reconnoiter,  and  as  we  were  perfectly  familiar  with  the  woods,  the 
Major  asked  the  author  to  go  ahead  and  spy  out  the  enemy.  We  took  through 
the  woods,  and  came  up  with  the  command  who  had  stopped  to  rest  on  the 
hill  between  the  Pike  at  the  Camden  Low  gap  and  the.  Baxter  place.  One  of 
their  soldiers  had  stepped  out  a  little  distance  from  the  camp,  and  we  saw  him 
first,  and  having  the  drop  on  him,  we  ran  him  down  to  the  Pike.  Being  so  proud 
of  our  prisoner,  instead  of  going  back  and  reporting  to  the  Commander  where 
the  enemy  was,  we  doubleqixicked  the  poor  fellow  out  the  pike,  and  finally  met 
two  or  three  Cavalrymen  £>nd  turned  h;m  over.  We  had  no  definite  plan,  out 
suppose  if  we  had  met  no  one,  we  might  have  gone  on  to  Bulltown  or  Weston. 
WTe  did  not  go  back  to  report  \intil  the  Confederates  had  gone  several  miles. 
If  all  the  rest  of  the  command  had  done  as  well  as  we  had,  there  would  have 
been  about  a  man  apiece  for  them.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  prisoner  was 
marked  a  deserter  which  would  have  been  a  great  injiistiee. 

BATTLE  OF  BULLTOWN. 

E.  H.  Cunningham  contributes  the  following  account  of  the  battle  of  Bull- 
town  from  memory,  after  a  period  of  over  fifty  years.     Mr.  Cunningham  was 


SUTTON'S     HISTOBY.  173 

an  eye  witness  of  the  battle.  His  father,  Moses  Cunningham,  lived  less  than  a 
half  mile  from  the  fort,  and  was  wounded  by  a  ball  from  one  of  the  contending 
forces : 

The  battle  of  Bulltown,  "West  Virginia,  was  fought  on  the  Moses  Cun- 
ningham farm  at  Bulltown,  on  October  13,  1863. 

A  part  of  the  Sixth  and  a  part  of  the  Eleventh  W.  Va.  Regiments,  number- 
nig  about  four  hundred  men,  commanded  by  Captain  Wm.  H.  Mattingly  of 
the  Sixth  Regiment,  was  encamped  on  the  Cunningham  farm,  and  had  the  hill 
on  the  northeast  side  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river  overlooking  Bulltown  for- 
tbled.  They  had  bomb-proof  trenches  entirely  around  the  hill.  They  had  no 
cannon,  their  only  weapons  being  shoulder  and  side  arms.  There  was  a  Federal 
out-post  and  winter  quarters ;  but  they  did  not  occupy  it  in  the  summer. 

On  October  13,  1863,  about  four  o'clock  A.  M.,  they  were  attacked  by  Colo- 
nel W.  L.  Jackson,  a  Confederate  commander  with  a  force  of  about  six  hundred 
men;  they  marched  from  the  southeast  through  Webster  county;  the  attacking 
army  divided  at  Falls  Mill,  a  distance  of  three  miles  up  the  river,  and  to  the 
southeast  of  Bulltown  where  Major  Kessler  with  about  half  of  the  command  took 
the  right  wing  and  was  to  attack  the  Federal  intrenchments  from  the  northeast, 
while  Colonel  Jackson  with  the  left  wing  was  to  attack  from  the  southwest. 

Jackson's  position  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  the  Federa'i 
fortification,  and  on  ground  of  almost  exactly  the  same  elevation  as  that  which 
the  Federals  held;  Jackson  held  this  position  throughout  the  battle,  and  did 
not  cross  the  river. 

Jackson  had  one  cannon,  a  Howitzer  which  shot  a  three-pound  shell,  and 
was  carried  on  a  mule  (called  the  Jackass  battery). 

Kessler  and  Jackson  were  to  attack  at  the  same  time,  Jackson  to  fire  his 
cannon  as  a  signal  for  Kessler  to  charge,  but  Kessler  did  not  wait  for  the  sig- 
nal, and  attacked  before  Jackson  arrived  at  bis  designated  position.  The  bat- 
tle continued  at  intervals  until  about  four  o'clock  P.  M.,  when  the  Confederates 
became  worn  and  retreated  southwestward  along  the  Weston  and  Gauley  Bridge 
Pike. 

Seven  Confederates  were  killed  and  four  wounded;  the  wounded  were 
John  Sumpter.  William  Benson  and  Allen  L.  Weese,  privates,  and  Lieutenant 
Norris.  The  retreating  army  took  Weese  with  them,  but  he  died  and  was  buried 
on  Big  Run,  three  miles  from  Bulltown.  Lieutenant  Norris  was  shot  in  the  el- 
bow, and  Avas  cared  for  at  the  home  of  Moses  Cunningham.  William  Benson 
also  had  a  limb  broken,  and  was  cared  for  at  the  home  of  P.  B.  Berry.  As  ,soon 
as  Sumpter  and  Benson  were  able  to  travel,  they  were  taken  to  prison  by  the 
Federals,     (Benson  afterward  became  a  Protestant  preacher.) 

The  seven  Confederates  who  were  killed  were  buried  on  the  battle  field, 
but  in  1889  a  southerner  had  them  removed  and  buried  on  his  farm  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  and  had  a  cut  stone  placed  around  the  grave,  all  being  placed 
in  one  grave. 


174  SUTTON'S     HISTORY 

None  of  the  Federals  were  killed  and  only  two  wounded.  Captain  Mat- 
tingly  was  wounded,  and  the  command  fell  on  Captain  Simpson.  Lieutenant 
Holt  was  also  wounded,  but  neither  wound  was  serious.  Captain  Mattingly 
was  shot  in  a  lower  limb  and  Lieutenant  Holt  was  shot  in  the  top  of  the 
shoulder. 

After  Captain  Simmons  took  command,  the  Confederates  put  up  a  flag  of 
truce  and  sent  a  message  to  Captain  Simpson,  asking  him  to  surrender,  but 
Simpson  answered  back  that  he  would  fight  them  until  Hell  froze  over,  and  if 
he  had  to  retreat  he  would  retreat  on  ice. 

The  retreating  Confederates  encamped  for  the  night  at  Salt  Lick  Bride,  five 
miles  to  the  southwest  of  Built  own.  The  same  night  a  company  of  cavalry  com- 
manded by  major  Howes,  of  the  Fourth  W.  Va.  Cavalry,  marched  from  Weston 
to  Bulltown,  where  they  encamped  for  the  night,  and  on  the  morning  of  October 
14th,  Major  Howes  marched  his  men  to  Salt  Lick  Bridge  to  attack  Jackson. 
Jackson  -was  behind  a  stone  wall  on  the  southwest  side  of  Salt  Lick  creek. 
Howes  did  not  cross  the  creek,  but  after  firing  a  few  shots,  he  returned  with  his 
command  to  Weston,  and  Jackson  marched  toward  Sutton.  No  one  was  killed 
or  wounded  in  this  skirmish  at  Salt  Lick  Bridge.  Jackson  retreated  on  to 
Pocahontas  County. 

A  short  time  after  the  battle,  the  Federals  at  Bulltown  procured  a  cannon 
that  would  shoot  a  six-pound  ball  or  shell. 

CIVIL  WAR. 

West  Virginia  furnished  36,500  soldiers  for  the  Union,  and  about  7,000 
for  the  Confederate  armies.  In  addition  to  these,  there  were  32  companies  of 
troops  in  the  state  service,  some  counties  having  one  company,  some  two.  Their 
duty  was  to  scout,  and  to  protect  the  people  against  guerrillas.  The  majority 
of  them  were  organized  in  1863  and  1864.  These  companies  with  their  captains 
were  as  follows: 

Captain  M.  T.  Haller Barbour  County 

A.   Alltop .1 .....Marion   County 

"         H.  S.  Sayre Doddridge  County 

J.  C.  Wilkinson Lewis  County 

George  C.   Kennedy Jackson   County 

John  Johnson Jackson  County 

William  Logsdon. Wood  County 

"         William  Ellison Calhoun  County 

"         Alexander  Donaldson Roane   County 

Hiram    Chapman Roane    County 

H.   S.   Burns :.Wirt   County 

John    Boggs Pendleton    County 

"         M.  Mallow Pendleton  County 

John  Ball Putnam   County 

J.   L.   Kesling ...Upshur  County 


SUTTON'S,    HISTORY. 


175 


William  R.  Spaulding Wayne  County 

M.  M.  Pierce Preston  County 

William  Gandee. ...Roane   Connty 

Nathaniel  J.  Lambert Tucker  Counuty 

James  A.   Ramsey Nicholas  County 

John  S.  Bond Havdy  County 

William  BartrumL Wayne  Connty 

Ira  G.   Copeley Wayne  County 

William  Turner Raleigh  County 

Sanders  Mullius Wyoming  Coanty 

Robert   Brooks Kanawha  County 

B.  L.  Stephenson Clay  County 

G.  F.  Taylor ....Braxton  County 

W.  T.  Wiant Gilmer  County 

Isaac   Biown Nicholas    County 

Benjamin  R.  Haley Wayne  County 

Sampson   Snyder Randolph   County 


MILITARY. 

Home  Guards  of  '61. 

In  1861,  when  the  Federal  Troops  came  to  Sutton,  Samuel  A.  Rollyson 
organized  a  company  of  Home  Guards.  This  company  was  composed  princi- 
pally of  men  living  in  the  lower  end  of  the  county.  They  were  recognized  by 
the  Federal  authorities,  and  drew  rations  and  arms  from  the  Government.  Cap- 
tain Rollyson  resigned,  and  was  commissioned  First  Lieutenant  of  Company  F, 
10th  W.  Va.  Infantry,  May  29,  1862. 

Michael  Rollyson  organized,  and  was  made  captain  of  the  Home  Guards 
under  the  reorganized  government  of  West  Virginia.  This  company  was  com- 
posed principally  of  the  men  who  had  served  in  the  first  organization.  Cap- 
tain Rollyson  was  commissioned  Dec.  1,  1863,  and  served  until  Aug.  5,  1864. 

The  company  was  re-organized,  and  G.  F.  Taylor  was  commissioned  Cap- 
tain of  the  W.  Va.  Scouts  under  the  laws  of-  West  Virginia  in  1864,  and 
served  until  ,  1865,  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

We  have  been  able  through  the  records  in  the  Department  of  Archives  at 
Charleston,  to  obtain  the  names  of  the  men  who  served  in  one  or  more  of  the 
different  companies  named.  Some  of  Captain  Taylor's  men  served  in  Samuel 
A.  Rollyson 's  company,  and  also  in  Captain  Michael  Rollyson 's  company. 
Quite  a  number  that  composed  the  First  Home  Guards,  volunteered  in  Com- 
pany F,  Tenth  W.  Va.  Volunteer  Infantry.  James  Carr,  a  veteran  of  the  War 
of  1812,  was  a  member  of  Michael  Rollyson 's  company.  Wm.  D.  Rollyson  was 
commissioned  Major  of  Independent  Company  Scouts  in  the  service  of  the 
state  of  W.  Va.,  under  date  of  May  16,  1864,  to  rank  from  May  6,  1864,  under 
general  orders  No.  7. 

The  records  give  in  addition  to  the  commissioned  officers  noted,  the  names 


176  SUTTON'S     HISTOBY 

of  John  S.  Taylor,  Thomas  Dobbins,  Mathias  Gerwig,  Morgan  Simmons,  Henry 
Bender,  Ballard  Kogers,  Isaac  Carr,  Silas  Carr,  John  J.  Meadows  and  Lewis 
Perkins. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  enlisted  men :  Andrew  Boone,  Robert 
Boone,  Solomon  Brady, George  T.  Brock,  John  Buckhannon,  Solomon  Carpen- 
ter, Anderson  Carr,  Francis  Carr,  James  Carr,  James  C.  Carr,  James  P. 
Carr,  John  Carr,  John  C.  Carr,  Silas  Carr,  Michael  Carroll,  John  Carroll, 
Samuel  Caroll,  John  Clark,  John  Crites,  Benjabin  F.  Cutlip,  James  Cutlijj, 
Henry  T.  Davis,  Adam  G.  Dobbins,  George  Dobbins,  James  Dobbins,  Joel  Dob- 
bins, John  M.  Dobbins,  Samuel  P.  Dobbins,  Thomas  Dobbins,  Israel  G.  Engel, 
Jacob  Gerwig,  John  F.  Gerwig,  Mathias  Gerwig,  Jonathan  Green,  Alban  Hall, 
Seth  F.  Hambric,  John  S.  Hannah,  John  W.  Hannah,  Perry  H.  Jarvis,  Jacob 
S.  Keener,  Thomas  B.  McClaughlin,  Jacob  McCoy,  George  McCoy,  Andrew 
McMorrow,  David  P.  McMorrow,  Granville  McMorrow,  Marshall  McMorrow, 
Oliver  H.  McMorrow,  John  S.  McPherson,  Alexander  Meadows,  Allen  Mead- 
ows, John  A.  Meadows,  Robinson  Meadows,  Samuel  E.  Meadows,  Thomas 
Meadows,  Thomas  C.  Meadows,  Thomas  Miller,  William  Mitchell,  William  C. 
Mitchell,  John  J.  Moore,  Isaac  Perkins,  Weadon  Perkins,  Jr.,  William  Perkins, 
Jacob  Riffle,  William  C.  Riffle,  Benjamin  E.  Rider,  William  W.  Rider,  James 
M.  Rose,  Mortimer  Rose,  Shelton  R.  Rose,  Andrew  Rollyson,  Andrew  P.  Roily- 
son,  Charles  M.  Rollyson,  Charles  M.  Rollyson,  Sr.,  Isaac  M.  Rollyson,  James 
Rollyson,  John  Rollyson,  Sr.,  John  Rollyson,  John  H.  Rollyson,  Martin  Rolly- 
osn,  Michael  Rollyson,  Peter  Rollyson,  Samuel  E.  Rollyson,  William  Rollyson, 

Sr.,   Siers,  John  Sears,   Perry   Shock,   Elijah   Tanner,   John  Tanner, 

Joshua  Tanner,  A  .T.  Taylor,  Ward,  Wade,  John  R.  Wade,  John 

E.  Young,  Robert  J.  Young,  Granville  T.  Loyd,  Oliver  McMorrow  and  Andrew 
Carr.  It  will  be  observed  in  the  three  organizations  as  they  appear,  there  were 
fourteen  Rollysons  and  nine  Carrs. 

List  of  the  wounded  of  the  10th  Regt.  W.  Va.  Vol.  Infantry  in  the  battle  of 
Droop  Mountain,  Greenbrier  County,  W.  Va.,  November  6,  1863,  also  remarks. 

James  Pickens,  private,  Co.  A;  gun  shot  wound  through  left  leg,  not 
serious.  , 

Samuel  Swecker,  private,  Co.  A ;  gun  shot  wound  through  left  leg,  very 
serious. 

George  Walton,  private,  Co.  A;  gun  shot  wound  in  knee  joint,  right  side, 
serious. 

Benjamin  Moore,  private,  Co.  C ;  gun  shot  wound  through  right  shoulder, 
serious. 

Isaac  Buckhannon,  private,  Co.  C ;  gun  shot  wound  in  left  hip,  ball  retain- 
ed, serious. 

A.  J.  S.  McDonald,'  private,  Co.  C ;  gun  shot  wound  through  left  forearm, 
not  serious. 

George  Osborn,  coropral,  Co.  C :  gun  shot  wound  through  right  arm, 
serious. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  177 

Franklin  Fisher,  private,  Co.  D ;  gun  shot  wound  right  thigh  middle  third, 
flesh  wound. 

John  Queen,  private,  Co.  D ;  gun  shot  wound  through  left  shoulder,  serious. 

Ezra  M.  Hours,  private,  Co.  D ;  gun  shot  wound  through  right  arm  above 
and  below  elbow,  serious. 

Mortimer  Stalnaker,  sergeant,  Co.  D;  gun  shot  .wound  through  little  finger, 
right  hand. 

John  Forrester,  private,  Co.  E ;  gun  shot  wound  through  left  lung,  serious. 

James  H.  Dodd,  corporal,  Co.  E ;  gun  shot  wound  left  knee  joint,  retained, 
serious. 

Wm.  M.  Barnett,  private,   Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  right  leg  near  knee 
joint,  serious. 

John  Blagg,  private,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  right  ankle  involving  joint, 
serious. 

Newlon  Squires,  private,   Co.  F  ;  gun  shot  wound  top   of  right  shoulder, 
slight. 

E,  B.  Wheeler,  private,  Co.  F;  gun  shot  wound  left  shoulder,  serious. 

Jacob  Riffel,  private,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  left  arm  shatter  humurus, 
serious,  left  behind. 

Silas  M.  Morrison,  private,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  through  both  arms,  not 
serious. 

Addison  "Willson,  private,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  middle,  ring  and  little 
fingers,  first  two  amputated. 

George  C.  Gillespie,  private,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  left  leg,  not  serious. 

Milton  Rollyson,  private,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  left  forearm,  not  serious. 

John  Rollyson,  private,  Co.  G;  gun  shot  wound  middle  finger  right  hand. 
amputated. 

Coleman  Wyant,  private,  Co.  G;  gun  shot  wound  abdomen,  flesh  wound. 

M.  A.  Jeffer,  corporal,  Co.   G ;  gun  shot  wound  left  thigh,  ball  retained, 
serious. 

Nimrod  Weiss,  private,   Co.   II ;   gun  shot   wound  right  side  perforating 
bowels  emerging  near  naval. 

James  M.  Randle,  private,  Co.  H ;  gun  shot  wound  left  thigh  low,  third, 
flesh  wound. 

Killed. 

B.  Curry,  sergeant,  Co.  A;  gun  shot  wound  in  head. 

G.  J.  Shaw,  private,  Co.  A;  gun  shot  wound,  mortally. 

Charles  Bryson,  private,  Co.  D ;  gun  shot  wound  in  head. 

M.  Shriever,  private,  Co.  E ;  gun  shot  wound,  mortally. 

John  D.  Baxter,  orderly  sergeant,  Co.  F ;  gun  shot  wound  in  bowels. 

Coleman  Channel,  corporal,  Co.  IT ;  gun  shot  wound,  mortally. 

David  Sanders,  private,  Co.  II;  gun  shot  wound,  mortally. 

Wesley  Pullens,  private,  Co.  II ;  gun  shot  wound,  mortally. 

Five  killed  and  21   wounded  in  the  281  h  Ohio,  their  orderly  Sergeant  of 
Co.  F  killed. 


ITS 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY 


FEDERAL  SOLDIERS  OF  BRAXTON  COUNTY. 


Company  F,  10th  Regiment  (Federal)  West  Virginia  Infantry:  This 
company  was  composed  of  Braxton  county  men  as  follows:  Captain 
Nimrod  M.  Hyer,  taken  prisoner  June  7,  1863:  first  lieutenant,  Samuel  A.  Rol- 
lyson;  second  lieutenant.  Henry  Bender;  Joseph  B.  "Westfall,  wounded  at  Ope- 
quon  September  19,  1864;  Samuel  E.  Knicely;  Nimrod  W.  Lloyd;  William  T. 
Husing;  Isaac  Carr;  Azariah  H.  Bright,  wounded  at  Winchester,  July  24, 
1864;  William  C.  Riffle;  Francis  Carr;  Thomas  B.  MeLauthlin,  wounded  at 
Fishers  Hill,  September  22,  1864;  Robert  L.  Blagg;  Newlon  Squires,  wounded 
at  Droop  Mountain,  November  6,  1863 ;  Thomas  C.  Meadows ;  Solomon  Brady ; 

William  B.  Barnett,  wounded  at  Droop 
Mountain,  November  6,  1863 ;  James  K-.  Bar- 
nett: Austin  M.  Brown;  Abraham  Brooks; 
Wesley  A.  Brooks,  wounded  at  Winchester, 
July  24.  1864;  William  C.  Berry;  John 
Blagg,  wounded  at  Droop  Mountain,  Novem- 
ber 6.  1863 ;  Michael  Carroll ;  James  M.  Cor- 
ley;  Andrew  H.  Clutter;  Harvey  H.  Clut- 
ter; Silas  Carr,  wounded  at  Fishers  Hill, 
September  24,  1864 ;  John  Clark ;  James  Duf- 
fey;  Thomas  Dobbins;  Lewis  A.  Dawson,  ac- 
cidentally wounded  at  Leetown,  Va.,  July 
3,  1864;  Israel  Engle;  Andrew  Graff,  wound- 
ed at  Cedar  Creek,  October  19,  1864;  Fred- 
erick Gerber,  wounded  at  Cedar  Creek,  Oc- 
tober 19,  1864-  George'  C.  Gillespie,  wounded 
at  Droop  Mountain,  November  6,  1863 ; 
James  M.  Gillespie;  Jonathan  Green;  Rob- 
ert P.  Givens,  wounded  at  Winchester,  July 

24,  1864;  Leonard  W.  Hver;  .John  Knicely: 
JOHN  D.  BAXTER,  Orderly  Sergt.    Jogeph    R     Kuicdy .    wmiam    N_    Knicely: 

Charles  Krafft :  William  Krafft ;  Lewis 
Kyer;  John  Morrison ;  George  H.  Morrison; 
Silas  M.  Morrison,  wounded  at  Droop  Moun- 
tain, November  6,  1863;  W.  F.  Morrison; 
John  S.  McPherson;  Marshall  McMorrow,  wounded  at  Cedar  Creek,  October  19, 
1864,  Harrison  Mollohan;  Isaac  C.  Ocheltree,  wounded  at  Winchester,  July  24, 
1864;  Weadon  J.  Perkins;  William  H.  Perkins;  William  H.  Petry;  William 
W.  Rider,  wounded  at  Opequon,  September  19,  1864;  Benjamin  E.  Rider; 
Charles  M.  Rollyson;  John  Rollyson,  wounded  at  Droop  Mountain,  November 
6,  1863 :  James  Rollyson,  wounded  at  Opequon,  September  19,  1864 ;  Milton 
Rollyson,  wounded  at  Droop  Mountain,  November  6,  1863;  Mortimer  Rose; 
Ellis  W.  Squires ;  John  D.  Sutton  ;  Anthony  Simon ;  Salathiel  Skidmore ;  James 
M.  Stilly ;  Andrew  J.  Short ;  William  G.  Sands,  taken  prisoner  July  23,  1864 ; 


Co.   P,   10th  W.  Va.  Inft. 
Killed    in    Battle    at    Droop    Moun- 
tain, W.  Va.,  Nov.  6,  1863. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  179 

"Willis  Shaver;  Harvey  F.  Shaver,  wounded  at  Opequon.  September  19,  1864; 
Morgan  D.  Shaver;  James  Stewart,  missing  in  action  at  Cedar  Creek,  October 
19,   1864;  Bernhard  Veith;   John  D.   Weihert,  taken  prisoner  December  10, 
1863;  Eldridge  C.  Warner;  Edward  B.  Wheeler,  wounded  at  Droop  Mountain, 
November  6,  1863;  William  Wyatt;  Addison  Wilson,  wounded  at  Droop  Moun- 
tain, November  6,  1863;  Samuel  J.  Brown;  Harrison    Beasley;  Benjamin  P. 
Cutlip;  Nathaniel  C.  Davis;  Henry  T.  Davis;  Asa  B.  Gregory;  Elijah  Skid- 
more;  Norman  B.  Squires,  discharged  at  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  September  28,  1864, 
on  account  of  wound  received  in  right  leg,  December  6,  1863 ;  Thomas  Meadows, 
discharged  for  disability  April  1,  1863,  at  General  Hospital.  Cumberland.  Md. ; 
William  C.  Mitchell,  discharged  for  disability  from  General  Hospital  at  Cum- 
berland, Md.,  April  1,  1863 ;  Jacob  Riffle,  discharged  at  York,  Pa.,  on  account 
of  loss  of  left  arm  from  wounds  received  in  action  November  6,  1863 ;  John  D. 
Baxter,  died  Nov.  7,  1863,  from  wounds  received  the  day  previous  in  action  at 
Droop  Mountain ;  Sheldon  C.  Morrison,  killed  in  action  at  Winchester,  Septem- 
ber 19,  1864;  John  H.  Rollyson,  died  of  scrofula  in  hospital  at  Winchester, 
February  19,  1863 ;  Jesse  Berry,  died  November  14,  1864,  from  wounds  re- 
ceived in  action  at  Winchester;  John  P.  Corley,  supposed  to  have  been  killed 
near  Winchester,  July  24,  1864;  Abraham   Blagg,   died  September  22,  1864, 
from  wounds  received  in  action  at  Winchester;  James  F.   Dobbins,   died  of 
consumption  at  Winchester,  March  20,  1863 ;  Samuel  P.  Dobbins,  died  at  Bev- 
erly, W.  Va.,  from  accidental  wound;  Joel  Dobbins,   died  of  consumption  at 
Grafton,  W.  Va.,  January  25,  1864 ;  Thomas  S.  Greenleaf,  died  of  fever  at  Win- 
chester, May  8,  1S63 ;  Levi  J.  Griffin,  died  of  fever  at  Martinsburg,  W.  Va., 
October  13,  1864;  John  A.  Meadows,  died  of  pneumonia,  at  Cumberland,  Md., 
December  14,  1862 ;  Robinson  Meadows,  died  November  15,  1864,  of  wounds 
received  at  Snickers  Ford,  July  17,  1864;  John  J.  Moore,  died  of  fever  at  Har- 
pers Ferry,  August  22,  1863;  Mathias  C.  Smith,  died  of  measles  at  Sutton,  W. 
Va.,  March  14,  1864.    Aggregate,  108  men. 

In  Company  E,  Third  West  Virginia  Cavalry,  we  find  the  following  names: 
Taylor  Sutton,  Lee  Brooks  (killed  at  Petersburg,  Va.),  Thomas  Coger,  Jerry 
Sawyers,  Nick  Butcher,  Enoch  Heater,  Isaac  Fisher,  James  P.  Hudkins,  Payton 
Boggs. 

Eleventh  West  Virginia:    Johnson  Squires,  Orderly  Sergeant. 
Ninth  West  Virginia:   J.  Y.  Gillespie,  Sergeant  (wounded  at  Floyd  Moun- 
tain), George  Dobins. 

Dump.  Conrad,  colored,  served  through  the  war,  company  unknown,  was 
a  pensioner,  and  recently  died.     Many  other  names  not  given. 

CONFEDERATE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  COUNTY. 

Fully  three  hundred  men  from  Braxton  county  went  South  and  cast  their 
fortunes  with  the  Confederacy.  Aside  from  those  mustered  in  the  county, 
many  went  into  companies  raised  in  other  parts  of  the  State.     Of  these,  the 


180  SUTTON'S     HISTOKY 

names  or  the  record  has  not  been  fully  preserved,  but  herewith  are  given  all 
that  can  be  obtained: 

The  first  company  of  soldiers  that  volunteered  from  Braxton  Co.  served 
in  Company  C,  25th  Regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Hickembottom.  Captain 
Pat.  Duffy  (deceased)  was  afterward  promoted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel.  1st 
Lieutenant  of  the  Company  was  J.  M.  Boggs;  2nd  Lieutenant,  E.  D.  Camden, 
(Lieutenant  Camden  was  promoted  to  Captain)  ;  3rd  Lieutenant,  James  Mc- 
Corkie;  Orderly  Sergeant,  Willis  Lawrence;  2nd  Sergeant,  Wm.  L.  J. 
Corley  (wounded  and  deceased)  ;  3rd  Sergeant,  Side  Camel.  F.  J.  Sutton  was 
later  promoted  to  Lieutenant. 

Private  James  P.  Hefner,  wounded,  living. 

Private  Samuel  Hefner,  Color  Bearer,  dead. 

Private  Jahugh  Carpenter,  dead. 

Private  Edward  Brady,  Corporal,  wounded,  living. 

Private  Marlow  Mace,  living. 

Private  J.  B.  McLaughlin,  living. 

Private  Thomas  B.  Wilson,  wounded,  deceased. 

Private  Alfred  Dilley,  wounded  at.  Wilderness,  dead. 

Private  John  Satler,  wounded  at  G.  B.,  living. 

Private  Thomas   Frame. 

Private  Johnson  McLaughlin,  dead. 

Private  Thurman  Tinney,  killed  at  Allegheny  Mountains. 

Private  Hanson  Pierson,  died  at  Allegheny  Mountain. 

Private  Charles  Taylor,  lost  leg,  living. 

Private  George  Johnson,  lulled. 

Private  Felix  Wilson,  killed. 

Private  John  Taylor,  died  in  prison. 

Private  Addison  Long,  wounded,  still  living. 

Private  Willis  Lawrence,  killed. 

Private  James  A.  Johnson,  wounded  at  McDowell,  Va.  (Promoted  to 
Orderly.) 

Members  of  Hampton's  Legion  from  Braxton  county:  I.  D.  Johnson, 
dead ;  Wm.  Johnson,  dead ;  James  Matheny,  dead ;  Ui-iah  Given,  taken  prisoner, 
died  at  home  on  return. 

62nd  Virginia  Infantry:  Jas.  W.  Spicer,  dead;  Harvey  Spicer,  dead; 
Thomas  D.  Wood,  living;  Capt.  James  Berry,  deceased;  Pembroke  Berry,  de- 
ceased; T.  J.  Berry,  deceased  (to-  go  with  25th  Infantry). 

36th  Battalion:  Colonel  Swan;  II.  C.  Dufneld,  captain,  killed  at  Opequon; 
A.  N.  Duffield,  wounded  at  Opequon,  deceased;  Eli  Taylor,  deceased  since; 
Henry  Perrine,  deceased  since;  John  Cutlip,  living;  George  Keener,  died  in 
prison;  Nathaniel  Keener,  died  in  prison. 

John  L.  Caynor's  Co.,  6th  Va.  Infantry:  Peter  Hardway,  killed  at  Cloyd 
Mountain ;  Pinkney  Fulks,  killed  at  Cloyd  Mountain ;  Clark  Dean,  deceased ; 


SUTTON'S     HISTOSY.  181 

Peter  Dickey.  Orderly,  taken  prisoner,  died  on  way  home;  Wm.  Callison;  Spi- 
der Callison,  deceased;  Harvey  Armstrong-,  deceased;  Milton  Bragg,  living; 
Henry  Given,  wounded,  deceased;  Robert  Johnson,  deceased. 

Company  B,  19th  Virginia  Cavalry:  John  S.  Sprigg,  captain;  Reynolds 
Davis,  first  lieutenant,  killed ;  James  D.  Sprigg,  second  lieutenant ;  John  J. 
Williams,  third  lieutenant;  James  W.  Squires,  killed,  Richard  Williams,  Hugh 
Williams,  J.  E.  Williams,  Hanson  Williams,  Granville  Wilson,  Hiram  West- 
fall,  Jacob  Westfall,  George  Westfall,  James  Westfall,  William  H.  Mathews, 

F.  F.  Squires,  Jehu  Carpenter,  Stanley  Conrad,  Benjamin  Riffle,  Edmund 
Barker,  Johnson  Barker,  Isaac  Barker,  Sheldon  Knight,  Wesley  Knight.  Fran- 
cis Knight,  Charles  Nutter,  killed,  H.  H.  McElwain,  Mortimer  Thayey,  Thomas 
Belknap,  Joseph  McCray,  Perry  Heater,  Calvin  Heater,  Elijah  Heater,  Robert 
Givens,  Isaac  Thrasher,  Thomas  Goff,  Wm.  L.  Perine,  Henry  Perine,  Robert 
Perine,  Samuel  Perine,  Joseph  McMillin,  James  K.  McMillin,  James  Shrader, 
Patrick  Foley,  Mathew  Hines,  lulled,  James  Heffner,  Samuel  Given,  James 
K.  Baker,  Nathan  Hutchinson,  Hudson  D.  Knight,  John  May,  William  W.  Tay- 
lor, died  in  service,  James  Lake,  Ambrose  Tonkin,  A.  B.  Stonestreet,  Jesse 
Smith,  John  Gardner,  killed,  James  Gardner,  killed,  Lewis  Weese,  killed,  John 
I.  Tonkin,  died.    Aggregate,  65  men. 

Company  G,  62nd  Regiment  Virginia  Mounted  Infantry:  Captain  Con- 
rad Currence,  killed  at  New  Market,  Virginia,  May  15,  1864;  Thomas  Saun- 
ders, killed  at  New  Market,  May  15,  1864:  Andrew  Heater,  killed  at  New 
Market,  May  15,  1864 ;  James  L.  Berry,  killed  at  New  Market,  May  15,  1864 ; 

G.  W.  Hopkins,  died  at  Harrisonville,  Va.,  1863 ;  T.  W.  Myers,  killed  at  Charles- 
town,  Va.,  1863;  William  Gardner,  killed  at  Beverly,  W.  Va.,  1864;  Henry 
Allen,  died  at  Harrisonville,  1863 ;  Newton  Conrad,  lolled  at  Richmond,  1863 ; 
Michael  Heffner,  died  at  Shenandoah  Mountain  in  1862 ;  Salathiel  Coger,  died 
at  Shenandoah  Mountain,  1862;  Levi  Waybright,  died  of  smallpox  at  Shenan- 
doah Mountain,  1862;  G.  W.  Dyer,  died  at  Shenandoah  Mountain,  1862;  Sam- 
uel Jones,  killed  at  Berryville,  Va.,  1864;  Thomas  0.  Williams,  killed  at  Wil- 
liamsport,  Md.,  1S63 ;  William  Berry,  died  in  hospital  at  Memphis,  Term., 
1864 ;  F.  J.  Berry,  died  at  Moorefield,  Va.,  1862 ;  J.  D.  Lenenson,  died  at  Win- 
chester, 1863 ;  John  Dennison,  died  at  Winchester,  1863 ;  John  S.  Singleton, 
Asa  Coger,  S.  (C.  Heffner,  J.  J.  Dyer,  J.  W.  James,  William  James,  Henry 
Boggs,  Frank  Holden,  T.  W.  Saunders,  William  Harren,  J.  W.  Han-en,  J. 
C.  Dennison,  D.  J.  Dennison,  Frederick  Hoover,  Dexter  Posey,  John  Heater, 
James  Bragg,  Richard  Lake,  W.  L.  Ware,  K.  R.  Heater,  William  Heater,  J. 
W.  Hacker,  Asa  Stump,  J.  J.  Blake,  G.  B.  Ocheltree,  Jackson  Skinner,  J.  W. 
Singleton,  F.  F.  Singleton,  Harvey  Spiller,  B.  C.  Conrad,  James  Spicer,  Jack- 
son Coger,  Cornelius  Coger,  Joseph  McPherson,  S.  B.  Myers,  P.  W.  Shields, 
Jonathan  Rattliff,  Addison  Williams,  S.  Y.  Farrar,  J.  P.  McNemar,  John  Lake, 
Benjamin  Hamilton,  J.  H.  Berry,  Charles  Riffle,  James  Riffle,  T.  M.  Moore,  D. 
H.  Wine,  James  Heffner,  T.  B.  Cunningham,  Thomas  McPherson.  Aggregate, 
69  men. 


182  SUTTON'S     HISTORY 

Compnaj,  I,  17th  Virginia,  Confederate  Veterans,  mustered  into  service  at 
Birch  River,  Nicholas  County,  Virginia,  Oct.  2,  1862: 
French,  W.  H.,  Colonel. 
Bland,  John,  Capt.  of  Lewis  County. 
Long,  W.  A.,  1st  Lieutenant;  died  since  war. 
Given,  Theo.  2nd  Lieutenant;  wounded  in  Maryland;  deceased. 
Pierson,  W.  F.,  3rd  Lieutenant;  deceased. 
Duffield,  Uriah,  Orderly  Sergeant;  died  in  prison. 
Ameigh,   Charles;  died  in  service. 
Brown.  Israel,  Sr.,  Nicholas  Co. ;  deceased. 
Brown,   Israel,  Jr. ;   died  since  the  war. 
Boggs,  John;  died  since  the  war. 
Bailin,  David;  gone. 
Cunningham,   John ;   deceased. 
Duffield,  C.  B. ;  deceased. 
Duffield,   John;   wounded,    living. 
Duffield,  E.  D.;  living. 
Dobbins,  B.  F. ;  living. 
Dobbins,  H.  C. ;  deceased. 
Dickey,  Benjamin;  killed  at  Boonsboro,  Md. 
Dickey,  A.  L. ;  deceased. 
Duffield,  Driden;  deceased. 

Frame,  A.  P.,  promoted  to  Orderly;  wotmded  at  Monacasy. 
Frame,  John,  Birch  River ;  living. 
Frame,  John,  Clay  Co. ;  deceased. 
Frame,  Dr.  Thomas;  died  in  prison. 
Frame,  V.  B.,  Sergeant;  living. 
Frame,  Hanson;  living. 

Frame,  H.  C,  Corporal ;  wounded  at  Boonsburg,  Md. ;  living. 
Frame,  Andrew,  Clay  County;  died. 
Frame,  Mortimer,  Clay  County;  wounded,  died. 
Garee.  Cortez ;  died  since  the  war. 
Given.  Hamilton;  deceased. 
Given,  Wm.  B. ;  deceased. 
Given,  H.  C. ;  deceased. 
Given,  Benton;  living. 
Hamric,  Benjamin,  Sr. ;  died  in  prison. 
Hamric,   Benjamin,   Jr. ;   deceased. 
Hamric,  John  P. ;   deceased. 
Holt,  Homer  A. ;  deceased. 
Hughes,  Bartlett;  deceased. 
James,  H.  C. ;  living. 
James,  Joseph;  deceased. 
James,  P.  C. ;  wounded,  living. 
Jackson,  Lasson ;  deceased. 


SUTTON'S    HISTOBY.  183 


Jackson,  James;  deceased. 

Keener,  Samuel;  died  in  prison. 

Keener,  Wm.  A.;  living. 

Leach.  Polka,  Monroe  County;  living. 

Camden,  "Will,  Lieutenant,  Company  C,  17th;  deceased. 

Camden,  Polk,  Company  C,  17th;  died  in  Baltimore. 

Camden,  Wm.,   from  Rockbridge;  living. 

Molohan,  Anson,  wounded  at  Pt.  Republic;  deceased. 

Molohan,  W.  H.,  Sergeant;  living. 

McLaughlin,  H.  N. ;  wounded,  living. 

Nottingham,  J.  Stewart;  deceased. 

Nottingham,  Jacob  Jasper;  died  in  prison. 

Nelson,  Amos,  Clay  County;  living. 

Perrine,  John;  wounded  at  Monacasy,  living. 

Pierson,  G.  W. ;  deceased. 

Pierson,  W.  R. ;  living. 

Pierson,  Jasper;  living. 

Due,    Samuel,    Sergeant;   killed   at   Monacasy. 

Brady,  James,  Corporal;  killed  at  Monacasy. 

Rose,  Fielding;  living. 

Sirk,  Jno.  A. ;  deceased. 

Sirk,  G.  Wesley;  deceased. 

Dean,  G.  W. ;  deceased. 

Coulter,  James;  deceased. 

Coidter,  Perry  C. ;  living. 

Schoonover.  Benjamin ;  killed  at  P.ulltown. 

Steel,  Wm. 

Skidmore.  Jackson;  deceased. 

Walker,  George,  Clay  County;  deceased. 

Frame,   Martin;   died  in   prison. 

Gibson,  J.  W. ;   died  in  prison. 

Fox,  Tyburtus;  died  in  prison. 

Riffle,  Martin,  Clay  County;  deceased. 

Strange,  Wm. ;  woiuided,  living  in  Kansas. 

Given,   S.   F. ;  transferred,   deceased. 

Truman,  Barnabus;  deceased. 

Shock.  James,  Gilmer  County;  deceased. 

Smith,  James;  deceased. 

Wilson,  Albert;   deceased. 

Barnett,  Nathan;   deceased. 

Long,  Henry;  deceased. 

Dodrill,  B.  F. ;  deceased. 

Rogers,  Ballard;  deceased. 

Walbridge,  Jack;  deceased. 

Long,  F.  A. ;  living. 


184  BUTTON'S     HISTOK  Y 

Nearing  the  close  of  the  Civil  wav,  the  Timings  of  which  mention  has  been 
heretofore  made,  were  harrassing  the  citizens  and  trying  to  press  men  into  the 
Confederate  service,  also  looking  after  those  who  had  become  tired  of  the  ser- 
vice and  returned  to  their  homes.  In  order  to  protect  themselves,  they  organ- 
ized a  company  with  John  D.  Barnett  as  Captain,  J.  M.  Hoover  as  First  Lieu- 
tenant, Silas  Hosey  Second  Lieutenant,  and  George  Hoover  as  Orderly  Ser- 
geant. We  have  a  partial  list  only  of  the  members  of  the  company :  John  W. 
Knight,  Prank  Knight,  Hudson  Knight,  Silas  Hosey,  C.  D.  Barnett,  Andrew 
Facemire,  John  Gillespie. 

These  men  saw  but  little  service  as  a  company;  they  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Bulltown  only,  and  through  their  organization  avoided  being  further 
molested  or  taken  to  the  army. 

Those  in  Other  Organizations. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  other  companies  and  parts  of  companies  were 
made  up  of  Braxton  comity  men.  Captains  James  M.  Berry  and  William  Mol- 
lohan  both  raised  companies,  and  the  company  of  Captain  Bland  was  composed 
largely  of  men  from  this  county.  Captain  Mollohan  was  killed  near  Shenan- 
doah Mountain ;  Isaac  Willoughby  was  killed  at  Gettysburg,  Pa. ;  William 
Berry,  Babe  Coger  and  James  Shields,  died  in  a  northern  prison ;  Charles  W. 
Berry,  died  in  prison  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  and  Granville  MeNemar  was  the  last 
man  killed  at  Appomattox  Court  House. 

Such  were  the  men  from  Braxton  who  went  to  battle  for  the  cause  which 
seemed  to  them  right,  and  in  defence  of  which,  many  yielded  up  their  lives. 
We  doubt  whether  any  county  in  the  state,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  men 
enlisted,  can  show  such  a  death  roll.  Prom  tidewater,  Virginia  to  the  Ohio 
river,  from  Pennsylvania  to  Tennesee,  her  sons  repose,  and  will  answer  roll-call 
no  more;  but  amid  the  scenes  in  the  land  which  gave  them  birth,  their  mem- 
ories will  be  cherished,  and  for  long  years  to  come  the  names  of  Braxton's 
honored  dead  will  be  remembered  and  revered. 

WEBSTEE   COUNTY. 

Union  soldiers  from  Webster  county:  George  W.  Bender,  deserted  Con- 
federate sendee  and  joined  Union,  deceased:  Renick  Buchanan,  deceased; 
Andrew  Buchanan,  Wm.  Jeffers,  deceased;  Jerome  L.  D.  Brake,  John  Fisher, 
deceased;  Wesley  Collins,  deceased;  Arch  Collins,  Wm.  Riley  Collins,  deceased; 
Addison  Fisher,  wounded;  Z.  R.  Howell,  deceased;  Wm.  G.  Hamric,  wounded; 
Adam  G.  Gregory,  went  west ;  Isaac  Griffin,  Owen  Brinegar,  Wm.  McAvoy,  de- 
ceased, and  Jas.  Green,  killed  in  battle. 

Confederate  soldiers  from  Webster  county:    Company  G,  62nd  Regiment, 

Virginia  Infantry,  Conrad  Currence,  Captain; ,  Lieutenant; 

Henry  R.  Boggs,  Corporal;  and  enlisted  men,  James  P.  Ware,  G.  D.  McCartney, 
deceased;  Tobias  Sizemore,  deceased;  Z.  T.  Sizemore.  Ezra  Clifton,  killed  in 
battle ;  James  and  John  Clifton,  both  killed  in  battle. ;  Wilburn  Baldwin,  killed 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  .  185 

in  battle;  George  Sizemore,  died  in  war;  Henry  W.  Anderson,  Alexander  An- 
derson, Tobias  Rose,  George  W.  Arthur,  deceased;  William  Oummens,  deceased; 
Vincent  M.  Hamric,  Martin  R.  Hamric,  deceased;  John  Lynch,  and  James  M. 
Gregory. 

Company ,   40th   Regiment,   Virginia   Cavalry:     enlisted  men,    Samuel 

Given,  Robert  Given,  Robert  L.  Henderson,  Marshall  Triplett  (all  dead),  Isaac 
Weese,  died  in  prison,  and  George  W.  Weese,  living. 

Names  of  men,  company  unknown  (Webster  county)  :  James  M.  McCray, 
Captain  of  a  company,  killed  in  1861 ;  M.  W.  Perrine,  Captain  of  a  company, 
deceased;  Lewis  Weese,  Lieutenant;  J.  W.  Weese,  living;  John  Hamric,  James 
McAvoy,  George  McElwain,  Lewis  McElwain,  A.  Mc Weese,  Robt.  Morton, 
George  W.  Morton,  Arthur  Weese,  John  L.  Carpenter,  Jacob  Carpenter,  Ben- 
ijah  Green,  Robert  Green,  Tom  Green  (killed  in  battle),  John  Green  (killed  in 
battle),  Isaac  Sawyers,  Jerry  Sawyers,  Wm.  H.  Holcomb  (died  in  prison), 
Doc  Green  (killed  in  battle),  Sam  C.  Miller,  Wm.  Woods  (living),  Chany 
Woods  (living),  Isaac  Woods,  Washington  Woods,  John  B.  Goff  (living), 
Thomas  Goff  (living),  Ai'thur  Hickman,  John  Gardner  (killed  in  battle),  James 
Perrine,  William  Perrine,  Thomas  M.  Reynolds,  Eli  Boyd,  Anderson  Cutlip 
(wounded,  now  dead),  Isaac  Green  (killed  in  battle),  Wesley  Barnett  (living), 
George  Griffin,  E.  (killed  in  battle).  Most  of  the  men  above  mentioned  are 
now  dead,  except  where  otherwise  stated. 

Miscellaneous,  Webster  county:  A.  C.  Mace  and  Wm.  Brady  from  Com- 
pany F,  31st  Virginia  Infantry;   B.   F.  Potts, Artillery;  Lewis  Garvin, 

Company ,  10  Cavalry. 

The  two  Confederate  companies  made  up  and  conmianded  by  Capt.  Wm. 
H.  Mollohan  and  Capt.  James  M.  Berry,  were  merged  in  one,  and  commanded 
by  Capt.  Mollohan  until  he  was  killed,  at  Allegheny  Mountain;  the  company 
was  then  commanded  by  Capt.  James  M.  Berry. 

Company  G,  25th  Infantry:  Captain  James  M.  Berry;  Lieutenants  Jona- 
than M.  McCray,  Thornton  J.  Berry  and  John  Yancy ;  First.  Sergeant,  Granville 

Berry,  Second,  Marcellus  Haymond;   Corporals,  Bland,  and  Brown; 

Privates,  Charles  Berry,  Homer  Berry.  James  W.  Berry,  Lewis  Berry,  Wm. 
Berry,  Wm.  D.  Berry,  Clint  Cutlip,  Frank  Cutlip,  Charles  McCray,  Ervin  D. 

McCray,  Haymond,  Frank  Lough,  James  Lough,  Gus  Lough,  Washington 

Lough,  Isaac  Ware,  Ware,  Isaac  Brown,  Geo.  W.  Brown,  Wesley  Brown, 

James  McPherson,  Shedrick  Perrine,  David  Perrine,  Joseph  Perrine,  John 
Hardman,  Sampson  Jordon,  Meshediah  Jordon,  Hezakiah  Jordan,  Josiah  Jor- 
don„  Marshall  A.  Jordon,  Andrew  Ware,  Henry  Ware,  John  A.  McCartney, 
Wm.  Pritt,  Thomas  Bender,  Isaac  Bender,  Geo.  W.  Bender,  George  D.  Ander- 
son, Jesse  Cowger,  Wm.  M.  Rader,  Henry  Hinkle,  Abel  Hinkle,  Morgan  Fisher, 
David  Perrine,  Shedrick  C.  Perrine,  Arthur  Bickle,  Norman  Belknap,  Jesse 
Cole,  Arch  Cole,  Tobias  Cogar,  Wilson  Howell,  O.  C.  Payne,  Emanuel  Metz, 
B.  C.  Conrad,  E.  W.  Tbarp,  Laben  Currence,  Perry  Currence,  James  Mc- 
Cartney, Martin  Mulvy,  Jonathan  Ratcliff,  Moss. 


136  SUTTON'S     HIS  TO  K  Y 

Several  names  of  this  company  we  failed  to  secure,  and  some  of  the  above 
were  transferred  to  other  companies.  Most  of  them  belonged  to  Webster 
County. 

FEDERAL   SOLDIERS— GILMER  COUNTY. 

Company  G,  10th  West  Virginia  Federal  Infantry:  This  company  was 
mustered  in  Gilmer  county  early  in  1862.  We  here  append  the  roll  with  the 
record  of  each.  Those  of  whom  no  record  is  given,  were  discharged  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  James  M.  Ewing,  captain,  killed  in  action  at  Winchester,  Virginia, 
September  19,  1864;  John  McAdams,  1st  lieutenant,  captured  by  the  enemy 
December  18.  1863;  Robert  W.  Varner,  2nd  lieutenant;  John  S.  Brannon,  1st 
sergeant,  wounded  in  action  at  Winchester,  September  19,  1864,  leg  ampu- 
tated; Joseph  C.  Gluck,  veteran  volunteer,  wounded  in  action  at  Leetown,  Vir- 
ginia, July  3,  1864;  Alfrend  C.  Holmes,  George  W.  Taylor,  Isaac  Beall,  John 
W.  Cain,  wounded  at  Winchester,  September  19,  1864;  George  W.  Staton, 
August  J.  Liebur,  Hiram  A.  Brannon,  Alfred  Beall,  wounded  at  Maryland, 
July  7,  1864;  George  W.  Garvin,  Rowley  W.  Amos,  Benjamin  F.  Amos,  Isaac 
Barnhouse,  Samuel  Barnhouse,  wounded  in  action  at  Winchester,  September 

12,  1864;  James  P.  Cain,  Lemuel  Current,  captured  by  the  enemy  in 

24,  1864;  John  Crites,  John  W.  Flanagan,  Amos  F\irr.  Benjamin  F.  Frederick, 
William  T.  Frederick,  William  Griffin,  Robert  Grubb,  Garret.  J.  Gayner,  Na- 
thaniel Heffner,  Joseh  Hinchman,  Benjamin  F.  Halbert,  George  C.  Heckert, 
wounded  in  action  at  Fisher's  Hill,  September  22,  1864;  John  Jones,  James 
Jones,  absent  without  leave  since  August  20,  1864;  Amos  Jarvis,  wounded  at 
Cedar  Creek,  Va.,  October  19,  1864,  arm  amputated;  James  E.  Johnston,  John 
B.  Kelley,  wounded  in  action  near  Winchester,  September  19,  1864;  William 
Kuhle,  transferred  to  Battery  B,  1st  West  Virginia  Artillery;  Jacob  Keller, 
Frederick  Keller,  wounded  in  action  at  Winchester,  July  24,  1864;  Bradford 
Lake,  wounded  in  action  September  19,  1864;  George  W.  Miller,  Henry  Mep- 
man,  Hira  Q.  Messenger,  John  T.  McCord,  John  A.  Miller,  captured  by  the 
enemy  July  24,  1864;  James  M.  Miller,  Henry  Miller,  Jacob  Miller,  captured 
by  the  enemy  July  24,  1864;  jfmes  E.  Norman,  Philip  Nirers,  Robert  Pritt, 
George  M.  Riddle,  George  W.  Riddle,  Franklin  Riffle,  captured  by  the  enemy 
October  19,  1864;  John  Reed  wounded  at  Winchester,  July  24,  1864;  Uriah 
Roberts,  Benjamin  Smarr,  woitnded  at  Fisher's  Hill,  September  22,  1S64; 
Anthony  Shutter,  John  Snyder,  Samuel  Taylor,  Edward  Townsend,  William  A. 
Taylor,  William  J.  Wigner,  wounded  at  ,  July  24,  1864;  Abra- 
ham F.  Wilson,  David  W.  Wilson,  Hannibal  T.  Wilson,  Silas  J.  Yerkey,  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy  October,  19,  1864;  Daniel  Bush,  Michael  Gainer,  John  L. 
Persinger,  Lewis  Skinner,  Daniel  Childers,  Adam  S.  Westfall,  John  Riddle, 
Henry  D.  Dettamore,  David  J.  Ezekiel,  Michael  E.  Jeffries,  killed  in  action  near 
Winchester,  September  19,  1864;  Jobn  Cathorn,  killed  in  action  at  Winchester, 
July  24,  1864;  James  Holbert,  killed  in  action  at  Maryland  Heights,  July  7, 
1864 ;  Jacob  J.  Stover,  killed  in  action  near  Winchester,  September  19,  1864 ; 
William  H.  Turner,  killed  in  action  near  Winchester  .July  24,  1864;  Adam  E. 


SUTTON'S     HISTQEY.  187 

Varner,  killed  in  action  at  Winchester,  July  24,  1864;  Hanson  Black,  died 
January  15,  1864 ;  Thos.  A.  Bailey,  died  December  25,  1863 ;  Hamilton  Edwards, 
January  15,  1863;  Joseph  Grog,  died  January  15,  1864;  Benjamin  Kerens,  ac- 
cidentally shot  January  10,  1864:  William  Ratcliffe,  died  March  10,  1863; 
John  E.  Powers,  died  May  15,  1863;  Elijah  S.  Riddle,  died  May  15,  1863;  Wil- 
liam P.  Riddle,  died  May  4,  1863 ;  James  P.  Riddle,  died  January  15,  1864 ; 
•Samuel  S.  Riddle,  died  March  6,  1863 ;  Leroy  Short,  died  September  5,  1863 ; 
Wolcott  B.  Whiting,  died  April  20,  1863.  The  following  deserted:  Christopher 
Coger,  Ashley  M.  Cuberly,  Nathaniel  Demoss,  Allen  G.  Greenlief,  Asa  Hamric, 
Joseph  Kerrens,  Martin  Marks,  Henry  Norman,  Jeremiah  Putman  and  Albert 
A.  Townsend.  Aggregate  107  men.  From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen,  too, 
that  many  of  those  who  wore  the  blue  likewise  sleep  on  the  battle-field,  but  the 
cannon's  roar  has  long  since  died  away  and  today  Gilmer  county  honors  her 
brave  and  gallant  dead,  whether  they  wore  the  blue  or  the  gray. 

NEGRO  CONFEDERATES. 

Just  before  the  close  of  the  war,  the  Confederate  Congress,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  ablest  leaders  in  the  Southern  army,  authorized  the  enlistment  of 
negro  soldiers.  A  company  of  colered  men  was  raised  in  Richmond,  Va.,  and 
for  a  time  drilled  on  the  Capitol  Square  there.  Cox,  a  colored  plasterer,  who 
was  a  sergeant  in  this  company,  is  still  living.  These  negro  men  were,  however, 
never  sent  to  the  front.  The  war  ended  before  the  work  of  enlisting  them  could 
be  carried  out. 

Note.  We  saw  this  company  after  it.  had  been  captured  near  Petersburg, 
Va.  They  were  uniformed,  and  rather  a  firm  looking  company  of  soldiers, 
and  were  kept  under  heavy  guard  to  protect  them  from  threatened  violence  by 
the  colored  soldiers  of  the  Union  army. — T~he  Author. 

In  the  Confederate  service,  there  were  quite  a  number  of  commissioned 
officers  from  Braxton  and  adjoining  counties :  P.  B.  Duffy  was  Lieutenant  Col- 
onel of  the  25th  Virginia  Infantry,  W.  I/.  Jackson  was  Brigadier  General,  E. 
D.  Camden  was  Captain  of  Company  C,  25th  Va.,  John  S.  Sprigg  was  captain 
of  Company  B,  19th  Virginia  Cavalry,  Currance  Com-ad  was  Captain  of  a 
company  in  62nd  Virginia  Regiment,  and  was  killed  at  New  Market  in  1864. 
Wm.  Mollohan  was  Captain  of  a  company  in  the  25th  Virginia  Regiment,  and 
was  killed  at  Alleghany  in  1862,  James  M.  Berry  was  Captain  of  a  Braxton 
company. 

As  before  stated,  many  others  of  Gilmer  county's  sons  went  south,  but 
we  have  been  unable  to  secure  other  names  than  the  following:  William  Lusa- 
dcr,  John  Lusader,  Elijah  Heater,  Victory  Fry,  William  Ford,  James  Arnold, 
John  K.  Snyder,  S.  B.  Snyder,  Jacob  Snyder,  G.  W.  Wilmoth,  Elliott  Town- 
send,  Charles  Wright,  Richard  Wright,  Perry  Snyder,  Nathaniel  DeMoss, 
Henry  Norman,  George  Isinhart,  Samuel  Beckner,  Samuel  Bush,  Alfred  Bush, 
Henry  Bush,  Mark  Riddle,  Saiit.  Stalnaker,  Evan  Alltop,  Benjamin  Lynch, 
Newton  Ratliffe,  Henry  Ratliffe,  Allen  Greenlief,  Frank  Greenlief,  John  Green- 


188  SUTTON'S     HISTORY 

lief,  George  Greenlief  Jehu  Bush,  John  Heckard,  Henry  Heckard,  Benjamin 
Webb,  John  Powell,  Samuel  Stout,  Robert  Marshall,  Albert.  Shock,  Benjamin 
Wires,  Israel  Davison,  Lewis  Chrissman,  Joseph  Chrissman,  Levi  Lynch,  Levi 
Boggs,  Wesley  Fell,  Peter  Fell,  Cornelius  Ruddel,  Thomas  McGinniss,  Charles 
McGinniss.  Grandison  Wolf,  Elmer  Wolf,  John  Davison,  Joseph  Clemens,  M. 
J.  Bush,  S.  T.  Bush,  H.  V.  Springstonc,  J.  B.  Springstone,  James  Cooper, 
Robert  Cooper,  Warren  Bush,  John  Chrissman,  John  E.  Hays,  S.  H.  Campbell, 
W-  H.  Campbell,  William  Ball,  Claudius  Winter,  Martenia  Minter,  George  Min- 
ter,  Benton  Ball,  Joseph  Burson,  Harrison  Cain,  Lemuel  Marks,  William  Nor- 
ris,  Edward  Norris,  Thomas  Yerkey,  Lewis  Alltop,  Michael  Stout,  Johnston 
Stout  and  Benjamin  Campbell.    Of  these,  many  -went  never  to  return. 

There  were  but  two  men  who  rose  to  prominence  in  the  military  arm  of  the 
government  in  central  West  Virginia.  T.  M.  Harris  of  Ritchie  county  was 
breveted  a  Major  General,  and  commanded  a  division  in  Grant's  Petersburg 
campaign,  and  it  was  his  division  that  charged  and  captured  Forts  Lee  and 
Gregg. 

Also  I.  A.  S.  Lightburn  of  Lewis  county  commanded  a  division  in  the 
Atlanta  campaign.  Hall  of  Richie  county  was  Lieutenant  Colonel  and  Henry 
H.  Withers  of  Gilmer  county  was  Major  of  the  10th  West  Virginia  Infantry. 
We  recall  no  other  one  holding  a  higher  rank  in  the  service  from,  the  immediate 
interior  counties. 

Braxton  county  furnished  only  three  commissioned  officers :  Captain  Hyer 
of  Company  F,  10th  West  Virginia  Infantry,  Samuel  A.  Rollyson,  1st  Lieuten- 
ant, and  Henry  Bender,  2nd  Lieutenant  of  Company  F,  10th  West  Virginia  In- 
fantry. Lieutenant  Bender  was  breveted  Captain  for  gallantry  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  Major  W.  D.  Rollyson,  Captain  G.  F.  Taylor,  and  Michael  Rollyson 
held  commissions  in  the  State  Guards. 

The  Militia  of  Braxton  consisted  of  one  regiment,  commanded  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Civil  war  by  Colonel  B.  W.  Byrne.  Jonathan  Koiner  was  Lieu- 
tenant, Col.  P.  B.  Adams  was  Major,  and  .was  Adju- 
tant.    The  captains  were 

These  militia  organizations  had  what  was  termed  petty  musters  by  com- 
panies, and  two  general  musters  each  year.  They  had  but  slight  knowledge  of 
military  tactics.  The  Braxton  militia  disbanded  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Civil  war,  and  was  never  called  into  service,  except  it  is  related  that  some  of 
the  militia  did  guard  duty  at  Sutton  for  a  short  period,  with  John  S.  Taylor, 
Commanding  Adjutant.  Curance  B.  Conrad  of  Gilmer  county,  was  a  Briga- 
dier General  of  Militia. 

SPANISH  AMERICAN  WAR. 

Soldiers  who  served  in  the  Spanish-American  war  from  Braxton  county. 
This  list  was  obtained  from  the  Adjutant  General's  office. 

First  West  Virginia  Volunteer  Inf antry :  Isaac  J.  Collison,  Co.  F,  Strange 
Creek;  William  E.  Marple,  Co.  M,  Marpleton;  John  B.  Marple,  Co.  M,  Corley; 
..Holinsworth,  Co.  M,  Sutton. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOBY,  189 

Second  West  Virginia  Volunteer  Infantry:  Charles  D.  Elliott,  Major, 
Third  Battalion,  Sutton;  Robert  T.  Colebank,  Sergeant,  Co.  F,  Sutton;  Charles 
F.  Greene,  Corporal,  Co.  M,  Orlando;  William  H.  Corbett,  Corporal,  Co.  F, 
Sutton;  James  S.  Grintmett,  Co.  F,  Sutton;  Warren  W.  Dyer,  Co.  A,  Sutton; 
Van  Lewis,  Co.  E,  Fallsmill;  James  L.  Ray,  Co.  F,  Newville;  Charles  E.  Rich- 
ardson, Co.  K,  Sutton;  John  M.  Shields,  Co.  F,  Napier;  Okey  M.  Stump,  Co. 
M,  Rosedale;  Charles  M.  Skidmore,  Co.  K,  Sutton;  Thomas  B.  Thomas,  Co.  M, 
Strange  Creek;  Albert  N.  West,  Co.  M,  Rosedale;  Allen  P.  Young,  Co.  C,  Servia. 

GRAND  ARMY  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

In  187..,  a  Grand  Army  Post  was  organized  at  Sutton,  called  the  John 
D.  Baxter  Post,  No.  41,  department  of  West  Virginia.  Its  charter  members 
were  Jacob  Riffle,  Wm.  H.  Perkins,  James  K.  Barnett,  Henry  Bender,  John 
D.  Sutton.  James  Dent,  and  others. 

After  the  organization  of  this  Post,  many  other  soldiers  joined  and  they 
held  their  meetings  in  Sutton  for  several  years.  The  soldiers  becoming  old 
and  many  of  them  having  died,  the  Post  ceased  to  exist  as  an  organized  body. 

Henry  Bender  was  Commander  of  the  Post,  John  D.  Sutton,  Adjutant, 
and  Jacob  Riffle,  Treasurer.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  charter  and  other 
officials  papers  became  lost,  together  with  a  complete  roster  of  its  members. 

CIVIL  WAR  INCIDENTS. 

It  is  related  that  Perry  Cutlip,  Alonzo  Brown,  James  and  Francis  Lough, 
while  on  a  furlough  and  returning  to  camp,  arrived  in  the  night  at  the  place 
of  their  old  camp,  and  discovered  some  dead  and  wounded  men,  a  battle  having 
been  fought  and  they  were  not  aware  of  it.  Perry  Cutlip  saw  a  gold  watch  on 
a  wounded  soldier,  and  started  to  remove  it.  The  soldier  resisted,  and  told 
Cutlip  the  watch  was  a  gift  from  his  father,  and  that  if  he  got  the  watch  he 
would  have  to  kill  him.  At  this,  Cutlip  drew  his  gun  to  strike  the  wounded 
man,  and  Frank  Lough  shot  Cutlip,  the  ball  taking  effect  in  the  neck,  but  he 
recovered,  and  the  Confederates  are  all  living  at  this  time,  1916,  except  one. 

Sinking  of  Sultana. 

William  S.  Conner  of  Beaver  Falls,  Pa.,  a  survivor  of  the  Civil  war,  re- 
calls vividly  the  sinking  of  the  packet  Sultana  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  war, 
which  was  a  worse  catastrophe  than  the  sinking  of  the  Titanic  in  that  more 

lives  were  lost,  and  hundreds  of  men  burned  to  death. 

,, — | 

The  sinking  of  the  Sultana  occurred  on  April  27,  1865.  The  packet  was 
loaded  with  2,300  Federal  soldiers  just  released  from  Southern  prisons,  and 
were  returning  home.  One  of  the  boilers  exploded  while  the  boat  was  in  the 
Mississippi  below  Memphis.  Seventeen  hundred  men  were  burned  or  drowned 
in  squads,  while  about  six  hundred  floated  down  the  swollen  river  for  miles 


190  SUTTON'S     HISTORY 

where  they  were  picked  up  by  rescuring  steamers,  many  of  them  from  tops  of 
trees  where  they  had  taken  refuge.  Nearly  half  of  the  rescued  died  later  from 
exposure. 

Mr.  Connor  was  in  the  United  States  navy  at  the  time  of  the  terrible  ac- 
cident, and  assisted  in  the  work  of  rescue. 

John  D.  Weihert,  a  Braxton  boy,  soldier  in  Company  F,  Tenth  West 
Virginia  Infantry,  was  captured  and  sent  south  to  prison,  and  on  his  return  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  lost  his  life  on  the  ill-fated  Sultana. 

James  B.  Corley  who  belonged  to  a  branch  of  the  Corley  family,  related 
to  the  Corleys  of  Randolph  and  Braxton,  was  on  General  Lee's  staff  in  the 
late  Civil  war,  and  James  A.  Corley,  a  relative,  was  an  aid  of  General  Garnett 
at  Laurel  Hill,  and  wrote  what  is  believed  to  be  General  Garnett 's  last  dispatch 
before  he  was  killed  at  Carricks  Ford  on  Cheat  river.  It  was  to  Colonel  Scott, 
and  reached  him  near  Huttonsville  while  he  was  eating  breakfast,  July  12, 
1861,  and  read  as  follows:  General  Garnett  has  concluded  to  go  to  Hardy  coun- 
ty, and  toward  Cheat  bridge.  You  will  take  advantage  of  the  position  beyond 
Huttonsville,  and  draw  your  supplies  from  Richmond,  and  report  for  orders 
there. 

After  the  battle  of  Droop  Mountain,  a  squad  of  soldiers  was  detailed  to 
gather  up  the  dead  and  wounded,  and  among  the  number  thus  detailed  was 
Andrew  Jackson  Short  of  Company  F,  Tenth  West  Virginia  Infantry.  They 
were  working  in  the  night,  and  Short  discovered  a  dead  soldier,  and  took  hold 
of  his  body  to  remove  him  to  the  place  where  they  were  bringing  the  dead  and 
wounded  together.  He  felt  a  crooked  finger  on  the  soldier's  hand,  and  the  size 
and  feel  of  the  man  convinced  Short  that  it  was  his  brother  John.  He  there- 
fore called  for  someone  to  bring  a  light,  saying  that  he  had  found  his  brother, 
and  when  he  had  the  light,  he  discovered  for  a  certainty  that  the  man  was  his 
brother  John.  In  relating  the  incident  to  Dr.  W.  P.  Newlon  many  years  after 
the  battle,  he  said  that  he  took  his  brother  by  the  hand  and  recognized  some 
peculiarity  by  which  he  knew  the  lifeless  body  of  his  brother. 

This  is  an  incident  so  rare  that  nothing  similar  has  ever,  to  our  knowledge, 
been  recorded  in  the  annals  of  warfare.  When  John  and  Andrew  grasped  each 
other  by  the  hand  when  they  last  parted  before  the  bloody  conflict,  who  could 
have  pictured  in  his  imagination  the  tragic  meeting  again  when  Andrew  should 
take  the  same  hand  in  his,  though  that  hand  was  cold  in  death.  After  the  fatal 
ball  had  laid  the  soldier  low  in  battle,  his  affectionate  brother,  though  separated 
in  the  great  cause,  was  the  first  to  lay  his  hand  upon  the  pulseless  brow  of 
him  who  had  given  up  his  life  on  the  battle  field. 

In  1861  Nathan  D.  Barnett  and  his  son,  John  D.,  were  sent  by  the  Fed- 
eral authorities  to  Camp  Chase,  a  Federal  prison,  but  their  friends  soon  in- 
terceded and  secured  their  release.  On  their  return  they  stopped  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Felix  Sutton  to  stay  over  night.  During  the  night  Nathan  Barnett 
took  violently  ill  and  lived  but  a  day  or  two.    It  was  some  derangement  of  the 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKY.  191 

bowels  or  kidneys.     Dr.  Samuel  Cutlip,  of  Cedarville,  was  sent  for,  but  could 
give  no  relief. 

After  the  town  of  Sutton  was  burned,  Colonel  Anas  Ansal  brought  a  com- 
pany to  Sutton,  and  part  of  them  went  up  Laurel  creek,  and  part  up  Birch 
river.  They  killed  George  Cutlip  and  Chapman  on  Laurel  creek,  wounded 
Sam.  Carpenter,  killed  John  Given,  and  at  Gardners  killed  Perry  Conley, 
burned  Lewis  McElwaine's  house,  also  those  of  Arthur  Hickman  and  Caleb 
Gardners. 

Asa  Squires  who  lived  on  Salt  Lick  was  the  only  man  in  the  county  who 
furnished  four  sons  to  the  Union  army,  and  his  fifth  son  wanted  to  enlist,  but 
his  parents  thought  he  was  too  young. 

John  Knicely  who  lived  in  the  same  neighborhood,  served  through  the 
war  with  three  of  his  sons. 

Throughout  the  war  the  courts  were  open,  and  their  authority  was  re- 
spected. In  November  of  this  year,  several  "detailed  farmers,"  called  into 
military  service,  sued  out  writs  of  habeas  corpus,  and  brought  their  cases  be- 
fore Judge  Thompson  at  Staunton.  He  decided  that  they  were  not  liable  to 
serve  as  soldiers,  and  ordered  their  discharge. 

In  time  of  the  Civil  war,  Caleb  Gardner  of  Webster  county  went  South 
and  worked  during  the  straggle  at  a  saltpeter  cave.  He  was  pressed  in  the 
service  and  ordered  to  Kichmond,  but  applied  to  the  Civil  authorities,  and  was 
released  by  a  magistrate. 

Elijah  Perkins,  a  citizen,  was  arrested  by  the  Federal  military  authorities 
in  1862,  on  some  charge,  and  was  detained  in  custodj7,  and  taken  in  charge  by 
the   county   authorities  and  released. 

Within  the  Civil  war,  there  was  a  little  battle  near  the  Three  Porks  of 
Cedar  creek  between  some  Federal  cavalry  and  a  squad  of  Confederate  sol- 
diers.    One  cavalryman  was  so  badly  wounded  that  he  died. 

In  the  Battle  at  Bulltown,  the  Confederates  had  a  four-pound  cannon  that 
they  carried  on  a  mule  and  used  in  the  battle,  and  on  their  retreat  up  Laurel 
creek,  they  concealed  the  cannon  in  a  laurel  thicket,  a  short  distance  above 
Wainsville  where  it  remained  in  silence  during  the  remainder  of  the  war,  and 
until  the  time  when  Dr.  Nicholas  Gibson  brought  his  bride  to  Sutton  in  1871. 
Then  the  boys  prepared  for  a  royal  serenade,  and  the  old  cannon  was  brought 
from  its  hiding  place  and  taken  to  Sutton  by  Johnson  Barker,  one  of  its  old 
defenders  who  had  been  in  the  Bulltown  battle,  and  knew  where  it  was  con- 
cealed. In  the  excitement  of  the  serenade,  they  charged  the  old  war  relic  too 
heavily  and  it  burst,  and  while  no  one  was  seriously  hurt,  some  of  the  party 
were  considerably  shaken  up. 

In  time  of  the  Civil  war  a  young  man  named  Jasper  Johnson  belonged  to 
Company  B,  19th  Virginia  Cavalry.    It  seems  that  Johnson  was  at  one  time  cap- 


192  SUTTON'S     HISTOEi* 

tured  by  Federal  soldiers  and  volunteered  in  the  Union  army.  He  then  de- 
serted and  went  back  to  his  old  command.  Becoming  tired  again  of  the  ser- 
vice, he  left  and  desired  to  stay  at  home,  but  the  Federals  caught  him,  and  he 
was  sentenced  to  be  shot  but  made  his  escape,  and  went  back  to  the  Confeder- 
ates. He  was  court  martialed  by  William  L.  Jackson's  command  and  shot  at 
Camp  Cameron  near  Warm  Springs,  Virginia,  for  having  twice  deserted  his 
army.  His  comrades  in  arms  thought  that  Johnson  was  young  and  a  victim  of 
circumstances,  and  should  not  have  been  executed.  Accordingly  they  planned 
for  his  escape,  but  he  refused,  saying  that  if  he  was  caught  by  the  Federals 
he  would  be  shot.  This  was  the  fate  of  many  a  young  man  during  the  Civil 
war,  but  whether  by  civil  or  militarj^  authority,  the  death  sentence  is  a  relic  of 
the  dark  ages  which  civilization  and  Christianity  will  at  last  correct. 

A  Federal  courier  named  Benum  who  carried  dispatches  and  mail  from 
Sutton  to  Summersville,  was  captured  at  Big  Birch  and  taken  south,  and  as 
far  as  we  know,  never  returned  to  this  part  of  the  war  zone. 

Milton  Frame,  a  Union  man,  who  lived  on  the  waters  of  Steer  creek,  not 
far  from  the  little  village  of  Servia,  was  attacked  at  his  home  by  some  Con- 
federates. There  were  three  or  four  men  at  his  house  and  they  had  some  fire- 
arms, but  the  Confederates  outnumbered  them  and  they  all  took  shelter  in  the 
Frame  residence  and  tried  to  shield  themselves.  Mrs.  Frame,  being  armed, 
bid  defiance  to  the  intruders  and  stood  them  off  with  a  bravery  and  heroism  that 
would  be  commendable  in  the  bravest  frontiersman  of  our  country.  The  Con- 
federates tried  to  shield  themselves  behind  a  little  out-building,  but  Mrs.  Frame 
kept  up  such  a  fire  that  they  retreated  and  left  her  in  possession  of  her  home 
and  the  battlefield.  She  received  a  bad  gunshot  wound  in  the  hand.  Mrs. 
Frame's  maiden  name  was  Amanda  Rose.  She  was  oblivious  to  fear.  Whether 
the  Confederates  in  their  defeat  or  the  inmates  of  the  house  who  sheltered 
themselves  behind  Mrs.  Frame's  gun  had  the  greatest  reason  for  exultation  we 
cannot  conjecture. 

A  story  related  to  the  writer  from  a  very  reliable  source  was  to  the  effect 
that  just  before  the  town  of  Sutton  was  burned,  Phoebe,  a  daughter  of  James 
Hefner  who  lived  three  or  four  miles  south  of  Sutton,  came  to  town  to  get  a 
doctor  to  go  to  her  father's  house  and  see  her  sister  Elizabeth  who  was  very  low 
with  typhoid  fever.  She  secured  the  services  of  Mrs.  Humphreys  who  prac- 
ticed medicine  in  Sutton  and  surrounding  vicinity.  The  Commander  of  the 
post  refused  to  allow  Miss  Hefner's  return,  but  permitted  Mrs.  Humphreys  to 
go.  The  following  day,  the  girl  was  allowed  to  return,  but  her  sister  had  died. 
This  so  incensed  Miss  Hefner  that  she  determined  to  have  revenge,  and  having 
heard  the  night  she  was  kept  in  Sutton,  the  roll  call  of  the  soldiers,  she  observed 
their  position  and  formed  a  very  accurate  idea  of  their  strength.  She  went 
immediately  to  Jackson's  Camp,  not  waiting  for  her  sister's  burial,  and  ap- 
pealed for  a  force  to  be  sent  and  capture  Sutton  which  was  done,  and  its  de- 
struction followed.  This  incident  shows  the  determination  of  a  woman  when 
she  is  driven  to  desperation  by  a  wrong. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  193 

In  1862,  Lieutenant  Henry  Bender  of  Company  F,  Tenth  Virginia  Volun- 
teers, commanding  a  squad  of  men,  had  a  battle  at  the  residence  of  Andrew 
Ware,  with  some  Confederates  under  Eli  Goff. 

Men  whose  respective  names  were  Smith,  Warner,  Lake,  Goff — a  brother 
of  Eli  C.  Goff — John  Butcher  and  others  of  the  Confederates,  were  in  the 
house.  The  fight  was  a  spirited  one,  Butcher  being  killed.  The  Confeder- 
ates, finding  they  were  surrounded  by  men  who  were  resolute  and  determined, 
surrendered.  Goff  was  a  bold  and  daring  man  who  had  committed  many  dep- 
redations on  the  citizens  of  the  central  part-  of  the  state,  and  the  capture  of 
him  and  his  gang  was  one  that  Lieutenant  Bender  felt  justly  proud  of  when  he 
delivered  them  to  the  authorities  at  -Wheeling. 

Incidents  of  a  Storm. 

The  first  day  of  January,  1863,  was  the  coldest  -day  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge.  How  low  the  mercury  fell,  we  do  not  recall,  but  between 
Grafton  and  Piedmont,  a  number  of  Federal  soldiers  perished,  and  at  other 
places  soldiers  and  citizens  perished.  In  addition  to  the  intense  cold,  the  wind 
blew  constantly  all  day  on  New  Year's,  also  that  night.  It  was.  our  good  for- 
tune to  be  on  picket  duty  that  day  and  night,  on  what  was  called  the  back  road 
across  the  river,  opposite  the  town  of  Beverly. 

On  the  Harper  farm,  I  had  become  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Harper  who  was 
a  New  England  lady,  and  she  had  taught  a  school  in  Braxton  county  many 
years  before  the  Civil  war.  She  mentioned  a  little  girl  who  stayed  at  the  home 
of  the  writer's  father  and  went  to  school,  and  spoke  of  her  as  a  very  bright, 
active,  sweet-natured  little  girl.  We  informed  her  that  the  child  in  question 
was  Hannah  Bodgers,  and  then  she  remembered  the  name.  The  writer  their 
told  her  she  was  still  living,  being  the  wife  of  Adam  J.  Hyer,  and  was  a  most 
noble   woman. 

Mrs.  Harper  had  invited  us  to  take  dinner  with  them  that  day.  The  picket 
post  stood  about  a  half  mile  above  the  Harper  residence  in  a  large  open  field 
so  we  left  the  post  long  enough  to  go  down  and  eat  dinner,  but  it  was  so  in- 
tensely cold  that  we  could  hardly  stand  it  in  the  dining  room.  Mrs.  Harper 
lived  in  a  good  house,  and  had  prepared  a  most  appetizing  m|eal,  but  it  was 
too  near  the  Arctic  regions  on  that  day,  and  we  were  unable  to  enjoy  the  feast. 

When  night  came,  we  suffered  most  and  came  very  nearly  losing  our 
life.  We  had  a  fire  on  the  outside  of  a  rail  pen,  but  the  wind  blew  it  in  eveiw 
direction,  and  the  only  thing  we  could  do  was  to  constantly  shift  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  and  walk  around  the  fire  for  hours.  Finally  becoming  so 
cold  and  sleepy,  we  lay  down  in  the  pen,  and  memories  soon  ceased,  and  with 
a  feeling  of  comfort,  went  to  sleep.  Had  some  of  the  boys  not  wakened  the 
sleeper  soon  afterwards,  he  would  have  been  frozen  to  death,  and  it  took  active 
tramping  around  the  fire  the  remainder  of  the  night  to  keep  circulation  alive. 


194  sutton's   histoe  y 

Burning  of  Sutton. 

The  company  that  captured  and  burned  Sutton  on  Wednesday,  Dec.  29, 
1,861,  was  commanded  by  Captain  John  S.  Sprigg.  The  town  had  as  its  de- 
fenders, Lieutenant  Dawson  with  about  sixty  of  Roan's  cavalry  who  retreated, 
and  the  town  was  promptly  occupied  by  the  Confederates.  It  is  said  that  in 
the  absence  of  Captain  Sprigg,  some  time  within  the  day,  that  the  Tunings  set 
fire  to  the  town  and  partly  destroyed  it.  Sprigg  returned  and  was  appealed 
to  by  John  S.  Camden  and  others  to  stop  the  burning.  Hanley  Humphreys  re- 
lates that  he  saw  a  soldier  going  with  a  torch  to  set  fire  to  a  house,  and  some 
soldiers  told  him  that  the  order. was  not  to  burn  any  more.  He  said,  "Whose 
order?"  and  the  reply  was,  "Captain  Tuning's." 

Pembrook  B.  Berry  was  instrumental  in  putting  out  fires  and  saving  much 
property.  The  town  was  again  attacked  by  Chas.  Rodgers  who  had  but  a  small 
squad  of  soldiers.  They  burned  the  Camden  hotel  and  some  other  buildings. 
A  house  stood  where  the  Racket  Store  now  stands,  opposite  the  hotel  which 
had  been  used  as  a  Federal  hospital.  It  caught  fire  from  the  hotel  and  was 
burned.  When  Spriggs'  command  captured  the  town,  there  were  about  thirty- 
five  soldiers  in  the  house  whom  he  paroled.  Dr.  Lafayette  Woodruff  was  in 
charge.  He  had  accepted  an  invitation  to  eat  turkey  with  Joseph  Osburn  on 
the  following  day,  but  he  made  his  escape  by  riding  double  out  of  town  be- 
hind a  cavalryman. 

General  Rosecrans  left  Sutton  on  Sept.  7,  1861 ,  and  three  days  later  fought 
the  battle  of  Carnifax  Ferry.  This  command  consisted  of  ten  thousand  troops, 
the  greatest  army  and  number  of  men  ever  bivouaced  in  Sutton  or  marched 
through  central  West  Virginia. 

It  is  said  when  Clinebell's  Confederates  retreated  from  Sutton,  that  as 
they  marched  down  the  main  street,  Daniel  J.  Stout,  a  musician,  played  on  his 
fife  one  of  the  most  inspiring  airs  that  ran  like  this,  "If  you  have  any  good 
thing,  save  it,  save  it — if  you  have  any  good  things,  give  them  to  me."  Now, 
the  discomfiture  of  the  Confederates  and  the  excitement  of  the  citizens  render- 
ed the  music  very  amusing,  and  as  Uncle  Daniel's  shrill  notes  sounded  amid 
the  surrounding  hills  of  Sutton,  they  gave  an  air  of  cheer  and  hilarity  to  an 
excited  throng. 

Sutton  in  the  War, 

J.  W.  Humphreys  relates  that  the  first  Federal  soldiers  to  enter  Sutton 
was  Colonel  E.  B.  Tyler's  brigade,  composed  of  the  7th  and  13th  Ohio  Three 
Months  men,  and  one  other  Ohio  regiment,  one  or  more  batteries,  some  cavalry, 
and  a  company  of  soldiers  called  the  Snakehunters,  commanded  by  Captain 
Biggs.  As  they  marched  down  the  street  about  where  Lee's  hardware  store 
stands,  they  saw  a  squad  of  men  going  up  the  hill  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  They  were  ordered  to  halt,  but  they  kept  going 
and  the  soldiers  fired  at  them.  They  were  Enos  Cunningham,  Chas.  S.  Evans, 
Levi  Weybright,  P.  B.  Berry,  two  of  the  Tonkins  boys,  and  perhaps  one  or  two 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  195 

others.  C.  S.  Evans'  gun  stock  was  cut  in  two  with  a  niinnie  ball.  This  was 
the  first  real  taste  of  war  that  Sutton  had  experienced.  These  soldiers  as 
they  inarched  down  the  street  with  flags  flying  and  bands  playing,  dressed  in 
new  uniforms  with  shinning  gunbarrels  and  bayonets  fixed,  was  one  of  the 
most  imposing  sights  that  the  town  had  ever  beheld. 

Jacob  Ervin,  a  very  old  man,  and  James  W.  Humphreys  were  the  only  two 
men  left  in  Sutton  to  welcome  the  army.  General  Tyler  treated  the  citizens 
with  great  civility  and  kindness. 

A  thrilling  incident.  Was  the  dream  of  Captain  Hyer,  prophetic?  In 
the  summer  of  1863,  a  portion  of  Co.  F,  10th  W.  Va.  Volunteer  Infantry,  was 
on  a  scouting  visit  to  their  homes  in  Braxton  county,  a  county  from  whence 
that  stalwart  company  was  recruited,  and  where  90  per  cent  or  more  or  those 
noble  and  generous  boys  were  born  and  raised.  While  at  home,  Captain  Hyer 
and  some  of  his  men  were  captured  by  the  Tuning  brothers  and  others,  who 
alternated  between  W.  L.  Jackson's  camp  and  anything  they  could  pick  up 
within  the  Federal  lines.  The  night  that  Captain  Hyer  was  captured,  he  was 
at  his  home  on  Salt  Lick,  and  had  as  his  guests  John  D.  Baxter,  who  was  orderly 
sergeant  of  the  company;  Sergeant  S.  E.  Knicely;  private  E.  B.  Wheeler  and 
Wm.  M.  Barnett. 

As  well  as  we  remember,  this  was  the  company  at  Captain  Hyer's  on  the 
night  of  the  attack  and  capture;  George  D.  Mollohan,  Harvey  Hyer  and  M.  L. 
Barnett,  civilians,  were  either  there  on  the  night  in  question  or  captured  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  and  were  present  as  prisoners  when  the  attack 
was  made.  After  several  shots  had  been  fired  and  a  demand  to  surrender  had 
been  made,  Captain  Hyer  thinking  that  the  house  would  be  fired  and  his  family 
exposed  and  further  resistance  would  be  useless  against  the  protest  of  Orderly 
Baxter  and  perhaps  others,  surrendered  to  a  party,  part  of  whom  at  least  were 
thirsting  for  the  blood  of  some  of  the  inmates  of  that  house. 

We  know  little  of  the  history  of  Timings,  but  think  they  came  from  Ty- 
gart's  valley,  and  settled  on  Salt  Lick.  Prior  to  the  war,  Jack,  the  one  they 
called  captain,  was  a  very  stout  and  rugged  man.  and  it  is  said  that  the  only 
time  he  ever  met  his  match  was  when  he  fought  the  invincible  Crawford  Scott 
of  Kandolph  county.  The  Tunings  seemed  somewhat  vicious  and  vindictive 
in  their  nature,  whether  they  had  any  special  grievance  growing  out  of  the 
war  that  imbittered  them  we  know  not;  but  early  in  the  war  they  were  known 
to  be  hostile  and  disposed  to  wage  a  guerilla  wai*fare,  and  for  that  reason  the 
commander  of  the  post  at  Sutton  sent  Orderly  Baxter  with  a  squad  of  men  to 
their  residence  on  Salt  Lick  to  confiscate  some  property.  This  order  he  obeyed 
as  a  soldier ;  as  General  Sheridan  did  the  order  of  the  war  department  at  Wash- 
ington to  burn  the  barns  of  the  valley  to  prevent  the  Confederate  forces  from 
obtaining  the  resources  of  that  fertile  land,  and  as  McCauslin  did  the  orders  of 
General  Early  to  burn  Chambersburg  in  retaliation  for  some  private  property 
he  claimed  had  been  destroyed  in  Virginia  by  the  Federal  forces. 

Tunings,  like  a  great  many  other  people,   not  looking  beyond  the  mere 


19G  SUTTON'S     HIS  TO  R  Y 

surface,  nor  comprehending  the  true  cause,  swore  vengeance  in  their  wrath 
against  Orderly  Baxter,  and  after  the  capture  of  Captain  Hyer  and  his  com- 
pany, they  gloated  over  the  satisfaction  they  would  have  in  subjecting  the  al- 
ready doomed  soldier  to  the  indignities  unworthy  of  our  civilization,  and  later 
in  the  deep  recesses  and  lonely  glens  of  the  mountains  beyond  Webster  C.  H.. 
he  was  to  be  put  to  death  like  a  savage  or  an  outlaw.  After  the  captain  and 
his  men  surrendered,  they  were  tied  two  and  two  and  started  on  their  march. 
The  destination  of  some  were  Libby  prison;  others  were  to  be  put  to  death. 
No  one  knew  this  better  than  the  brave  Baxter.  With  him,  like  every  good  sol- 
dier, obedience  and  discipline  was  the  first  law  to  be  observed.  Until  in  the 
midst  of  battle  he  rushed  forward  without  restraint.  We  remember  him  at 
the  battle  of  Droop  Mountain,  when  the  lines  of  battle  had  approached  within 
a  few  rods  of  each  other,  I  spoke  to  the  orderly,  who  was  in  advance  of  his 
company,  and  requested  him  to  go  back  and  rally  the  men  and  keep  the  com- 
pany in  line.  Captain  Hyer  was  in  prison,  and  Lieutenant  Kollyson  was  on 
staff  duty;  Lieutenant  Bender,  who  was  bravely  leading  his  men  on  in  battle, 
was  the  only  commissioned  officer  of  the  company  present. 

We  thought  some  of  the  men  were  falling  and  dropping  behind.  Poor 
fellows  were  being  shot  and  wounded,  and  in  looking  back  the  cause  I  had  not 
observed,  for  not  a  man  of  that  company  failed  to  do  Ms  duty  on  that  day. 

Baxter  paid  no  attention  to  my  suggestion,  rushed  forward  as  an  example 
for  his  men,  and  kicking  down  a  portion  of  an  old  rail  fence  behind  which  the 
Confederate  line  had  but  a  minute  before  used  as  a  covering,  he  sprang  across 
the  fence  and  discharged  his  gun  at  very  close  range,  and  in  the  act  of  re- 
loading, I  saw  him  place  the  butt  of  his  gun  on  the  ground,  grasp  the  barrel 
with  both  hands  and  eased  his  body  to  the  ground.  He  was  mortally  wounded 
and  died  in  a  few  brief  hours.  Thus  perished  a  noble  soldier,  brave  and  gen- 
erous— as  oblivious  to  fear  as  the  birds  that  flit  amid  the  branches  of  the  trees. 
We  were  boys  together,  though  he  was  somewhat  older  and  stronger.  We  had 
participated  in  all  the  outdoor  sports  of  that  day  and  time.  No  roads  were 
found  too  lonely  and  no  night  loo  dark  to  deter  us  from  hunting  the  wild 
game  of  the  forest.  We  had  tamed  steeds;  had  ridden  young  horses,  kept 
fierce  dogs;  chased  and  captured  the  wild  hog.  When  we  had  nothing  very 
amusing  on  hand  we  would  indulge  in  a  good  natured  scrap. 

Possessing  a  flint  lock  grin,  and  loading  it  with  a  large  charge  of  powder 
and  a  paper  or  toe  wad,  one  would  stand  beside  the  lane  fence  while  the  other 
would  run  by  on  the  opposite  side  and  fire  upon  him.  We  called  it  running 
the  gauntlet,  a  custom  that  prevailed  among  the  Indians.  More  than  once  I 
felt  the  stinging  sensation  as  I  would  pass  that  old  rifle.  When  it  came  my 
turn  to  load  and  fire.  I  put  in  as  big  a  charge  of  powder  and  paper  wad  as  I 
though  he  had  used;  when  the.  sterner  realities  of  life  came  and  the  exciting 
scenes  which  were  being  enacted '  our  companionship  seemed  inseparable,  and 
I  think  it  impossible  that  the  youths  of  this  day  can  fully  appreciate  the 
warmth,  cordiality,  unselfish  comradeship  of  the  sixties.  The  reader  will  par- 
don me  for  this  personal  reference. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOEY.  197 

The  Confederates  were  composed  of  two  Tunings,  Jack  and  Al.,  F.  F. 
Squires,  and  others  whose  names  I  have  forgotten.  Wm.  M.  Barnett  gave  me 
all  the  circumstances  some  years  ago,  and  the  last  time  I  saw  him  at  his  home 
in  Washington,  he  repeated  the  story.  Being  one  of  the  actors  and  partici- 
pants in  the  affair,  nothing  escaped  his  keen  observation  and  the  slightest  de- 
tail never  became  obliterated  from  his  memory. 

The  prisoners  all  being  secured,  ihe  march  was  taken  up  near  midnight 
for  Wm.  L.  Jackson's  camp  in  Pocahontas  county.  Baxter  and  Wheeler  were 
tied  together  and  Knieely  and  Barnett.  A  word  as  to  the  personnel  of  these 
men.  Captain  Hyer's  consideration  for  his  family  had  caused  him  to  capitu- 
late and  now  that  he  was  a  prisoner,  knowing  the  desperate  character  of  the 
Tunings,  doubtless,  thought  that  the  safety  of  all  depended  upon  their  sub- 
mission. Hyer's  activity  for  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  his  influence  in  the 
community  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  some  of  the  secessionists.  He  was 
captain  of  the  home  company,  a  company  some  of  whose  members  were  ac- 
tually indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  Union  cause  in  his  section.  Baxter 
was  a  militai-y  man,  a  born  genius ;  did  nothing  under  excitement ;  stood  6  feet, 
2  inches  in  height;  weighed  180  pounds  and  was  handsome  and  commanding  in 
appearance.  His  determination  was  to  get  away  from  his  captors  or  die  in 
the  attempt,  and  not  be  shot  down  like  a  savage  or  a  dog. 

E.  B.  Wheeler  was  a  rich  prize,  known  as  an  abolitionist,  bold  and  aggres- 
sive to  assert  his  views ;  over  6  feet  tall  and  strong  as  a  lion ;  a  slugger  of  the 
old  school,  but  didn't  take  kindly  to  military  life;  had  a  keen  sense  of  honor 
and  was  a  noble  and  generous  man  with  more  than  ordinary  ability.  From  the 
time  they  started,  his  eye  pierced  the  darkness  and  roamed  the  hillside  for  a 
favorable  opening  to  make  a  break  for  liberty. 

Wm.  M.  Barnett,  the  youngest  soldier  in  his  company,  a  boy  of  only  15 
years  of  age,  was  less  concerned,  for  his  youth  had  rendered  him  less  conspicu- 
ous an  object  of  their  vengeance.  If  Barnett  had  had  an  inch  of  ground  to 
stand  upon,  Tuning's  arm  would  have  been  too  slow,  and  his  brain  too  dull 
to  have  conquered  him.  He  'was  the  Kit  Carson  of  the  whole  crowd,  and  while 
he  was  not  so  particularly  concerned  for  his  own  safety,  he  was  active  in  ar- 
ranging by  signs  the  unloosening  of  the  cords  that  bound  their  wrists  one  to 
another,  and  the  time  and  location  most  suited  for  their  escape. 

S.  E.  Knieely,  who  was  coupled  with  Barnett,  was  an  elegant  citizen,  a 
sturdy  and  conscientious  soldier.  His  father  and  two  brothers  were  in  the 
army,  making  four  of  one  family.  It  is  needless  to  suggest  that  Tuning  and 
his  company  were  elated  at  their  capture.  A  richer  prize  could  not  have  been 
selected. 

Baxter  was  to  be  taken  through  Webster  county,  tortured  and  shot,  and 
possibly  Wheeler  was  to  share  the  same  fate.  The  others  were  to  be  taken  with 
an  air  of  triumph,  to  Jackson's  camp.  This  to  Timing  was  a  most  fortunate  and 
important  military  capture.  He  did  not  stand  very  high  at  Jackson's  camp. 
While  Jackson  was  an  extreme  partisan,  he  was  a  poor  military  commander. 
The  Jacksons  like  Boneparts,  while  in  Napoleon  was  concentrated  all  the  genius 


198  SUTTON'S     HISTORY 

of  that  family,  so  did  ' '  Stonewal] ' '  possess  the  military  genius  of  the  Jackson 
family.  He  held  a  position  between  the  regular  army  of  the  Confederacy  and 
the  ragged  edges  of  the  territory  lying  between  the  two  opposing  forces,  and 
all  the  odds  and  ends  that  could  be  gathered  together  in  a  section  of  country 
without  law  or  order,  civil  or  military.  He  was  handicapped  by  irregular 
bands  and  small  companies  of  men  like  the  Tunings,  the  Campbells,  the  Con- 
leys,  G-offs  and  Dusky  Men,  who  had  no  well  defined  relation  to  the  Confederacy, 
unless  they  occasionally  acted  as  scouts  and  spies,  but  whose  main  object  was 
plunder.    They  reveled  in  a  country  that  was  powerless  to  resist. 

The  mountainous  counties  of  the  interior  offered  a  shelter  for  refugees, 
skulkers  and  deserters.  These  men  preyed  upon  the  country  and  often  brought 
down  the  vengeance  of  the  Federal  authorities  upon  innocent  families,  whose 
fathers  or  sons  were  in  armies  of  the  south. 

Jackson's  discipline  was  not  of  that  character  that  would  give  protection 
or  inspire  confidence  and  respect  to  a  countay  helpless  in  the  absence  of  civil 
government.  Jackson  had  some  good  men,  we  have  no  desire  to  say  that  he  had 
not.  Many  of  them  we  knew  personally,  who  had  good  families,  and  prided 
themselves  as  being  good  soldiers,  and,  if  I  were  to  name  two  men  representing 
the  two  armies  the  equals  of  any  soldiers  of  the  interior  of  the  State ;  men  who 
developed  more  natural  military  genius  and  soldierly  bearing  and  courage,  I 
would  name  John  D.  Baxter  and  John  S.  Sprigg.  Captain  Sprigg  was  a  splen- 
did specimen  of  manhood;  tall,  erect  and  of  pleasing  manners,  a  superb  horse- 
man, a  dashing  cavalier.  One  incident  will  illustrate  his  stratagem  and  the 
generalship  that  he  used  this  occasion  to  save  his  men  and  assure  an  easy 
victory.  When  he  attacked  the  Federal  forces  at  Sutton,  he  approached  by 
marching  his  forces  down  the  turnpike  on  the  south  side  of  Elk,  and  as  the 
road  winds  around  a  high  ridge,  one  point  for  some  distance  was  in  full  view 
of  the  Federal  position.  Then  there  was  a  depression  in  the  ridge  that  was 
hidden  from  their  view.  When  his  command  came  in  sight  he  marched  them 
quietly  and  in  soldieily  order  until  they  reached  the  depression  and  were 
hidden  from  view.  Then  they  would  gallop  around  the  opposite  side  of  the 
ridge,  and  as  the  last  of  the  column  was  coming  around  in  view  of  the  Federal 
position  the  head  of  the  column  by  this  time  had  gotten  back  and  would  pass 
in  review  again,  thus  the  same  soldier  passed  many  times  in  review  and  the 
strength  of  his  forces  was  magnified  until  the  Union  forces  began  to  think 
that  the  Confederacy  had  turned  loose  a  considerable  portion  of  their  forces, 
and  they  evacuated  the  town  without  hesitancy  or  preliminaries.  If  Jackson 
had  been  in  immediate  command  of  the  forces  that  captured  the  town  of  Sut- 
ton, the  great  probabilities  are  that  there  would  have  been  a  fight  and  a  differ-^ 
ent  fate  awaiting  the  town,  and  if  Captain  Sprigg  had  been  the  commander  of 
Jackson's  forces,  there  might  have  been  more  activity  in  the  military  depart- 
ment of  the  mountains. 

The  Tunings  and  their- men  were  marchiug  in  triumphant  splendor  through 
the  darkness  with  their, prisoners  and  what  booty  they  had  succeeded  in  appro- 


BUTTON'S     HISTORY.  199 

priating;  at  a  point  on  the  ridge  near  Ben's  Run  through  a  signal  or  sign,  two 
of  the  couple  communicated  the  fact  that  they  had  removed  the  cords  by  which 
they  were  tied,  and  at  a  place  in  the  road  that  seemed  to  invite  the  attempt  to 
escape,  Baxter  and  Wheeler  plunged  into  the  brush,  running  in  the  same  direc- 
tion; Knicely  and  Barnett  made  a  dash  in  the  opposite  direction.  Barnett  got 
tripped  or  entangled  in  the  brush  and  fell  at  the  edge  of  the  road,  and  the  balls 
that  were  fired  at  the  noise  that  his  fleeing  comrade  made  passed  harmlessly 
over  his  head.  Every  shot  went  wild  of  its  mark,  and  only  acted  as  an  incen- 
tive to  excellorate  the  movements  of  those  stalwart  men  who  were  winding 
down  the  brush  and  sapplings  as  if  they  were  but  dry  stubble,  in  their  flight 
down  the  rugged  hillsides  of  the  Elk  Valley. 

Barnett  lay  still,  but  was  soon  discovered  and  one  of  the  company  ex- 
claimed, "We  have  killed  the  boy."  Baxter  and  Knicely  being  on  familiar 
ground,  soon  found  their  bearing  and  got  out  of  the  wilderness,  but  not  so  to 
Wheeler,  and  it  was  some  time  the  next  day  before  he  found  himself.  The  next 
night  I  slept  with  Baxter,  on  a  laiob  of  Grannies  creek,  that  William  Fisher 
ha?  since  cleared  and  planted  in  fruit  trees.  We  slept  on  the  bare  ground  with 
no  covering  save  the  clear  blue  sky.  Baxter  was  restless — not  nervous  or  ex- 
cited, but  his  nerves  were  strung.  He  was  on  his  metal  and  ready  for  action. 
The  war  drama  was  being  enacted  in  its  realities.  He  had  just  been  before 
the  footlights  and  looked  into  the  grim  visaged  face  of  his  enemy,  while  his 
strong  limbs  were  being  manacled  in  cords  with  guns  and  desperate  men  on 
either  side.  He  knew  what  his  capture  meant  but  he  was  a  soldier  without 
fear. 

When  Tunings  realized  that  they  had  lost  in  a  moment  Avhat  they  had  long 
sought  to  win,  and  the  great  prize  over  which  they  felt  so  elated,  their  ven- 
geance and  anger  knew  no  bounds.  We  were  told  by  some  of  those  who  re- 
mained in  captivity  that  they  raged  and  swore,  lamenting  the  escape  of  Baxter. 
They  sullenly  trudged  on  with  occasional  vile  oaths  and  frequently  threatened 
the  lives  of  the  other  prisoners.  George  D.  Mollohan,  M.  L.  Barnett  and  Henry 
Hyer,  the  three  civilian  prisoners,  after  the  exciting  spectacular  scenes  of  that 
m'dnight  hour,  were  taken  with  the  other  prisoners  to  a  point  near  the  mouth 
of  Brock's  run  on  Holly,  river.  There  they  halted  to  hold  a  war  council  and 
wait  for  daylight.  There  was  a  tide  in  the  river  and  the  only  means  of  cross- 
ing was  on  a  broken  boat  gunnel.  At  this  point  it  was  decided  to  release  two 
of  the  prisoners,  Hyer  and  Barnett.  Hyer  was  a  brother  of  Captain  Hyer — a 
firm  and  conscientious  citizen;  a  union  man,  mild  and  pleasant  in  manners; 
useful  as  a  conservative  citizen  and  to  carry  off  and  thrust  into  prison  such  a 
man  would  be  an  injury  to  any  cause.  Barnett  was  a  brother  to  the  boy 
prisoner,  and  lived  in  a  neighborhood  that  was  strongly  allied  in  sympathy  to 
the  southern  cause,  but  in  principle  was  a  union  man.  He  had  taken  no  pro- 
nounced part  in  the  great  struggle ;  was  kind  and  gentle,  and  had  the  good  of 
his  country  and  neighbors  at  heart.     One  of  nature's  noblemen,  and  in  after 


200  S  U  T  TON'S     HISTORY 

years,  no  minister  of  the  Gospel  that  ever  graced  a  West  Virginia  pulpit  was 
more  genuinely  and  universally  beloved  by  his  people. 

George  D.  Mollohan  was  taken  to  Richmond  and  the  cruel  treatment  he 
received  came  near  ending  his  life. 

After  the  escape  of  Baxter,  Knicely  and  Wheeler.  Mr.  Mollohan 's  hands 
Mere  tied,  also  Barnett's.  We  do  not  know  whether  Capt.  Hyer's  hands  or 
whether  be  as  an  officer  was  placed  on  his  honor  to  remain  a  prisoner.  After 
the  halt  at  Brocks  run,  the  march  was  resumed  and  the  prisoners  taken  across 
Holly  river.  The  Tunings  were  importuned  to  untie  the  cord  that  bound  Mol- 
lohan "s  hands  until  the  river  was  crossed,  but  they  positively  refused.  To 
cross  a  stream  on  a  piece  of  boat  gunnel  with  your  hands  tied  behind  you  is 
extremely  hazardous.  The  river  crossed  in  safety,  the  march  was  continued 
through  Webster  count,/  to  Jackson's  camp;  thence  to  Richmond  and  Libby 
prison. 

'  In  passing  through  Webster  C.  IT.,  weary  and  footsore  with  the  march, 
warmed  up  by  the  autumn  sun,  MolJoban's  thirst  was  intensified  by  the  sigh' 
of  the  pure  crystal  waters,  but  he  was  denied  that  slight  privilege  of  appeasing 
his  thirst,  that  to  him  would  have  been  a  blessing.  The  prisoners  had  one 
friend  in  the  company  of  whom  I  wish  to  speak  more  particularly,  because  jus- 
tice should  be  done  every  man  and  he  should  have  credit  for  his  good  acts,  and 
a  friend  under  these  circumstances  and  in  such  trying  need  should  be  remem- 
bered, and  appreciated.  F.  F.  Squires  wanted  Tunings  to  untie  the  cords  that 
bound  Mollohan  while  crossing  the  river  and  give  him  a  chance  for  his  life, 
in  case  that  frail  craft  should  sink  or  capsize  but  refused  and  on  the  march 
he  frequently  besought  Tuning  to  grant  decent  treatment  to  the  prisoners,  but 
without  effect.  He  confided  with  the  prisoners  and  advised  for  their  welfare, 
and  through  his  influence  saved  them  great  and  trying  iniquities.  He  admin- 
istered to  their  wants  while  in  Jackson's  camp.  These  facts  I  learned  from 
one  of  the  prisoners  long  years  after  the  tragic  event  when  he  was  on  his  last 
bed  of  sickness. 

F.  F.  Squires  was  of  noble  and  gentle  parentage.  The  influence  of  a  Chris- 
tian home  could  not  be  obscured  by  the  strenuous  irregularities  of  a  boarder 
warfare. 

I  now  came  to  a  point  in  my  narrative  that  to  me  seems  to  be  of  very  great 
importance.  A  subject  that  any  person  might  give  more  than  a  mere  casual 
observance  or  consideration.  It  indicates  a  providence  that  is  unseen — a  hand 
that  is  invisible.  Several  years  ago,  Captain  Flyer  related  a  very  remarkable 
dream  that  he  had  when  he  was  a  very  small  boy,  and  it  so  impressed  me  that 
when  I  visited  him  during  his  last  sickness,  I  had  him  relate  his  dream  to  me 
as  fully  as  he  was  able.  His  mind  was  clear,  but  his  once  strong  frame  was 
wasting,  tottering  to  a  fall.  He  realized  that  the  sands  of  time  had  well  nigh 
run  out,  but  he  gave  me  the  story  just  as  he  had  related  it  years  before.  When 
Captain  Hyer  was  a  small  boy  he  dreamed  that  he  and  his  brother  Harvey  and 
two  strange  men  were  in  captivity  and  confined  in  a  loathsome  and  revolting 


SUTTON'S     HISTOE  Y.  201 

hog  pen.  But  in  a  short  time,  Harvey  regained  his  liberty,  and  he  and  the  two 
strange  men  remained,  what  appeared  to  be  a  lone  confinement.  He  became 
familiar  with  their  voices,  gestures  and  personal  appearance.  80  vivid  and 
realistic  were  these  impressions  on  his  mind  that  in  all  the  years  intervening 
between  that  time  and  the  war  they  remained  imdimmed,  and  after  the  capture 
as  we  have  described,  his  brother  Harvey  was  released  at  Holly  i*iver.  Then 
the  Captain's  privations  began.  He  was  taken  to  Jackson's  camp,  thence  to 
Libby  prison.  After  a  lon!>;  confinement  there,  he  was  taken  to  Salisbury,  N.  C, 
and  when  he  was  ushered  into  the  new  and  strange  prison  pens,  nearer  dead 
than  alive,  the  first  men  he  met  were  the  two  he  saw  in  his  dream  when  he  was 
a  boy.  And  during  the  remainder  of  his  prison  life  they  were  his  constant  com- 
panions. They  ministered  as  far  as  they  could  to  his  wants,  and  with  him  they 
lived  to  escape  the  horrors  of  prison  life  and  returned  to  their  homes  in  Ohio. 
The  question  is,  was  it  prophetic?  Do  the  teeming  millions  exist  in  invisible 
form  before  they  came  upon  life's  stage?  Captain  Hyer  was  made  to  see 
through  a  dream,  a  prison  pen  that  he  should  in  the  future  occupy,  and  the 
faces  of  two  companions  that  perhaps  were  not  born  at  that  time.  The  provi- 
dences of  God  are  mysterious  to  mortal  vision. 

Fifty  years  have  come  and  gone  since  the  event  occurred  of  which  we  have 
been  writing — eventful  years,  years  in  which  history  has  been  written  as  with 
an  electric  pen.  The  angel  of  death  has  not  been  idle,  but  has  thrown  its  cycle 
in  the  fields  of  mortality  and  some  of  the  noblest,  purest  characters,  men  and 
women  of  our  land,  have  been  its  victims,  and  as  far  as  I  know  not  a  man  who 
participated  in  that  episode  at  Captain  Byer's  in  1863,  is  now  living.  They 
have  all,  one  by  one,  crumbled  into  dust.  The  participants  of  that  great  strug- 
gle who  remain  are  ageing ;  the  vim  and  vigor  of  youth  have  passed,  our  battles 
are  history,  and  there  is  nothing  left  us  but  memory. 

"The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies; 

The  captains  and  the  kings  depart; 
Still  stands  thine  ancient  sacrifice 

An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart, 
Lord  Gfod  of  hosts  be  with  us  yet. 

Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget." 

Capt.  Wm.  Kantner  who  commanded  a  company  in  the  3rd  W.  Va.  Cav- 
alry, while  stationed  at  Martinsburg,  W.  Va.,  was  sent  with  a  squad  of  soldiers 
to  capture  a  Confederate  Major  whom  it  was  said  was  to  be  married  near 
Charlestown.  The  Captain  relates  that  John  Shuttlesworth,  Quartermaster  of 
the  Eegiment,  requested  to  accompany  the  scout,  but.  when  they  reached  the 
place  where  the  marriage  was  supposed  to  take  place,  they  found  that  the  re- 
port was  mi  true,  and  on  thier  return,  about  four  miles  from  Charlestown,  they 
surrounded  a  house  and  captured  a  prisoner  or  two,  and  among  the  crowd  was 
Wm.  L.  Wilson.  The  Captain  said  that  Wilson  escaped  from  the  house,  and  a 
search  failed  to  reveal  his  presence  but  just  before  they  left  a  soldier  spied  him 


202  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

hiding  under  an  out  building,  and  when  they  came  through  Charlestown,  the 
ladies  of  the  town  expressed  great  sympathy  for  the  prisoner  whom  the  Cap- 
tain described  as  a  very  youthful,  delicate  looking  soldier,  but  one  who  was 
destined  to  become  a  statesman  of  international  reputation. 

Silas  M.  Morrison  related  to  the  author  that  Isaac  Brown,  a  soldier,  made 
some  report  against  George  Blankcnship  that  caused  a  squad  Of  soldiers  in 
company  with  two  or  three  citizens  to  waylay  and  kill  Blankenship  which  was 
an  outrage.  He  also  related  that  a  renegade  from  Greenbrier  county  named 
Andy  Williams,  piloted  the  troops  that  killed  Jacob  Tonkin. 

It  is  related  by  David  M.  Jackson  who  lived  at  the  for  i  of  Little  Birch 
during  the  Civil  war,  that  a  soldier  named  Outright  (possibly  from  Harrison 
county)  and  George  Leonard  of  Cincinnati,  carried  dispatches  from  Sutton  to 
Summersville,  and  stayed  at  his  father's  home.  He  states  that  Cutright  was 
shot  in  the  shoulder  from  ambush. 

MILITARY  TRAGEDIES. 

Early  in  the  war  some  Confederates  went  to  the  residence  of  John  Crites 
.on  Crites  Mountain  and  killed  Isaac,  his  son.  Isaac  was  a  boy  scarcely  grown. 
This  so  enraged  the  family  that  all  the  other  boys  who  were  able,  joined  the 
Union  army,  and  the  father  of  the  boy  acted  as  scout  and  spy,  great  harass- 
ing the  citizens  of  Braxton  and  Webster  counties  during  the  remainder  of  the 
war. 

In  1863,  while  a  scouting  partjr  commanded  by  Major  Withers  of  the  Tenth 
West  Virginia  Infantry,  were  coming  down  the  Elk  river,  they  saw  James  Mc- 
Court  run  from  a  house  not  far  above  where  the  village  of  Centralia  is  now 
located.  McCourt  was  halted  and  commanded  to  surrender,  but  he  continued  to 
run,  and  just  as  he  was  entering  some  high  weeds  and  brush  he  was  killed.  He 
was  said  to  be  a  harmless  citizen,  but  through  fear  and  excitement  he  lost  his 
life. 

John  0.  Cool,  John  and  James  Clifton  and  MeLure  Bickel  were  killed  by 
'Federal  soldiers  on  the  Holly.  Al  and  Fred  Tuning  were  killed  at  James 
Dyer's  near  the  close  of  the  war  by  Federal  soldiers.  Jack  Tuning  was  said  to 
have  been  hung  in  Texas  after  the  close  of  the  war. 

John  Mace  of  Hacker's  Valley,  a  Union  man,  was  killed  by  bushwhackers. 

William  Arthur  was  killed  by  the  Tunings.    The  Tunings  also  killed 

Arbogast,  a  local  preacher  in  the  M.  E.  church,  and  Buzzard,  a  class 

leader,  who  lived  in  Pocahontas  county. 

Dr.  John  L.  Rhea  of  Flatwoods,  while  in  Weston  during  the  Civil  war,  was 
shot  by  some  lawless  soldier  and  wounded,  the  ball  taking  effect  in  his  jaw. 
He  recovered  without  serious  trouble.  Many  acts  of  wanton  cruelty  and  in- 
justice were  perpetrated  by  reckless,  irresponsible  persons.  War  develops  and 
brings  out  the  worst  that  is  in  man. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  203 

Just  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war  when  the  first  Federal  troops  passed 
through  the  county,  a  boy  from  Ohio  had  followed  the  army  as  far  as  Glenville. 
Some  parties  say,  however,  that  he  came  as  far  as  Sutton,  but  it  is  in  doubt  as 
to  what  place  he  left  the  army.    At  any  rate,  he  desired  to  return  to  his  home, 

and  started  across  the  country  by  way  of  Steer  creek,  stopping  at ...Cole'? 

to  get  something  to  eat.  Cole,  a  man  named  Windon,  also  a  Conrad,  were  some 
distance  down  the  creek  working  in  the  hay  harvest.  Mrs.  Cole,  when  she  found 
out  that  the  boy  had  come  from  Ohio  and  had  been  with  the  Federal  army, 
ran  down  and  told  her  husband  and  Windon,  while  the  boy  was  eating  his  din- 
ner, that  there  was  a  Yankee  at  the  bouse.  They  waylaid  him  as  he  came  down 
where  they  were  at  work.  They  killed  the  boy,  cut  his  head  off  with  a  scythe 
and  hid  his  body  in  a  stone  or  log  pile.  Conrad  fled  and  was  never  heard  of. 
"Windon  hinted  it  to  a  man  named  Simpton  while  they  were  both  intoxicated. 
Cole  and  Windon  were  arrested  and  tried  by  a  court  in  Charleston,  Kanawha 
county,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  The  execution  took  place  in  Sutton  in  the 
fall  of  1862,  the  same  being  carried  out  by  the  military  authorities.  Their 
bodies  were  buried  on  the  Town  Hill.  One  of  the  streets  now  passes  over  their 
remains.  Mrs.  Cole  being  in  delicate  health,  was  allowed  to  escape.  One  of 
Cole's  sons  afterward  volunteered  and  served  through  the  war  in  the  Tenth 
West  Virginia  Infantry.  Nothing  is  recorded  in  the  border  warfare  of  our 
country  that  equals  this  in  cold  blooded  atrocity. 

Late  in  the  Civil  Avar,  William  Wine  and  a  young  man  hardly  grown, 
named  McCourt,  of  Webster  county,  visited  the  residence  of  Joseph  Green,  liv- 
ing in  that  comity,  for  the  purpose  of  robbery.  While  McCourt  was  handing 
some  meat  down  from  the  loft  of  the  cabin,  Wine  was  putting  it  in  a  sack. 
Green,  who  had  been  made  a  prisoner,  was  standing  between  Wine  and  the 
fireplace.  He  got  hold  of  a  poker,  and  as  Wine  was  stooping  over  to  put  the 
stolen  goods  in  a  sack,  Green  struck  him  a  fatal  blow  on  the  head.  Green 
then  took  Wine's  gun  and  made  McCourt  come  down  from  the  loft,  and  kept 
him  a  prisoner  that  night. 

Early  in  the  Civil  war  two  Federal  soldiers,  couriers,  coming  from  Weston 
to  Sutton  were  attacked  at  Wines'  Gap  by  Ben  Haymond,  a  man  named  Foley 
and  a  man  named  Riffle.  One  of  the  soldiers  was  killed,  his  name  was  Debolt; 
the  other  soldier,  Henry  Brooks,  was  wounded,  but  made  his  escape.  Shortly 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  Riffle  was  killed  while  attending  a  sugar  camp,  it  is 
said,  by  Debolt 's  brother. 

One  of  the  most  brutal  and  cold  blooded  murders  that  occurred  in  Braxton 
county  (excluding  the  lulling  of  a  boy  by  Cole  and  Windon)  was  the  betrayal 
of  another  boy,  son  of  John  Arthur.  He  was  taken  upstairs  in  Dr.  Humphrey  'a 
home  in  Sutton  and  beguiled  by  some  soldiers  dressed  in  southern  uniforms, 
professing  to  be  prisoners.  The  young  man  knew  nothing  of  the  war  except 
what  he  had  heard  southern  sympathizers  say,  and  being  placed  in  prison  as 
he  supposed,  he  talked  freely  by  being  asked  leading  questions.  He  was  taken 
out  by  two  of  Roan's  men,  Moneypenny  and  Steambeck.  and  marched  up  the 


204  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

\ 

road,  leading  to  North  Sutton.     He  suspieioned  something  and  showed  fight, 

but  they  told  him  that  they  were  going  to  take  him  upon  the  hill  to  camp. 
There  was  no  camp  on  the  hill,  and  they  took  the  boy  out  by  the  side  of  a  little 
ravine  in  the  brush.  There  he  showed  fight,  and  one  of  the  soldiers  engaged 
his  attention  in  front,  while  the  other  one  shot  him  in  the  back  of  the  head.  He 
was  laid  by  the  side  of  the  little  stream  an  dcovered  with  some  sticks  and  leaves. 
Afterward  Michael  McAnana  and  some  other  citizens,  built  a  little  rock  wall 
between  the  body  and  the  creek,  filled  in  with  dirt,  and  covered  the  body. 

Captain  Harrison  of  the  Sixth  "West  Virginia  Infantry  was  the  commander 
of  the  post,  and  must  have  been  apprised  of  the  treachery  that  led  to  the  youn<j 
man's  death. 

The  most  atrocious  and  revolting  murder  that  was  committed  in  central 
West  Virginia  was  the  brutal  killing  of  Jacob  Tonkin,  an  aged  and  respected 
citizen  living  on  Salt  Lick  of  Little  Kanawha.  Mr.  Tonkins  was  a  local 
preacher  in  the  M.  E.  church.  It  is  said  that  a  scout  of  Federal  soldiers  ac- 
companied by  some  young  men  of  the  neighborhood,  went  to  his  house  and 
professed  to  be  southern  soldiers,  and  led  Mr.  Tonkin  to  say  something  which 
indicated  to  them  that  he  was  a  southern  man,  and  from  this  a  report  was 
circulated  that  led  to  his  murder.  He  was  out  in  a  lot  near  his  house,  and  a 
squad  of  soldiers  rode  up  and  fired  at  him,  and  it  is  said  that  six  balls  took 
effect  in  his  body,  but  he  was  able  by  the  assistance  of  his  wife  and  some  other 
members  of  his  family  to  get  to  the  house.  Two  of  the  soldiers  went  to  the 
house  and  his  aged  wife  begged  them  not  to  Imrt  him  as  he  was  already  mor- 
tally wounded,  but  one  of  the  men  drew  his  carbine  and  shot  him  in  the  back 
of  the  head.  The  squad  of  soldiers  were  said  to  belong  to  Roan's  Cavalry, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Lawson.  The  two  men  who  went  to  the  house  and 
did  the  last  shooting  were  said  to  be  from  Wheeling,  their  names  being  Burn- 
hart  and  Skinner.  Nowhere  in  the  annals  of  savage  warfare  when  savagery 
and  civilization  clashed  in  deadly  combat,  was  there  a  more  brutal  spirit  of 
the  lower  instincts  of  humanity  shown  than  in  the  murder  of  this  aged  Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

John  G.  Morrison  relates  that  he  was  pressed  as  a  guide  by  a  Lieutenant 
and  some  soldiers  who  belonged  to  General  Wise's  forces  at  Gauley  Bridge,  and 
that  they  met  some  of  General  Rosecran's  forces  on  Powell's  Mountain,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Litle.  The  Federals  fired  on  them  and  while  the  skirmish 
was  going  on,  Henry  Young,  some  other  citizens  and  the  militia  came  to  the 
road  in  front  of  the  soldiers.  Young  was  carrying  a  gun  and  showed  fight. 
Young  was  killed  and  the  others  made  their  escape.  Litle 's  horse  was  shot,  and 
he  lost  his  sword  in  the  skirmish. 

Nathan  Blankenship,  said  to  be  a  peaceful  citizen,  who  lived  on  Ben's  run 
was  shot  and  killed  by  some  Union  citizens. 

Early  in  the  Civil  war,  some  Federal  soldiers  who  were  camped  at  the 
churches  at  Flatwoods,  captured  Campbell  Perrine,  a  man  considerably  ad- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  205 

vanced  in  years.  They  brought  him  to  their  camp  and  then  started  him  with  a 
detail  of  soldiers  to  prison  at  Sutton.  The  squad  brought  him  to  the  low  gap 
at  the  head  of  Granny's  creek  and  there  told  him  to  run.  When  he  did  so 
they  shot  him.  The  turnpike  makes  a  bend  and  the  old  road  went  straight 
down  the  hill.  He  ran  from  the  pike  toward  the  old  road  and  fell  in  the 
road.  A  detail  of  soldiers  came  and  buried  him  in  a  shallow  grave  on  the  bank 
of  the  road  at  the  root  of  a  large  poplar  tree.  In  a  day  or  so  Adam  Gillespie 
made  a  coffin  and  he  and  some  other  citizens  came  and  buried  him  in  the  hill 
field  on  the  Linger  farm.  Mr.  Perrine  was  a  very  harmless  man,  not  strong 
minded,  but  very  ingenious.  He  could  make  clocks  and  almost  any  kind  of  ma- 
chinery out  of  wood.     Seldom  occurs  a  more  cruel  or  unjustifiable  murder. 

James  Squires,  son  of  Elijah  Squires,  while  at  home  on  a  furlough  from 
the  Confederate  army,  was  captured  by  a  Federal  scout  near  the  headwaters 
of  Flatwoods  run.  He  was  left  in  charge  of  Robert  Blaggs,  a  member  of  Com- 
pany F.  Tenth  West  Virginia  Infantry,  while  the  other  members  of  the  party 
went  down  the  hill  a  short  distance  to  a  house,  looking  for  parties  who  might 
be  in  hiding  there.  While  Squires  and  Blagg  were  alone,  Squires  tried  to  wrest 
Blagg's  gun  from  him  and  in  the  tussle  the  gun  was  fired  and  Blagg  succeeded 
in  getting  his  revolver  from  its  scabbard  and  killed  Squires.  When  the  other 
parties  came  back  Squires  was  not  yet  dead,  and  said  that  he  was  in  the  fault. 
of  Flatwoods  run.  He  was  left  in  charge  of  Robert  Blagg,  a  member  of  Corn- 
federate  soldier,  helped  Blagg  to  steal  his  wife,  a  cousin  of  theirs,  the  daughter 
of  William  G.  Squires. 

Two  Federal  couriers,  coming  up  the  Wine  hill  from  Big  run,  were  fired 
on  by  Ben  Haymond  and  some  other  parties  near  the  Wine  low  gap  and  one  of 
the  couriers  was  lulled. 

Just  over  the  hill  on  the  west  side  of  the  Wine  gap.  near  the  foot  of  the 
bill,  some  Federal  soldiers,  having  captured  Thomas  Stout  and  two  of  his  sons, 
Johnson  and  Isaac,  at  their  home,  brought  them  to  this  place  and  killed  the 
father  of  the  boys  and  shot  Isaac  and  wounded  him  very  badly.  Johnson  made 
his  escape  by  flight.  Thinking  Isaac  was  killed,  the  soldiers  ran  after  Johnson, 
shooting  at  him,  and  while  this  was  going  on  Isaac  made  his  escape.  Johnson 
lived  through  the  war  and  for  many  years  thereafter,  and  was  finally  killed  by 
a  falling  tree.  Isaac,  though  badly  wounded  in  the  mouth,  recovered  and  is 
still  living. 

THE   DAYS    OF   RECONSTRUCTION.    1S66-1867. 

The  depression  and  stringency  following  the  war  were  soon  overborne  by 
the  rising  spirit  of  progress  and  the  on  rush,  of  material  prosperity.  Condi- 
tions in  May,  1866,  are  thus  graphically  portrayed  in  a  Rockingham  paper. 

"The  remarkable  display  of  energy  by  the  people  of  the  Valley,  since  the 
close  of  the  war,  is  the  most  forcible  commentary  that  could  be  given  of  their 
character.     Without  a  currency,  almost  destitute  of  money,  their  fields  laid 


206  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

waste,  barns  and  other  farm  houses  destroyed,  stock  stolen  and  driven  off,  no 
surplus  supplies  on  hand,  and  their  labor  system  broken  up,  yet  they  have 
managed  to  rebuild  their  fences  and  barns,  repair  their  premises  generally,  and 
(make)  progress  in  improvements  heretofore  not  enjoyed.  Throughout  the 
entire  Valley  steam  saw-mills  dot  almost  every  neighborhood,  factories  and 
foundries  are  being  built,  and  the  slow  and  imperfect  implements  of  agricul- 
tural husbandry  heretofore  used  supplanted  by  the  most  improved  labor-saving 
machinery. 

"At  Mt.  Crawford,  a  large  Woolen  Factory  is  in  process  of  construction; 
also,"  an  Earthen  "Ware  establishment.  In  Han'isonburg,  Messrs.  Bradley  & 
Co.  have  in  successful  operation  their  Foundry,  and  will  shortly  commence 
erecting  a  much  larger  one,  on  ground  recently  purchased  for  that  purpose 
near  the  old  building.  At  Port  Republic  and  McGaheysville  the  spirit  of  en- 
terprise is  fully  awakened,  factories,  foundries  and  nulls  being  put  into  opera- 
tion as  rapidly  as  the  workmen  can  complete  their  contracts.  Carding  mills 
are,  also  multiplying  throughout  the  county,  and  many  other  improvements  are 
being  inaugurated,  which  we  have  not  space  to  enumerate." 

The  author  remembers  seeing  many  Confederates  in  uniform  building  and 
repairing  fences  around  grain  fields  three  or  four  days  after  the  surrender  of 
General  Lee. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


207 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Early  Commerce;  West  Virginia's  Great  Wealth  in  Native  Ginseng;  Its  Value 
to  the  Early  Settlers;  Old  Mills;  Lumbering  on  Elk;  Great  Floods. 

EARLY  COMMERCE. 


The  first  wants  of  the  settlers  of  central  West  Virginia  were  gunpowder, 
lead,  flint,  salt  and  corn  meal,  the  scantiest  outfit  of  cooking  utensils,  a  few 

dishes,  knives,  forks,  etc.,  according 
to  their  ability  to  buy,  and  their  op- 
portunities to  exchange  certain  ar- 
ticles of  commerce  which  they  ob- 
tained in  the  forest,  such  as  furs, 
bear  skins,  venison  hams  and  gin- 
seng. The  wants  of  the  people  were 
not  great,  but  what  little  they  pos- 
sessed were  luxuries  at  that  day. 

The  men  dressed  in  tow  linen 
and  buckskin;  the  women  wore  lin- 
en and  cotton  goods  winter  and 
summer,  the  products  of  their  own 
toil.  The  men  almost  universally 
wore  moccasins  and  fur  caps.  A  lit- 
tle later  the  people  began  to  tan 
their  own  leather,  using  wooden 
troughs  for  vats.  Bear  skins  and 
deer  hides  were  sometimes  used  as 
a  part  of  their  bedding,  as  well  as 
the  buffalo  robe. 

The  communications  over  the 
mountains  from  the  eastern  settle- 
ment was  at  first  by  pack-horses,  and  later  by  Avagons.  As  the  settlements  in- 
creased in  numbers  and  the  people  became  more  domesticated  and  stable  in 
their  local  societies  and  government,  the  commercial  interests  of  exchange  be- 
came greater,  and  increased  as  time  went  on.  While  ginseng  at  one  time 
brought  but  twelve  and  one-half  cents  a  pound,  quinine  sold  as  high  as  thirty- 
two  dollars  an  ounce.  Ginseng  has  since  advanced  to  twelve'  dollars  a  pound 
while  quinine  has  been  reduced  to  a  few  shillings  an  ounce  until  the  late  Euro- 
pean war  when  it  has  again  advanced  as  high  as  thirty-five  dollars  a  pound; 
however,  this  is  only  a  temporary  fluctuation.    In  an  early  day,  the  great  for- 


JOKN  BROWN 


208  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

ests  of  West  Virginia  were  a  veritable  bed  of  ginseng,  black  snakeroot,  yellow- 
root  and  other  valuable  herbs  of  medicinal  qualities.  Still  as  the  population 
grew  and  the  people  had  greater  road  facilities,  the  necessities  of  the  settlers 
increased  and  the  people  became  enabled  to  supply  themselves  with  articles 
such  as  hitherto  had  been  denied  them,.  There  was  nothing  to  bring  money  into 
the  country  except  the  articles  above  mentioned,  and  they,  as  a  rule,  had  to  be 
exchanged  for  various  articles  of  strenuous  domestic  necessity. 

The  first  live  stock  taken  to  market  from  the  central  and  southern  parts 
of  the  state  was  driven  over  the  mountains  on  foot.  The  greater  portion  of 
the  early  traffic  was  in  hogs  as  the  abundant  masts  of  that  day  enabled  the 
farmers  to  raise  them  with  the  use  of  but  little  grain.  The  greatest  trouble 
was  to  keep  bears  and  other  animals  from  destroying  the  hogs.  A  great  many 
went  wild  in  the  woods  and  the  boars  became  very  large  and  savage,  having 
wonderful  tusks.  To  catch  one  alive  required  several  men  and  dogs.  The 
chase  and  fight  with  a  wild  boar  was  equal  to  the  excitement  of  a  bear  hunt, 
and  often  the  dogs  were  killed  by  the  long  sharp  tusks  of  the  boar.  It  was 
common  at  that  clay  for  farmers  to  mark  the  ears  of  tbeir  stock,  and  frequently 
the  ear  marks  were  altered.  People  would  put  their  own  mark  on  any  un- 
marked hog  they  could  find  and  litigation  became  a  very  common  thing,  and 
was  the  subject  of  much  controversy.  Some  marked  by  a  crop  in  the  left  ear 
and  a  slit  in  the  right;  others  by  a  crop  in  the  right  ear  and  a  slit  in  the  left; 
some  by  a  crop  in  the  left  ear  and  a  swallow  fork  in  the  right ;  others  by  a  crop 
in  the  right  ear  and  a  swallow  fork  in  the  left ;  some  by  two  slits  in  the  right 
car  and  an  upper  bit  in  the  left ;  others  by  two  slits  in  the  left  ear  and  an  upper 
bit  in  the  right;  some  by  a  slit  in  each  ear;  some  by  a  swallow  fork,  bits  and 
half  upper  crops;  some  by  swallow  forks  and  half  crops,  and  a  vast  number  of 
other  marks  to  which  the  ear  was  subject.  Two  whole  crops  were  considered  a 
rogue's  mark.     Some  had  the  ear-marks  recorded  in  the  Clerk's  office. 

HOG  STEALING. 

Old  Uncle  Ezra  Clifton,  one  of  the  first  settlers  on  the  Holly  river,  had  t; 
very  fine  hog  to  stray  off,  and  at  last  he  found  trace  of  it,  and  discovered  that 

one  of  his  neighbors  named was  feeding  the  hog  under 

a  cliff  of  rocks  which  stood  above  his  cabin.  He  allowed  the  feeding  to  go  on 
until  one  day  he  saw  his  neighbor  starting  to  Bulltown  to  get  a  load  of  salt, 
then  he  knew  that  butchering  time  was  at  hand.  He  took  two  of  his  sons  and 
his  clog,  and  went  up  to  the  house  and  inquired  of  the  wife  whether  they  had 
seen  anything  of  a  stray  hog,  and  she  said,  "Indeed,  Uncle  Ezra,  we  haven't 
seen  a  stray  hog  about,  this  fall."  Uncle  Ezra  and  the  boys  went  up  to  the 
rock  cliff  and  found  the  hog  in  a  fat  and  fine  condition,  with  quite  a  pile  of 
corn  cobs  close  by.  The  hog  took  fright  at  the  men  and  dog  and  bounded 
down  the  mountain,  and  being  large  and  fat  and  terribly  frightened,  happened 
to  get  in  line  with  the  door  of  the  cabin  and  bounded  in.  As  there  was  a  door 
opposite  the  one  facing  the  hill,  the  hog  closely  pursued  by  the  dog,  Uncle  Ezra 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  20& 

and  the  boys,  ran  through  the  lower  door  and  plunged  into  the  river  where 
the  dog  held  him  at  bay  until  Mr.  Cliff  ton  shot  him.  He  then  proceeded' to- 
dress  the  hog.  He  had  brought  two  horses  and  sacks  to  carry  the  meat  in, 
and  had  left  them  concealed  below  the  cabin  until  ho  had  the  pork  ready  for 

transportation.     He  then  told  Mrs that  he  had  hung  the  entrails 

on  the  fence,  and  to  tell  her  husband  when  he  came  home  that  he  might  dress 
them  for  what  lard  he  could  get. 

This  same  Mr was  a  hunter  and  lick  watcher,  and  went  at 

one  time  with  Colonel  Newlon  to  watch  a  deer  lick  on  Steer  creek.  Some  time- 
in  the  night,  he  stole  the  Colonel's  pistol  and  hid  it  in  a  hollow  beech  tree.    The 

Colonel  swore  out  a  warrant,  against  him  for  stealing  the  pistol.     Mr.... 

was  at  the  time  engaged  to  be  married,  and  Charles  Mollohan,  the  sheriff,  hav- 
ing the  warrant,  went  to  the  wedding  and  placed  the  intended  groom  under 
arrest.  As  he  was  starting  away  with  the  sheriff,  the  mother  of  the  intended 
bride  said,  "Now,  ,  go  on,  and  if  you  are  guilty,  take  your  medi- 
cine like  a  man  (which  was  the  whipping  post)  and  if  you  are  innocent,  come 
back  and  be  married  if  my  daughter  is  willing  to  have  you."  It.  developed  at 
the  trial  that  the  Colonel  was  unwilling  to  state  positively  that  the  man  had 

stolen  his  pistol,  but  swore  that  either .,  his  horse  or  his  dog  had 

stolen  the  pistol.  Then  the  man  was  discharged  and  went  back  and  married 
the  girl.  This  was  the  same  woman  who  later  in  life  said,  "Indeed,  Uncle 
Ezra,  there  has  been  no  stray  hog  here." 

Some  years  after  the  Colonel  had  watched  the  deer  lick,  his  pistol  was 
found  near  the  place,  where  it  had  been  concealed  at  the  root  of  a  hollow  beech 
tree.     The  stream  has  since  been  known  by  the  name  of  the  Pistol  Pork. 

It  was  a  general  custom  to  put  bells  on  the  stock.  Some  large,  well-made 
bells  could  be  heard  three  and  four  miles.  The  smaller  bells  called  sheep  bells, 
could  be  heard  for  a  long  distance.  Some  woodsmen  became  as  familiar  with 
the  sound  of  their  neighbor's  cow  bell  as  they  did  with  the  human  voice. 
Israel  A.  Friend,  the  gun-maker,  made  a  great  number  of  bells.  His  make  of 
bells  always  bore  his  initials,  and  were  the  finest  on  the  market.  It  was  not 
unusual  on  public  days  at  the  county  seat  to  see  Israel  going  up  and  down  the 
street,  rattling  a  great  string  of  bells. 

Indians  often  caught  the  bell  cow,  and  took  the  bell  off  and  allured  some 
of  the  family  to  the  woods  by  rattling  the  bell,  and  in  this  way  many,  not 
expecting  danger,  lost  their  lives.  Another  ruse  of  the  Indian  was  to  gobble 
like  a  turkey,  causing  the  unsuspecting  hunter  to  venture  too  near,  and  some- 
times the  experienced  hunter  would  turn  the  trick  on  the  Indian.  The  stock 
bell  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  Often  at  this  day  thousands  of  cattle  and 
sheep  are  driven  to  the  scale  pens  and  loading  stations  without  the  .sound  of  a 
bell.  The  fur  trade  and  ginseng  have  been  from  the  first,  great  pources  of 
revenue,  being  the  first  means  of  bringing  money  into  the  interior.  Some  of 
the  more  provident  farmers  would  have  a  surplus  of  corn.  They  would  dis- 
pose of  this  to  families  moving  in,  to  travelers  and  hunters,  and  later  to 
teamsters. 


210  -  SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  • 

The  farmers,  in  addition  to  raising  flax,  began  to  raise  a  few  sheep.  The 
wool  was  carded  by  hand  and  spun  on  wheels  made  by  some  ingenious  person. 
Tradesmen  followed  civilization.  Some  of  the  home-made  wheels  and  looms 
were  very  crude  implements,  but  they  answered  the  purpose.  Nearly  every 
farmer  raised  a  patch  of  flax.  After  the  flax  ripened,  it  was  pulled  and  spread 
on  the  ground  in  swaths  to  cure  and  become  brittle.  It  was  then  stored  away 
in  somte  out-building  or  shed  until  the  following  spring,  and  in  the  warm  clear 
days  of  March  or  April  farmers  would  break  and  scutch  flax.  Usually  some  ex- 
pert flax-breaker  residing  in  the  neighborhood  would  be  employed.  A  flax 
break  was  a  simple  machine,  consisting  of  a  wooden  frame  about  five  feet  long 
and  eighteen  inches  wide,  standing  on  four  legs  the  height  of  an  ordinary  table. 
There  were  three  slats  or  bars  placed  edgewise,  extending  the  full  length  of  the 
frame.  These  were  made  of  strong  oak.  with  edges  shaved  down  thin.  The 
three  bars  were  placed  close  together  at  one  end,  and  widened  a  little  at  the 
other.  The  break-head  was  made  with  two  similar  bars  which  fit  into  the 
interstices  of  the  three  bars  beneath.  This  break-head  was  fastened  at  one  end 
by  a  hinge,  and  the  operator  would  stand  by  the  side  of  the  break,  raise  and 
lower  the  loose  end  with  his  right  hand,  and  hold  a  bunch  of  flax  with  his  left. 
This  he  would  place  across  the  machine,  and  move  it  as  required  until  the  wood 
fiber  was  broken  up,  leaving  the  lint  free.  First  the  seed  was  threshed  off. 
One  good  hand  with  a  break  would  keep  two  or  three  busy  scutching.  This  was 
done  by  driving  a  broad  piece  of  board  into  the  ground  or  nailing  it  to  a  block 
with  the  lower  end  over  which  the  flax  was  whipped,  dressed  down  smoothly 
to  an  edge.  The  board  was  placed  at  a  convenient  height  to  suit  the  operator. 
The  scutching  knife  was  a  flat  blade  made  of  hard  wood.  The  operator  would 
hold  a  bunch  of  flax  after  it  had  gone  through  the  first  operation  in  one  hand 
across  the  board,  and  use  the  scutching  knife  with  the  other.  The  scutching  was 
usually  done  by  the  young  ladies  of  the  household.  It  can  readily  be  seen  how 
natural  it  became  for  them  in  after  life  to  hold  a  "kid"  out  at  arm's  length 
and  give  him  a  "good  scutching,''  sometimes  called  a  "flaxing. "  The  flax 
after  it  was  scutched,  was  ready  for  the  hackle.  This  was  the  last  process  be- 
fore spinning.  A  hackle  was  made  by  driving  a  number  of  spikes  into  a  block, 
and  through  the  teeth  or  spikes  the  flax  was  drawn  repeatedly  until  it  was 
thoroughly  combed  out,  leaving  nothing  but  the  fine  fiber.  Flax-breaking  came 
the  first  warm  days  of  spring  when  all  nature  rejoiced  in  the  sunlight  and 
warmth,  when  the  air  was  balmy,  the  birds  sang  and  the  hens  cackled  and  began 
to  m,ake  nests.  Flax-breaking  was  a  day  of  festivity.  Nearly  all  the  wearing 
apparel  of  the  family  was  made  of  flax.  The  men  and  boys  wore  tow  linen 
shirts  and  trousers.  Later  the  women  made  a  cotton  cloth  with  a  check  of 
blue  out  of  which  they  made  elegant  looking  garments  for  themselves — dresses, 
aprons  and  sun-bonnets.  Table  linen,  bed  sheets,  sacks  and  towels  were  first 
made  of  home-spun  linen.  When  the  country  became  sufficiently  cleared  of 
wild  animals  to  admit  of  raising  a  few  sheep,  the  wool  was  worked  by  hand. 
After  it  was  washed,  dried,  picked  and  made  free  of  all  burs  and  dirt,  it  was 
carded  and  made  into  short  rolls  ready  to  spin.     The  cards  were  made  on 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  211 

boards  about  five  by  eight  inches  with  a  handle  much  the  size  and  shape  of  an 
ordinary  currycomb.  The  teeth  of  the  cards  were  made  of  fine  wire,  and 
placed  on  one  side  of  the  card  board.  The  other  side  of  the  board  was  made 
smooth  by  the  use  of  which  the  rolls  were  made  by  rubbing  the  wool  between 
them  after  it  had  been  carded.  The  carding  was  usually  done  by  the  women, 
by  the  light  of  a  pine-knot  fire. 

The  ginseng  industry  mentioned  in  another  place  was  a  great  source  of  • 
revenue  to  the  people.  They  not  only  obtained  their  groceries,  hardware,  salt 
and  many  other  useful  articles  which  they  pushed  up  the  river  in  canoes,  but 
the  trade  circulated  considerable  money.  Charleston  was  .a  good  market  for 
venison  ham's,  bear  skins,  furs,  vegetables,  butter,  eggs  and  poultry.  Flat- 
boating  on  the  Elk  river  required  the  finest  poplar  trees  for  gunwales,  boat 
bottoms,  siding,  etc.  The  larger-  boats  were  built  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
in  length  by  twenty-two  in  width,  and  were  sided  up  about  four  feet  above 
the  gunwales.  One  of  these  barges  would  carry  an  immense  load  of  staves  or 
hoop-poles,  but  could  not  be  loaded  to  anything  near  their  capacity  until 
they  reached  the  Great  Kanawha  river  as  they  were  too  heavy  with  a  full  load 
to  be  taken  down  the  rapid  swirls  of  the  Elk.  They  were  guided  by  means 
of  two  long  sweeps  or  oars  hung  on  a  pivot  at  either  end  of  the  boat.  Five 
men,  three  on  the  bow  and  t«ro  on  the  stern,  consituted  a  full  crew.  One  on 
the  stern  was  called  the  steersman,  and  he  gave  the  commands  to  the  bow  hands. 
It  required  on  an  ordinary  tide,  about  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  hours  to  make 
the  run  from  Sutton  to  Charleston.  The  lumbermen  of  central  West  Virginia 
were  a  hardy  and  industrious  set  of  men  who  earned  more  than  they  received 
out  of  their  product  and  their  labor.  The  lumbermen  of  the  Elk  were  noted 
for  the  amount  of  strong  coffee  they  consumed.  The  advent  of  railroads  and 
commercial  sawmills  have  consumed  the  timber,  and  stopped  the  operation  of 
the  boatmen  forever.  Peace  to  the  memory  of  their  heroic  lives.  After  the 
Civil  war,  the  population  increased,  money  became  more  plentiful  and  rail- 
roads began  to  pierce  the  interior  of  the  state.  Before  the  introduction  of  rail- 
roads 'in  the  interior  of  the  state,  the  people  never  thought  of  buying  their 
flour  and  meat,  but  each  farmer  tried  to  produce  enough  for  his  own  consump- 
tion with  some  to  spare.  But  public  works  and  the  lumber  trade  have  called 
men  from  the  farms  and  reduced  the  country  to  want.  Many,  even  farmers, 
rely  upon  the  importation  of  flour  and  meat,  and  the  amount  of  hay,  straw 
and  chop  consumed  is  far  in  excess  of  the  county's  production,  and  in  some 
counties  what  has  been  obtained  for  labor,  timber  and  the  minerals  are  being 
consumed  by  what  the  country  reqtiires  for  its  own  sustenance.  Hence,  with 
the  introduction  of  the  more  modern  improvements,  agriculture  in  many  coun- 
ties is  seriously  crippled. 

Central  West  Virginia  is  a  grazing  section.  Some  of  the  finest  horses, 
cattle  and  sheep  have  been  sent  to  the  eastern  markets  from  the  interior  coun- 
ties. Harrison,  Lewis,  Gilmer  and  Braxton  have  fine  grazing  lands,  and  han- 
dle a  great  deal  of  stock.  Nicholas  has  fine  meadow  land,  and  winters  a  great 
many  cattle  and  sheep,  but  her  lands  are  not  as  well  adapted  to  grazing. 


212  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Since  the  development  of  oil  and  gas  in  some  of  the  interior  sections,  many 
have  allowed  to  grow  up  in  brush  and  briars  such  as  were  once  the  finest  graz- 
ing lands ;  but  the  stock  that  might  be  raised  on  the  oil  producing  lands  would 
be  insignificant  compared  to  the  great  wealth  of  the  mineral  production.  A 
land  that  a  few  generations  ago  was  the  wild  battle  field  of  the  savage  and  the 
frontiersman,  is  now  checkered  with  railroads  and  electric  lines,  as  well  as  with 
public  buildings.  From  the  pack-horse,  the  fur  and  the  ginseng,  great  com- 
mercial centers  have  grown  up.  The  villages  have  grown  into  thriving  towns, 
and  the  towns  into  cities,  and  her  banks  are  filled  with  their  surplus  millions, 
and  what  is  true  of  Harrison  as  well  as  many  other  comities  of  the  State  will 
doubtless  be  true  of  Lewis,  Braxton  and  Gilmer. 

Many  thousands  of  acres  of  land  in  various  sections  of  the  state  are  drawing 
oil  rentals,  the  usual  price  being  $1.00  per  acre,  paid  quarterly.  This  has 
been  a  source  of  considerable  revenue  to  the  people,  especially  the  farmer. 
Everything  of  a  primitive  character  has  been  modernized,  increased  and  be- 
come of  greater  utility  to  the  public.  The  simple  methods  of  the  early  settlers, 
or  even  of  the  last  generation,  would  be  wholly  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  the 
present  generation. 


Perhaps  the  largest  patch  of  ginseng  ever  discovered  in  the  world,  at  least 
in  the  wild  state,  was  found  in  Randolph  county  in  1840  by  W.  H.  Wilson 
while  surveying  the  line  between  Randolph  and  Pocahontas  counties.  The 
discovery  was  lost  sight  of  until  Thomas  Woods,  a  scout  re-discovered  it.  He 
told  of  the  "find"  to  some  friend  in  Webster  county.  They  gathered  a  com- 
pany and  dug  the  "seng. "  At  the  low  price  then  prevailing,  not  perhaps  one- 
twelfth  of  what  it  is  now  worth,  they  sold  six  hundred  dollars'  worth  from  the 
patch,  at  fifty  cents  a  pound,  which  at  that  day  Was  perhaps  the  top  price. 
This  would  indicate  that  they  dug  twelve  hundred  pounds,  which,  at  the  price 
of  fifty  cents  an  ounce  ruling  now,  would  place  the  value  of  that  patch  of  gin- 
seng at  this  time  at  oi^er  nine  thousand  dollars.  The  ginseng  which  has  been 
dug  in  West  Virginia  would,  at  the  present  prices,  amount  to  a  fabulous  sum. 

In  1909,  James  W.  Foley  came  to  Braxton  from  Monongalia  county,  and 
commenced  the  cultivation  of  ginseng.  He  purchased  ten  acres  of  land  on 
Buffalo  mountain  about  one  and  a  half  miles  from  Sutton.  Two  acres  of  the 
land  had  been  cleared.  Mr.  Foley,  with  the  help  of  his  family,  built  a  residence 
and  cleared  out  the  greater  portion  of  the  remaining  eight  acres  of  woodland. 
He  laid  off  a  seng  garden  containing  a  little  over  one  half  acre,  and  a  portion 
of  this  he  planted  in  ginseng  the  first  year,  continuing  to  plant  each  year  until 
the  entire  plot  was  planted,  except  a  small  portion  which  he  planted  in  golden 
seal,  commonly  known  as  Yellowroot.  He  obtained  the  seed  from  the  native 
plants.  In  the  ginseng  garden,  the  rows  are  twenty-two  feet  long  and  six  feet 
wide.     The  ginseng  stocks  are  planted  6  x  10  inches  in  the  beds. 

Yellowroot  is  now  worth  in  the  market  about  four  dollars  a  pound.     The 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  213 

first  sale  of  ginseng  Mr.  Foley  made  was  $106  worth  of  three  year  old  roots, 
and  the  fourth  year  he  sold  $115  worth.  The  price  obtained  was  $4.75  per 
pound.  The  fifth  year,  he  will  market  one  hundred  pounds,  and  the  price 
quoted  is  $9.00  for  first-class  roots.  As  he  markets  a  portion  of  his  oldest  beds, 
he  replants.  Mr.  Foley  gathers  his  own  seed.  It  requires  all  the  seed  he  can 
raise  to  restock  his  garden.  The  pods  average  seventy-five  or  eighty  seeds. 
They  are  quoted  in  the  market  at  about  one  dollar  a  thousand.  Native  wild 
seng  is  quoted  at  twelve  dollars  a  pound  for  first-class  roots,  being  one-fourth 
higher  in  price  than  the  cultivated  seng.  This  garden  is  regularly  laid  off. 
There  are  three  hundred  posts  placed  regularly  apart  and  (overlaid  with 
poles  or  slats,  over  which  he  places  brush  for  shade.  He  has  grape  vines  grow- 
ing all  through,  the  garden  and  they  now  cover  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
ground.  Some,  of  them  are  in  bearing.  The  seng  looks  nraeh  thriftier  where 
the  shade  is  most  dense.  It  is  one  of  the  few  plants  that  perish  in  the  sun- 
light. The  ivhite  honeysuckle  grows  in  the  dark  and  secluded  glens  and  per- 
haps would  perish  if  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun.  At  a  place  called  "The 
End  of  the  World,"  in  Clay  county,  in  the  cliffs  hidden  from  the  sun  a  white 
honeysuckle  is  said  to  grow.  The  white-blooming  series,  a  delicate  and  lovely 
flower,  blooms  only  at  midnight,  when  the  sun  is  farthest,  from  the  earth. 
The  seng  stock,  being  green  like  other  herbs  and  plants  in  the  forest  which  sur- 
round it,  one  will  have  to  look  elsewhere  for  the  cause  of  its  nature  to  avoid 
the  light  of  the  sun.  Mr.  Foley  speaks  of  three  kinds  of  seng — the  Japanese, 
the  Korean  and  the  American.  The  Korean  is  quoted  in  its  native  country  as 
high  as  fifty  dollars  a  pound,  while  the  Japanese  is  comparatively  worthless 
and  is  quoted  in  America  as  low  as  fifty  cents  a  pound.  The  cultivated  Ameri- 
can seng  roots,  at  five  years  of  age,  average  about  five  ounces.  Seng  root? 
weighing  two  ounces  and  up  bring  the  highest  prices.  In  Mr.  Foley's  garden 
there  is  one  single  seng  stock  having  six  leaves  and  two  seed  pods.  This  is 
the  only  instance  in  Mr.  Foley's  experience  of  a  single  stock  bearing  a  double 
pod.  It  is  a  splendid  sight  to  see  this  magnificent  garden  of  seng  while  it  is 
maturing  its  red  berries.  This  garden  is  worth  many  hundreds  of  dollars. 
The.  cultivation  of  native  ginseng  might  be  made  very  profitable  in  a  small 
way  by  many  farmers.  'Without  considering  the  matter  it  might  seem  incred- 
ible to  some  if  we  were  to  make  the  statement  that  the  value  of  the  wild  ginseng 
has  been  many  times  greater  in  a  commercial  sense  to  the  inhabitants  of  cen- 
tral West  Virginia  than  all  the  magnificent  timber  that  has  stood  as  stately 
sentinels  in  the  forest  for  a  thousand  years.  Ginseng  was  the  greatest  source 
of  income  the  common  people  had  for  a  half  century  after  the  settlement  of 
the  country.  While  it  took  only  forty  pounds  of  seng  to  bring  ten  dollars  at 
the  early  low  prices  that  prevailed,  it  required  a  medium  three-year-old  steer 
to  bring  an  equal  amount;  and  while  it  required  four  pounds  of  seng  roots  to 
bring  one  dollar,  which  amount  a  boy  could  dig  in  a  half  day,  it  took  a  walnut 
tree  with  two  thousand  feet  of  lumber  or  a  poplar  with  twice  that  amount,  to 
bring  a  dollar.  Those  who  sold  their  timber  at  the  extreme  low  prices  offered 
had  so  much  on  the  clear,  and  those  who  undertook  to  manufacture  theirs 


214  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

usually  lost  it  all.  While  the  timber  lasted  but  a  season,  the  seng-digger  had 
his  source  of  income  last  for  fifty  years  or  more.  Skins  and  furs  were  the  first 
articles  of  commerce.  It  was  not  the  wild  woodsman  and  professional  hunter 
who  derived  a  profit  from  this  trade  alone,  but  the  farmer  as  well  who  com- 
bined fanning  and  hunting,  to  get  such  articles  as  he  required.  Neither  was 
it  the  professional  seng-digger  who  derived  most  benefit  from  seng,  but  the 
man  and  his  family  who  used  their  spare  time.  Ginseng  has  always  been  in 
demand  and  was  eagerly  sought  by  all  the  merchants  who  usually  paid  half 
cash  and  half  in  goods.  The  farmer  and  his  small  boys  could  at  odd  times 
supply  the  family  with  such  articles  as  they  required  and  often  pay  their  taxes 
with  money  derived  from  the  sale  of  this  product.  A  great  many  of  the  best 
citizens  and  successful  business  men  of  central  West  Virginia  bought  their 
school  books  and  made  their  first  pocket  change  by  digging  the  greatest  of  all 
the  herbs  known.  For  half  a  century  or  more  men  and  horses,  wagons  and 
canoes  loaded  with  ginseng  were  streaming  out  of  central  West  Virginia  to  the 
Eastern  markets.  No  estimate  can  be  placed  upon  the  amount  of  seng  that 
was  dug,  but  it  amounted  to  thousands  of  dollars  annually,  and  may,  by  cul- 
tivation, continue  to  be  a  commodity  of  great  value.  D.  S.  Squires,  in  his 
diary,  says  that  from  June  to  November,  1859,  he  shipped  four  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  ginseng  and  twenty-eight  pounds  of  seneca.  We  note  some 
single  roots  of  very  great  size:  S.  Wise  Stain  aker  relates  that  he  has  paid  as 
much  as  fifty  cents  for  a  single  root.  Sheridaai  Wolverton  dug  a  seng  root 
which  brought  him,  at  George  Gillespie's  store,  $1.20.  Peter  Hamric  dug  a 
ginseng  root  on  Big  run,  a  small  tributary  of  the  Elk  river  in  Webster  county, 
which  weighed  fourteen  ounces,  and  sold  it  at  Joseph  Hamric 's  store  at  the 
mouth  of  Leatherwood  for  $2.33  1-3.  Bailey  Stump  of  Gilmer  county  relates 
that  he  dug  on  Steer  creek  two  roots  which  weighed  twelve  ounces  each.  John 
G.  Morrison  relates  that  he  dug  near  the  north  slope  of  High  Knob  a  root 
weighing  twenty  ounces  in  the  year  1848.  It  grew  near  the  root  of  a  very 
large  walnut  tree,  and  this  tree  he  bought  and  shipped  to  market  nearly  fifty 
years  later.  John  Frame,  of  near  Sutton,  is  cultivating  a  large  patch  of  gin- 
seng and  yellow  root. 

The  seeds  of  ginseng  remain  twelve  months  in  moist  earth,  then  plant 
in  the  Fall,  and  in  six  months  the  plants  come  up,  thus  making  eighteen  months 
the  period  of  germination. 

Thomas  B.  Hughes,  a  noted  minister  of  the  M.  E.  church,  who  recently 
died,  and  who  was  the  father  of  two  Methodist  Bishops,  dug  ginseng  to  sup- 
port himself  in  school  and  to  buy  books.  We  should  not  despise  the  day  of 
small  things. 

OLD  MILLS. 

On  Nov.  1,  1836,  L.  D.  Camden  and  Joseph  Skidmore  were  granted  leave 
to  build  a  mill  dam  across  the  river  at  Sutton  for  a  water,  grist  and  saw  mill. 
On  the  same  day,  Andrew  Sterret  was  granted  leave  to  build  a  dam  across  the 
Elk  river  one  mile  above  town. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  215 

John  Sargeant,  millwright  of  Harrison  county,  Va.,  built  a  saw  mill  near 
the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek  in  the  year  1825.  The  mill  was  lifted  up  by  back 
water  from  the  Elk  river  and  floated  off  soon  after  it  was  built,  except  one  sill 
which  is  lying  near  the  foundation  to  this  day,  and  is  still  sound. 

John  Jackson  who  built  the  first  mill  at  Sutton,  went  back  to  Buck- 
hannon  and  his  mill  was  washed  away  by  a  very  high  rise  in  the  Elk  river. 
It  is  said  that  James  Skidmore  who  lived  on  the  Poca  below  Charleston,  cap- 
tured the  mill  on  the  Big  Kanawha,  and  rebuilt  it  on  the  Poca. 

One  of  the  first  grist  mills  was  built  in  the  year  1810,  by  Colonel  John 
Haymond,  the  founder  of  the  "Bulltown  Salt  Works."  It  was  a  small  round 
log  structure,  a  tub  wheel  being  the  propelling  power.  The  bnhrs  were  gotten 
out  on  Millstone  run.  The  bolting  was  done  by  hand.  This  primitive  mill 
continued  to  do  the  grinding  until  1833  when  a  much  better  structure  was 
erected  in  its  stead. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  Andrew  P.  Friend  built  a  grist  mill  at 
a  point  on  Elk  river  since  known  locally  as  Beall's  Mill.  This  was  one  among 
the  first,  if  not  the  first  mill  built  in  the  county.  Many  years  before  the  Civil 
war  there  was  a  mill  on  Elk,  opposite  the  town  of  Sutton,  known  as  the  Jack- 
son Mill.  This  mill  was  washed  away  and  rebuilt  afterward.  It  occupied  the 
site  later  occupied  by  the  Huffman  Mill.  This  mill  was  built  at  the  close  of 
the  Civil  war  by  James  A.  Boggs  and  Benjamin  Huffman.  Huffman  bought 
Boggs'  interest,  and  became  the  sole  owner.  The  mill  was  then  known  as  the 
Huffman  Mill,  and  did  a  large  business  as  a  grist  and  saw  mill.  It  also  had 
a,  carding  machine  attached.  The  carding  machine  was  operated  for  many 
years  by  David  Bosely.  The  mill's  business  was  conducted  by  Benjamin  Hiiff- 
man  and  his  son  Granville,  and  was  a  great  benefit  to  the  public.  This  mill 
was  torn  down  about  the  time  the  Coal  &  Coke  railroad  was  built  to  Sutton, 
and  there  is  nothing  now  left  to  mark  the  place  of  this  old  landmark  except 
the  fragment  of  an  old  dam. 

Some  years  before  the  Civil  war,  Morgan  Dyer  and  Edward  Sprigg  built 
a  mill  about  one  mile  above  the  county  seat.  They  put  in  buhra  for  grinding 
wheat  and  corn,  a  carding  machine  and  an  np-and-down  saw.  This  mill  was 
first  known  as  the  Dyer  Mill,  but  afterward  as  the  Sprigg  Mill.  It  was  washed 
away  by  the  great  flood  of  1861. 

For  many  years  Adam  Gillespie  conducted  a  mill  just  below  the  mouth 
of  Bens  run.  This  mill  ground  wheat  and  corn,  had  an  upright  saw  and 
a  bolt  operated  by  hand.  These  old  up-and-down  saws  were  used  principally 
for  cutting  boat  patterns.  This  mill  was  afterward  operated  by  his  son  Griffin 
Gillespie  and  finally  went  to  decay. 

The  mill  sites  of  the  Sprigg  and  Gillespie  Mills  were  said  to  be  equal  to 
any,  if  not  the  best,  on  the  Elk  river. 

About  1830,  Asa  Squires,  Wm.  McCoy,  Samuel  Skidmore  and  others  built 
the  Union  Mill  on  the  Elk  river  some  distance  below  the  mouth  of  Laurel  creek. 
This  was  at  the  head  of  the  fiatboat  navigation,  and  did  considerable  business 


216  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

in  cutting  lumber  for  flatboats.  Union  Mill  was  so  named  for  the  reason  that 
different  interests   were  concerned. 

Ilayxnond's  Mill,  seventeen  miles  northeast  of  Sutton  on  the  Little  Ka- 
nawha river,  was  built  by  John  Haymond  in  the  year  1808,  and  was  for  many 
years  owned  by  William  Haymond  who  was  one  of  the  county's  best  known 
citizens.  This  mill  was  equipped  Math  buhrs,  carding  machine  and  saw. 
It  was  run  by  an  overshot  wheel,  and  was  considered  a  very  valuable  prop- 
erty. It  did  more  business  than  any  other  mill  in  the  county.  This  property 
has  fallen  into  different  hands  since  the  death  of  Mr.  Haymond.  Mr.  Milton 
Johnson  from  Preston  county,  came  into  possession  of  the  mill  and  put  in  a 
roller  process,  but  the  mill  has  since  gone  down  and  there  is  now  nothing  of 
value  left  except  the  water  power. 

About  four  miles  above  Burnsville,  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  there  was 
an  old  mill  which  stood  for  many  years,  and  which  was  built  and  owned  by 
Williams  Cutlip.  The  mill  has  since  practically  fallen  into  disuse  as  all  the 
water  mills  have  served  their  usefulness,  and  have  been  replaced  by  steam,  the 
roller  process  and  the  circular  saw.  As  the  people  now  almost  universally 
buy  their  clothing  ready  made,  the  carding  machine  is  almost  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

About  the  year  18....  Dr.  Samuel  Cutlip  built  a  grist  and  saw  mill  at  the 
Three  Forks  of  Cedar.  This  mill  stood  for  many  years,  and  did  a  considerable 
amount  of  business. 

About  1825,  James  Frame  built  a  grist  and  saw  mill  fourteen  miles  below 
Sutton.  This  mill  did  business  for  a  great  many  years,  and  was  known  as 
the  Frame  Mill,  and  the  place  more  recently  is  known  as  Frametown. 

An  old  mill  which  stood  at  the  mouth  of  Duck  creek  before  the  Civil  war, 

built  by ,  was  after  the  war  rebuilt  by 

Elliott  Mollohan. 

The  old  Boggs  Mill,  ten  miles  below  Sutton,  was  built  by  James  Boggs, 
and  operated  for  several  years  before  the  Civil  war.  At  a  later  date,  it  was 
owned  and  operated  by  Felix  Skidmore. 

Samuel  Fox  owned  and  operated  a  mill  at  the  mouth  of  the  Birch  on  the 
Elk  river. 

One  among  the  early  mills  of  the  county  was  owned  .by  Robert  Jackson, 
and  was  operated  by  him  for  more  than  a  half  century.  This  mill  was  lo- 
cated on  the  Little  Birch  river  about  two  miles  below  where  the  turnpike 
crosses  that  stream.  At  this  ford,  David  Jackson  owns  a  grist  mill  which  lie 
has  operated  for  many  years. 

Wellington  L.  Frame  owns  and  operates  a  small  grist  mill  on  Buffalo 
creek,  and  is  using  the  corn  stones  used  in  the  old  Jackson  mill  at  Sutton. 
These  stones  have  been  in  almost  constant  use  for  nearly  a  century  of  years. 

All  the  mills  on  the  larger  streams  of  the  county  have  been  washed  away, 
and  there  is  nothing  left  to  attract  the  passer-by  except  the  indications  of  where 
the  dam  stood. 

Roller  mills  have  taken  the  place  of  the  old-time  water  mill.     There  are 


SUTTON'S     HISTOR  Y.  217 

two  roller  process  mills  in  Sutton,  one  in  Burnsville,  one  in  Platwoods  and  one 
in  Gassaway,  each  of  which  is  doing  a  large  business.  They  not  only  manufac- 
ture the  home  grown  wheat  into  flour,  but  import  great  quantities  of  grain  into 
the  county,  principally  to  supply  the  lumber  camps. 

GREAT  FLOODS. 

About  the  year  1825,  there  came  a  very  great  flood  in  the  Elk  river.  It 
was  known  as  the  Moss  flood.  A  man  named  Moss  lost  a  great  deal  of  lumber, 
in  the  tide,  and  his  creditors  lost  also.  Thomas  Green  and  some  other  man 
went  on  a  boat  to  secure  it  more  firmly  to  the  shore,  and  while  they  were  on 
the  boat  the  cable  broke,  the  boat  swung  out  into  the  middle  of  the  river  and 
took  its  flight  with  the  surging  waters.  They  had  no  oars  or  sweeps,  therefore 
no  possible  means  of  escape.  The  tide  was  furious  and  rapid.  They  started 
somewhere  near  the  town  of  Sutton  in  the  forenoon,  and  landed  in  Charles- 
ton before  night  the  same  day,  where  they  were  rescued  on  the  Great  Kanawha. 
The  flood  being  in  the  Elk,  and  the  Kanawha  being  in  a  common  stage,  the 
Elk  plowed  across  the  Kanawha,  and  dashed  its  waters  against  the  opposite 
shore.  The  Moss  tide  was  the  greatest  up  to  that  time  known  to  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  has  been  exceeded  in  volume  only  by  the  great  flood  of  1861.  It 
required  about  five  days  to  push  a  load  of  goods  from  Charleston  to  Sutton  in 
a  canoe.  Two  thousand  pounds  made  a  good  load  for  two  hands.  So  inured 
to  hardships  were  the  lumbermen  of  the  Elk  that  they  would  sometimes  push 
up  the  river  when  the  ice  would  freeze  to  their  push  poles.  They  had  to  un- 
load their  goods  at  each  mill  in  order  to  get  across  the  dam. 

One  of  the  greatest  floods  in  the  Elk  river,  pi'ior  to  the  flood  of  1861,  was 
the  Moss  tide  which  is  mentioned  in  another  place.  The  next  great  rise 
in  this  river  since  the  '61  flood,  occurred  in  the  year  of  the  "three  eights." 
The  water  at  that  time  touched  the  bottom  of  the  wire  suspension  bridge  at 
Sutton,  while  the  big  flood  of  1861  ran  over  the  hand  railing  of  the  bridge.  The 
water  ran  down  Main  street,  and  was  belly-deep  to  a  horse  at  the  head  of  town. 
It  rose  to  the  top  of  the  front  door  in  the  Camden  tavern  which  stood  on  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Bridge  streets.  This  was  the  most  remarkable  flood  that 
had  ever  been  in  the  Elk  river  within  the  history  of  man.  It  occurred  in  April, 
1861.  The  rain  had  poured  down  in  torrents  for  several  days,  and  the  smaller 
streams  were  all  out  of  their  banks.  The  Elk  washed  away  mills,  houses, 
stables,  flatboats  and  fencing,  and  the  driftwood  that  was  carried  down  stream 
was  an  immense  quantity. 

Andrew  P.  Friend  and  his  aged  wife  lived  in  a  small  house  near  the  Otter 
salt  works.  The  tide  caught  them,  and  they  had  to  be  taken  out  through  the 
top  of  the  house  in  a  skiff.  "We  remember  seeing  as  late  as  1884,  a  flatboat  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  in  Kanawha  county  which  had  been  thrown  out  on  the 
shore  and  lodged.  Some  family  had  made  it  the  foundation  of  a  dwelling 
house,  and  were  occupying  it  at  that  time. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written  with  reference  to  floods  in  the 
great  streams  of  the  country.     Every  now  and  then,  we  read  an  article  from 


218  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

some  alarmist  with  reference  to  the  best  plans  to  adopt  to  hold  back  floods. 
Some  advise  the  building  of  great  reservoirs  to  hold  the  water  in  cheek.  Others 
advise  that  great  areas  of  land  should  be  re-forested  at  the  head  of  the  large 
water  courses,  and  that  in  addition,  we  could  have  great  game  'reserves,  etc.,  etc. 

After  some  years  of  investigation,  and  viewing  the  matter  from  a  different 
point  of  view,  we  conclude  that  the  opposite  of  the  common  theory  advanced 
is  correct.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  claimed  that  the  forest  is  an  aid  in  producing 
rainfall.  If  this  be  true,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  is,  there  will  be 
more  water  to  be  disposed  of  by  flowing  away  in  a  regular  channel  which 
would  add  to  the  volume  of  the  flood.  Again,  every  one  who  is  at  all  familiar 
with  the  forest  knows  that  the  leaves  lay  flat  like  shingles  on  the  roof,  and  that 
the  rain  glides  off  more  rapidly  than  it  would  over  sod  or  plowed  lands.  We 
have  often  observed  with  what  difficulty  a  sheet  of  water  after  a  hard  rain 
would  percolate  through  a  sod  field  or  meadow.  The  grass  holds  it  back  to  a 
far  greater  extent  tha,n  forest  leaves.  Then  between  the  periods  of  rainfall, 
the  sun  and  air  dry  the  surface  and  this  native  reservoir  has  to  be  supplied  by 
the  next  shower,  while  in  the  forest  the  dampness  keeps  the  natural  reservoir 
full,  there  being  but  slight  absorption,  and  every  shower  flows  rapidly  into 
the  stream  and  augments  the  great  floods. 

The  streams,  big  and  little,  in  central  West  Virginia,  and  we  presume  it 
is  true  elsewhere,  rise  more  slowly  after  rains  than  they  did  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago,  for  since  that  time  the  forests  of  those  sections  have  been  removed, 
and  a  greater  portion  of  the  improvement  of  the  lands  have  been  made.  Far 
better  for  the  safety  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  lower  valleys  if  every  acre  of 
the  forest  lands  was  in  sod  or  plowed  fields.  The  sun  and  air  would  absorb 
a  very  great  portion  of  the  rainfall.  The  great  reservoirs  that  have  been  advo- 
cated by  some  as  a  means  of  holding  the  waters  in  check  are  no  more  practi- 
cable, in  our  opinion,  than  it  would  be  to  build  great  sheds  to  stop  the  storms 
that  occasionally  sweep  across  the  country,  or  the  Chinese  wall  which  marks 
the  folly  of  an  ancient  people. 

Forty  years  ago,  or  before  the  greater  portion  of  the  lands  on  Granny's 
creek,  and  its  tributaries  and  adjoining  streams  were  cleared,  it  was  common 
to  have  floods  after  every  dashing  rain.  The  rain  would  soon  fill  the  channel 
and  overflow  the  banks,  but  since  the  lands  have  been  cleared  the  streams  rise 
more  gradually,  and  the  height  of  the  tides  comes  from  two  to  three  hours  later 
after  the  rainfall.  The  same  principal  holds  good  along  the  larger  streams.  If  the 
grass  and  weeds  will  hold  the  showers  in  check,  as  they  fall,  and  retard  their 
flow  in  the  smaller  streams,  the  branches  of  the  timber  growing  along  the  banks 
of  the  streams  will  retard  the  rapid  flow  of  the  water  along  the  greater  water 
courses,  and  in  this  way  lessen  the  destructive  tendencies  of  these  rivers. 

Horace  Greeley,  in  speaking  of  the  obstinacy  of  water,  said  that  often  at 
the  head  of  a  small  stream  or  overflow,  you  might  change  its  course  by  holding 
a  hand  across  its  channel.  So  we  conclude  that  it  is  not  the  forests,  neither  is 
it  great  reservoirs,  that  bring  safety  to  the  inhabitants  from  floods,  but  it  is 
the  tiny  blade  of  grass,  the  porous  condition  of  the  surface,  the  air  that  sweeps 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  210 

over  the  smooth,  open  lands,  and  the  gentle  but  all-powerful  rays  of  the  sun 
that  raise  the  surplus  rainfall  from  the  earth  by  evaporation,  and  holds  the 
waters  and  the  floods  in  check. 

The  flood  of  1917  which  occurred  on  March  12,  exceeded  that  of  1896  by 
one  foot,  and  lacked  eight  feet  of  being  as  high  as  the  spring  flood  of  1861. 

The  flood  of  1917  wasted  much  faster  than  the  flood  of  1861  which  seemed 
to  carry  its  full  volume  of  water  to  its  mouth  whilst  that  of  1917  was  greatly 
reduced  in  volume  before  it  reached  Clay.  Some  of  the  upper  tributaries  of 
the  Elk  were  about  as  high  as  they  were  ever  known,  indicating  the  fact  that 
the  heaviest  rains  must  have  been  nearer  its  source. 


220  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Prominent  Men  of  Central  West  Virginia;  Men  of  Great  Strength;  Church 
Organizations  and  a  History  of  Each  Church. 

PROMINENT  MEN. 

A  few  of  the  more  prominent  citizens  of  central  West.  Virginia  prior  to 
the  Civil  war,  as  we  recall  them: 

Allen  G.  Caperton  of  Monroe  county,  a  self-made  man,  practiced  law  in 
Nicholas,  Braxton  and  adjoining  counties.  He  was  a  TJ.  S.  Senator  from  this 
state  in  the  seventies. 

Samuel  Price  who  practiced  law  in  Braxton,  was  a  man  who,  like  the 
great  majority  of  the  men  of  prominence  in  West  Virginia,  rose  from  a  condi- 
tion of  poverty  to  positions  of  honor  and  responsibility.  Mr.  Price  was  one 
of  the  able  men  of  this  state.  He  was  a  native  of  Greenbrier  county,  and 
grew  up  contemporary  with  Moses  Tichonal  who  was  a  native  of  Preston 
county  and  became  a  minister  of  much  prominence  in  the  M.  E.  Church. 
By  his  own  efforts  and  close  study,  he  became  a  Greek  and  Latin  scholar.  He 
was  a  man  of  great,  eloquence  and  power  in  the  church.  Like  Lincoln,  he  was 
a  rail  splitter  in  his  youth.  He  split  on  a  wager,  1600  rails  in  one  day.  The 
timber  was  chestnut,  and  it  had  been  cut  and  hauled  out  in  the  cleared  land. 
Price  and  Tichonal  both  pursued  their  studies  by  the  light  of  the  pine  knot. 
Price  said  that  he  intended  to  make  as  good  a  lawyer  as  Tichonal  was  a 
preacher,  and  both  succeeded  to  a  marked  degree  of  learning  and  prominence 
in  their  chosen  professions. 

Jonathan  M.  Bennett  of  Lewis  county  was  a  man  of  superior  native  abil- 
ity.    He  held  several  positions  of  honor  and  trust. 

Judge  Nathan  Goff,  G.  W.  Atkinson,  Senator  John  E.  Kenna,  Senator 
Chilton. 

Samuel  Hays  of  Gilmer  county  represented  his  district  in  Congress.  Ho 
had  but  slight  early   advantages — little  save  his  native  ability. 

Mathew  Edmonson  of  Lewis  county  was  an  able  lawyer,  also  Judge  Homer 
A.  Holt,  Henry  Brannon,  John  J.  Davis,  Jackson  Arnold,  John  Brannon  and 
Colonel  Withers,  author  of  "Border  Warfare." 

Michael  Stump  and  Conrad  Currence  of  Gilmer  county  were  prominent 
men.     Governor  Johnson  of  Harrison  county. 

Judge  Gideon  Camden,  B.  W.  Byrne,  Johnson  N.  Camden,  Joseph  A.  Alder- 
son  and  many  others  were  as  able  in  statesmenship  and  learning  at  the  bar  or 
in  the  pulpit  as  the  men  of  the  present  day. 

Among   noted  ministers   from   this   section    of   the   state  were   Peter   T. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  22] 

Lashley,  Asbury  Mick,  Prof.  E.  A.  Arthur,  Daniel  H.  Davis,  Rev.  Richmond, 
T.  S.  Wade,  John  and  Alpheus  Reger,  Rev.  Dr.  John  S.  Stump,  Levi  J. 
Huffman,  C.  Warman,  M.  L.  Bamett,  and  many  others  faithful  and  true  that 
space  forbids  us  naming. 

A  STORY  OP  PERSONAL  STRENGTH. 

The  settlers,  brought  together  and  held  by  the  paramount  feeling  of 
mutual  protection  against  savage,  forays  for  so  many  years,  and  inured  to 
hardships  indescribable,  were  very  remarkable  in  their  endurance  and  strength. 
The  fireside  conversations  of  the  early,  bold  and  hardy  inhabitants  consisted 
mainly  in  relating  each  to  the  other  and  to  the  members  of  their  respective 
families  their  trips  of  bold  adventure,  successes  or  failures  of  hunting  expedi- 
tions and  personal  feats  of  strength  and  endurance.  Numerous  were  the  in- 
stances, when  a  band  of  hunters  would  return  from  the  chase  with  a  deer,  a 
piece  on  their  strong  backs  held  in'  position  by  the  hands  grasping  either  leg 
of  the  game.  One  man  alone  is  said  to  have  ldlled  a  deer  for  every  day  in  the 
month  of  January  of  which  record  he  was  justly  proud,  and  gave  him  good 
reasons  to  boast  of  his  hunting  ability.  But  the  most  remarkable  authentic 
story  of  personal  strength  we  have  from  tradition  is  this:  Philip  Reger,  who 
had  done  some  very  valuable  scouting  work  for  the  settlement,  and  his  com- 
panion. Samuel  Jackson,  on  an  occasion  after  the  year  1795,  went  out  to  Big 
Skin  creek  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  possibility  of  savage 
presence  and  incidentally  killing  what  game  might  cross  their  path.  Hidden 
in  the  thick  underbrush  on  these  waters  to  evade  observation,  Reger  was  bitten 
by  a  rattlesnake  which  is  very  venomous:  these  dangerous  serpents  were  very 
numerous  among  the  rocks  and  thickets  of  this  woody  country.  Soon  after  the 
fangs  of  the  poisonous  reptile  had  entered  Reger 's  flesh  he  became  blind,  and 
fearing  that  exertion  on  his  part  would  cause  a  dangerous  state  of  heat  to  his 
body  and  facilitate  the  fatal  spreading  of  the  poison,  the  two  scouts  were  in 
a  dilema  how  the  snake-bitten  man  should  get  back  to  the  fort.  Jackson  was 
an  exceedingly  bold,  strong  man.  knowing  no  limitations  of  his  endurance 
and  power  and  he  proposed  to  take  no  chances  and  carried  Reger  to  the  fort. 
On  the  back  of  this  strong  man,  Reger  with  their  two  guns,  and  the  snake 
which  had  thrown  its  deadly  fangs  into  him,  rode  triumphant  for  eight  miles 
into  the  fort.  Arriving  at  the  fort  and  pursuing  the  superstitious  remedy 
known  to  them  for  snake  bite,  the  reptile  was  cut  open  and  the  raw  flesh  was 
applied  to  the  poisonous  wound.  The  remedy  failed.  Reger  says,  "I  threw  it 
away.  It  was  so  cold  it  seemed  painful."  Another  and  better  cure  of  re- 
moving poison  was  adopted.  But.  history  can  furnish  fewer  instances  of 
greater  strength  and  endurance  than  that  of  Jackson  on  this  occasion. 

John  Short  was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army.  His  parents  lived  for 
several  years  in  Braxton  county.  He  was  a  man  of  very  remarkable  strength. 
His  weight  was  nearly  three  hundred  pounds,  and  it  was  said  that  he  could  lift 
the  end  of  an  eighty  foot  boat  gunwhale  off  the  ground,  a  feat  which  perhaps 
four  ordinary  men  could  not  perform. 


222  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

James  Wyatt  and  his  brother  William  were  great  rail-makers.  James 
cut  his  timber  on  one  occasion,  it  being  white  oak,  and  made  one  thousand 
rails  in  four  days.  He  also  made  his  maul  and  wedges.  This  was  a  feat  in 
rail-making  seldom,  if  ever,  equaled.  It  was  before  the  cross-cut  saw  was 
used  for  cutting  rail  timber. 

Wm.  Stout,  who  was  a  fine  mower  with  a  scythe,  at  one  time,  in  one  day, 
on  a  wager,  mowed  four  acres  of  grass.  He  fixed  up  two  first-class  scythes 
and  placed  a  grind  stone  in  the  field,  hiring  two  men  to  grind  and  whet  his 
blades.  In  this  way  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  swing  the  sharp,  keen  scythes. 
Beina;  a  very  strong  man  and  an  expert  mower,  he  won  the  wager. 

John  G.  Morrison,  when  a  young  man,  cradled  seven  acres  of  oats  in  one 
day.  That  was  a  feat  in  cradling  grain  that  required  a  man  of  splendid  nerve 
and  endurance  to  accomplish. 

About  the  year  1880,  we  were  harvesting  a  crop  of  wheat  in  the  field  ad- 
joining John  G.  Young's  farm  and  opposite  his  house.  David  Minis,  a  colored 
man,  was  binding.  There  was  to  be  a  circus  in  Sutton  on  the  4th  of  July, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  3rd  the  temperature  fell  and  it  remained  very 
pleasant  all  day.  Minis  wanted  to  go  to  the  show,  and  we  wanted  to  finish 
cutting  wheat  that  day,  so  we  agreed  to  finish  the  field.  We  had  a  splendid 
cradle  made  by  Philip  Rogers,  which  we  called  "Yellow  Bets."  We  cradled 
and  gripped  the  grain  and  Minis  bound.  At  intervals  we  would  stop  and  shock 
up,  and  when  we  finished  in  the  evening  we  had  cut,  bound  and  shocked  one 
hundred  and  three  dozen.     We  both  enjoyed  the  circus  on  the  following  day. 

William  Fisher  cleared  a  hundred  acres  of  land  one  season. 
John  Stout,  his  son  Michael,  Daniel  J.,  and  Wm.  Stout,  had  the  contract, 
and  on  an  average  they  grubbed  an  acre  a  day. 

James  McCray  was  a  great  worker,  and  cleared  land,  doing  a  great  deal 
of  work  in  the  Flatwoods  country. 

In  an  early  day  there  were  some  remarkably  strong  men  in  Braxton 
county  and  central  West  Virginia.  We  recall  the  names  of  Andrew  Boggs, 
William  Gillespie,  James  Carr,  William  Delany  and  others.  These  men  were 
very  large,  weighing  considerably  over  two  hundred  pounds,  muscular  and 
hardened  by  toil. 

It  was  related  that  William  Gillespie  had  a  cow  to  fall  in  a  well,  and  he 
went  down,  tied  a  rope  around  her  body,  stood  at  the  top  of  the  well  and 
pulled  the  cow  out.  Gillespie  would  lift  the  end  of  a  boat  gunwale  to  his 
knees,  this  ordinarily  requiring  four  men  to  raise  it  off  the  ground. 

Martin  Delany  fought  a  black  bear  in  Charleston  on  a  wager.  When  they 
came  together,  Delany  struck  the  bear  in  the  side  just  behind  the  shoulders 
and  killed  it  with  one  blow.     An  Englishman  from  Richmond,  Virginia,  hear- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  223 

ing  of  Delany's  great  strength,  rode  horseback  the  entire  distance  from  Rich- 
mond to  Delany's  home  in  Greebrier  county,  found  Del  any  in  the  field  and 
challenged  him  for  battle.  Without  much  ceremony,  the  challenge  was  ac- 
cepted, and  the  battle  of  the  giants  began.  Delany  was  the  victor.  After  he 
had  given  his  antagonist  a  good  thrashing,  he  threw  him  over  the  fence  into 
the  road.  The  defeated  pugilist  said  if  he  had  his  horse,  he  would  return. 
At  this,  Delany  took  the  horse  and  threw  it  over  the  fence  also.  The  English- 
man returned  a  sadder  but  a  wiser  man.  It  was  said  that  Martin  Delany's 
ribs  had  no  parting.  They  were  a  solid  sheet.  He  died  and  was  buried  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Big  Birch  river. 

Andrew  Boggs  was  a  gunsmith  and  made  prize  guns  for  expert  marks- 
men. In  comparing  his  great  strength  with  that  of  ordinary  men,  it  is  said 
that  he  would  place  a  handspike  under  a  log  and  let  a  good  strong  man  take 
one  end  of  the  spike  and  he  the  other.  When  the  load  would  become  too  heavy 
for  the  other  fellow,  he  would  put  his  arm  around  the  log  and  pull  it  over  on 
his  hip  and  carry  it.  along  with  ease.  It  is  related  that  he  at  one  time  went 
into  a  den  of  bears  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river, ,  after  stationing  some  men 
at  the  mouth  of  the  den.  He  chased  the  bears  out,  and  at  the  sight  of  the 
bears  the  men  lost  their  nerve  and  ran.  Boggs  came  out  greatly  infuriated  at 
the  loss  of  the  game,  and  threatened  dire  punishment  for  what  he  considered 
rank  cowardice. 

Jacob  Stump,  one  of  the  old  citizens  of  G-iliaer  county,  whose  weight  was 
never  over  one  hundred  fifty-five  pounds,  went  deer  hunting,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  who  was  a  large  strong  woman.  He  succeeded  in  killing  two 
yearling  deer.  He  tied  their  feet  together  as  was  the  custom,  and  slung  them 
across  his  shoulder.  On  their  return  they  found  Steer  creek  considerably 
swollen,  and  as  it  was  some  distance  across  the  stream  the  old  hunter,  with  his 
two  deer  across  his  back,  took  his  wife  in  his  arms  and  with  rifle  in  hand, 
landed  that  most  precious  cargo  safely  on  the  home  shore.  Mr.  Stump  raised 
ten  children  whose  aggregate  weight  was  over  two  thousand  pounds.  Some 
of  his.  sons  possessed  remarkable  strength.  Melvin,  whose  weight  at  birth  was 
three  pounds,  grew  to  be  a  man  weighing  two  hundred  twenty-four  pounds. 
He  was  so  fleet  that  he  could  outrun  an  ordinary  horse  for  a  hundred  yards  or 
more.  Lemuel,  another  son,  whose  weight  was  two  hundred  forty  pounds, 
nearly  a  hundred  pounds  heavier  than  his  father,  shouldered  at  the  mouth  of 
a  threshing  machine  six  bushels  of  wheat  and  carried  it  for  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards.  One  of  Mr.  Stump's  daughters  married  Rev.  Daniel 
Huffman.  On  one  occasion  she  requested  him  to  butcher  a  hog.  Upon  his 
failure  to  do  so,  she  waited  until  he  retired  then  proceeded  to  kill  the  hog 
herself.  She  dressed  it  up  and  when  Mr.  Huffman  arose  the  next  morning  and 
went  out  in  the  yard,  he  found  his  hog  hanging  up  neatly  dressed  and  ready 
to  be  salted  down.    The  hog  netted  about  two  hundred  pounds. 

William  Barnett  was  a  man  of  great  strength.  It  was  said  that  he  could 
carry  a  bundle  of  hickory  hooppoles  in  his  teeth,  and  one  under  each  arm. 
Hooppoles  were  cut  in  the  forests,  and  tied  in  bundles  of  fifty  Math  small 


224  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

twisted  withes.     The  poles  were  cut  about  seven  feet  long,  and  had  to  be  of 
sufficient  size  to  split,  each  pole  making  two  hoops  for  a  salt  barrel. 

Our  father  related  to  us  the  following  story  of  a  woman  whose  name  we 
cannot  recall:  When  alone  one  day,  the  bees  swarmed  and  settled  in  a  beech 
tree  on  a  hill  some  distance  from  the  house.  The  woman  gathered  her  young 
child,  a  bee  gum  and  the  axe,  and  went  up,  placing  her  child  some  distance 
from  the  tree,  and  cut  the  tree  down  and  hived  the  bees. 

'Aunt  Matty"  Sprigg.  mother  of  the  late  Captain  John  S.  Sprigg  and 
wife  of  Edward  Sprigg,  was  one  of  the  noble  women  of  the  country.  She  was 
a  faithful  attendant  on  the  sick,  and  before  the  days  of  professional  nurses 
was  a  constant  visitor  at  the  bedside  of  the  afflicted.  She  had  a  knowledge 
of  diseases  and  remedies  that  sometimes  excelled  that  of  the  physicians.  Her 
great  physical  strength  enabled  her  to  handle  a  patient  with  ease.  Her  indus- 
trious habits  knew  no  bounds.  She  was  an  expert  hand  in  putting  up  fruit 
butters  and  providing  a  sustenance  for  her  family.  She  coidd  lift  a  two-buchel 
kettle  of  boiling  apple  butter  off  from  the  fire  with  one  hand.  Her  death  oc- 
curred some  years  ago.     She  was  loved  by  all  who  knew  her. 

Marshall  Triplett,  James  Carr  and  his  son,  Andrew  Carr,  were  all  men  of 
great  strength. 

Prank  Rhea,  a  colored  man  Who  belonged  to  Dr.  John  L.  Rhea,  weighed 
about  two  hundred  twenty-five  pounds  and  was  a  remarkably  strong  man.  He 
could  pick  up  a  barrel  of  salt  and  pitch  it  into  a  wagon  with  ease.  On  one 
occasion  he  was  dragging  wood  with  a  yoke  of  oxen  for  a  man  named  Shobe 
Ward,  and  going  up  a  bank  the  near  ox  broke  his  bow,  and  not  discouraged  at 
this  mishap,  Prank  took  hold  of  the  end  of  the  yoke,  placed  his  shoulder  against 
it  and  went  on  with  the  load. 

Andrew  Skidmore,  one  of  the  old  pioneers,  whose  weight  was  one  hundred 
eighty  pounds,  carried  a  yearling  bear  from  four  miles  above  Sutton,  on  Wolf 
creek,  to  his  home  three  miles  below  Sutton,  a  distance  of  seven  miles.  He  rest- 
ed but  twice.  He  had  in  addition  to  his  gun  a  hunting  outfit.  This  was  a  feat 
of  strength  and  a  very  remarkable  endurance  rarely  if  ever  equaled.  His 
nephew.  Crawford  Scott,  who  lived  in  Randolph  county,  was  a  pugilist  of  the 
old  school.  He  could  take  a  man  of  ordinary  size  on  his  shoulder  and  run  up 
a  hill  with  apparent  ease. 

Peter  Francisco  was  thought  to  be  a  Portuguese,  kidnapped  and  taken  to 
Ireland  when  an  infant.  He  was  then  kept  for  some  years  by  a  sea  captain 
and  brought  to  America  and  sold  to  Anthony  Winston,  Esq.,  of  Buckingham 
county,  Virginia.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  secured  the  consent  of  Mr.  Winston 
to  volunteer  in  the  American  army.  He  was  in  nearly  all  the  battles  of  the 
Revolution,  and  had  many  daring  encounters  with  the  British  scouts.  His 
height  was  six  feet  and  one  inch,  and  his  weight  two  hundred  sixty  pounds. 
He  could  easily  shoulder  a  cannon  weighing  eleven  hundred  pounds.  He  car- 
ried a  sword,  the  blade  of  which  was  five  feet  long,  which  he  could  weld  like  a 
feather.    His  colonel,  William  Mayo  of  Powhattan,  presented  him  with  a  thous- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


225 


ANDREW    SK1DMORE 


and  acres  of  land,  and  the  House  of 
Delegates  of  Virginia  appointed  him 
Sergeant  at  Arms,  in  which  service 
he  died  in  1836,  and  was  interred 
with  military  honors  in  the  public 
burying-ground  at  Richmond. 

Melville  Stump  of  Gilmer  coun- 
ty was  said  to  be  one  of  the  most 
strong  and  fleet  of  foot  of  any  in  all 
the  Stree  Creek  Valley.  He  could  rim 
almost  as  fast'  as  a  horse,  and  in  his 
young  days  foot-racing  was  a  very 
popular  sport.  The  custom  was  for 
the  referee  to  stand  at  a  starting 
point,  and  the  two  who  were  to  run 
the  race  would  stand  a  few  paces 
in  his  rear,  and  holding  each  other 
by  the  hand  they  would  start  at  the 
signal,  and  coming  to  the  referee 
they  would  part  and  one  go  on  each 
side,  thus  insuring  an  even  start.  It  was  related  to  the  author  by  parties  who 
were  present  that  about  sixty-five  years  ago  at  a  general  muster  at  Stumptown, 
Samuel  Brown  and  Thomas  Smith  arranged  to  run  a  foot  race  of  one  hundred 
yards,  and  Melville  Stump  was  one  of  the  referees,  and  when  the  contestants 
passed  him  he  started  after  them  and  passed  them  before  they  reached  the  other 
end  of  the  race  as  they  came  out,  to  the  great  enjoyment  of  those  who  witnessed 
the  sport. 

It  is  said  that  Benjamin  Hameric  and  his  nine  sons  of  Webster  Springs 
are  the  most  remarkable  family,  physically  speaking,  in  West  Virginia.  Mr. 
Hamric  measures  6  feet,  5^2  inches  in  height,  and  his  sons  draw  the  fathom  line 
as  follows:  Arnold,  6  feet,  1^4  inches;  Isaac,  6  feet,  5%  inches;  Adam.  6  feet, 
3  inches;  William,  6  feet,  1  inch;  Eli,  6  feet,  3  inches;  Samson,  6  feet,  1*4 
inches;  Felix,  6  feet,  2  inches;' Ellis,  6  feet,  5  inches;  and  George,  6  feet,  3 
inches.  The  average  height  of  the  family  is  6  feet,  2%.  inches,  and  the  average 
weight  ;8  174  pounds. 

Judge  A.  N.  Campbell  of  Monroe  county,  measures  6  feet,  3  inches  in 
height,  and  weighs  323  pounds.  He  has  four  brothers  whose  heights  and  weights 
are  as  follows:  Rev.  J.  P.  Campbell  of  Hinton,  height  6  feet,  4  inches,  weight 
200  pounds;  L.  E.  Campbell  of  Pickaway,  height  6  feet,  3  inches,  weight  280 
pounds;  N.  B.  Campbell  of  Underwood,  height  6  feet,  2*4  inches,  weight  255 
pounds.  The  average  height  of  the  five  is  6  ft.  2  in.,  and  the  average. 
We  doubt  whether  these  magnificent  proportions  can  be  exceeded  by  any  family 
of  equal  numbers  in  West  Virginia.  Another  member  of  this  family,  Archi- 
bald Campbell,  who  was  killed  at  the  first  battle  of  Manassas  while  fighting  in 


226  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

the  27th  Virginia  Infantry,   Stonewall   Brigade,   was  also   a  man  of  superb 

physique,  standing  6  feet  2  inches  and  weighing  250  pounds. 

a  man  of  supei'b  physique,  standing  6  feet  2  inches  and  weighing  250  pounds. 

The  father  of  these  gentlemen,  the  late  Andrew  Campbell,  for  years  one 
of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Monroe  county,  was  one  of  the  most  majestic  and 
powerful  men  who  ever  dwelt  in  Virginia.  He  stood  6  feet  3  inches  in  height, 
his  weight  was  250  pounds,  and  when  in  the  prime  of  life,  his  strength  was 
prodigious.  He  though  nothing  of  lifting  two  anvils  by  their  horns  one  in  each 
hand,  and  swinging  them  above  his  head.  He  was  of  the  clan  of  MacGregor- 
Campbell,  and  was  as  renowned  for  his  warm  heart  and  high  spirit  as  for  the 
splendor  of  his  physical  gifts. 

God  has  created' man  with  wonderful  gifts  of  strength,  endurance  and 
length  of  days.  It  is  now  near  midnight,  and  we  close  this  chapter.  In  about 
two  hours,  should  we  live,  we  will  have  rounded  out  the  time  allotted  to  man, 
and  we  are  reminded  of  the  language  of  the  poet  who  said: 

Life  is  composed  of  a  thousand  springs 

That  would  fail  if  one  goes  wrong; 
How  strange  it  is  that  a  harp  with  a  thousand  strings 

Should  keep  in  tune  so  long. 

QUAKERS. 

Quakers,  a  sect  which  took  its  rise  in  England  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  rapidly  found  its  way  into  other  countries  in  Europe, 
and  into  the  English  settlements  in  North  America.  The  members  of  this  so- 
ciety, we  believe,  called  themselves  at  first  Seekers,  from  their  seeking  the  truth ; 
but  after  the  society  was  formed,  they  assumed'  the  appellation  of  Friends. 
The  name  of  Quakers  was  given  to  them  by  their  enemies,  and  though  an  epithet 
of  reproach,  it  seems  to  be  stamped  upon  them  indelibly.  George  Fox  is  sup- 
posed to  be  their  founder ;  but,  after  the  restoration,  Wm.  Penn  and 
Barclay  gave  to  their  principles  a  more  regular  form. 

They  tell  us,  that,  about  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  num- 
ber of  men,  dissatisfied  with  all  the  modes  of  religious  worship  then  known  in 
the  world,  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  every  visible  church  to  seek  the 
Lord  in  retirement.  Among  these  was  their  honorable  elder,  George  Fox, 
who,  being  quickened  by  the  immediate  toiiehes  of  divine  love,  could  not  satisfy 
his  apprehensions  of  duty  to  God  without  directing  the  people  where  to  find 
the  like  consolation  and  instruction.  Tn  the  course  of  his  travels,  he  met  with 
many  seeking  persons  in  circumstances  similar  to  his  own,  and  these  readily 
received  his  testimony.  They  then  give  us  a  short  account  of  their  sufferings 
and  different  settlements;  they  also  vindicate  Charles  IT  from  the  character  of 
a  persecutor-  acknowledging  that,  though  they  suffered  much  during  his  reign, 
he  gave  as  little  countenance  as  he  could  to  the  severities  of  the  legislation. 
They  even  tell  us  that  he  exerted  his  influence  to  rescue  their  friends  from  the 
unprovoked  and  cruel  persecutions  with  which  they  met  in  New  England;  and 
they  speak  with  becoming  gratitude  of  the  different  acts  passed  in  their  favour 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  227 

during  the  reigns  of  William  and  Mary,  and  George  I.     They  then  proceed  to 
give  us  the  following  account  of  their  doctrine. 

"We  agree  with  other  professors  of  the  Christian  name,  in  the  belief  of 
one  eternal  God,  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  the  universe ;  and  in  Jesiis  Christ 
his  Son,  the  Messiah  and  mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  Heb.  xii.  24. 

"When  we  speak  of  the  gracious  display  of  the  love  of  God  to  mankind, 
in  the  miraculous  conception,  birth,  life,  miracles,  death,  resurrection,  and  as- 
cension of  our  Saviour,  we  prefer  the  use  of  siich  terms  as  we  find  in  Scrip- 
ture; and  contented  with  that  knowledge  which  divine  wisdom  hath  seen  meet 
to  reveal,  we  attempt  not  to  explain  those  mysteries  which  remain  under  the 
veil;  nevertheless  we  acknowledge  and  assert  the  divinity  of  Christ,  who  is  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  1  Cor.  i.  24. 

"There  are  not  many  of  our  tenets  more  generally  known  than  our  tes- 
timony against  oaths,  and  against  war.  With  respect  to  the  former  of  these, 
we  abide  literally  by  Christ's  positive  injunction,  delivered  in  his  sermon  on 
the  mount,  'Swear  not  at  all,'  Matt.  v.  34.  From  the  same  sacred  collection  of 
the  most  excellent  precepts  of  moral  and  religious  duty,  from  the  example  of  our 
Lord  himself,  Matt.  v.  39,  44,  etc.,  Matt.  xxvi.  52,  53,  Luke,  xxii.  51,  John, 
xviii.  11,  and  from  the  correspondent  convictions  of  his  Spirit  in  our  hearts, 
we  are  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  wars  and  fightings  are  in  their  origin  and 
effects  utterly  repugnant  to  the  Gospel,  which  still  breathes  peace  and  good 
will  to  men.  We  also  are  clearly  of  the  judgment,  that  if  the  benevolence  of  the 
Gospel  were  generally  prevalent  in  the  minds  of  men,  it  would  effectually  pre- 
vent them  from  oppressing,  much  more  from  enslaving,  their  brethren  (of  what- 
ever colour  or  complexion,)  for  whom,  as  for  themselves,  Christ  died;  and  wTould 
even  influence  their  conduct  in  their  treatment  of  the  brute  creation,  which 
would  no  longer  groan,  the  victims  of  their  avarice,  or  of  their  false  ideas  of 
pleasure. 

"Some  of  our  ideas  have  in  former  times,  as  hath  been  shown,  subjected 
our  friends  to  much  suffering  from  government,  though  to  the  salutary  purposes 
of  government  our  principles  are  a  security.  They  inculcate  submission  to  the 
laws  in  all  cases  wherein  conscience  is  not  violated.  But  we  hold,  that,  as 
Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  it  is  not  the  business  of  the  civil  magistrate 
to  interfere  in  matters  of  religion,  but  to  maintain  the  external  peace  and  good 
order  of  the  community.  We  therefore  think  persecution,  even  in  the  smallest 
degree,  unwarrantable.  We  are  careful  in  requiring  oiir  members  not  to  be  con- 
cerned in  illicit  trade,  nor  in  any  manner  to  defraud  the  revenue. 

"It  is  well  known  that  the  society,  from  its  first  appearance,  has  disused 
those  names  of  the  months  and  days,  which,  having  been  given  in  honour  of  the 
heroes  or  false  gods  of  the  heathen,  originated  in  their  flattery  or  superstition; 
and  the  custom  of  speaking  to  a  single  person  in  the  plural  number,  as  having 
arisen  also  from  motives  of  adultation.  Compliments,  superfluity  of  apparel 
and  furniture,  outward  shows  of  rejoicing  and  mourning,  and  the  observation 
of  days  and  times,  we  esteem  to  be  incompatible  with  the  simplicity  and  sin- 
cerity of  a  Christian  life." 


228 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  first  Methodist  society  in  the  United  States  of  America,  was  formed  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  in  the  year  1766,  by  a  few  Methodist  emigrants  from  Ire- 
land. Among  these  was  a  local  preacher, 
by  the  name  of  Philip  Embury.  He 
preached  the  first  Methodist  sermon  in  a 
private  room,  to  those  only  who  had  ac- 
companied him  to  this  country.  The  name 
of  "Methodist"  as  well  as  his  manner  of 
preaching  being  a  novelty  in  this  country, 
soon  attracted  attention,  and  many  came 
to  hear  the  stranger  for  themselves,  and 
the  number  of  hearers  so  increased  that 
the  house  in  which  they  assembled  very 
soon  became  too  small  to  contain  all  who 
wished  to  hear.  They  accordingly  pro- 
cured a  larger  ;place.  About  this  time 
considerable  attention  was  excited  by  the 
preaching  of  Capt.  Webb,  who  came  from 
Albany,  where  he  was  stationed,  to  the 
help  of  Mr.  Embury.  This  gentleman  had 
been  converted  to  God  under  the  preach- 
ing of  Mr.  Wesley  in  Bristol,  England, 
and  being  moved  with  compassion  towards 
his  fellow  men,  although  a  soldier,  he  now 
employed  his  talent  in  calling  sinners  to  repentence.  Through  his  and  the 
labours  of  Mr.  Embury,  the  work  of  God  prospered,  and  the  society  increased 
in  number  and  stability.  From  the  place  they  now  occupied,  which  soon  be- 
came too  small  to  accommodate  all  who  wished  to  attend  their  meetings,  they 
removed  to  a  rigging-loft,  in  William  street,  Avhich  they  hired,  and  fitted  up 
for  a  preaching  room. 

Such  was  their  continual  increase  that,  after  contending  with  a  variety  of 
difficulties  for  want  of  a  convenient  place  of  worship,  they  succeeded  in  erect- 
ing a  meeting  house  in  John  street,  in  the  year  1768. 

About  the  same  time  that  this  society  was  establishing  in  New  York,  Mr. 
Strawbridge,  a  local  preacher  from  Ireland,  commenced  preaching,  and  formed 
a  small  class  in  Frederick  County,  Maryland. 

In  October,  1769,  two  preachers,  Messrs.  Richard  Boardman  and  Joseph 
Pilmore,  being  sent  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Wesley,  landed  in  America; 
and  in  1771,  Messrs.  Francis  Asbury  and  Richard  Wright  came  over.  The  first 
regular  conference  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  year  1773,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Mr.  Thomas  Rankin,  who  had  been  sent  by  Mr.  Wesley  to  take 
general  oversight  of  the  societies  in  this  country.     These  zealous  missionaries, 


REV.    C.    WARMAN 
Fifty  years  a  treveling  minister 


SUTTON'S     HISTOR  Y.  229 

spreading  themselves  in  different  directions  through  the  country,*  cities  and  vil- 
lages, were  instrumental  in  extending  the  influence  of  evangelical  principles  -and 
holiness  among  the  people. 

During  the  revolutionary  war,  all  the  preachers  from  Europe,  except  Mr. 
Asbury,  returned  to  their  native  land.  But  prior  to  this  event,  the  Head  of 
the  church  had,  under  the  energetic  labors  of  Mr.  Asbury  and  his  colleagues, 
called  forth  some  zealous  young  men  into  the  ministry,  whose  labours  were 
owned  of  God  in  the  awakening  and  conversion  of.  souls.  These  men  of  God, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Asbury,  who  laboured  hard  and  suffered 
much  during  the  sanguinary  conflict,  continued  in  the  field  of  Gospel  labour; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  evils  inseparable  from  war,  they  witnessed  the  spread 
of  pure  religion  in  many  places. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  revolution,  in  the  year  1.784,  Dr.  Thomas  Coke 
came  to  America  with  powers  to  constitute  the  Methodist  societies  in  this  coun- 
try into  an  independent  church.  Hitherto  the  societies  had  been  dependent  on 
other  churches  for  the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  as  the 
Methodist  pi-eachers  were  considered  only  lay-preachers,  and  according  to  the 
uniform  advice  of  Mr.  Wesley,  had  declined  administering  the  ordinances.  This 
had  occasioned  much  uneasiness,  among  both  preachers  and  people,  in  this 
country.  They  therefore  earnestly  requested  Mr.  Wesley  to  interpose  his  au- 
thority, and  furnish  them  with  the  ordinances  independently  of  other  denomi- 
nations. After  maturely  weighing  the  subject  in  his  own  mind,  he  finally  re- 
■  solved,  as  the  United  States  had  become  independent  of  both  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical polity  of  Great  Britain,  to  send  them  the  help  they  so  much  needed. 
Accordingly,  being  assisted  by  other  presbyters  of  the  Church  of  England,  by 
prayer  and  imposition  of  hands,  he  set  apart  Thomas  Coke,  L.L.D.  and  as  pres- 
byter of  said  church,  as  a  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  societies  in  America; 
and  directed  him  to  consecrate  Mr.  Francis  Asbury  for  the  same  office.  In  con- 
formity to  these  instructions,  after  his  arrival  in  the  United  States,  a  confer- 
ence of  preachers  was  assembled  in  Baltimore,  December  25,  1784,  amounting 
in  all  to  61.  Having  communicated  his  instructions,  and  the  contemplated 
plans  for  the  future  government  of  the  societies,  which  were  generally  approved, 
Mr.  Asbury,  being  first  elected  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  preachers,  was 
ordained  by  Dr.  Coke  first  to  the  office  of  deacon,  then  elder,  and  then  superin- 
tendent or  bishop.  Twelve  of  the  preachers  were  elected  and  ordained  elders 
at  the  same  conference. 

In  1819,  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
formed;  and  it  received  the  sanction  of  the  general  conference  in  1820,  accord- 
ing to  the  following  constitution:  This  association  shall  be  denominated  "The 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church." 

It  was  about  the  year  1808,  that  the  first  ministers  found  their  way  into 
what  is  now  Braxton  county.  These  were  a  Baptist  minister  of  the  name  of 
Mathew  Mattox  and  one  of  the  name  of  Jamison,  representing  Methodism.  They 
preached  once  a  month  at  private  houses,  that  of  Colonel  John  Haymond  being 
a  regular  appointment  for  both. 


230  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

The  Methodists  formed  the  first  society,  but  the  exact  time  of  its  institu- 
tion cannot  be  ascertained  for  the  reason  that  the  records  have  long  since  been 
lost.  They  worshipped  however  for  a  number  of  years  in  a  house  erected  by 
Henry  Cunningham  for  church  and  school  purposes.  This,  no  doubt,  was  the 
first  church  building  in  this  section  of  the  country.  It  was  built  by,  and  at 
the  expense  of  Henry  Cunningham  and  son,  with  the  exception  of  the  "raising" 
in  which  the  neighbors  assisted. 

Of  the  early  ministers,  we  have  the  names  of: 

David  Read,  Presiding  Elder,  Asa  Shin  whose  circuit  extended  to  Morgan- 
town  to  Gauley  Bridge,  Andrew  Dixon,  an  Englishman,  who  had  the  Braxton 
Circuit.  Rev.  Munsel  was  on  the  circuit  in  1844  when  the  division  of  the  church 
took  place.  Rev.  Stewart  was  Presiding  Elder.  John  Biringer  and  Wm.  Bing 
rode  the  circuit,  Rev.  Dolliver,  J.  B.  Feather,  Rev.  Brooks,  Rev.  Totten.  R.  L. 
Woodyard,  Rev.  Pinchon,  Rev.  Hatfield  and  Wm.  H.  Wiley.  Wiley  was  on  the 
Circuit  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war  in  1860. 

The  first  Quarterly  Conference  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  for  Braxton 
Circuit,  Charleston  District,  West  Virginia  Conference,  met  at  Morrison  School- 
house,  June  16,  1866.  Conference  opened  with  singing  and  prayer,  the  fol- 
lowing members  present:  Rev.  R.  A.  Arthur,  P.E.,  Rev.  C.  H.  Conway,  P.  in 
C,  William  D.  Baxter,  L.P.,  James  W.  Morrison,  Thos.  H.  Squires,  Zebedee 
Brown,  Milton  Frame,  William  B.  Rose,  Samuel  Brown,  Norman  B.  Squires. 

On  motion,  N.  B.  Squires  was  appointed  Secretary.  There  are  no  com- 
plaints and  no  appeals.  Pastor's  Report  No.  3  was  made.  Brother  John  Mor- 
rison came  in,  and  was  admitted  a  seat  in  the  Conference. 

In  1868,  the  Rev.  Arthur  was  followed  by  G.  D.  Richmond  with  James  D. 
Stricklen  as  preacher  in  charge;  in  1889,  Samuel  Steel  was  Presiding  Elder, 
with  L.  A.  Tallman,  preacher  in  charge;  in  1870,  O.  W.  Richmond  was  Pre- 
siding Elder,  with  L.  F.  Smith,  preacher  in  charge;  in  1871,  M.  G.  Sayre  suc- 
ceeded Rev.  Smith.  This  was  the  last  Quarterly  Conference  held  under  the 
old  Charleston  district,  and  was  convened  at  Sutton,  Feb.  17,  1872. 

The  next  Quarterly  Conference  was  held  at  Pleasantdale,  April  27,  1872, 
with  John  W.  Regar,  Presiding  Elder,  and  M.  G.  Sayre,  Preacher  in  charge; 
in  1873,  Asbury  Mick  was  assigned  to  the  Braxton  Avork;  in  1876,  T.  B.  Hughes 
as  Presiding  Elder,  and  C.  W.  Upton  came  to  the  work;  in  1878,  the  timje  of 
holding  the  Conference  was  changed  from  Spring  until  Fall ;  in  1879,  C.  Poling 
served  the  Braxton  circuit,  and  in  that  year,  Wm.  R.  White  was  made  Pre- 
siding Elder  of  the  district;  in  1880,  Renox  Weese  was  sent  to  the  charge; 
in  1882,  Rev.  Weese  was  assisted  by  Fred  Cotrel;  and  1882,  C.  Warman  served 
the  circuit;  in  1883,  Wm.  G.  Riheldaffer  was  made  Presiding  Elder;  in  1884, 
C.  Warman  was  assisted. by  Renox  Skidmore;  and  in  1885,  T.  C.  Exline  was 
Rev.  Warman 's  assistant;  in  1885,  G.  H.  Williams  was  sent  to  the  Braxton 
work;  in  1887,  L.  H.  Jordan  was  made  Presiding  Elder;  and  in  1888,  Paris 
Bent  was  made  pastor  of  the  work;  in  1889,  John  Norris  and  P.  L.  Bent,  as- 
sistant; in  1890,  R.  E.  Hughes  was  pastor;  in  1892,  Gilbert  Rodgers  was  as- 
signed to  the  work;  in  1894,  J.  H.  Hess  was  made  Presiding  Elder,  with  G.  D. 


SUTTON' S     HISTORY.  231 

Smiht,  pastor;  in  1898,  T.  M.  Hawkins  was  made  assistant;  in  1899, 
E.  R.  Skidmore  was  assigned  to  the  Braxton  charge;  in  1899,  S.  P. 
Crummitt  was  made  Presiding  Elder  with  W.  G.  Loyd,  pastor,  in 
1904,  G.  H.  Williams  was  sent  to  the  charge;  in  1905,  Rev.  Albert  Cameron 
was  made  Presiding  Elder  and  R.  G.  Backus  was  preacher  in  charge ;  in  1906, 
B.  H.  Shadoek  was  preacher  in  charge;  in  1907,  Wm.  Anderson  was  Presiding 
Elder  and  G.  R.  Williamson  was  preacher  in  charge;  in  1909,  "Wm. 
Anderson  was  Presiding  Elder  and  J.  O.  Bolton,  preacher  in  charge ;  in  1911, 
L.  E.  Ressegger  was  Presiding  Elder  and  A.  Mick,  preacher  in  charge.  Rev. 
Mick  was  followed  by  C.  G.  Stater,  in  October,  1913,  then  by  I.  F.  Rickett, 
in  October,  1915.  Dr.  Ressegger  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Workman  as 
Presiding  Elder  in  October,  1916.  Rev.  Rickett  was  followed  by  A.  Backus,  in 
October,  1917. 

NATIVE  MINISTERS  OF  BRAXTON  COUNTY. 

Theodore  Given  and  Wm.  Dobbins  (Baptist). 

Nathan  H.  Prince  (Methodist  Episcopal). 

Daniel  H.  Davis,  Isaac  Ocheltree  and  two  of  Ms  sons,  M.  L.  Barnett, 
Jonathan  Y.  Gillespie,  Anderson  McNemar,  Wm.  Betts,  Jonathan  Friend,  John 
I.  Tonkin,  Simeon  T.  Davis  (Methodist  Protestant). 

Okey  J.  Jackson,  Wm.  G.  Loyd  (M.  E.) 

Curtis  Ellison  (S.  M.  E.). 

P.   C.  Roberts   (M.  P.). 

Henry  Pierson,  J.  B.  McLaughlin,  James  Frame  (Baptist). 

W.  M.  Given  (S.  M.  E.) 

CHURCHES. 

In  1860,  the  Braxton  circuit  of  the  M.  E.  Church  embraced  almost,  if  not 
the  entire  comity  and  part  of  Webster  county.  W.  H.  Wiley  was  the  pastor. 
He  related  to  the  author  a  few  years  ago  that  in  the  year  1860  which  ended  his 
pastorate  here,  and  embraced  the  most  exciting  and  strenuous  period  of  the 
church's  history,  except  perhaps  its  division  in  1844,  that  he  had  fourteen 
appointments,  that  he  held  thirteen  protracted  meetings,  that  there  were  one 
hundred  and  fifty  conversions,  and  a  hundred  and  seventy  accessions  to  the 
church,  that  he  preached  every  day  in  the  week  except  Monday  and  Tuesday. 
At  that  time  there  were  but  few  church  buildings  in  the  circuit,  Cunningham 
church  which  was  the  oldest,  the  Morrison  church,  a  frame  building,  one  among 
the  first  churces  built  in  1856  or  1857.  It  stood  on  the  old  site  where  the  pres- 
ent church  stands  in  upper  Flatwoods.  It  has  been  twice  rebuilt.  The  Prince 
chapel  was  a  frame  building  and  stood  where  the  present  church  stands  in 
Flatwoods.  It  was  burned  down  in  time  of  the  Civil  war,  and  was  rebuilt 
with  a  parsonage. 

There  was  a  church  house  on  Tate  creek,  built  principally  by  Milton  Frame. 
The   people   worshipped   principally   in   private   houses,    and   since   the   school 


232  SUTTON'S     HISTOEi'. 

houses  were  built  by  the  state,  they  were  very  generally  used  by  the  people  as 
places  of  worship.  Not  many  years  after  the  Civil  war,  the  church  built  a 
house  of  worship  on  Steer  creek,  called  Simpson  chapel,  and  later  another 
one  was  built  on  Big  Buffalo  called  Frames'  chapel.  More  recently  a 
church  was  built  on  Salt  Lick  near  the  mouth  of  Bickel's  fork,  called  Tichnal. 
The  widow  of  Moses  Tichnal  contributed  largely  to  its  erection.  It  has  since 
burned  down,  and  a  new  church  has  been  built  on  the  same  site.  A  church 
was  built  on  Perkins  fork  near  Shavers.  The  society  built  a  house  called  the 
Riffle  chapel  on  the  Perkins  fork  of  Cedar  creek.  Jacob  Riffle  was  the  principal 
one  in  its  construction.  A  church  house  was  built  on  the  Isaac  Loyd  farm  on 
Cedar  creek,  called  the  Loyd  chapel.  Mrs.  Isaac  Loyd  contributed  liberally  to 
its  construction.  At  the  confluence  of  the  Westfall  fork  and  the  Scott's  fork 
of  Cedar  creek  at  a  place  called  Bonny,  the  society  built  a  house  called  the 
Bonny  chapel.  Another  church  was  erected  near  the  head  of  the  Middle  fork 
of  Cedar  creek,  called  Sunrise.  A  church  house  was  built  on  the  Bison  range 
near  the  head  waters  of  Bee  run  and  the  waters  of  Salt  Lick,  called  High  Knob 
church.  It  was  largely  through  the  energy  and  Christian  influence  of  Estiline 
Morrison 'that  this  house  was  built.  These  churches  were  all  frame  buildings. 
About  the  year  1879.  a  frame  church  was  built  in  Sutton,  but  it  was  re- 
placed by  a  very  commodious  brick  building,  dedication  of  which  took  place 
June  6,  1897,  by  Bishop  McCabe.  In  the  year  1906,  Sutton  was  made  a  station. 
They  have  a  parsonage  and  pay  about  $1,000  salary  to  their  preacher.  The 
average  salaries  of  the  circuit  riders  of  the  county  is  about  $600.  Churches 
were  built  at  Burnsville  and  Copcn's  run.  Gassaway  built  a  house  in  the  year 
1907. 

The  territory  once  embraced  in  the  Braxton  circuit  has  been  divided  and 
thrown  into  three  or  four  circuits.  The  M.  E.  church  was  once  a  great  spiritual 
power  in  this  county,  but  it  has  so  changed  its  manner  of  worship  that  formal- 
Ism  has  taken  the  place,  to  some  extent  at  least,  of  spiritualism,  and  this  has 
all  occurred  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time,  possibly  thirty  years  or  less. 
The  church  cried  out  for  an  educated  ministry;  this  was  not  objectionable 
within  itself.  An  educated  ministry  should  keep  pace  with  an  educated  laity. 
The  trouble  seemed  to  arise  in  the  fact  that  the  young  men  who  attended  the 
liigher  schools  sought  to  supplant  the  experienced  ministers  of  many  years'  a,v- 
duous  labor  and  devotion  to  the  cause,  and  by  their  zeal  and  experience,  their 
knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  church,  their  knowledge  of  human  nature  ren- 
dered many  of  them  eminently  qualified  men  to  fill  the  best  appointments,  but 
loo  often  they  were  relagated  to  the  rear,  and  the  church  suffered  spiritually. 
There  was  a  time  when  the  church  looked  forward  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting  as 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  233 

a  time  of  great  spiritual  enjoyment.  Friday  before  the  Quarterly  Meeting  was 
a  day  set  apart  for  fasting  and  prayer,  and  on  Saturday  the  official  members 
of  the  Quarterly  Conference  from  every  appointment,  with  members  of  other 
churches  would  assemble,  and  the  meeting  would  begin  with  a  good  gospel  ser- 
mon by  the  Presiding  Elder.  Then  those  from  a  distance  would  be  invited  to 
the  homes  of  the  good  people  living  in  the  neighborhood,  irrespective  as  to  what 
branch  of  the  Christian  church  they  belonged.  At  3  P.  M..  the  conference 
would  meet  and  transact  the  business  of  the  church,  and  at  3  :30  the  Elder  would 
preach  again,  and  the  people  from  a  distance  would  be  taken  care  of.  Sunday 
morning  at  9  A.  M.,  Love  Feast  would  begin,  followed  by  a  public  collection, 
then  preaching  by  the  Elder,  after  which  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
then  an  adjournment  for  dinner  after  which  the  Presiding  Elder  would  preach 
again. 

This  gathering  of  the  officiary  of  the  church,  the  four  good  sermons  of 
the  Elder,  the  Love  Feast,  the  Sacrament,  the  Fraternal  meeting  of  the  various 
denominations,  was  of  itself  a  great  revival  and  building  up  of  the  Christian 
fraternity  that  could' be  brought  about  by  no  other  means.  A  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing in  its  true  sense  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  A  Presiding  Elder  is  called  a  Su- 
perintendent, more  strictly  speaking,  a  Financial  Agent.  He  holds  two  or 
three  Quarterly  Meetings  of  the  official  board  each  week,  but  seldom  preaches. 
A'  Superintendent  is  chosen  by  the  Annual  Conf erence  for  his  ability  to  finance 
the  church  more  than  for  his  preaching  ability.  However  these  changes  may 
work  in  other  respects,  it  is  apparent  that  the  church  has  lost  one  of  the  John 
Wesley  levers  of  its  spiritual  life  under  the  old-time  meeting.  What  blessed 
assurance  our  fathers  and  mothers  enjoyed,  the  hopes  of  their  final  triumph, 
as  they  sang  with  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  some  of  the  old-time  gospel  songs, 
and  with  the  spirit  related  their  experiences  to  the  world. 

In  the  Lewis  county  records,  we  find  that  as  early  as  1824,  John  F.  Single- 
ton deeded  to  Elijah  Squires,  Jacob  Gibson,  Christian  Hyer,  Peter  Lough  and 
Asa  Squires,  Trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  two  acres  of  land  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Flatwoods  whereon  stands  the  church  and  campground  on  the  waters 
of  Salt  Lick. 

METHODIST  PROTESTANT  CHURCH. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Daniel  Huffman  Davis,  who  is  one  of  the  most 
faithful  and  able  ministers  that  Braxton  county  ever  sent  out  to  preach  the 


234 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


REV.   DANIEL  H.  DAVIS 

A  traveling  minister  for  over 

50  years 


Gospel  for  much  of  the  information  of  this 
chapter  on  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church.  As  early  as  1824,  agitation  over 
the  mutual  rights  of  the  ministry  and  laity 
of  the  church  began  to  be  heard,  and  in- 
dependent bodies  sprang  up  under  Conven- 
tional Articles,  and  under  these,  several 
Conferences  were  held  until  1828,  when 
a  largely  delegated  convention  was  held  in 
Baltimore,  with  representatives  from  sev- 
eral states.  In  1830,  the  Methodist  Prot- 
estant Church  was  duly  organized  under 
a  Constitution  and  Discipline  at  a  General 
Conference  in  Baltimore. 

In  West  Virginia,  the  M.  P.  Church 
was  first  organized  on  Hacker's  creek,  in 
Lewis  county,  in  October,  1829.  Rev. 
John  Mitchell  organized  the  first  class  at 
the  old  Harmony  meeting  house.  In  the 
following  spring  this  society  was  visited 
by  the  Rev.  Cornelius  Springer  who  re- 
ported the  membership  at  sixty.  Soon  af- 
ter, a  class  was  organized  at  the  forks  of 
Hacker's  creek;  the  territory  embraced  by  these  two  societies  now  constitute 
the  Lewis  Circuit,  with  a  membership  of  nearly  1,000.  In  the  spring  of  1830, 
the  Rev.  C.  Springer,  with  the  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Marshall  as  assistant  preacher, 
organized  a  church  in  Morgantown.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  Springer 
and  Marshall  formed  a  class  in  Cheat  Neck,  near  the  old  Woodgrove  furnace. 
Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  denomination,  a  church  was  formed  in 
Shinnston.  At  Pruntytown,  the  church  was  organized  between  1830  and  1834. 
A  church  was  also  formed  at  or  near  Rockford  in  Harrison  county. 

At  Fairmont,  then  Middletown,  and  very  early  in  the  M.  P.  history,  the 
church  was  organized  in  the  county  of  Greenbrier.  It  was  between  the  years 
1830  and  1835  that  the  Rev.  John  Clark  visited  the  county  of  Braxton,  and 
organized  an  M.  P.  Church  in  the  Flatwoods.  Elijah  Squires  and  wife,  and 
Elizabeth  Haymond  were  among  the  first  members  of  this,  perhaps  parent, 
society,  and  nucleus  of  the  Braxton  circuit.  At  the  fifth  session  of  the  Ohio 
Conference,  held  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  in  1833,  the  Pittsburg  Conference 
was  established,  embracing  eastern  Ohio,  western  Pennsylvania  and  western 
Virginia;  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  what  is  now  West  Virginia,  was  then  embraced 
in  the  Pittsburg  Conference. 

It  was  mainly  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pittsburg  Conference  that 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  western  Virginia  was  constituted  and  ful- 
ly organized.  Many  local  churches  had  been  formed  in  different  parts  of  the 
state  under  the  former  Articles  of  Association,  even  before  the  denomination, 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  235 

as  such,  was  fully  organized.  The  first  President  of  the  Pittsburg  Conference 
was  Asa  Shinn,  the  man  whom  Dr.  Adam  Clark,  of  England,  rated  the  great- 
est reasoner  in  America.  Cornelius  Springer  and  his  colleague,  Wm.  H.  Mar- 
shall, organized  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  within  the  bounds  of  West 
Virginia.  The  Rev.  Noble  Gillespie,  an  Irishman,  served  Middletown,  now 
Fairmont,  Harrisville,  Tyler  and  other  charges.  Nelson  Burgess,  J.  I.  Stillians, 
John  and  Daniel  Degarmo  or  D'Garmo,  R.  H.  Sutton,  an  Englishman,  served 
Palatine.  "Williams  served  Braxton  Circuit  and  other  charges.  John  Clark, 
a  native  of  Monongalia  county,  W.  Va.,  Isaac  Holland  of  the  same  county,  trav- 
eled the  Braxton  Circuit  in  the  40 's.  A  small  man  named  Simmons,  was  one 
of  Braxton's  very  early  M.  P.  preachers.  It  was  said  that  he  lived  in  Pitts- 
burg at  the  time,  and  rode  horseback  to  and  from  his  circuit.  Many  years 
ago,  the  Rev.  James  Robinson,  author  of  "Recollections  of  Rev.  Samuel  Claw- 
son,"  furnished  the  above  information.  Rev.  Thomas  Lawson  was  on  the 
Braxton  work.  Mr.  Lewis  Lawson  Long  was  born  about  the  time  of  this  gen- 
tleman's pastorate,  and  was  named  for  him.  Williams,  Lawson,  Simmons  and 
Holland  served  the  original  Braxton  Circuit  between  the  years  1835  and  1850. 
In  1833,  the  year  in  which  the  Pittsburg  Conference  was  established  the  Rev. 
Zachariah  Ragan  was  assigned  to  the  Middletown  Circuit  in  W.  Va.  The  Rev. 
Wm.  Sisk  lived  for  many  years  in  the  county,  and  rode  the  Braxton  Circuit. 
The  Rev.  Richard  H.  Walker  of  Greenbrier  county  rode  the  Circuit  about  the 
year  1850.  Walker  was  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Geo.  G.  Westfall  in  1851.  This 
was  Westfall 's  first  charge.  Walker,  many  years  afterward  went  west,  and 
identified  himself  with  the  Western  Confereiices,  and  became  its  president.     In 

1853,  Rev.  Westfall  was  returned  in  full  charge  of  the  whole  work  in  Braxton. 
He  and  Walker  had  served  in  1853,  twenty  -three  appointments,  and  a  round  of 
three  hundred  miles,  up  and  down  the  Elk  and  the  Little  Kanawha  rivers,  and 
up  into  the  mountains  of  Braxton  and  Gilmer  comities.  His  salary  was  $60.00 
the  first  year,  and  $100.00  the  second  year.  The  Rev.  John  Elim  Mitchell  was 
next  in  1854,  1855  and  1856,  though  during  his  series  of  terms,  the  Circuit  was 
divided.     Rev.  Mitchell  entered  the  itinerancy  in  the  Pittsburg  Conference  in 

1854,  in  Allegheny  City,  from  which  he  received  his  first  appointment  to  the 
Braxton  Circuit.  At  this  session,  the  Western  Virginia  Conference  was  es- 
tablished, Dr.  Peter  T.  Laishley  being  its  first  president.  The  first  regular 
session  of  the  West  Virginia  Conference  was  held  in  Pruntytown  in  September, 

1855,  from  which  Rev.  Mitchell  returned  for  his  second  term.  During  that 
year,  the  Quarterly  Conference  employed  Rev.  G.  W.  Pierson  to  assist  the 
preacher  in  charge  on  the  Circuit. 

The  West  Virginia  Conference  of  1856  met  at  Jesse's  Run  in  Lewis  county. 
The  Braxton  Circuit  at  that  time  extended  from  the  mouth  of  Oil  creek,  north 
of  the  town  of  Burnsville,  to  Peter's  creek,  seven  miles  south  of  Summersville 
in  Nicholas  county,  and  from  Brown's  Mountain  to  the  mouth  of  Duck  creek 
on  the  Elk  river.  This  charge  had  over  fifteen  appointments.  In  1855  or  1856, 
that  which  had  been  known  as  the  Braxton  Circuit  was  divided,  setting  off  the 
Nicholas  Circuit,  which  included  all  of  the  original  Braxton  Circuit  lying  south 


236  sutton;s    histor\. 

of  the  Elk  river;  also  detaching  a  number  of  the  lower  appointments  on  the 
north  of  said  river,  and  attaching  them  to  the  Gibner  Circuit.  The  name  of  the 
remaining  portion  of  the  old  Braxton. circuit  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Sutton 
Circuit. 

In  1856,  Rev.  Mitchell,  as  stated  above,  was  assigned  to  the  Nicholas  Cir- 
cuit; Rev.  Samuel  P.  Lesley  to  the  Sutton  Circuit,  and  Rev.  Richard  H.  Wal- 
ker to  the  Gilmer  Circuit ;  thus  there  were  by  this  time  three  Methodist  Protes- 
tant intinerants  operating  in  Braxton  county.  In  1857.  the  West  Virginia 
Annual  Conference  convened  in  Palatine.  That  was  the  first  Annual  Con- 
ference I  ever  attended,  but  I  went  only  as  a  spectator.  Living  south  of  the 
river.  I  was  of  course  a  member  of  the  Nicholas  Quarterly  Conference  which 
licensed  me'  to  preach  at  its  fourth  session  in  August,  1857. 

Prom  the  Palatine  Conference  of  1857,  Brother  Mitchell  was  assigned  to 
the  Barbour  and  Rowlesburg  Circuit.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Young  was  sent  to 
Nicholas  Circuit;  Rev.  Kinzie  Ward  to  Gilmer,  and  possibly  R.  H.  Walker  to 
Sutton.  In  1S58,  Conference  met  in  Harrisville.  Young  was  returned  to 
Nicholas,  and  I  think  Brother  Sisk  to  Sutton,  and  probably  Rev.  Randolph  S. 
Welsh  to  Gilmer. 

In  1859,  Conference  met  in  Fairmont.  Rev.  Moor  McNeil  was  assigned  to 
the  Nicholas  Circuit.  I  cannot  recall  just  now  who  served  Sutton  in  that  year, 
but  possibly  Brother  Sisk,  and  I  think  R.  S.  Welsh  remained  on  the  Gilmer 
Circuit. 

In  1860,  Conference  was  held  at  St.  Marys.  From  this  session,  Rev.  F.  H. 
Martin  went  to  Nicholas,  Rev.  R.  S.  Welsh  to  Sutton,  and  Rev.  J.  E.  Mitchell 
to  Gilmer,. 

During  the  summer  of  1860,  I  assisted  the  Rev.  John  Bolton  on  the  Tyler 
Circuit.  The  town  of  St.  Marys  was  included  in  our  pastorate;  and  after  I 
had  preached  to  and  mingled  with  those  people  all  summer,  and  had  formed 
many  warm  attachments  among  them,  when  the  Annual  Conference  convened 
in  our  midst,  I  entered  the  itinerant  ranks  as  a  member  of  the  body.  I  was 
assigned  to  a  mission  at  Tennytown. 

In  the  fall  of  1858,  I  left  Braxton  county,  and  started  out  into  the  big 
world,  not  to  see  what  I  could  make  for  myself,  but  to  see  what  I  could  make 
of  myself.  After  footing  the  rounds — which  I  figured  then  to  be  about  two 
hundred  miles — I  rounded  into  Barbour  county,  to  the  parsonage  where  resided 
my  old  pastor  and  counselor,  the  Rev.  John  Elam  Mitchell.  He  was  delighted 
to  welcome  me,  and  called  a  Quarterly  Conference  at  which  I  was  employed  to 
assist  him  on  his  large  circuit  which  lay  along  the  western  base  of  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains,  embracing  Barbour  county,  east  of  the  Tygart's  Valley  river, 
including  the  towns  and  villages  of  Beelington,  Mea  do'wville,  Philippi,  Goai'd- 
town  and  Nicholas.  Crossing  the  Laurel  Hill  on  to  the  Cheat  river  near  the 
town  of  St.  George — then  county  seat  of  Tucker  county — cutting  through  the 
center  of  said  county  to  the  state  line  between  Virginia  and  Maryland,  thence 
to  the  town  of  West  Union  in  Preston  county,  thence  to  Rowlesburg.  From 
here  back  across  Laurel  Hill  via  Fellersville  and  Evansville  on  the  N.  W.  Turn- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  237 

pike  road,  and  then  to  the  parsonage,  a  round  of  two  hundred  miles,  embrac- 
ing between  twenty  and  thirty  appointments.  The  latter  part  of  that,  year, 
now  into  the  summer  of  1859,  I  spent  in  Barbour  and  Upshur  counties,  pur- 
suing my  studies  along  theological  lines  as  well.  Removing  in  the  fall  I  attend- 
ed school  in  Taylor  county,  and  to  some  extent  assisted  the  pastor  on  the  Tay- 
lor Circuit  who  was  no  other  than  my  same  old  clerical  sire,  J.  E.  Mitchell, 
assigned  to  that  charge  at  the  recent  session  of  Conference. 

In  the  spring  of  I860,  under  direction  of  said  Rev.  Davis,  the  president,  I 
went  as  before  stated,  to  assist,  the  Rev.  J.  Bolton  on  the  Tyler  Circuit,  and  this 
brings  me  back  to  where  I  left  myseif  before  this  little  interlude  was  interjected. 
The  spring  of  1861  finds  me  in  charge  of  my  first  official  pastorate  at  Tennvtown. 
Here  I  had  taught  a  term  of  school  the  preceding  winter,  and  in  the  early 
spring  (1861)  I  made  a  visit  home  for  the  first  time  in  two  years,  and  it 
proved  the  last  time  for  five  and  a  half  years  more,  for  before  I  landed  back  on 
my  work,  hostilities  had  commenced.    The  war  was  on. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  the  following  are  a  part  of  the  ministers  who 
served  the  Braxton  charge: 

J.  Dunn,  Perry  Lowther,  Samuel  Clawson,  Joseph  Flint,  "Win.  Sisk,  G.  W. 
Barrett,  Oliver  Lowther,  M.  OOrland,  Thomas  Ireland,  J.  "W.  Bibbee,  J.  H.  Nes- 
ter,  Rev.  Pool,  Rev.  Delany,  C.  P.  Bailer,  D.  C.  Jones,  J.  H.  Lough,  S.  J.  Safe- 
field,  F.  T.  Kelley  and  Jackson. 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

"We  wish,  in  this  connection,  to  give  a  few  brief  extracts  from  Kerchivel's 
Early  History  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  publish  in  full  the  reminiscence 
of  the  venerable  Levi  J.  Huffman  who  has  closed  out  his  half  century  of  ac- 
tive pastoral  work,  and  whose  memory  goes  back,  vividly  portraying  incidents 
which  transpired  three  quarters  of  a  century  in  the  past.  Kerchivel  says : 
"The  Baptist  were  not  among  our  early  immigrants.  About  fourteen  or  fifteen 
families  of  that  persuasion  migrated  from  the  state  of  New  Jersey,  and  settled 
probably  in  1742  or  1743,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  called  Garratstown  in 
the  comity  of  Berkeley. 

Mr.  Semple  in  his  history  of  the  Virginia  Baptists,  states  that  in  the  year 
1754,  Mr.  Sterns,  a  preacher  of  this  sect,  with  several  others,  removed  from 
New  England.  They  halted  first  at  Opequon  in  Berkeley  county,  Virginia, 
where  he  formed  a  Baptist  Church  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  John  Gerard. 
This  was  probably  the  first  Baptist  Church  founded  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in 
Virginia. 

The  first  camp  meeting  held  in  the  valley  took  place  at.  what  is  called 
Chrisman's  Spring  near  Stephensburg,  on  the  great  highway  from  Winches- 
ter to  Staunton,  about  the  month  of  August,  1760.  It  is  stated  that  the  prac- 
tice of  camp  meetings  originated  with  a  Baptist  preacher  somewhere,  about  the 
James  river.  As  stated  above,  the  Baptists  were  not  among  the  number  of  the 
earliest  immigrants.     Mr.  Semple  says  the  Baptist  in  Virginia  originated  from 


238  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

three  sources ;  the  first  were  immigrants  from  England  who,  about  the  year  1714, 
settled  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  About  1743,  another  party  eame 
from  Maryland,  and  founded  a  settlement  in  the  northwest.  A  third  party 
from  New  England  came  in.  1754.  The  last  were  Mr.  Sterns  and  Ms  party. 
They  settled  for  a  short  time  at  Capon  river  in  the  county  of  Hampshire. 
The  Quakers  and  Baptist  suffered  great  persecution  in  Virginia,  meeting  vio- 
lent opposition  from  the  established  Episcopal  clergy. 
The  Rev.  Huffman  says,  in  ' '  Looking  Backward : ' ' 

"In  the  history  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  our  part  of  the  state  of 
West  Virginia,  I  remember  many  events  which  I  will  now  endeavor  to  chron- 
icle. The  first  is  a  brief  history  of  the  Broad  Run  Association  whose  bounds 
embraced  the  counties  of  Harrison,  Lewis,  Upshur,  Doddridge,  Ritchie,  Gil- 
mer, Calhoun,  Webster,  Roane,  Clay,  Braxton,  and  a  portion  of  Kanawha. 
This  Association  was  organized  about  the  year  1835,  four  years  prior  to  my 
birth.  When  I  was  six  years  old,  this  Association  met  with  the  Bethlehem 
church,  near  where  Grantsville  is  located  now  in  Calhoun  county.  In  one  of 
its  anniversaries,  the  ministers  present  at  that  session  were  Rev.  Alexander 
Holden,  Samuel  Bailey,  Jas.  Griffin,  Cornelias  Huff,  James  Woods,  Anthony 
Garrett,  Hineman,  the  father  of  the  late  Judge  Hineman  of  Charles- 
ton, and  Rev.  John  Bennett  who  had  just  entered  the  ministry  and  was  or- 
dained at  this  session.  My  father's  home  was  the  home  of  at  least  two-thirds 
of  those  in  attendance  on  that  occasion.  On  Sunday,  Revs.  Garratt  and  Woods 
preached  in  the  grove. 

The  Mt.  Pisgah  Association  was  stricken  from  the  Broad  Run  Association 
about  the  year  1855.  In  its  bounds  were  Gilmer,  Calhoun,  Roane,  Braxton, 
Clay  and  a  portion  of  Kanawha  county.  The  ministers  of  this  Association  were 
Revs.  John  Woofter,  John  Bennett  (father  of  Atty.  N.  M.  Bennett),  John 
Stump,  Daniel  Huffman,  Joe  Smith,  Joe  Wright,  Jonathan  Smith,  Dave  Frame 
and  Theodore  Given,  all  of  whom  are  now  gone  to  their  reward.  It  was  the 
writer's  privilege  to  attend  their  session  of  September  9,  1915,  which  met  with 
the  old  Bethlehem  Church  near  Grantsville,  Calhoun  county,  at  which  place 
he  was  ordained  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  where  the  Broad  Run  Associa- 
tion met  seventy  years  ago.  All  who  were  then  living  in  that  community  had 
died  except  my  brother  Absolem  and  Peter  Johnson,  and  the  reader  may  imag- 
ine my  feelings,  if  he  can,  while  standing  on  that  historic  ground,  thinking  of 
the  past  and  the  many  whom,  he  had  loved  being  gone  that  he  would  some  day 
see  in  that  general  Association  on  high. 

The  Sutton  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  the  year  1857  with  eight  mem- 
bers, by  Revs.  John  Woofter,  John  Bennett  and  John  Stump.  In  the  same 
year  a  committee  was  appointed  to  select  and  puchase  in  the  town  a  lot  on  which 
to  build,  and  the  building  was  begun  when  the  Civil  war  broke  out  in  the 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  233 

year  1861.     This  building  was  destroyed  by  the  Union  soldiers  for  which  the 
government  recently  paid  $775.00. 

Rev.  John  Stump  was  the  first  pastor,  and  served  the  church  until  1870. 
Many  prominent  members  were  added  during  his  pastorate.  Rev.  L.  J.  Huff- 
man was  his  successor  who  began  his  pastorate  October,  1870,  and  continued 
sixteen  consecutive  years.  Many  precious  revivals  were  enjoyed  during  those 
years,  and  scores  of  members  were  added.  In  the  year  1886,  Huffman  resigned 
and  Rev.  Theodore  Given  was  called  to  the  care  of  the  church,  and  served  as 
pastor  two  years.  Next,  Rev.  J.  F.  Brown  was  called  to  the  care  of  the  church, 
and  served  one  year.  Rev.  Voleoff,  a  Bulgarian,  was  called  and  served  three 
years.  Rev.  J.  E.  Hutchinson  was  next  called  to  take  charge  of  the  church, 
and  served  ten  years.  Next  pastor  was  Rev.  Dr.  Tupper  who  served  the  church 
three  years,  whereupon,  Rev.  L.  J.  Huffman  was  again  called  to  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  church  and  served  seven  years,  after  which  Rev.  A.  A.  McQueen 
was  called,  and  he  is  now  the  pastor  of  Sutton  Baptist  church.  There  has 
been  more  than  three  hundred  members  connected  with  this  church,  many 
of  whom  have  died,  and  others  have  gone  to  other  parts  of  the  country,  being 
a  blessing  to  the  communities  in  which  they  live. 

The  Elk  Valley  Association  was  organized  in  the  year  1903  at  Long  Run 
church  in  Braxton  county.  It  embraces  the  counties  of  Webster,  Braxton, 
Clay,  and  portions  of  Gilmer  and  Nicholas.  Fourteen  churches  were  organized 
into  this  Association.  Revs.  L.  E.  Peters,  L.  J.  Huffman  and  Mr.  Alexander 
Dulin  prepared  the  constitution  and  rules  of  order.  Alex.  Dulin  was  chosen 
its  first  Moderator,  N.  B.  Hamric,  its  first  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  Dulin 
served  as  Moderator  eleven  years  then  resigned,  and  Van  B.  Hall  was  chosen 
his  successor  and  he  served  two  years.  Frank  Sutton  is  the  present  Modera- 
tor. Mr.  J.  Arthur  Pierson  was  chosen  as  Rev.  Hamric 's  successor,  and  served 
as  Secretary  and  Treasurer  eleven  years.  Dr.  Chapman  of  Webster  Spring 
was  chosen,  and  is  the  present  Clerk  and  Treasurer. 

Present  number  of  churches,  44,  with  a  membership  of  more  than  2,000. 
The  anniversary  of  this  Association  was  held  with  the  Long  Run  Baptist  church 
in  August,  1916,  at  which  place  the  Elk  Valley  Association  was  organized  in 
the  year  1903." 

M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

The  division  of  the  Methodist  church  took  place  in  1844,  slavery  being  the 
principal  cause.     The  organization  of  the  church  in  Braxton  began  early  in 


240 


SUTTON'S     HISTOE  Y. 


the  year  1847.  The  church  prop- 
erty was  a  matter  of  some  conten- 
tion and  litigation,  but  as  a  rule 
went  to  the  societies  having  a  ma- 
jority of  members.  These  ques- 
tions between  the  two  churches 
caused  intense  feelings,  but  happi- 
ly they  have  passed  away,  and  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  has  done  a 
work  in  the  southern  states  that 
perhaps  no  other  organization 
could  have  accomplished.  There 
has  been  for  several  years,  an  agi- 
tation for  a  re-union  of  the  two 
churches  which  might  in  time  re- 
sult in  undue  political  power,  and 
the  church  lose  its1  influence  for 
good. 

The  recording  stewards'  book 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  does 
not  go  farther  back  than  April  10, 
1847,  and  from  the  minutes  of  the 
church  of  that  date,  it  would  seem 
that  this  was  the  beginning  of  the 
church  of  the  first  organization  in 
Braxton   county. 

At  a  quarterly  meeting  con- 
ference for  Braxton  county,  Ken- 
tucky Conference,  held  in  Plat- 
woods  meeting  house  on  April  10,  1847,  the  following  members  were  present: 
W.  G-.  Montgomery,  Presiding  Elder,  "Wm.  Sisk  and  Wm.  P.  Ellison,  local 
preachers,  Samuel  Black  and  W.  M.  Prottsman,  visitors  from  Summersville 
and  Payette  circuits,  and  Asa  Squires,  steward.  On  motion,  Col.  Asa  Squires 
was  elected  secretary.  The  following  resolution  was  adopted :  Resolved  that 
the  societies  of  Sutton  circuit  that  have  adhered  South  by  majorities,  be 
placed  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Kentucky  Conference,  and  this  quarterly 
conference  now  organized  under  the  jurisdiction  of  said  conference.  The  ques- 
tion was  asked  for  a  report  from  meeting  houses,  and  Asa  Squires  reported 
that  the  Trustees  of  the  Platwoods  meeting  house  by  majority  South,  also 
the  majority  of  the  members  South.  Ordered  that  W.  M.  Prottsman  take  the 
pastoral  care  of  Braxton  Circuit.  On  motion  A.  N.  Ellison,  Lewis  Berry  and 
John  R.  Sawyers  were  elected  Stewards.  Asa  Squires,  being  an  old  steward, 
was  continued.  At  a  quarterly  meeting  held  in  June,  1847,  Adam  Lough,  a 
local  preacher  of  the  M.  P.  church,  having  presented  a  certificate  of  his  accept- 


REV.   DR.   WADE 

Who   served   as    a   Chaplin   in   the 
Southern  Army 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  241 

able  standing  in  said  church  and  a  license  of  his  authority  to  preach,  was  re- 
ceived as  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  .church,  South,  and  of  this  Quarterly  confer- 
ence.    On  motion,  Wm.  Sisk  was  employed  to  labor  on  this  Circuit. 

From  this  period  until  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war,  the  following  men 
served  the  church :  Wm.  G.  Montgomery  was  Presiding  Elder,  and  W.  M.  Potts- 
man  was  preacher  in  charge  of  the  circuit,  and  in  November,  1847,  W.  D.  Train- 
er was  Presiding  Elder  and  Samuel  Black,  preacher  in  charge.  In  1848,  Michael 
Lancaster  was  preacher  in  charge.  In  1850,  S.  K.  Vaught  was  Presiding  Elder 
and  Wm.  Bickers,  preacher  in  charge.  In  1851,  Jacob  Brillhart  was  preacher 
in  charge,  and  in  1853,  Samuel  Black  was  preacher  in  charge.  In  1855.  G.  S. 
McCutcheon  was  preacher  in  charge.  In  1858,  S.  H.  Mullen,  was  Presiding 
Elder,  and  J.  R.  Brown,  preacher  in  charge.  In  1859,  Samuel  Bran  nan  was 
preacher  in  charge.  Col.  Asa  Squires  was  Recording  Steward  from  the  organ- 
ization of  the  church  in  1847  until  1859,  the  last  record  we  have  prior  to  the 
Civil  war.  The  circuit  remained  in  the  Kentucky  Annual  Conference,  Guy- 
andotte  Circuit. 

The  last  quarterly  conference  held  before  the  war  met  at  Platwoods  meet- 
ing house  May  28th  and  29th,  1859.  The  Presiding  Elder  being  absent,  Rev. 
Claughton  attended  in  his  place.    S.  M.  Brannan  was  preacher  in  charge. 

The  first  quarterly  conference  held  after  the  war  was  at  the  residence  of 
Wm.  G.  Squires  on  Salt  Lick,  Dec.  3,  1866.  This  circuit  was  then  in  the 
Clarksburg  district.  The  following  ministers  were  present:  William  Kennedy, 
Presiding  Elder,  J.  K.  Hedges,  preacher  in  charge,  Jesse  Shaver,  steward  and 
Asa  H.  McCoy,  class  leader. 

The  next  quarterly  conference  was  held  at  Sutton  Nov.  13,  1867 ;  next 
conference  met  at  Lumberport,  (now  Burnsville),  and  Rev.  J.  R.  Hedges  was 
elected  secretary,  the  following  being  present:  W.  Kennedy,  Presiding  Elder, 
J.  W.  Lambert,  preacher  in  charge,  A.  H.  McCoy  and  Jesse  Shaver,  stewards. 
Same  Presiding  Elder  and  preacher  in  charge  for  1868. 

The  minutes  of  the  first  quarterly  conference  of  the  following  year  having 
been  lost  from  record,  we  take  this  from  the  second  conference  held  at  Sutton, 
March  6,  1869,  W.  Kennedy,  Presiding  Elder,  J.  I.  Pullen,  preacher  in  charge, 
J.  L.  Rhea,  local  preacher. 

The  next  quarterly  conference  was  held  at  Sutton  Nov.  13,  1869,  Rev.  John 
P.  Pullen  in  the  chair,  Dr.  J.  L.  Rhea,  secretary;  members  present,  J.  L.  Rhea, 
local  elder,  Albert  Ellison,  local  deacon,  Allen  S.  Berry,  James  Paintiff,  stew- 
ards, Harding  R.  Friend,  class  leader. 

The  minutes  of  the  4th  quarterly  conference  held  at  Flatwoods,  Aug.  13, 
1870,  the  following  members  being  present :  S.  H.  Pullin,  Presiding  Elder,  John 
S.  Pullen,  preacher  in  charge,  John  L.  Rhea,  local  elder,  Wm.  G.  Squires.  John 
C.  Taylor,  Allen  S.  Berry,  H.  R.  Friend,  David  BeiTy,  stewards.  John  L. 
Rhea  was  nominated  and  appointed  secretary. 

Commencing  with  the  year  1870,  the  following  men  have  served  the  church 
as  preachers:  G.  W.  Young,  T.  Cooper,  J.  E.  Wasson,  John  S.  Purlin,  T.  R. 
Houghton,  Wm.  N.   Childress,   C.   S.  Mnrrill,  W.  W.  Rew,  E.  W.  Reynolds, 


242  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

J.  J.  Fontaine,  W.  N.  Childress,  C.  R.  Taylor,  E.  T.  Caton,  W.  R.  Chambers, 
J.  W.  Lambert,  E.  S.  MeClung,  T.  S.  Wade,  C.  A.  Slaughter,  L.  S.  Cunning- 
ham. F.  F.  Shannon,  L.  S.  Cunningham,  A.  E.  O'Dell,  W.  L.  Reid.  C.  N.  Coff- 
man,  A.  P.  Keyser,  R.  J.  Yoak,  and  W.  L.  Reid,  the  present  preacher  in  charge. 

Since  the  war,  the  following  men  have  served  this  district  as  presiding 
ciders:  W.  Kennedy,  S.  H.  Mullen,  T.  S.  Wade,  James  IT.  Burns,  T.  S.  Wade, 
E.  M.  Murrill,  C.  W.  Cook,  J.  W.  Lambert,  A.  P.  Sturm,  T.  S.  Wade,  J.  M. 
Boland,  B.  F.  Gosling,  I.  N.  Fannin,  H.  M.  Smith.  W.  I.  Canter,  L.  S.  Cun- 
ningham and  F.   S.   Pollett,  the  present  presiding  elder. 

This  circuit  was  first  in  the  Guyandotte  district,  Kentucky  Conference, 
and  in  1850  was  changed  to  the  Western  Virginia  Conference,  Greenbrier  dis- 
trict,    in  1853,  the  name  of  the  district  was  changed  to  Clarksburg. 

(Braxton  circuit  had  only  two  houses  of  worship  before  the  war — the  one 
mentioned  above,  in  Flatwoods,  built  in  1830 ;  the  other  was  built  on  a  sire  now 
in  the  village  of  Shaversville,  about  the  year  1858.  The  latter  would  have 
been  a  good  house,  perhaps,  until  this  time,  but  some  one  in  time  of  the  war, 
with  malice  aforethought,  and  without  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  touched 
it  with  fire,  and  it  went  up  in  flame.  In  1866,  there  was  no  church  house  in 
the  bounds  of  Braxton  circuit  belonging  to  us.  Our  people  worshipped  in 
groves,  in  private  houses,  and  in  schoolhouses.  In  the  last  half  century,  seven 
churches  have  been  built.) — The  Pastor. 

A  church  was  built  in  the  Flatwoods  section  in  1870,  during  the  pastorate 
of  Rev.  John  S.  Pullin,  and  dedicated  in  1876.  It  was  first  known  as  Flat- 
woods  church,  and  is  now  known  as  Berry  church.  It  was  built  of  logs  sawed 
with  a  whip-saw,  weather-boarded  and  ceiled.  At  that  time,  it  was  considered 
the  finest  church  in  Braxton  county.  Allen  Berry,  Jesse  Shaver  and  Wm.  G. 
Squires  were  the  prime  movers  in  building  this  honse. 

An  excellent  frame  church  was  built  in  time  of  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  P.  T. 
Caton,  in  Shaversville,  and  Jesse  Shaver,  A.  C.  Dyer,  Lee  Shaver,  B.  F.  Shaver, 
Dr.  J.  L.  Queen,  W.  H.  L.  Queen  and  J.  L.  D.  Queen  were  the  moving  spirits 
in  building  the  house. 

Rev.  E.  T.  Caton  was  preacher  in  charge  when  St.  Paul's  church  in  Sut- 
ton was  built.  The  leading  people  in  building  the  church  were:  Mrs.  Ammie 
Hamr.ion,  Mrs"  A.  V.  Kelly  and  her  daughters.  Potro  Evans,  Mifflin  Lorentz, 
D.  A.  Berry,  E.  A.  Berry,  E.  S.  Bland,  Chas.  Y.  Byrne,  John  Byrne,  Mrs.  H. 
H.  MoEiwain,  Mrs.  W.  L.  J.  Corley,  Mrs.  Emily  Sterrett,  Mrs.  Taylor  Frame, 
Mrs.  Jane  Byrne,  the  family  of  C.  S.  Evans',  G.  S.  Berry,  Mrs.  Luther  Pierson, 
Mrs.  R.  H.  Humphreys,  and  many  others  whose  names  are  not  recalled  at  this 
time, 

Reynolds  chapel,  on  Long  run,  was  built  while  Rev.  E.,  W.  Reynolds  was 
in  charge  of  Braxton  circuit,  and  the  church  was  named  in  honor  of  him. 

Mt.  Zion  church,  at  Burnsville,  was  built  in  time  of  Rev.  E.  S.  MeClung 's 
pastorate.  The  work  on  the  building  was  begun  in  1895,  and  same  was  dedi- 
cated by  Rev.  T.  S.  Wade,  May  24,  1896.  W.  S.  Hefner  donated  the  lot  for 
this  budding,  besides  liberal  contributions.     The  men  prominent  in  this  work 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  243 

were,  W.  S.  and  Samuel  C.  Hefner,  Hugh  Amos,  Prank  W.  Hefner,  Claude 
Hefner,  E.  W.  Hefner.  J.  E.  Heater,  J.  C.  Berry,  E.  A.  Berry,  C.  W.  Wade, 
and  many  others. 

In  J  896,  a  small  class  was  organized  by  Rev.  E.  S.  McClung  in  a  house  once 
used  as  a  dwelling  on  Long  Shoal  run.  Special  meetings  were  held  in  a  school- 
house  which  resulted  in  many  additions  to  the  church  membership.  A  subscrip- 
tion was  started,  and  a  church  was  built  which  was  dedicated  in  1897  as  Maggie 
Hoover  Memorial,  in  memory  of  the  wife  of  Frederick  Hoover  who  died  shortly 
before  this  time.  The  contributors  and  helpers  in  the  work  were  Fred.  Hoover, 
Wm.  Stout,  W.  S.  Hefner,  E.  C.  Exline,  John  Watson,  George  I,.  Smith,  ¥m. 
Davis,  "W.  W.  Johnson,  Homer  Ewing,  Adetha  Hefner,  S.  D.  demons,  A.  J. 
Knight,  and  many  others. 

The  corner  stone  for  the  church  wTas  laid  at  Cogers  station,  in  the  village 
of  Gem,  by  Rev.  T.  S.  Wade  and  Rev.  E.  S.  McClung  in  1896.  This  house  was 
duly  dedicated  the  following  year. 

Daring  the  pastorate  of  L.  S.  Cunningham,  Elizabeth  Chapel  was  built 
on  Oiler.    It  is  a  beautiful  church  and  in  a  flourishing  condition  at  this  time. 

Otterbein  Church  (United  Brethren)  was  organized  in  1841,  by  a  German 
colony  from  Baltimore.  For  nine  years  after  the  organization  services  were 
held  at  the  private  residences  of  George  Gerwig,  Daniel  Engle,  Mathias  Ger- 
wig,  Michael  Smith,  Christian  Long,  Jacob  Cramer,  John  Wyatt,  Jacob  Ru- 
mach, John  Miller,  Conrad  Leopard  and  others.  But  in  1850,  all  joined  to- 
gether and  erected  a  neat  hewed  log  church,  28  x  36,  with  a  seating  capacity  of 
1200.  Rev.  Daniel  Engle  was  the  pastor  at  the  lime  of  organization,  and  in  that 
capacity  continued  for  twelve  years.  The  present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hess; 
steward,  Daniel  S.  Engle;  class  leader,  Christian  Engle;  trustees,  Christ'an 
Gerwig,  Levi  Weitzel,  Jacob  Rumach  and  Israel  Engle. 

In  the  year  1841,  Daniel  Engle,  Jacob  Rumach,  George  F.  Gerwig,  God- 
frey Moyer,  Mathias  Gerwig,  J.  H.  Wyatt,  Mathew  Hines,  M.  Eckerman  and 
son,  and  a  Mr.  Leopartd,  came  from  the  eity  of  Baltimore,  settled  on  Steer 
creek,  and  founded  what  is  known  as  the  "German  settlement."  They  were 
of  the  United  Brethren  faith,  and  soon  after  their  arrival  built  a  church,  which 
was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  according  to  the  teachings  of  that 
denomination. 

PRESBYTERIAN. 

The  first  stated  service  held  by  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Sutton,  was 
in  1871.  The  preacher  was  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Sibbit,  evangelist,  working  under 
direction  of  the  Presbytery  of  West  Virginia,  1871-74,  although  many  years 
before  Mr.  Sibbit  came,  the  Rev.  James  Brown,  D.D.,  of  Charleston,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Young,  had  held  services  in  Braxton  county.  Mr.  Sibbit 's  chargo 
then  included  Burnsville,  Glenville,  Sutton,  and  other  adjoining  neighborhoods. 
He  labored  here  for  three  years  before  a  church  was  organized,  or  a  bouse  of 
worship  erected.    He  held  services  in  the  Sutton  court  house. 

In  1873,  the  Presbytery  of  West  Virginia,  then  in  session  at  Fairmont,  ap- 


244  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

pointed  a  commission,  consisting  of  Rev.  W.  R.  Sibbit  and  Elder  Floyd  Chris- 
man,  of  Glenville,  to  organize  a  church  at  Sutton.  On  the  10th  of  August,  of 
the  same  year,  the  church  was  organized  with  the  following  named  persons 
as  members:  Messrs.  A.  B.  Beamer,  Amos  Gorrell,  James  Humphreys,  Martin 
Van  Buren  McElwain,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Beamer  and  Mary  McQueen  Humphreys. 

Mr.  Sibbit  was  succeeded  in  his  work  by  the  Rev.  C.  C.  G-ould,  1877-84. 
The  church  was  then  without  any  pastoral  oversight  for  four  years — 1884-88. 

The  Rev.  F.  S.  McCue  was  the  preacher  from  1888  to  1894. 

The  Sutton  church  Avas,  until  April  1C,  1887,  in  the  Northern  Assembly. 
But  when  the  Northern  and  Southern  Assemblies  agreed  to  make  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  railroad  the  dividing  line,  the  Sutton  church,  being  south  of  that  line, 
was  received  into  the  Lexington  Presbytery,   Va. 

After  Mr.  McCue,  came  Rev.  R.  D.  Stimpson,  who  labored  in  the  field  a 
short  time. 

The  man  who  was  most  energetic  and  untiring  in  his  work  was  the  Rev. 
W.  H.  Wilson,  who  was  pastor  of  the  church  from  1895  to  1900.  It  was  during 
his  pastorate  that  the  house  of  worship  was  erected.  In  this  Mr.  Wilson  showed 
untiring  zeal,  not  only  in  helping  to  secure  funds  for  the  building,  but  in  doing 
much  of  the  work  with  his  own  hands.  Prior  to  this  time,  the  little  congrega- 
tion worshiped  in  the  M.  E.  South  church,  to  whose  good  people  we  owe  a  last- 
ing debt  of  gratitude,  for  the  use  of  their  sanctuary.  It  was  within  Mr.  Wilson's 
pastorate  that  the  Sunday  school  was  organized,  with  Mr.  Lee  Himrod  as  super- 
intendent, which  was  later  guided  by  the  steady  and  faithful  hand  of  Mr.  J. 
W.  Humphreys,  for  fourteen  years.  Mr.  Wilson  passed  from  his  earthly  la- 
bors to  his  Heavenly  rest  soon  after  leaving  Sutton,  but  his  works  do  follow 
him. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Wilson  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  M.  E.  Sentelle,  D.D.,  whose 
life  and  labors  endeared  himself  greatly  to  our  people.  Mr.  Sentelle  remained 
in  the  Sutton  pastorate  only  about  one  year,  when  he  resigned  to  become  Pro- 
fessor of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Physicology  at  Davidson  College,  N.  C,  which 
chair  he  has  held  ever  since. 

In  January  of  the  year  following  Mr.  Sentelle 's  resignation,  Rev.  C.  L. 
Altfather  became  pastor,  and  was  much  beloved  by  all  whose  privilege  it  was 
to  know  him.  His  pastorate  lasted  one  year,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  a  call 
to  Bethel  church,  in  Virginia.  Mr.  Altfather  is  at  present  laboring  in  Fort 
Worth,  Texas. 

Rev.  R.  E.  Steele,  who  was  much  beloved  by  the  young  people,  was  pastor 
from  1905  to  1907,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Sedgwick,  1909-1910.  Mr, 
Sedgwick  is  now  pastor  of  Marion  Presbyterian  church,  Marion,  Va. 

The  present  pastor  came  first  in  1910,  but  has  been  a  regular  pastor  only 
since  June  15,  1913. 

The  church  has  been  greatly  handicapped  much  of  the  time  for  lack  of  a 
pastor,  but  it  has  shown  steady  progress  during  all  these  years.  Although  it 
has  suffered  to  some  extent  for  want  of  a  pastor  so  much  of  the  time,  let  it  be 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


245 


said  to  the  credit  of  the  loyal  people  of  this  church  and  Sunday  school  and  their 
faithfid  workers,  that  this  little  church  has  always  been  a  living  oracle  of  God. 
"Behold  the  Lord's  hand  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save,  neither  His  ear 
heavy  that  He  cannot  hear."    Isaiah  59-1. 

J.  W.  ROWE. 

Rev.  J.  \V.  Rowe  resigned  his  pastorate  in  Sutton  in  the  fall  of  1916,  and 
removed  to  a  charge  near  St.  Louis  about  Jan.  1,  1917.  Rev.  Rowo  was  well 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  it  was  with  regret  that  the  people  whom  ha 
had  so  faithfully  served,  were  called  to  part  from  him  and  his  charming  wife, 
both  of  whom  are  exemplary  characters.  ( 


JOHN   BROWN'S   RESIDENCE,   NEAR   HARPERS   PERRY 


246 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


THE  MOUNTAINEER 


Vol.  1. 


Sutton,  Braxton  0  ounty,  West  Virginia,  Fri., 


Jan.   7,   1876. 


THE  MOUNTAINEER. 
Published  every  Saturday 
at  Sutton.  Braxton  Co.,  W. 
Va.,  by  Hyer  &  Huff,  Pro- 
prietors and  Publishers,  at  $1 
a  year;  65c.  for  6  months; 
35c.   for   3   months. 

CASH    IN    ADVANCE. 


G.   F.   Taylor,  Editor. 


RATES    OF    ADVERTISING. 
One  inch  or  less,   one  in- 
sertion     $1.00 

Each      additional      inser- 
tion     ,     .50 

$2.50  $  4.00  $  6.00  $10.00 
3.00  6.00  10.00  15.00 
4.00  8.00        15.00        25.00 

5.00        15.00        25.00        45.00 
Local   notices,    15c.   per   line 
for    the    first     insertion ;     10c. 
per  line  each   additional  inser- 
tion, cash  in  advance. 

For  announcing  candidates 
for  county  and  district  of- 
fices, $3.00:  for  State  offices 
and  for  Congress,  $10.00,  cash 
in   advance. 

Obituary  and  marriage  no- 
tices exceeding  five  lines  will 
be   charged   10c.   per   line. 

All  transient  advertise- 
ments must  be  paid  for  in  ad- 
vance. 

Job  printing  in  the  best 
style  on  short  notice  and  at 
reasonable    rates. 

TIME     OF     MAILS    ARRIV- 
ING AND  LEAVING 
SUTTON. 

Arrives  daily,  except  Sun- 
day, at  8  p.  m. ;  leaves  for 
Weston   at   6   a.  m. 

Arrives  daily,  except  Sun- 
day, at  7  p.  m. ;  leaves  for 
Nicholas  C.  H.  at  6  a,  m. 

Arrives  Fridays  and  Tues- 
days at  6  p.  m. ;  leaves  for 
Glenville  Saturdays  and 
Wednesdays   at   6   a.   m. 

Arrives  Saturdays  at  7  p. 
m.:  leaves  for  Clay  C.  H. 
Fridays   at   7   a.   m. 

Arrives  Tuesdays  at  8  p. 
m. ;  leaves  for  Middleport 
Tuesdavs  at  5  a.  m. 


DISTRICT  OFFICERS. 
Birch  District. 

Justices — Jas.      McLaughlin, 
Wm.   R.   Pierson. 

Constable  —  Joseph  P. 
James. 

Poor  Overseer   —   Chas. 

Frame. 

Otter  District. 

Justices — John  E.  Eakle, 
Francis   B.    Stewart. 

'  Constable— John       J.      Wil- 
liams. 

Poor  Overseer — Jas.  M. 
Dunn. 

Holly  District. 

Justices — Henry  C.  Hose, 
James    T.    Frame. 

Constable — Matthew  Skid- 
more. 

Poor  Overseer — Thos.  W. 
Skidmore. 

Salt   Lick   District. 

Justices — Jacob  M.,  Evans, 
M.   P.   Haymond. 

Constable— J.    M.    Taylor. 

Poor  Overseer — John  M. 
Shields. 

'Kanawha  District. 

Justices  —  Elias  Cunning- 
ham,   Moses    Cunningham. 

Constable    

Poor   Overseer   

Circuit  Court  meets  March 
18th  and   August  18th. 

County  Court  meets  first 
Tuesday  in  January,  March, 
May,  July,  September  and  No- 
vember. 

Fiscal    Term,   July. 

Grand  Jury  Terms,  May 
and   September. 


We  intend  to  make  this  de- 
partment as  instructive  as 
possible,  and  earnestly  solicit 
the  aid  of  those  who  can  help 
us.  If  in  your  experience 
there  remains  questions  un- 
answered, forward  them  and 
we  will  publish  all  such  in- 
quiries as  may  be  generally 
beneficial. 


The   Farmers   on   the   Revenue 
Question. 
The    State    Farmers'    Asso- 
ciation      profitably      expended 


to  the  state  government.  This 
is  only  an  estimate,  for  the 
fact  is,  there  is  no  officer  in 
the  state  who  knows  how 
much  the  people  pay  for  road 
taxes,  school  taxes,  town 
taxes,  city  taxes  and  county 
taxes.  Not  only  is  this  true, 
but  it  is  also  true  that  the 
tax-payers  themselves  are  ig- 
norant of  the  amount  of 
money  levied,  collected  or  ex- 
pended by  most  of  these  local 
governments.  The  Farmers' 
Association  may  reasonably 
expect  from  its  numbers  to 
exert  a  considerable  bearing 
upon  public  opinion  and  legis- 
lation. Reform  in  revenue  is 
not  only  demanded,  but  essen- 
tial ;  for  the  people  of  the 
state  cannot  go  on  forever 
paying  the  heavy  taxes  at 
present  levied.  We  suggest 
that  the  association  should 
take  such  action  as  will  tend 
to  produce  the  most  essential 
reform  in  this  direction.  The 
first  thing  the  people  need  is 
the  knowledge  of  how  much 
local  taxes  they  are  paying, 
and  how  it  is  expended.  Let 
the  Farmers'  Association 
therefore  pass  resolutions  call- 
ing upon  the  general  assem- 
bly to  so  amend  the  revenue 
law  that  any  officer  or  board 
of  officers  in  the  state,  who 
has  the  power  of  levying  or 
collecting  taxes  for  any  pur- 
pose whatever,  or  the  power 
of  expending  public  money, 
shall  make  out  and  cause  to 
be  published  in  some  news- 
paper exact  statements  of  the 
amount  of  taxes  levied,  the 
amount  collected,  the  amounts 
expended  and  the  purpose  of 
expenditure.  This  provision 
will  give  the  tax-payers  of 
each  local  subdivision  of  the 
state  full  information  as  to 
what  their  local  governments 
cost,  and  they  can  then  judge 
of    whether    the    cost     is     too 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


247 


Arrives  Thursdays  at  5  p. 
m.;  leaves  for  Clendennin 
Fridays  at   7  a.  m. 

James  T.  Frame,  P.  M. 

Braxton    County    Official 

Directory. 

County    Officers. 

Judge    Circuit    Court 

Homer  A.   Holt. 

State's  Attorney 

M.  T.  Frame. ' 

President  County  Court 

Allen    S.    Berry. 

Clerk  Circuit  Court 

John    M.    Jones. 

Clerk    County    Court 

W.  L.  J.  Corley. 

Sheriff 

A.  M.  Lough. 

Deputy   Sheriff 

M.  Morrison. 

Surveyor 

Marcellus   Byrne. 

Superintendent    Schools 

J.  W.  Humphreys. 

Jailor 
Wm.  H.   Bryant. 

Assessor 
J  as.  A.  Johnson. 


the  afternoon  in  discussing 
the  state  revenue  question. 
The  basis  of  the  discussion 
was  an  extempore  address  by 
Hon.  S.  M.  Smith  upon  what 
is  called  the  Pennsylvania  sys- 
tem of  taxation.  After  speak- 
ing of  the  evils  of  the  pres- 
ent system,  the  speaker  show- 
ed how,  in  Pennsylvania,  a 
state  revenue  of  over  seven, 
millions  of  dollars  was  raised 
by  licenses,  taxes  on  banks, 
corporations,  etc.  Although 
no  conclusion  was  reached, 
the  discussion  was  not  the  less 
profitable,  for  it  will  no  doubt 
induce  thought  on  the  most 
important  question  of  the  day 
— the  method  of  raising  rev- 
enue. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  the  discussion  was 
upon  state  revenue  alone,  and 
that  the  much  more  importaut 
question  of  local  taxation  and 
revenue  were  left  wholly  un- 
touched. In  this  state  the 
people  pay  ten  dollars  to  their 
local    government   to    one   paid 


great  or  not,  and  where  the 
reform  in  expenditure  shall  be 
begun  and  how  it  shall  be  ac- 
complished. Until  this  is 
done  there  can  be  no  genuine, 
effective  reform  in  revenue 
matters,  and  this  fact  the 
farmers  will  do  well  to  remem- 
ber. 


The  ladies  of  Chicago  are 
to  canvass  that  city  for  sign- 
ers to  a  petition,  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  board  of  educa- 
tion, asking  for  a  reinstate- 
ment of  the  Bible  in  the  public 
schools. 


' '  If  you  don 't  believe  times 
are  hard."  says  Flora  Mc- 
Flimsey,  "just  feel  my  muff; 
it's  stuffed  with  rags  instead 
of    cotton." 

Michigan  has  eighteen  per- 
sons who  are  over  a  hundred 
years   old. 


248  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

The  Mountaineer  continued  under  different  editors  until  1882,  when  it 
went  into,  the  hands  of  a  stock  company  and  the  name  was  changed  to  the 
Braxton  Central,  and  thus  continued  for  a  few  years  with  Iiev.  Gould,  minister 
of  the  Presbyterian  church,  as  editor,  but  shortly  after  this  it  was  sold  to  James 
H.  Dunn  of  Clarksburg,  West  Virginia,  and  has  since  been  published  as  a 
Republican  paper.  The  Central  has  always  been  bright  and  newsy.  Its  circu- 
lation is  1500. 

The  Braxton  Democrat  was  established  Feb.  2,  1883,  by  a  company  of 
Democrats  composed  of  A.  C.  Dyer,  J.  M.  Boggs,  E.  S.  Bland,  A.  M.  and  A.  N. 
Lough.  W.  P.  and  Chas.  K.  Newlon,  W.  E.  Haymond  and  John  and  Chas.  Y. 
Byrne. 

C.  Y.  and  Peyton  Byrne  were  the  first  editors,  followed  in  the  order  named 
by  Geo.  M.  Hamilton,  John  A.  Grose,  Ben  Gillespie,  E.  B.  Carlin,  R.  M.  Caven- 
dish, J.  E.  Baughman,  J.  L.  Stewart,  L.  H.  Kelly  and  Jas.  E.  Cutlip. 

The  editors  at  this  time  are  Ben  Gillespie  and  John  A.  Grose,  the  latter 
being  manager  and  publisher. 

The  paper  is  owned  by  G.  B.  Fisher,  J.  L.  Fisher,  C.  C.  Hines,  Jas.  E.  Cut- 
lip,  Chas.  H.  Bland,  B.  B.  Boggs,  E.  W.  Hefner,  Ben  Gillespie,  John  Edwin 
Grose  and  John  A.  Grose. 

It  is  an  8-page,  6-column  quarto,  all  home  print  and  enjoys  a  growing 
patronage.    Its  weekly  circulation  is  2450  copies. 

John  A.  Grose  has  been  connected  with  the  paper  in  different  capacities  since 
September,  1885,  when  he  purchased  an  interest  of  C.  Y.  Byrne,  who  had  be- 
come the  owner.  Ben  Gillespie  has  been  connected  with  the  paper  since  Decem- 
ber 24,  1889. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  24!) 


CHAPTER  X. 


Miscellaneous,  including  Animals,  Game  and  Fish,  Large  and  Wonderful  Trees, 
Meteorology,  Incidents,  etc.;  Generals  of  the  U.  S.  Army;  Burial  Place  of 
our  Presidents. 

LAST  PANTHER  KILLED  IN  THE  COUNTY. 

The  last  panther  killed  in  the  county  was  killed  by  F.  B.  Carr  more  than 
twenty-five  years  ago.  The  panther  was  discovered  passing  through  the  lower 
edge  of  Braxton.  Prank  Carr,  a  man  who  kept  hunting  dogs,  was  a  good  marks- 
man and  inordinately  fond  of  sport.  He  got  on  the  panther's  tract  and  chased 
it  for  several  miles  before  coming  up  with  this  terror  of  the  forest,  on  a  branch 
of  O'Briens  fork  of  Steer  creek.  When  the  dogs  came  up  with  the  panther, 
it  went  to  the  top  of  a  very  tall,  smooth-barked  tree.  At  the  first  shot  Carr 
gave,  the  panther  turned  a  handspring  backward,  and  caught  the  tree  with  its 
steel-like  claws,  slid  for  some  distance  down  the  tree,  tearing  great  furrows  in 
the  bark.  About  half  way  down,  it  turned  another  backward  spring  and 
slid  down  as  before,  coming  to  the  ground  in  a  dying  condition. 

Tt  was  unusually  large,  measuring  nine  and  one-half  feet  from  the  end 
of  its  nose  to  the  tip  of  its  tail.  The  description  of  that  battle,  the  wonderful 
venture  of  the  dogs,  the  awfulness  of  the  brute's  appearance  as  it  clung  to  the 
tree,  viewing  his  pursuers  with  balls  of  fire,  the  frailty  of  the  dogs  in  the 
presence  of  such  an  animal,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  rifle  with  a  single  barrel 
and  a  single  load,  rendered  the  situation  one  of  unusual  danger.  Carr  had  been 
a  brave  soldier  in  the  Civil  war.  He  participated  in  many  battles,  he  had  chafed 
in  defeat  and  exulted  in  victory,  but  he  had  never  stood  under  the  fiery  blaze 
of  a  panther  at  bay.  His  feelings  can  better  be  imagined  than  felt  or  described. 
If  he  gave  a  shot  that  would  slightly  wound  and  infuriate  the  animal,  he  would 
lose  the  battle  and  possibly  his  life.  If  he  succeeded  in  killing  the  monster,  he 
would  have  a  trophy  that  no  other  citizen  of  the  county  could  boast.  Though 
the  years  have  come  and  gone,  and  the  natural  forces  of  this  once  powerful*" 
frame  is  giving  way  to  feebleness  and  old  age,  yet  to  meet  this  old  veteran,  al- 
low the  conversation  to  lead  up  to  this  panther  hunt,  listen  to  a  description  of 
the  battle,  one  forgets  for  the  time  that  the  years  are  stealing  on. 

He  still  has  his  old  rifle  which  he  has  owned  for  sixty-six  years. 

On  Buffalo  on  the  land  now  owned  by  A.  W.  Corley,  it  is  said 
J.  N.  Lonsi  killed  the  last  bear  that  was  killed  in  the  county. 


250  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

It  is  related  that  while  Jerry  Carpenter  and  his  brother  Amos  were  down 
the  Elk  trapping  beaver,  that  a  panther  came  to  Jerry 's  cabin  one  night,  and 
that  Mrs.  Carpenter  saw  him  through  the  opening  in  the  door,  and  threw  some 
live  coals  of  fire  on  him  that  burned  some  of  the  fur  off  his  back,  and  the  next 
day  she  sent  some  of  the  children  to  the  turnip  patch,  and  she  saw  the  panther 
creeping  toward  them,  and  she  called  them  to  the  house.  The  next  night  the 
panther  came  back,  but  Carpenter  had  returned,  and  he  shot  the  animal  by 
moonlight.    The  brute  was  known  by  the  burned  hair  on  his  back. 

The  mode  of  catching  game  was  mainly  by  steeltraps  and  snares.  A  bear 
trap  was  necessarily  made  very  strong  and  was  difficult  to  set,  as  were  also  traps 
for  wolves..  One  mode  of  trapping  bears  was  to  build  a  covered  pen  of  strong, 
heavy  logs,  raising  it  high  enough  on  one  side  to  admit  the  bear.  This  was 
arranged  with  a  trigger  which  the  bear  threw  after  entering  the  pen.  Some- 
times the  bears  would  gnaw  a  log  off  and  escape  if  they  were  left  in  too  long. 
A  wolf  trap  was  made  by  building  a  log  pen,  beginning  the  pen  larger  at  the 
bottom  and  .gradually  drawing  it  in.  This  would  enable  the  wolves  toclib  up 
the  outside  of  the  pen  and  jump  in,  when  his  doom  was  sealed.  Sometimes  an 
old  sheep  would  be  placed  in  the  pen  for  bait,  hence  the  term  wolf  bait.  Wolves 
were  said  to  be  very  fond  of  hoi'se  flesh.  Persons  trapping  for  wolves  would 
go  a  long  distance  to  get  the  flesh  of  a  dead  horse  to  use  either  in  a  trap  or  for 
bait  in  which  to  place  poison.  Wolves  in  traveling  would  take  a  straight  course. 
When  hunters  got  the  course  the  wolf  was  going,  it  was  not  difficult  to  follow. 
The  wolf  and  wild  bee  would  go  in  a  direct  line  with  as  much  accuracy  as 
though  guided  by  the  compass. 

Hannah  Etyer  killed  a  deer  at  Boling  Green  in  the  absence  of  her  husband. 
Some  dogs  ran  a  young  deer  near  her  house,  and  it  took  shelter  under  a  bridgs 
that  crossed  the  creek.  She  took  the  butcher  knife,  went  under  the  bridge, 
and  by  the  assistance  of  here  daughters  they  succeeded  in  cutting  the  deer's 
throat. 

Joseph  Carpenter  relates  that  his  grandfather,  Jeremiah  Carpenter  tracked 
a  very  large  elk  from  some  point  on  the  Elk  river  near  his  home  to  the  Island 
just  below  the  Wolf  shoal,  and  there  he  killed  it.  He  made  a  kind  of  skiff  by 
first  making  a  framework  out  of  grape  vines  and  placing  the  hide  of  the  elk 
over  this  frame.  Then  he  loaded  his  gun  and  meat  in  this  rudely  devised  skiff, 
and  proceeded  to  make  his  way  home. 

He  said  that  the  horns  of  the  elk  were  so  immense  that  by  resting  their 
tips  on  the  ground,  his  brother  Joseph  who  was  over  six  feet  tall  could  walk 
under  them  erect. 

About  the  year  1880,  squirrels  were  so  plentiful  in  the  county  that  Mason 

,  living  in  Gilmer  county,  killed  and  salted  down  a  barrel  full  of 

this  delicious  meat. 

It  is  said  that  the  last  buffalo  killed  in  the  bounds  of  Braxton  county  was 
on  the  lands  owned  by  Lewis  Harris  on  Buffalo  creek.  We  are  not  advised  who 
killed  the  buffalo  nor  the  vear  in  which  it  was  done.    Possibly  about  this  time  a 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  251 

buffalo  was  killed  on  Grass  Lick  of  Steer  creek,  said  to  have  been  killed  by 
Timothy  O'Brien. 

John  D.  Baxter,  Peter  McAnany  and  perhaps  other  persons,  late  in  the  50  's 
killed  a  bear  on  Laurel  Fork  of  Granny's  creek. 

WILLIAM  BARNETT. 

William  Barnett,  the  old  bear  hunter:  was  a  noted  character  who  lived  on 
the  waters  of  Birch  river.  He  was  a  gun-smith;  had  a  small  grist  mill  and  did 
the  neighborhood  grinding.  Barnett  was  a  woodsman  of  great  skill.  He  was 
probably  the  most  fearless  hunter  who  lived  in  this  part  of  West  Virginia.  On 
one  occasion,  he  had  a  fight  with  a  bear.  The  bear  mangled  his  right  arm,  and 
while  Barnett  was  trying  to  rill  the  bear  with  a  butcher  knife,  he  circ  an  artery 
and  came  near  bleeding  to  death,  but  he  succeeded  in  killing  the  bear.  He  then 
tied  a  piece  of  bloody  cloth  to  his  dog's  neck  and  drove  him  home,  and  in  this 
way  he  was  discovered  and  brought  home,  but  he  was  ever  afterwards  a  cripple. 

On  one  occasion,  he  ran  a  wild  cat  into  a  cave  of  rocks.  He  laid  his  gun 
down,  and  crawled  in  at  a  small  opening,  taking  a  torch  and  butcher  knife,  and 
in  his  tussel  with  the  wild  cat,  his  torch  went  out,  leaving  him  in  the  cavern 
to  struggle  in  utter  darkness.  From  this  place,  he  had  great  difficulty  in  finding 
his  way  out. 

His  daughter,  Mrs.  B.  F.  Clifton,  said  that  on  one  occasion,  just  after  dark, 
they  heard  a  peculiar  rattle  of  the  sheep  bell  and  her  father  going  out  with 
his  gun,  discovered  a  bear  going  up  the  hill  carrying  the  bell  ewe  in  his  arms. 
He  shot  the  bear,  but  the  sheep  had  been  killed.  She  also  relates  that  on  one  oc- 
casion when  a  girl,  she,  with  one  of  her  sisters,  was  out  gathering  ginseng,  and 
tliey  heard  a  sound  on  the  opposite  hillside,  as  they  thought,  calling.  This 
frightened  the  children  so  much  that  they  made  no  reply,  but  the  noise  kept  up 
for  some  time.  When  they  went  home  and  related  it  to  their  father,  the  old 
hunter  told  them  it  was  a  panther,  and  that  they  had  been  in  great  danger. 

After  she  married  and  settled  near  Erbacon,  she  said  that  she  went  out  to 
hunt  the  cow  late  one  evening,  and  was  in  her  bare  feet.  She  stepped  on  a  log 
and  heard  a  rattlesnake.  Presenty  they  began  to  whiz  all  around  her,  and  she 
was  afraid  to  move,  fearing  she  might  jump  on  one.  She  began  calling  for  her 
husband,  and  coming  with  his  gun,  he  shot  and  killed  six  rattlesnakes  and  three 
copperheads.  The  log  on  which  she  was  standing  had  fallen  down,  and  the 
roots  had  thrown  up  considerable  dirt.  Nearby  was  a  flag  rock,  under  which 
the  snakes  had  their  den,  and  they  had  worn  the  ground  smooth  to  the  fallen 
tree.  She  said  the  following  season,  they  went  back  to  the  same  log  and  killed 
three  rattlesnakes  and  six  copperheads,  and  for  several  seasons  afterwards  they 
killed  two  or  three  at  the  same  place  before  they  exterminatd  them. 

She  relates  that  her  father,  one  of  her  brothers  and  some  other  party,  found 
a  nest  of  young  panthers,  the  old  ones  being  away  hunting  food  for  their  young, 
as  they  supposed.  They  killed  the  kittens,  and  not  willing  to  risk  a  battle  with 
such  ferocious  animals  as  they  would  have  encountered  on  such  an  occasion,  left 
the  place. 


252  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Mrs.  Clifton  says  her  father  preferred  bear  meat  above  all  other  kinds. 
Venison  was  his  next  choice.  It  is  the  general  concensus  of  opinion  among  old 
hunters,  that  there  is  nothing  equal  to  bear  meat,  and  next  to  bear  meat  and 
venison  is  raccoon  which  is  very  similar  to  the  bear  meat,  and  was  held  in  great 
favor  by  the  early  inhabitants.  Many  incidents  and  adventures  might  be  re- 
lated of  this  old  pioneer  hunter. 

It  is  said  that  within  the  war  of  1S12,  Solomon  Carpenter,  Joseph  Friend 
and  another  man,  went  hunting  and  on  Sugar  creek  they  killed  thirty-three 
bears  in  ten  days.  The  meat  was  all  destroyed  except  what  they  ate  in  camp. 
It  is  not  related  what  they  did  with  the  hides  nor  how  they  got  them  to  market. 

A  bear  at  its  birth  is  the  smallest  animal  according  to  the  size  of  the 
animal  when  grown.  Solomon  Carpenter  said  that  a  young  bear  when  born  is 
about  the  size  of  a  grown  mouse,  and  that  the  mother  has  two  teats  and  holds 
her  young  to  her  breast  with  her  paws.  Two  are  about  the  usual  number  of 
cubs  at  a  birth.    A  panther  is  said  to  give  birth  to  three  or  four  kittens. 

Jeremiah  Gillespie  relates  that  he  at  one  time  killed  an  opossum  that  had 
thirteen  young  hanging  to  the  breast,  each  being  no  larger  than  a  grain  of  corn. 
They  were  protected  by  a  false  receptacle  that  folded  over  them,  forming  a 
kind  of  pocket.  This  was  lined  with  the  finest  fur,  but  at  what  time  or  size 
these  anomalous  creatures  are  disconnected  from  the  breast  is  not  stated. 

THE   WILD  PIGEON. 

The  wild  pigeon,  a  bird  that  was  once  as  numerous  as  the  stars, 
went  in  flocks.  Their  visitations  to  this  country  occurred  in  the  autumn  while 
the  forests  were  yet  standing,  therefore  they  found  an  abundance  of  mast  of 
some  kind  every  season.  The  white  oak  and  beechnuts  were  the  favorite  masts 
of  all  animals  and  fowls  as  late  as  forty  years  ago.  We  have  .seen  flocks  of 
pigeons  that  covered  the  horizon  and  darkened  the  sun.  Often  when  flocks  were 
passing  over,  the  front  of  the  flock  woiild  pass  out  of  sight  before  the  last  of  the 
vast  number  would  come  in  view.  They  were  harmless,  and  never  interrupted 
crops,  their  search  being  for  mast.  Nature  seemed  to  have  endowed  them  with 
a  knowledge  of  the  abundance  of  the  forests.  Often  the  timber  would  bend  be- 
neath its  load.  After  the  domestic  and  wild  animals  and  birds  would  feast  and 
fatten  during  the  autumn  and  winter  months,  the  ground  would  yet  be  cov- 
ered. In  contemplating  the  vast  number  of  animals  and  fowls  that  inhabited  the 
country,  as  well  as  the  untold  numbers  which  annually  visited  it,  and  then  to 
consider  the  wonderful  provisions  which  Nature  made  to  feed  them  with  a  store- 
house bursting  and  to  waste,  we  are  transported  in  amazement  to  the  thought 
that  kind  Providence  not  only  makes  abundant  provision  for  its  creatures,  but 
creates  them  with  wisdom  which  will  enable  them  to  search  it  out.  The  same 
knowledge  that  apprises'the  wild  goose  that  winter  has  come,  or  that  spring  has 
opened  up,  is  proof  that  every  thing  is  destined  to  labor  in  some  form  or  in 
some  degree  to  obtain  its  food. 

The  habit  of  the  mid  pigeon  was  to  collect  in  great  numbers  to  roost.    The 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  253 

roosting  places  were  in  the  forest,  and  often  covered  several  hundred  acres  of 
ground.  Persons  who  have  visited  the  pigeon  roosts  say  they  are  never  quiet ; 
that  limbs  of  trees  are  constantly  beraking,  and  often  whole  trees  are  crushed 
to  the  ground  with  the  weight  of  the  birds.  It  was  dangerous  to  go  under  the 
roosts  on  account  of  the  falling  timber.  When  a  limb  would  break  or  a  tree  fall, 
thousands  of  pigeons  would  become  dislodged  and  flutter  around,  thus  disturb- 
ing others,  and  the  roost  would  be  in  movement  all  night.  Parties  have  been 
known  to  visit  the  roosts  and  gather  sackloads  of  pigeons.  The  meat  of  the  wild 
pigeon  is  of  a  poor  quality.  They  were  often  cooked  and  made  into  "pot  pie," 
and  greatly  relished  by  the  natives. 

There  was  a  pigeon  roost  on  the  mountain  between  the  Little  and  Big  Birch 
rivers.  How  many  seasons  they  occupied  that  locality,  we  have  no  definite  knowl- 
edge, but  the  land  became  very  fertile.  There  was  another  roost  on  a  branch  of 
Fall  run,  in  Braxton,  now  called  Pigeon  Boost.  There  was  once  a  very  famous 
roost  near  Harpers  Ferry  in  Maryland. 

Since  writing  the  above  the  author  saw  two  wild  pigeons  in  the  hollow  be- 
tween Laurel  fork  and  the  Camden  hill,  in  the  fall  of  1917. 

THE  GREAT  CROW  ROOST. 

Doubtless  it  will  be  remembered  by  every  old  soldier  who  tramped  through 
the  Valley  of  Virginia  in  the  60 's,  the  numerous  flocks  of  crows  that  could  be 
seen  in  almost  every  field  and  around  every  camp.  We  supposed  at  the  time, 
that  the  large  body  of  troops  in  the  Valley  and  the  great  number  of  horses  had 
a  tendency  to  concentrate  the  crows  along  the  highways  and  about  the  camps, 
but  since  living  here,  and  after  frequent  visits  through  the  country,  we  find  that 
the  crow  is  here  also  in  endless  numbers,  and  that  they  have  a  habit  of  going  to 
a  particular  place  to  roost. 

The  Valley  of  Virginia  and  the  Cumberland  Valley  which  is  only  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  valley  on  the  Cumberland  side  of  the  Potomac,  lies  between  the 
Blue  Ridge  and  the  North  mountain,  and  averages  about  twenty  or  twenty-five 
miles  in  width  and  extends  from  beyond  Lexington,  Virginia,  to  Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania.  There  is  a  peculiar  formation  here.  The  valley  is  a  limestone 
country,  but  about  five  miles  from  the  North  mountain  and  running  parallel 
with  that  and  the  Blue  Ridge,  is  what  is  known  as  the  Pine  Hills,  a  strip  of 
Slate  Strata,  generally  broken  by  steep  gullies  and  abrupt  bluffs,  and  densely 
covered  with  small  cedar  and  pine — this  strip  being  from  two  to  three  miles 
wide.  The  land  is  very  poor,  but  much  more  easily  cultivated  than  the  lime- 
stone land.  These  woods  furnish  an  admirable  place  of  shelter  for  small  game 
and  birds,  and  it  is  to  these  woods  and  similar  woodland  on  the  Blue  Ridge  that 
the  crows  gather  in  numbers  that  cannot  be  estimated  with  any  degree  of  accu- 
racy. I  have  often  observed  the  crows  going  in  the  direction  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
from  here  and  the  North  mountain,  especially  in  the  winter  time.  About  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  di'oves  or  flocks  extending  from 
beyond  the  North  mountain  to  Martinsburg,  a  distance  of  five  miles  or  more. 


254  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

At  one  time,  the  writer  was  coming  from  Kearneysville,  a  small  town  in  Jeff- 
erson county, — deriving  its  name  from  General  Kearney  of  Revolutionary  fame, 
who  settled  near  there  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  After  we 
had  crossed  the  Opequan,  we  saw  nearly  a  mile  ahead,  a  column  of  crows  flying 
across  the  road.  We  drove  leisurely  along,  and  coming  nearer,  we  could  see  the 
column  which  resembled  a  black  cloud  as  far  as  the  eye  could  extend  up  the 
valley,  sweeping  down  in  the  direction  of  the  Potomac.  As  we  came  directly 
under  the  column, — it  was  on  a  little  ridge,  they  were  flying  very  low, — their 
numbers  were  so  great  that  the  heavens  seemed  darkened.  Observing  them  for 
a  time  from  this  point,  we  drove  on  perhaps  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  and  dis- 
covered that  they  were  alighting,  and  as  we  supposed,  going  to  roost.  The  left 
of  the  column  was  resting  in  a  field  by  the  roadside.  They  were  standing  as 
close  together  as  they  could  be  packed,  and  every  bush,  tree,  shrub  and  fence 
was  literally  covered.  The  timber  beyond  the  fields  was  covered  so  that  not  a 
limb  or  branch  could  be  seen.  We  could  hear  their  caws  and  the  rumbling 
noise  for  miles  beyond.  It  was  then  becoming  dark,  and  the  unbroken  column 
could  be  seen  coming  in.  Just  then  a  lady  and  gentleman  drove  up,  and  the 
writer  asked  them  whether  they  knew  who  fed  all  those  crows,  and  they  said 
the  farmers  did.  The  gentleman  said  that  they  were  not  going  into  camp  then, 
but  would  continue  to  come  in  until  nine  or  ten  o'clock  then  move  on  in  sec- 
tions to  their  regular  roost  which  was  beyond  the  river  near  Harpers  Ferry. 
We  subsequently  learned  that  their  roost  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge, 
beginning  near  Marylaud  Heights  and  extending  up  the  ridge,  a  distance  of 
more  than  eight  miles. 

From  information  obtained  through  two  old  citizens  living  near  here,  Mr. 
Derry  and  Mr.  Grub,  we  learned  that  the  same  roost,  now  occupied  by  the  crows 
was,  in  an  early  day,  and  up  until  the  Civil  war,  a  great  pigeon  roost.  The  older 
citizens  can  remember  the  vast  and  unnumbered  legions  of  North  American  pig- 
eons which  once  swept  over  this  country  periodically,  but  within  the  war  a  por- 
tion of  this  land  was  cleaned  of  the  large  timber,  and  the  operations  of  the 
army  that  occupied  Maryland  Heights  drove  the  pigeons  away,  and  after  the 
growth  of  the  underbrush  the  crows  took  possession.  It  was  a  great  resort  for 
sportsmen  who  came  from  Washington,  Baltimore  and  other  cities  to  bag  the 
pigeons  in  the  roost.  These  noble  birds  of  the  wing,  however,  have  almost  disap- 
peared and  while  they  were  not  first  class  or  a  delicious  fowl,  we  remember 
enjoying  some  elegant  pigeon  "pot-pies." 

We  leam  that  the  crows  came  from  the  Loudin  Valley  to  the  roost  in  great 
numbers,  crossing  the  Blue  Ridge  over  Loudin  Heights.  Other  columns  swept 
in  from  the  direction  of  Gettysburg  and  Frederick.  One  can  imagine  the  num- 
bers only  in  millions  as  they  came  in  from  four  states  to  this  nightly  rendezvous. 

The  habits  of  the  crows  are  like  domestic  fowls.  They  have  their  time  to 
start  to  roost;  hence  if  those  that  are  near  the  roost  early  in  the  evening  and 
others  continue  to  come  for  three  hours  or  more,  it  indicates  the  fact  that  they 
have  been  on  the  wing  that  length  of  time,  and  represent  a  distance  traveled  of 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  255 

over  two  hundred  miles.  Why  they  lose  from  five  to  six  hours  daily  in  travel 
is  a  mysteiy,  but  that  they  have  some  kind  of  government  in  arranging  to  enter 
the  roost  is  known  by  everyone  at  all  familiar  with  the  crow.  It  is  also  a  well 
known  fact  that  they  place  a  watch  on  picket  to  give  an  alarm  of  danger  while 
they  are  feeding.  It  is  said  by  those  who  have  visited  the  roost  at  night  that 
each  crow  seems  to  be  chatting  to  his  nearest  neighbor  incessantly  from  the  time 
they  enter  camp  until  nature  sounds  the  i-eveille  in  the  morning.  It  is  also 
said  that  the  hum  and  roar  of  the  blending,  perhaps  of  ten  or  twenty  million 
voices,  is  deafening  and  heart  rending. 

The  same  wisdom  that  guides  the  wild  horse  when  he  appoints  his  leader, 

■  or  the  wild  goose  that  leaves  the  northern  lakes  on  the  approach  of  winter  or 

the  rice  fields  of  the  South  when  the  last  storm  breaks  in  springtime  and  flies 

with  such  perfect  directness  by  the  North  Star,  guides  the  crow  in  his  great 

gathering  to  the  roost. 

THE  WILD  GOOSE. 

The  wild  goose,  which  was  once  so  plentiful,  was  the  surest  barometer  we 
had.  They  warned  the  eai'ly  settlers  of  the  certain  approach  of  winter,  and 
bore  the  glad  news  of  the  coming  springtime.  Of  late  years,  the  wild  goose  is 
not  so  plentiful.  A  flock  of  them  could  be  heard  a  long  distance,  and  usually 
flew  above  the  tops  of  the  highest  hills.  Their  alignment  while  in  flight  was 
in  the  shape  of  the  letter  V,  the  leader  going  in  front  with  the  two  wings  ex- 
tending back,  and  their  "honk,  honk"  that  rang  out  in  the  stillness  of  the  clear 
night  was  an  inspiring  song. 

The  wild  geese  hatch  their  young  on  the  northern  lakes,  and  just  before 
winter  sets  in  they  migrate  south  to  enjoy  their  winter  home  'mid  the  rice  fields 
and  swamps  of  that  sunny  region.  Why  this  pilgrim  of  aerial  flight  for  many 
thousand  generations,  has  crossed  the  continent  and  cheated  the  frozen  north 
and  the  burning  soiith  of  the  severity  of  their  climates  is  beyond  the  knowledge 
of  man.  Occasionally  they  would  become  stranded  by  winds  and  thunder 
storms,  and  often  when  the  night  was  dark  they  could  be  attracted  to  the  earth 
by  the  use  of  lights.  In  this  way  they  were  sometimes  caught,  but  seldom  were 
domesticated.  It  would  be  necessary  to  have  their  wings  cropped  in  the  spring 
and  autumn  to  prevent  them  from  soaring  for  their  native  clime.  About  fifty 
years  ago  there  was  a  wheat  grown  in  the  country  known  as  the  "wild  goose 
wheat."  It  had  been  obtained  from  the  craw  of  a  goose,  gathex*ed  from  some 
distant  field. 

The  wild  goose  is  a  beautiful  bird,  and  is  said  to  exist  in  countless  millions 
in  its  favorite  resorts.  William  Cull  en  Bryant  wrote  the  following  beautiful 
lines  on  "The  Wild  Goose:" 


256 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Thou  art  gone;  the  abyss  of  heaven 
Hast  swallowed  up  they  form,  but  on  my  heart 
Deeply  hath  sunk  the  lesson  thou  bast  given, 
And  shall  not  soon  depart. 

He,  who  from  zone  to  zone 

Guides  through  the  boundless  sky  thy  certain  flight, 

In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone, 

Will  lead  my  steps  aright. 

An  inspiring  sentiment,  this. 

ELK  RIVER  FISH. 

The  Elk  river  was  as  famous  for  the  great  abundance  and  fine  quality  of  its 
fish  as  for  its  pure  waters.     We  have  heard  it  said  by  the  old  settlers  that  it 

was  not  difficult  to  kill 
the  very  finest  redhorse  in 
the  shoals  with  a  slunge 
pole.  They  went  in  great 
schools,  making  the  water 
flutter  by  their  move- 
ments as  they  passed 
through  the  shallow  chan- 
nels. In  the  fall  season, 
the  redhorse,  bass,  pike, 
sucker,  catfish,  buffalo, 
carp  and  all  fish  native  to 
these  waters  would  stay 
motionless  while  sunning 
themselves,  and  could  be 
seen  in  great  numbers.  All 
the  branches  of  the  Elk  of 
any  considerable  size,  were  famous  for  the  number  and  quality  of  the  fish 
which  inhabited  these  streams.  The  Little  Kanawha  river  and  its  tributaries 
were  noted  for  pike  and  catfish.  One  of  the  principal  ways  of  catching  fish 
in  an  early  day  was  by  means  of  traps,  some  being  made  with  wooden  slats, 
funnel-shaped.  Others  were  often  made  of  hickory  bark,  and  later  netting  was 
stretched  over  a  frame,  having  an  entrance  the  shape  of  a  funnel.  One  of  the 
most  successful  ways  of  catching  fish  is  with  the  gill  net ;  but  the  most  common 
way,  outside  the  angling  rod,  is  with  a  trout]  ine.  It  is  great  sport  to  run  a 
troutline  and  take  off  a  few  large  redhorse  or  catfish.  As  late  as  1870,  Griffin 
Gillespie  found  a  large  school  of  fish  near  his  mill  on  the  Elk  river,  and  killed 
and  salted  down  two  barrels  of  fine  fish.  Others  have  lulled  great  numbers  by 
driving  them  from  the  eddies  into  shoals,  across  which  temporary  rock  dams  had 
been  built.     Perhaps  the  greatest  sport  is  fishing  with  the  gig,  but  this  is  now 


WM.    WOLFORD   AND   HIS    ASSISTANTS 
Taking  fish   out  of  the  Elk   River 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  257 

prohibited  by  law,  as  is  also  the  use  of  the  gill  net.  A  skillful  gigger  can 
strike  a  fish  darting  through  the  water  one  or  two  rods  away.  The  late  Sena- 
tor Johnson  N.  Camden  spent  much  of  his  time  when  a  young  man.  fishing  on 
the  Elk.  Henry  A.  Baxter  related  that  he  and  Johnson  N.  Camden  were  fishing 
one  day,  and  they  caught  a  large  fish  that  had  mulberries  in  its  stomach. 

To  speak  of  the  skill  and  prowess  of  all  the  fishermen  on  the  Elk,  Birch 
and  Little  Kanawha  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  would  fill  a  volume.  Some 
of  the  most  noted  fishermen  of  Braxton  county — men  who  knew  more  about 
the  life  and  habits  of  fish  and  wild  animals — are,  in  our  opinion  the  aged  and 
venerable  William  Carpenter,  Thomas  Cogar  and  James  H.  Facemire.  There 
is  a  fascination  about  fishing  which  is  not  confined  to  the  boy  with  the  fishing 
rod  and  a  red  worm,  but  to  the  aged  as  well.  We  have  seen  old  men  tottering 
along  the  sterams  with  hook  and  line,  manifesting  as  much  eagerness  and  ani- 
mation as  a  boy  with  a  minnow  hook  starting  out  on  his  Saturday  evening 
vacation. 

n  •   m 

Turkey  buzzards,  which  used  to  be  plentiful  in  central  West  Virginia,  are 

becoming  almost  extinct.  We  have  observed  them  in  great  flocks  surrounding 
some  dead  animal.  The  buzzard  is  a  native  of  a  warm  climate  and  is  seldom 
seen  as  far  north  as  West  Virginia  in  the  winter  season.  When  the  wild  geese 
fly  in  the.  spring'  and  the  turkey  buzzard  is  seen,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  spring 
has  come.  Of  recent  years  the  buzzards  have  rarely  made  their  appearance 
in  this  locality.  A  few  years  ago  and  for  several  years  prior,  it  is  related 
that  every  spring,  one  or  more  buzzards  had  a  hatching  place  in  a  cliff  of 
rocks  on  the  headwaters  of  Cedar  creek  on  the  lands  of  Jacob  Shaver,  and  that 
they  lay  but  one  egg  and  hatch  one  chick.  Young  buzzards,  until  they  become 
almost  grown,  are  said  to  be  as  white  as  goslings.  For  many  years  a  few  buz- 
bards  have  nested  and  hatched  their  young  in  the  cliffs  at  the  Basin  Rocks. 
They  are  very  numerous  in  the  South  and  ai'e  conservators  of  health. 

On  the  Jacob  Shaver  farm  there  was  at  one  time  a  denof  poison  snakes 
in  a  ledge  of  rocks.  The  snakes  are  very  hard  to  dislodge  from  these  dens, 
but  as  the  lands  are  cleared  out  and  the  country  becomes  more  thickly  settled 
the  poisonous  snakes  to  a  great  extent  disappear.  Snake  dens  were  at  one 
time  very  common  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  this  country.  It  is  related 
that  oh  a  mountain  farm  in  Pendleton  county  which  seems  to  be  their  habitat, 
there  is  a  den  of  rattlesnakes  which  in  dry  seasons  come  off  the  mountain  to 
get  water.  Within  one  season  one  of  the  family — a  little  boy — who  lived  near 
there  killed  nineteen  snakes  near  the  spring.  How  remarkable  that  so  few 
people  are  bitten  by  these  poisonous  reptiles.  It  is  related  by  woodsmen  that 
poisonous  snakes  are  never  found  in  laurel  thickets. 

It  is  said  that  prior  to  the  settlement  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  there  were 
no  crows  or  humming-birds  in  that,  region. 

Many  years  ago,  Jake  Dean  discovered  a  large  black  snake  in  a  clearing 
near  High  Knob,  where  some  men  were  at  work,  and  he  told  them  that  tobacco 
was  a  deadly  poison  to  snakes,  whereupon  he  took  a  chew  of  tobacco  out  of  his 


258  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

mouth,  and  put  it  in  the  snake 'smouth.  The  snake  was  turned  loose,  and  it 
died  in  about  an  hour.  What  would  the  odor  of  a  cigarette  do  to  a  den  of 
snakes  ? 

PETRIFIED  SNAKE. 

A  petrified  snake,  supposed  to  be  a  rattler,  was  taken  from  his  solitary 
abode,  by  some  lumberman,  who  in  order  to  remove  a  heavy  stone  blew  it  apart 
by  dynamite  and  found  the  petrified  snake  embedded  in  the  sandstone  rock, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Gauley  river.  This  once  dreaded  monster  of  the  forest  with 
his  poisonous  fangs  and  dreadful  bite  inhabited  the  gorgeous  mountains  of 
West  Virginia,  whether  it  was  one  thousand  or  ten  thousand  years  ago,  we  know 
not.  He  may  have  drunken  from  the  famous  salt  sulphur  on  the  beautiful 
Elk  and  then  followed  the  Buffalo  trail  across  the  Miller  mountain,  to  the 
banks  of  the  rigid  Gauley.  where  he  seems  to  have  shuffled  off  his  mortal  coil. 
How  this  reptile  met  his  death,  we  could  not  even  conjecture.  Whether  by 
reason  of  age  or  in  deadly  combat  with  an  enemy  will  never  be  known.  He  may 
have  been  disputing  the  possession  of  the  forest  by  the  red  men  before  that 
gallant  band  of  patriots  led  by  General  Lewis  camped  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  on  whose  banks  his  snakeship  perished  and  turned  to  stone. 

The  rattlesnake  is  lubberly  in  his  movements.  The  female  has  a  beautiful 
yellowish  skin,  the  males  are  darker  in  color,  sometimes  entirely  black.  Their 
flesh  is  white  and  tender,  and  is  said  to  be.  delicious  when  cooked.  The  rattler 
coils  himself  up  when  he  prepares  for  battle.  His  head  which  is  in  the  center 
of  the  coil  is  raised  a  few  inches,  his  tail  upon  which  the  rattles  are  attached 
is  slightly  elevated  to  give  it  force  and  unobstructed  motion.  This  musical  out- 
fit and  danger  signal  called  rattles,  is  peculiarly  formed ;  the  first  year  a  button 
forms  on  the  tip  of  the  tail,  then  each  year  a  little  cupshaped  scale  slightly 
oblong,  is  attached  to  it,  one  cup  fitting  into  the  other,  fastened  together  in 
the  center  by  a  little  ligament,  like  beads  strung  together.  These  cups  arc 
about  the  consistency  of  fish  scales.  By  the  number  of  rattles,  the  age  of  the 
snake  can  be  determined;  to  a  certain  number  of  years  at  least. 

His  teeth  or  fangs  are  two  in  number  situated  on  the  upper  jaw.  being  cir- 
cular in  shape  not  uidike  in  size  and  appearance  to  a  cat's  claw.  At  the  root  of 
each  fang  is  a  little  sack  of  poison  that  is  transmitted  through  a  small  cavity  of 
the  tooth.  When  the  snake  is  feeding  or  not  in  action,  these  fangs  fold  down 
like  the  blade  of  a  knife.  When  the  rattler  is  captured  and  kept  on  exhibition, 
as  a  matter  of  precaution,  his  fangs  are  extracted,  but  one  would  think  that 
most  any  dentist  of  ordinary  skill  could  treat  and  fill  the  teeth  and  render  the 
snake  entirely  harmless,  if  it  had  patience  and  endurance  to  withstand  the  oper- 
ation. The  rattlesnake  has  many  enemies  .and  among  his  own  species  the  black- 
snake  perhaps  is  the  most  persistent  and  deadly.  Being  much  quicker  and 
more  active,  he  seizes  the  rattler  by  the  back  of  the  neck  with  a  motion  too 
quick  to  be  observed  by  the  natural  eye,  and  in  his  effort  to  free  himself  the 
rattler  straightens  himself  out,  while  his  antagonist  with  one  quick  motion  coils 
around  and  instantly  crashes  out  the  life  of  his  enemy. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  253 

The  wild  deer  loses  no  opportunity  to  attack  the  rattler.  He  stands  off  a 
few  paces,  and  with  all  his  agility,  gives  a  wild  leap  in  the  air,  then  placing  all 
four  of  his  feet  together  he  strikes.  The  snake  whirls,  and  the  deer  repeats  the 
attack  until  with  his  long  sharp  hoofs,  the  snake  is  cut  in  pieces.  Woods  fire  is 
the  greatest  destroyer  of  the  rattlesnake.  In  the  Spring  and  Pall  when  the  for- 
est burns,  a  blacksnake  will  flee  from  a  burning  woods  with  the  rapidity  of  an 
arrow,  while  the  rattler  will  give  warning  of  danger,  square  himself  for  battle 
and  fight  the  flames  until  he  perishes  in  their  embrace.  This  terror  of  the  for- 
est is  disinclined  to  bite  unless  he  is  first  assailed,  hence  the  motto,  "Don't 
tread  on  me."  The  warning  which  he  gives  when  he  is  approached  often  leads 
to  his  discovery  and  death. 

This  petrified  lump  of  sand  was  once  a  living,  creeping  reptile ;  it  may  have 
lived  and  propagated  its  species  on  the  beautiful  grassy  plateau  known  as 
Stroud's  Glades,  before  the  bold  adventurer,  Stoond,  the  first  white  settler  of 
the  Glades  was  slain  by  the  Indians.  Or  it  may  have  been  in  the  dim  vista  of 
the  past,  even  before  the  days  of  the  Pharoah;  or  even  before  the  sand  period, 
perhaps,  that  he  reveled  amid  the  ferns  that  grew  in  the  valleys  that  are  now 
incased  in  the  coal  seams  that  underlay  our  mountains.  Some  of  his  family  may 
have  pushed  their  way  from  the  mountains  of  the  Gauly  to  the  western  plains 
as  the  waters  receded,  and  an  unknown  sea  became  dry,  where  the  species  be- 
came dwarfed,  but  almost  as  numerous  as  the  great  Buffalo  herds  that  once 
shook  the  earth  with  their  mighty  tread.  But  notwithstanding  the  cycle  of 
years  that  may  have  elapsed  or  however  distant  and  remote  the  blood  relation- 
ship, the  same  characteristics  are  retained,  the  same  golden  yellow  skin  and 
deadly  fangs,  the  sacks  of  poison  at  their  roots  more  deadly  than  the  Lyadite 
thunder  of  the  Japanese,  the  same  alarm  of  danger  is  given  by  a  quiver  of  the 
tail  that  sets  the  rattles  in  motion,  a  noise  that  has  a  terror  for  every  living  crea- 
ture that  inhabits  the  forests.  No  other  soiuid  is  so  alarming,  no  other  challenge 
to  mortal  combat  so  terrorizing,  no  jargon  combination  or  harmony  of  sounds, 
no  burr  or  whiz  of  any  instrument,  though  it  be  of  a  thousand  parts  or  ten  thous- 
and vibrations,  can  in  the  least,  imitate  the  rattler  of  the  forest,  when  aroused 
to  danger  on  his  native  heath. 

Ask  not  of  this  crumbling  sand 

Its  age  or  native  land. 
Mystic  ages  time  nnknown, 

Changed  this  creeping  flesh  to  stone. 

THE  POWER  OF  ANIMALS  TO  REASON. 

That  the  horse  and  dog  are  endowed  with  more  knowledge  than  we  some- 
times think,  has  very  often  been  demonstrated  through  unmistaken  instances. 
Occurences  coming  under  our  personal  observation,  lead  us  often  to  wonder 
what  opinoin  is  formed  in  the  mind  of  the  horse  or  the  dog  toward  a  master  who 
is  cruel  or  a  task  that  is  unjust. 

At  the  Hannis  Distillery  Company  at  Martinsbnrg,  there  was  much  hauling 


260  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

to  be  done  on  a  cart.  They  had  a  very  fine  brown  mare,  well  bred  and  very 
spirited,  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that  they  broke  her  to  the  cart,  but 
she  became  tractable,  and  did  service  there  for  nearly  or  quite  twenty  years. 
They  called  her  "Nelly,"  and  Nelly  knew  ji.ist  where  to  back  her  cart  up  at  the 
stone  quarry  or  cinder  pile;  she  knew  as  well  and  better  than  many  of  the 
drivers  where  every  saloon  was  in  the  city,  and  where  to  turn  around  and  back 
her  cargo  of  whiskey  at  the  cellar  door  of  the  saloon.  "We  knew  Nelly  on  one 
occasion  when  she  had  a  shoe  off,  and  the  barnlot  gate  happened  to  be  left  open, 
she  walked  up  the  alley  and  turned  the  corner,  going  out  the  street  to  the  black- 
smith shop  where  she  walked  in  and  turned  around.  The  blacksmith  who  did 
the  work  for  the  distillery  and  had  often  shod  Nelly,  saw  what  the  trouble  was, 
and  drove  on  a  shoe  after  which  this  faithful  old  animal  walked  back  to  the  barn- 
lot,  and  the  blacksmith  charged  the  bill  to  the  company. 

We  knew  a  dog  in  the  same  town  that  was  noted  for  his  understanding  of 
things.  He  was  a  well  bred  cur,  rather  large,  yellow  in  color  with  some  white 
on  him.  Before  he  was  fully  grown,  he  had  one  of  his  front  legs  cut  off  by  a 
train.  We  cannot,  after  this  lapse  of  time,  recall  his  name,  but  he  was  knovn 
by  everybody  in  the  town.  He  was  peaceable,  and  visited  every  public  place. — 
the  saloons  and  meat  shops  being  his  principal  loafing  places.  He  became, 
it  seemed,  by  common  consent  a  veritable  privileged  sojourner  wherever  he 
chose  to  go.  The  railroad  men  learned  to  know  him,  and  he  was  known  on 
several  occasions  to  hop  upon  the  Cumberland  Valley  train  and  go  up  to  Win- 
chester, stay  a  few  days,  and  on  coining  back  to  his  old  home  again,  seemed  to 
enjoy  seeing  his  friends  and  visiting  his  loafing  places. 

He  was  a  veritable  tramp,  and  we  have  no  doubt  he  gathered  a  great  many 
facts  in  reference  to  many  things  and  could  he  have  had  the  power  of  express- 
ing himself,  many  very  interesting  tales  might  have  been  told.  Many  facts 
were  related  concerning  this  dog  which  seemed  to  show  him  to  be  possessed  with 
almost  human  wisdom.  What  reasoning  power  could  have  possessed  that  dog's 
mind  when  he  decided  to  take  a  trip  to  Winchester  or  when  he  became  ready 
and  concluded  to  return?  Another  case  showing  the  power  of  a  dog  to  reason, 
came  under  our  observation  quite  recently  while  getting  some  work  done  at  Mr. 
Kollin's  blacksmith  shop  at  Erbacon.  It  was  a  cold  stormy  day,  and  while  we 
were  at  work,  a  small  dog  with  long  shaggy  hair  come  into  the  shop,  dripping 
wet  and  shivering  with  cold.  He  had  swam  Laurel  creek.  He  got  upon  the 
hearth  by  the  forge,  and  lay  down.  We  said  something  about  the  dog,  and  the 
blacksmith  said  it  was  his  dog,  and  that  he  always  lay  upon  the  forge  by  the 
fire.  Presently  the  smith  quit  blowing  the  bellows  and  went  out  in  the  front 
to  shoe  a  horse,  and  very  shortly  the  heat  died  down,  when  the  dog'  got  up  and 
began  to  put  coal  on  the  fire.  He  did  it  by  shoving  the  coal  and  cinders  up  with 
his  nose.  He  worked  up  a  nice  little  pile  of  coal  on  the  fire,  then  lay  down  again. 
His  master  said  he  would  often  rake  up  coal  on  the  fire  when  it  would  burn 
down  low.  If  it  should  be  contended  that  the  dog  did  not  put  fuel  on  the  fire, 
by  any  process  of  reasoning  of  the  mind,  he  showed  more  industry  than  many 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  261 

people.    I  have  known  some  persons  who  would  sit  by  a  stove  and  freeze  before 
they  would  offer  to  build  a  fire. 

Many  instances  have  been  pointed  out  proving  conclusively  that  many  ani- 
mals have  reasoning  faculties  approaching  almost  that  of  man.  Animals  are 
capable  of  showing  their  affection  to  those  who  treat  them  with  kindness,  and 
their  hatred  to  all  who  may  have  treated  them  harshly. 

LARGE  AND  WONDERFUL  TREES. 

On  Old  Lick  run  of  Holly,  Webster  county,  it  is  related  there  was  a  mam- 
moth poplar  tree  that  measured  thirty-three  feet  in  circumference.  The  Curtin 
and  Pardee  Company  cut  two  logs  twelve  feet  long,  and  they  had  a  special  saw 
made  to  cut  them.  They  then  split  the  logs  and  sawed  them  at  their  mill  on 
Old  Lick  run. 

J.  R,  Huffman  cut  on  the  same  land  a  walnut  that  measured  seven  feet  in 
diameter.  On  this  land  grew,  beyond  any  doubt,  the  largest  timber  that  the 
mountains  of  West  Virginia  ever  produced. 

Above  Webster  Court  House,  Ben'  Conrad  cut  for  the  Woodruff  Lumber 
Company  some  poplar  logs  that  measured  in  diameter  eight  feet.  These  logs 
he  cut  eight  feet  long,  and  thought  the  high  water  would  take  them  out,  but 
they  lodged  along  the  l'iver  and  decayed  on  its  shores. 

The  remarkable  preservation  of  timber  under  water  was  witnessed  by  a 
hickory  tree  that  Adam  Gillespie  put  in  the  mill  clam  at  the  old  Gillespie  mill. 
This  log  was  put  in  the  dam  several  years  before  the.  Civil  war,  and  was  taken 
out  by  James  P.  Gillespie  forty  years -after  it  had  been  placed  there.  While 
the  under  side  of  the  log  had  turned  dark,  the  wood  was  remarkably  solid. 
They  sawed  it  up,  and  used  part  of  it  for  making  cogs  for  the  machinery.  When 
it  became  dry,  it  was  almost  as  hard  as  iron. 

On  Laurel  creek,  just  above  Custis'  siding,  it  is  said  that  some  one  about 
sixty  years  ago  grafted  a  cedar  in  the  top  of  a  pine.  The  tree  now  appears  to 
be  about  fifty  or  sixty  feet  tall,  and  the  bushy  cedar  top  is  perhaps  twelve  or 
fifteen  feet  high.  It  makes  a  very  striking  appearance,  and  is  often  pointed  out 
to  travellers  on  the  train.  The  tree  stands  in  a  little  bottom  near  the  creek 
bank,  and  about  a  hundred  feet  to  the  right  of  the  railroad.  Whether  this  ce- 
dar was  grafted  in  the  pine  or  whether  there  might  have  been  a  break  in  the 
pine  tree  and  an  accumulation  of  dirt  from  which  the  seeds  of  the  cedar  took 
root,  and  in  some  way  united  with  the  tree,  is  unknown.  It  may  be  that  the 
pine  was  broken  off  and  sprouts  came  out  thick  around  the  broken  trunk 
giving  the  appearance  of  a  cedar.  A  similar  tree  stands  on  a  creek  in  Monroe 
county. 

Some  very  large  poplar  and  walnnt  timber  grew  on  the  Elk  river  and  its 
tributaries,  much  of  it  being  too  large  to  be  handled  iin  the  ordinary  way. 

There  is  a  poplar  tree  of  mammoth  proportions,  described  by  Captain  G. 
F.  Taylor,  standing  on  a  branch  of  the  Birch  river.    This  tree  shows  great  age. 


262  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

It  was  a  place  where  the  bears  hibernated  in  winter  and  much  of  its  bark  was 
worn  and  carved  by  their  claws. 

An  elm  standing  on  the  banks  of  the  West  Fork  river,  in  Marion  county, 
near  the  Harrison  county  line,  shows  great  age.  This  giant  of  the  forest,  was 
standing  perhaps  centuries  before  the  trees  surrounding  it  had  shot  forth  their 
branches  in  the  sunlight.  Deep  and  wide  must  this  mammoth  tree  have  pene- 
trated the  rich,  moist  soil  of  the  valley  with  its  tap  roots,  for  a  careful  and  ex- 
act measurement  discloses  its  girth  three  feet  above  the  surface  to  be  twenty- 
seven  feet  in  diameter,  resembling  in  the  distance  a  huge  smokestack.  It  was 
awarded  a  prize  at  Philadelphia  as  being  the  largest  tree  of  its  land  in  the 
United  States.  When  the  traction  company  surveyed  its  route  from  Clarks- 
burg to  Fairmont  this  huge  monster  stood  directly  in  its  pathway,  but  the  citi- 
zens interferred  and  asked  to  have  it  spared,  that  it  might  continue  to  stand  as 
a  monument  of  its  own  greatness.  It  had  not  only  sheltered  many  generations 
of  the  white  settlers  of  the  valley  but  doubtless  many  tribes  of  the  red  men, 
and  possibly  the  Mound  Builders  may  have  sheltered  under  its  branches.  A 
story  of  rare  beauty  has  been  written  by  Granville  Davisson  Hall,  entitled 
"Daughter  of  the  Elm."  This  book  has  gone  through  three  editions.  In  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  the  elm,  lived  a  disorderly  gang  of  bandits  who, 
prior  to  the  Civil  war  terrorized  the  surrounding  country.  They  maintained 
a  relay  of  horse  thieves  extending  from  their  haunts  in  the  Monongahela  valley, 
to  distant  markets.  Several  murders  were  traced  to  their  dens  of  vice.  Under 
this  tree  was  a  place  of  meeting  where  many  schemes  were  concocted.  The  lowly 
and  elite  of  the  neighborhood  often  strolled  and  talked  of  love — undying  love 
beneath  the  branches  of  the  great  elm. 

The  largest  apple  tree  perhaps  in  the  state,  is  standing  on  the  farm  of  John 
Fisher,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Westfall  fork  of  Cedar  creek.  This  tree  was 
planted  by  Jacob  Westfall,  early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The  tree  stands  on 
a  hillside  facing  the  northeast,  and  is  situated  on  a  plateau  that  appears  to  have 
been  a  slip  many  centuries  ago.  The  land  is  very  fertile  and  moist,  being  mixed 
with  stone  and  gravel. 

The  body  of  the  tree,  six  feet  from  the  ground,  measures  twelve  feet  in 
circumference,  and  eight  feet  above  the  surface  the  tree  divides  into  three 
branches.  One  of  the  branches  is  twenty-six  inches  in  diameter  and  extends 
five  feet  from  main  body.  One  of  the  other  branches  is  twenty  inches  in  diame- 
ter, and  divides  into  three  parts,  seven  feet  above  the  main  body,  while  the 
third  branch  is  twenty-four  inches  in  diameter  and  divides  five  feet  above  the 
main  body,  into  three  parts.  One  of  these  branches  occupies  the  center  of  the 
tree,  and  the  apples  from  the  topmost  limbs  hang  from  forty  to  forty-five  feet 
above  ground.    The  space  covered  by  the  tree  is  thirty-eight  feet  in  diameter. 

It  bears  a  yellow  apple,  medium  size,  and  very  acid.  The  tree  is  in  a  healthy 
condition,  and  under  favorable  conditions,  may  live  the  greater  part  of  another 
century. 

The  finest  field  of  corn  that  ever  came  under  our  observation  was  grown  on 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  263 

Steer  creek  during  the  summer  of  1916,  at  Mr Fetty's,  on  a  bottom  near 

his  house.  The  corn  was  of  the  silage  variety,  very  thick  on  the  land,  and  some 
of  the  stalks  were  eighteen  feet  in  height  by  measurement.  Benj.  Huffman 
related  that  his  father-in-law,  Jacob  Stump,  raised  a  field  of  corn  at  the  mouth 
of  Crooked  fork  of  Steer  creek,  when  he  first  cleared  the  land,  that  excelled 
anything  he  had  ever  known.  He  said  that  they  measured  one  stalk  which 
was  twenty-two  feet  in  length. 

Kerchival  speaks  of  a  very  large  sugar  tree  on  the  waters  of  the  South 
Branch  that  measures  about  f our  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  the  sap  of  this  tree, 
its  owner  made  in  one  season,  over  fifty  pounds  of  sugar. 

On  the  Abel  Lough  farm,  near  the  mouth  of  Little  Otter,  stood  a  white 
oak  tree  from  which  five  hundred  rails  were  made.  On  Bealls  run  of  Granny's 
creek  William  Wyatt  cut  a  white  oak  tree  that  made  over  five  hundred  rails. 
Out  of  the  main  body  of  the  tree,  he  made  four  hundred  and  fifty  rails.  The 
tree  forked  in  almost  equal  parts  about  fifty  feet  from  the  ground.  These 
forks  were  two  feet  in  diameter  and  made  sixty  rails.  The  tree  was  brash  and 
the  rails  were  made  unusually  large.  Ordinarily  the  tree  would  have  made  over 
six  hundred  fence  rails. 

E.  L.  Boggs  cut  a  poplar  tree  which  stood  on  Upper  Rock  Camp  into  lum- 
ber, that  made  fifteen  thotisand  eight  hundred  feet,  board  measure.  The  first 
log  measured  in  diameter  eight  feet.  Mr.  Boggs  was  offered  by  Mr.  Gowing, 
who  had  a  veneer  mill  at  Burnsville,  sixty  dollars  per  thousand  for  the  choice 
logs.  A  poplar  tree  similar  in  size  to  this  one  grew  on  O'Briens  creek  in  Clay 
county,  but  the  parties  who  cut  the  tree  failed  to  get  the  logs  to  the  river  and 
they  laid  on  the  creek  bank  until  they  were  damaged.  Near  where  this  tree 
stood  there  was  a  sassafras  two  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty-four  feet  to  the 
first  limbs. 

METEOROLOGY. 

It  might  be  of  interest  to  some  to  recall  from  tradition  the  fact  that  the 
snow  in  1831  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Ohio  river,  an  elevation  of  1,000 
feet,  accummulated  to  the  depth  of  36  inches,  and  in  1856  and  1880,  the  snow 
was  still  deeper. 

The  summer  of  1838  and  1854  were  almost  rainless  west  of  the  mountains. 
In  the  same  region  in  1854,  snow  fell  4  inches  deep  on  the  15th  of  May,  and  on 
June  5,  1859,  a  frost  killed  almost  every  thing  grown  in  the  northern  and  central 
part  of  the  state. 

The  night  of  November  13th,  1833,  the  stars  fell.  In  1816  it  frosted  every 
month  in  the  year. 

In  the  summer  of  1838,  there  occurred  one  of  the  greatest  drouths  that  was 
ever  known  in  the  central  part  of  the  state.  There  was  scarcely  anything  raised, 
corn  in  many  places  grew  only  knee-high.  It  was  said  that  fish  died  in  the 
Elk  river,  and  one  remarkable  thing  afterward  discovered  was,  that  the  timber 


264  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

made  no -growth  that  season,  only  a  slight  trace  of  growth  being  shown.  There 
was  no  rainfall  from  late  Spring  until  Fall.  Snow  in  November  marked  the 
close  of  the  dry  season. 

On  April  29,  1850,  there  was  an  earthquake  in  this  section  and  on  May  2, 
1853,  there  was  an  earthquake  in  this  country  that  shook  the  earth  and  caused 
considerable  alarm.  It  scared  the  animals,  and  the  teams  that  were  plowing  in 
the  fields,  became  frightened.  There  were  some  women  washing  wool  on  the 
flat  rock  above  the  fails  at  the  Adam  Ilyer  farm  at  Boling  Green  who  said  that 
the  rock  seemed  to  raise  up  a  foot  or  more.  Aaron  Pacemire  who  lived  in  a 
small  house  at  the  mouth  of  Bee  run,  had  the  chimney  of  his  house  shaken  down. 
We  have  no  account  of  any  other  earthquake  in  this  part  of  the  country  so 
severe  as  this  one. 

Early  in  the  50 's,  there  was  a  comet  passed  over  the  country.  It  was  travel- 
ling, as  we  now  remember,  about  northwest.  We  arrive  at  this  course  by  cer- 
tain boundary  lines  of  the  farm.  About  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  we  were 
with  our  father  about  half  way  up  the  bottom  near  the  pike,  and  the  meteor 
passed  directly  over  us.  It  seemed  to  be  about  twenty  or  thirty  feet  long,  a 
bright  blazing  ball  with  the  appearance  of  a  tail.  It  made  a  rushing  noise  as  it 
flew  through  the  air.  It  seemed  to  be  near  the  tree-tops  as  it  passed  over  the 
Cedar  creek  mountain  near  where  the  Sunrise  church  now  stands.  James  Mollo- 
han  saw  it  as  it  passed  near  the  Mollohan  mill  on  the  Holly.  It  passed  directly 
over  the  farm  of  J.  W.  Morrison,  and  was  seen  by  him  and  his  family,  and 
seemed  to  be  near  the  tree-tops.  It  was  thought  by  some  that  it  burst  or  came 
to  the  ground  somewhere  on  Cedar  creek,  but  nothing  authentic  was  ever  learned 
concerning  it. 

While  John  G.  and  James  Morrison,  Jr.,  were  plowing  for  oats  on  the  Wyatt 
place,  about  the  year  1850,  there  came  up  a  wonderful  hail  storm.  John  Wyatt 
lived  on  the  place  at  that  time.  It  is  related  that  hail  stones  as  large  as  goose 
eggs  fell.  They  whipped  the  limbs  from  the  fruit  trees  and  much  of  the  bark 
from  the  limbs,  killed  all  the  chickens  which  could  not  find  shelter,  and  a  num- 
ber of  sheep.  It  is  said  that  never  in  the  history  of  the  country  has  there  been 
such  a  hail  storm.  Mrs.  Wyatt  thought  the  woiid  was  coming  to  an  end,  and 
shouted  and  praised  God  that  her  deliverance  from  the  world  and  its  cares  was 
at  hand. 

In  1859,  there  was  a  cold  wave  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of  June.  The  tem- 
perature fell  and  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  there  was  quite  a  freeze.  The  corn 
was  bitten  down  to  the  ground.  Many  people  furrowed  their  com  land  out  and 
replanted.  Others  took  shears  and  cut  the  stalks  close  to  the  ground,  and  others 
left  the  corn  standing,  but  it  all  came  on  in  good  time,  nature  having  repaired 
the  damage.  Where  the  corn  had  not  formed  joints  it  was  but  slightly  injured. 
The  wheat  crop  suffered  worst.  It  had  jointed  and  the  freeze  was  destructive 
to  it.  Garden  vegetables  were  partly  destroyed.  Possibly  the  coldest  weather 
during  the  summer  months  since  that  time  was  on  the  23rd  day  of  August, 
1915.  In  Platwoods,  the  temperature  fell  to  about  38  degrees,  and  for  a  day 
and  a  night  it  was  too  cold  to  be  comfortable.    It  is  said  that  in  some  parts  of 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  265 

the  Northwest,  quite  a  snow  storm  prevailed.  At  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  there  was 
considerable  frost,  and  in  several  other  sections  of  the  country  frost  was  re- 
ported. On  the  nights  of  the  5th  and  6th  of  July  the  temperature  fell  as  low 
as  40  degrees.  Persons  returning  to  the  country  from  the  Chautauqua  at  Sut- 
ton had  to  use  wraps  and  overcoats  to  be  comfortable.  On  the  19th  and  20th 
of  August  the  temperature  fell  to  48  degrees,  having  been  90  degrees  10  days 
previous.  August  29th  the  mercury  stood  at  52  degrees.  On  the  2Sth  snow 
fell  at  Terra  Alta. 

About  1870  the  mercury  fell  as  low  as  30  degrees  at  Sutton,  28  degrees 
at  the  writer's  home,  and  as  low  as  26  degrees  in  many  other  places  in  the  cen- 
tral part  of  the  state. 

The  next  very  cold  time  was  about  twelve  years  later.  We  were  in  Clay 
county,  buying  sheep,  and  at  George  Hickman's  place  on  Willson  ridge,  the 
cold  and  wind  were  so  intense  that  the  wind  blew  a  portion  of  the  chimney  down, 
the  smoke  and  fire  nearly  driving  the  family  out  of  the  house.  That  evening, 
we  went  down  on  Strange  creek,  and  stayed  at  a  Mr.  Duffield's  home.  There 
were  two  or  three  comfortable  beds  in  the  large  room  of  the  house  where  we 
all  slept,  but  the  cold  was  so  intense  the  next  morning  that  we  could  scarcely  en- 
dure it.  That  afternoon,  we  drove  our  sheep  down  to  the  river  at  the  mouth  of 
Strange  creek,  and  the  river  had  frozen  over  so  solidly  the'previous  night  that 
we  crossed  them  over  on  the  ice. 

In  the  year  1886,  there  came  a  great  flood  that  washed  out  the  timber  booms 
of  the  Elk,  the  Gauly,  the  Greenbrier  and  the  Coal  rivers,  and  many  thousand 
logs  were  washed  away  and  lost.  Timber  thieves  on  the  large  streams  had  a 
great  harvest.  Their  method  was  to  conceal  and  change  the  marks  and  brands, 
then  saw  the  logs  before  their  owners  came  to  claim  their  property. 

In  1883,  at  the  boom  near  the  mouth  of  the  Holly  river,  the  ice  was  fifteen 
inches  thick  in  the  middle  of  March. 

The  winter  of  1913-1914  was  one  that  will  long  be  remembered.  The  snow 
began  falling  and  winter  set  in  about  the  latter  part  of  December,  snow  storms 
repeating  themselves  at  short  intervals  until  the  latter  part  of  March.  There 
were  only  a  few  nights  that  the  mercury  fell  as  low  as  zero,  but  the  snows  were 
deep  and  the  storms  unusually  severe,  attended  by  high  winds.  In  many  places, 
snow  was  drifted  over  the  fences,  blocking  the  roads.  The  rural  mail  carriers 
at  times  were  forced  to  turn  back.  In  some  places  on  the  head  of  Granny's 
creek  the  snow  drifted  eight  or  ten  feet  deep.  It  is  related  that  in  1842  about 
8  o'clock  one  morning  in  December,  it  began  snowing  and  the  snow  fell  to  the 
depth  of  three  feet  or  more.  It  covered  the  rail  fences  and  sheep  were  covered 
up  in  the  fields.  Farther  up  the  streams  toward  the  Alleghenies  the  snow  was 
yet  deeper.  Wild  animals  perished.  This  snow,  it  is  said,  lay  on  the  ground  all 
winter.  It  was  related  by  some  hunters  that  in  the  spurs  of  the  Alleghenies,  the 
snow  in  places  drifted  to  the  tops  of  some  of  the  timber,  and  on  the  crust  of 
the  snow  deer  would  walk  and  browse  from  the  twigs  of  the  branches  of  the 
trees,  and  that  many  perished.  The  present  winter,  though  very  long  and  se- 
vere, has  made  no  ice  suitable  for  putting  up,  while  several  years  ago  ice  froze 


266  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

on  the  Elk  river  twenty-two  inches  thick  in  places.  Before  the  Civil  war,  John 
S.  Sprigg,  while  hauling  coal  from  the  Bee  Hill  mines,  went  over  the  road  on  a 
steep  bank  a  short  distance  above  the  month  of  Old  Womans  run  with  a  four- 
horse  team.  The  river  was  frozen  over.  His  wagon  and  team  went  into  the 
river,  but  the  ice  bore  them  up,  and  he  drove  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  run  on 
the  ice  and  there  went  on  shore. 

The  season  of  1915  was  one  of  remarkable  productiveness.  The  constant 
summer  showers  kept  the  earth  moist  and  the  sunshine  brought  forth  a  crop  of 
vegetables  such  as  the  country  had  not  witnessed  or  enjoyed  for  many  years. 
Wheat,  oats,  rye,  grass  and  hay  were  harvested  in  abundance.  The  potato  crop 
excelled  anything  in  quantity,  central  West  Virginia  has  ever  known.  Corn 
went  a  little  too  much  to  fodder  and  shuck,  but  the  crop  was  about  an  average 
one.  / 

The  pleasant  Pall  months  and  mild  weather  up  to  Christmas  marked  the 
season  of  1915  as  one  of  ideal  splendor,  but  the  last  part  of  the  winter  was 
marked  by  warm  spells,  followed  by  zero  weather,  then  excessive  rains,  and  in 
the  months  of  February  and  March,  much  sickness  prevailed,  notably  La  Grippe 
and  Pneumonia,  followed  by  many  deaths.  April  was  very  inclement,  wet  and 
cold.    The  farmers  did  not  start  their  spring  work  until  about  May  10th. 

On  Wednesday,  May  17,  1916,  there  was  quite  a  wind  and  rain  storm,  the 
mercury  fell  rapidly,  the  day  folloAving  was  cool  and  clear,  and  the  morning 
of  the  19th  there  was  a  white  frost.  The  damage  to  vegetation  was  slight 
however. 

The  cold  May  rains  are  caused,  it  is  said,  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  on 
the  northern  lakes,  and  this  occurred  later  this  season  than  any  previous  year 
within  our  memory.  The  cold  rains  and  chilly  weather  continued  until  about 
June  20th,  and  many  fields  at  that  date  had  not  been  planted  in  corn. 

While  this  climate  is  very  changeable  and  subject  to  extremes  in  tempera- 
ture, yet  we  recall  nothing  in  many  years  as  severe  as  the  cold  spell  of  February 
2,  4,  and  5,  1917.  On  Friday,  the  2nd,  it  became  very  cold  with  high  wind,  snow 
and  frost  flying  in  the  air  all  day,  making  it  so  cold  that  only  the  sturdiest  per- 
sons could  venture  out  in  safety.  On  the  evening  of  the  4th,  the  temperature 
rose  very  rapidly,  the  sun  shone  out,  and  it  became  very  pleasant  for  a  few 
hours  up  to  four  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  about  an  hour  later  it  became  cloudy,  the 
snow  began  to  fall  from  the  northeast,  the  temperature  fell  rapidly,  and  in 
a  few  moments,  we  saw  a  storm  coming  from  the  west  that  darkened  the  earth. 
The  houses  began  to  creak  and  the  metal  roofs  to  clatter  as  the  storm  increased 
in  fury.  Every  loose  object,  like  leaves  and  sticks,  was  whirling  with  the  snow 
in  the  air.  It  began  to  look  dangerous  like  a  tempest  at  sea.  On  the  5th  and  6th, 
the  mercury  fell  below  zero,  and  with  high  wind,  the  cold  was  almost  unbear- 
able. On  the  6th,  the  rural  mail  failed  to  go  out.  This  storm  in  our  opinion  was 
the  most  severe  since  New  Year's,  1803. 

The  spring  of  1917  continued  cold  and  disagreeable,  with  high  winds 
through  April  and  May.    May  entered  with  a  frost  that  damaged  the  gardens. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  267 

Grass  started  late,  in  fact  everything  was  backward  due  to  the  extremely  cold 
weather  which  lasted  until  the  17th  of  June. 

The  winter  of  1917  and  '18  was  the  most,  severe  ever  known  by  our  people. 
It  began  in  November,  after  thirteen  successive  frosts,  and  the  mercury  fell 
at  one  time  to  23  degrees  below  zero,  at.  Sutton,  Dee.  30th,  at  Erbacon  29,  at 
Cowen,  30.  The  cold  wave  enveloped  all  sections.  At  Alderson,  the  thermome- 
ter registered  from  22  to  26  below,  and  on  the  outlying  hills,  36  below;  at  Pick- 
away 38;  at  Gap  Mills  several  thermometers  registered  38  below  zero,  and  one 
40  below.  Wheeling  reports  9  degrees,  Huntington  14,  and  Charleston  13. 
Winter  held  on  with  great  severity,  one  Wizard  after  another,  for  several  weeks. 
When  the  winter  broke,  we  had  some  very  heavy  wind  and  rain  storms,  followed 
by  high  waters.  It  is  said  that  the  rise  in  the  Little  Kanawha  River  in  March 
was  greater  than  the  unprecedented  flood  of  1861 ;  in  Elk,  near  Bealls  Mills,  it 
reached  about  the  same  mark.  Its  greatest  heighth  was  about  10  o'clock  P.  M. 
At  Sutton,  the  water  stood  ten  inches  deep  in  the  court  house  and  nearly  all 
the  buildings  on  Main  Street  and  Skidmore  Addition  were  flooded.  The  floods 
were  followed  by  five  or  six  heavy  frosts  in  succession.  Then  the  weather  be- 
came mild,  and  Easter  Sunday,  March  29th,  was  a  most  lovely  day,  bright  sun- 
shine and  balmy  air,  and  full  moon  the  27th  conspired  to  add  to  the  loveliness 
of  the  season.  The  nights  were  brilliant,  with  a  clear  sky  and  fragrant  breezes. 
On  April  1st  to  11th,  we  had  a  Arery  disagreeable  spell  of  weather.  The  snow 
fell  to  a  depth  of  6  inches,  and  12  to  14  in  Webster  County. 

On  Monday  and  Tuesday,  the  5th  and  6th  of  August,  1918,  the  thermome- 
ter registered  one  hundred.  At  Sutton,  Gassaway,  Flatwoods  and  other  points 
in  the  county  the  nights  were  almost  unbearably  hot.  At  5  o'clock  the  evening 
of  the  6th  it  was  95,  in  the  shade  of  the  buildings. 

NINE  NATIONAL  CAPITOLS. 

The  Capitol  of  the  United  States  has  been  located  at  nine  different  places, 
namely : 

Washington,  D.  C. ;  Baltimore  and  Annapolis,  in  Maryland ;  Trenton  and 
Princeton,  in  New  Jersey;  Philadelphia,  Lancaster  and  York,  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  New  York  City. 

The  first  session  of  the  Continental  Congress  was  held  in  Carpenter 's  Hall, 
Philadelphia.  September  5,  1774.  Thereafter  the  American  Congress  was  for  a 
long  time  something  like  the  Philippine  Congress  while  the  latter  was  dodging 
the  American  troops — and  for  much  the  same  reason.  Fearing  to  remain  in 
Philadelphia  after  the  defeat  on  Long  Island,  Congress  went  to  Baltimore  and 
voted  George  Washington  dictatorial  power  for  six  months.  Congress  returned 
to  Philadelphia  two  months  later,  February  27,  1777.  Lancaster  and  York  got 
their  sessions  after  the  defeat  of  Brandywine,  Congress  again  retreating. 

Nine  months  the  lawmakers  remained  in  York;  the  news  of  Burgoyne's 


268  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

surrender  was  received  there.  Then  six  months  in  New  York  and  another  term 
in  Philadelphia.  Menaced  by  unpaid  ti-oops,  Congress  went  over  to  New  Jer- 
sey. Sessions  were  held  in  Princeton  College  library.  Annapolis  next,  where 
General  Washington  resigned  his  commission.  Trenton  had  a  trial  then,  with 
Henry  Lee  as  president.    Here  Lafayette  took  leave  of  his  American  allies. 

GENERALS  OF  THE  ARMY. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  following  facts  have 
been  obtained,  showing  the  Generals  who  have  commanded  the  army  from  1775, 
with  dates  of  command,  to  the  present  time : 

Major  General  George  Washington,  June  15,  1775,  to  December  23,  1783 ; 
Major  General  Henry  Knox,  December  23,  1783,  to  June  20,  1784;  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Josiah  Harmer  General-in-Chief  by  brevet,  September,  1788,  to  March 
4,  1791;  Major  Arthur  St.  Clair,  March  4,  1791,  to  March  4,  1792;  Major  Gen- 
eral Anthony  Wayne,  April  11,  1792,  to  December  15,  1796, 

to  July  3,  1798 ;  Lieutenant  General  George  Washington, 

July  3,  1798,  to  his  death,  December  14,  1799 ;  Major  General  James  Wilkin- 
son, June,  1800,  to  January  27,  1812;  Major  General  Henry  Dearborn,  January 
27,  1812,  to  June,  1815;  Major  General  Jacob  Brown,  June,  1815,  to  February 
21,  1828;  Major  General  Alexander  McComb,  May  24,  1828,  to  June  18,  1841; 
Major  General  Winfield  Scott,  (brevet  Lieutenant  General)  June,  1841,  to  No- 
vember 1,  1861;  Major  General  George  B.  McClellan,  November  1,  1861,  to 
March  11,  1862;  Major  General  Henry  W.  Halleck,  July  11,  1862,  to  March  12, 
1864;  Lieutenant  General  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant,  March  12,  1864,  to  July  25, 
1866,  and  as  general  to  March  4,  1869:  General  William  T.  Sherman,  March  4, 
3869,  to  November  1,  1883;  Lieutenant  General  Philip  Sheridan,  November  1, 
1883,  to  August  5,  1888;  Lieutenant  General  J.  M.  Schofield,  August  14,  1888, 
to  September  29,  1895;  Major  General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  October  5,  1S95,  to 
March,  1901,  and  as  lieutenant  General  to  1903;  S.  B.  M.  Young,  Chief  of 
Staff,  1903;  H.  C.  Corbin,  Chief  of  Staff,  1906;  Arthur  McArthur.  Senior  Gen- 
eral,  1906-1909;  J.  Frank  Bell,  Lieutenant  General  and  Chief  of  Staff,  1909- 
1910;  Leonard  Wood,  Major  General,  1910-1914;  Hugh  L.  Scott,  Major  Gen- 
eral,    1914. 

PRESIDENTS  AVHO  HAVE  DIED  IN  OFFICE. 

William  Henry  Harrison  died  at  12:30  A.  M.,  April  4,  1841,  of  a  disease 
of  the  lungs  and  liver. 

Zachary  Taylor  died  at  10:30  P.  M.,  Sunday,  July  9,  1850,  at  the  White 
House,  of  cholera  morbus. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  assassinated  by  J.  Wilkes  Booth,  at  10:30  P.  M., 
April  14,  1865,  while  at  Ford's  Theater,  on  10th  street,  witnessing  the  per- 
formance of  "Our  American  Cousin."  He  was  carried  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Pe- 
terson, 516  10th  street,  where  he  died  at  7:22  A.  M.,  April  15,  1865 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  269 

James  A.  Garfield  was  assassinated  by  Charles  J.  Guiteau  at  9:30  A.  M., 
July  2,  1881,  while  passing  through  the  Baltimore  and  Potomac  depot  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  to  take  the  train,  for  Long  Branch.  He  lived  for  eighty  days, 
suffering  intensely  most  of  the  time,  and  died  at  Elberon,  New  Jersey,  Monday. 
September  19,  1881,  at  10 :35  P.  M.,  and  was  buried  at  Lake  View  Cemetery, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

William  McKinley  was  assassinated  by  Leon  Czolgosz  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Sep- 
tember 8,  1901,  and  died  September  14,  1901.    He  was  buried  at  Canton,  Ohio. 

WHERE  THE  PRESIDENTS  ARE  BURIED. 

The.  body  of  George  Washington  is  resting  in  a  brick  vault  at  Mount  Ver- 
non, in  a  marble  coffin. 

John  Adams  was  buried  in  a  vault  beneath  the  Unitarian  church  at  Quincy. 
The  tomb  is  walled  in  with  large  blocks  of  rough-faced  granite. 

John  Quincy  Adams  lies  in  the  same  vault  by  the  side  of  his  father.  In 
the  church  above,  on  either  side  of  the  pulpit,  are  tablets  of  clouded  marble, 
each  surmounted  by  a  bust,  and  inscribed  with  the  familiar  epitaphs,  of  the  only 
father  and  son  that  ever  held  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  American 
people. 

Thomas  Jefferson  lies  in  a  small,  unpretentious  private  cemetery  of  one 
hundred  feet  square,  at  Monticello,  Va. 

James  Madison's  remains  rest  in  a  beautiful  spot  on  the  old  Madison  estate, 
near  Orange,  Va. 

James  Monroe's  body  reposes  in  Hollywood  cemetery,  Va.,  on  an  eminence 
commanding  a  beautiful  view  of  Richmond  and  the  James  river.  Above  the 
body  is  a  huge  block  of  polished  Virginia  marble,  supporting  a  coffin-shaped 
block  of  granite,  on  which  are  brass  plates,  suitably  inscribed.  The  whole  is 
surrounded  by  a  sort  of  gotbic  temple — four  pillars  supporting  a  peaked  roof, 
to  which  something  of  the  appearance  of  a  bird  cage  is  imparted  by  filling  in 
the  interstices  with  iron  gratings. 

Andrew  Jackson  was  buried  in  the  corner  of  the  garden  of:  the  Hermitage, 
eleven  miles  from  Nashville.  The  tomb  is  about  18  feet  in  dameter,  surrounded 
by  fluted  columns  and  surmounted  by  an  urn.  The  tomb  is  surrounded  by  mag- 
nolia trees. 

Martin  Van  Buren  was  buried  at  Kinder  hook.  The  monument  is  a  plain 
granite  shaft  15  feet  high. 

John  Tyler's  body  rests  within  ten  yeards  of  that  of  James  Monroe,  in 
Hollywood  cemetery,  Richmond.  It  is  marked  by  no  monument,  but  is  sur- 
rounded by  magnolias  and  flowers. 

James  K.  Polk  lies  in  the  private  garden  of  the  family,  in  Nashville.  .It  is 
marked  by  a  limestone  monument,  with  Doric  columns. 

Zachary  Taylor  was  buried  in  Cave  Hill  cemetery,  Louisville.  The  body 
was  subsequently  to  be  removed  to  Frankfort,  where  a  suitable  monument  was 
to  be  erected,  commemorative  of  his  distinguished  service. 


270  SUTTON'S     HISTOHY. 

Millard  Fillmore's  remains  lie  in  the  beautiful  Forest  Lawn  cemetery,  of 
Buffalo,  and  his  grave  is  surmounted  by  a  lofty  shaft  of  Scotch  granite. 

Franklin  Pierce  Avas  buried  in  the  Concord,  N.  H.,  cemetery,  and  his  grave 
is  marked  by  a  marble  monument. 

James  Buchanan's  remains  lie  in  the  Woodward  Hill  cemetery,  at  Lancas- 
ter, Pa.,  in  a  vault  of  masonry.  The  monument  is  composed  of  a  single,  block 
of  Italian  marble. 

Abraham  Lincoln  rests  in  the  Oak  Eidge  cemetery,  Springfield,  111.,  en- 
closed in  a  sercophagus  of  white  marble.  The  monument  is  a  great  pile  of  mar- 
ble, granite  and  bronze. 

Andrew  Jonhson's  grave  is  on  a  cone-shaped  eminence,  half  a  mile  from 
Greenville,  Tenn.    The  monument  is  of  marble  beautifully  ornamented. 

The  body  of  James  A.  Garfield  has  been  placed  in  a  tomb  at  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Grover  Cleveland  was  buried  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE. 

We  owe  it  to  candor  and  to  the  amicable  relations  existing  between  the 
United  States  and  the  allied  powers,  to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any  at- 
tempt on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere 
as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  colonies  or  dependen- 
cies of  any  European  power,  we  have  not  interf erred,  and  shall  not  interfere; 
but  with  the  governments  which  have  declared  their  independence  and  main- 
tained it,  and  whose  independence  we  have  on  great  consideration  and  just 
principles,  acknowledged,  we  could  not  view  an  interposition  for  oppressing 
them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their  destiny  by  any  European 
power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition 
toward  the  United  States. 

PRESIDENT  JAMES  MONROE, 
In  his  message  to  Congress  in  1823. 

AN  EMANCIPATION  PAPER. 

(A  form  sometimes  used  in  the  days  of  slavery.) 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  A B , 

of  the  County  of ,  and  State  of  Virginia,  being  the  owner  and 

possessor  of  a  negro  man  named  C (Otherwise  C D ), 

for  divers  causes  and  consideration  to  me  thereunton  moving,  do  and  by  these 

presents  do  forever  quit  claim  to  said  negro  C ,  who  is  hereby  forever 

set  free  and  emancipated  by  me,  or  my  heirs  or  assigns,  over  the  person  and 

property  of  the  said  C ....,  and  he  is  hereby  declared  by  me  (so  far  as  in 

my  power  to  do)  as  free  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  if  born  free.     In  tes- 
timony whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  kand  and  seal  this day  of , 

1825. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  271 

THE  SEVENTEEN  YEAR  LOCUST. 

Bulletin  No.  68  issued  in  September,  1900,  from  the  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment station  of  the  State  University  at  Morgantown,  by  Professor  A.  D.  Hop- 
kins, gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  Cicada  or  Seventeen  year  locust,  which 
appears  in  swarms  of  countless  numbers  throughout  the  State.  They  do  not  ap- 
pear at  the  same  time  generally  over  the  State,  but  by  district  or  certain  boun- 
daries in  different  years,  but  the  swarms  appear  in  each  district  always  seven- 
teen years  apart. 

In  the  District  in  which  Harrison  County  is  included,  the  swarm  appears 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  month  of  May. 

They  emerge  from  the  ground  in  appearance  like  an  uncouth  worm,  in  the 
evening,  usually  between  sundown  and  ten  o'clock  and  proceed  to  the  nearest 
upright  object,  which  may  be  a  tree,  fence,  post,  weed  or  the  side  of  a  house, 
anything  upon  which  they  can  climb  and  expose  their  bodies  to  the  open  air.  In 
about  an  hour  after  emerging,  the  skin  on  the  back  splits  open  and  the  adult 
insect  works  its  way  out. 

The  wings,  which  are  short  and  soft  at  first,  rapidly  develop,  the  body  wings 
and  legs  harden  and  by  the  following  day  it  is  ready  to  take  its  flight  and  enter 
upon  its  short  aerial  life  of  about  thirty  days. 

The  males  sing  almost  constantly  and  owing  to  their  numbers  with  their 
shrill  piping  voices,  make  a  deafening  uproar. 

Each  female  deposits  from  three  to  five  hundred  eggs  in  numerous  ragged 
punctures,  made  by  her  powerful  ovipositors  in  the  twigs  of  shrubs  and  trees. 
These  eggs  hatch  in  about  six  or  eight  weeks  from  the  time  they  are  deposited, 
and  the  young  cicada  larvae,  emerges  from  the  twigs  and  fall  to  the  ground, 
burrow  beneath  the  surface,  and  enter  upon  their  long  residence  of  seventeen 
years. 

The  following  letter  written  to  the  University  gives  record  of  102  years 
of  the  coming  of  the  Cicada : 

Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  January  18,  1898. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  14th  inst.,  asking  for  such  information  as 
I  can  furnish  in  regard  to  the  periodical  Cicada  generally  known  as  the  Seven- 
teen Year  Locust. 

May  15,  1795 ;  May  25,  1812 ;  May  25,  1829 ;  May  14,  1846 ;  May  25,  1863 ; 
May  17,  1880 ;  May  21,  1S97. 

The  first  two  dates,  I  procured  from  my  father,  the  others  are  the  result 
of  my  own  observations.  I  was  three  years  and  three  months  of  age  when  the 
Cicada  appeared  in  1812,  but  I  do  not  recollect  that  I  saw  them. 

The  date  of  their  first  appearance  is  influenced  somewhat  by  the  weather 
and  the  temperature.  In  1897,  it  was  cold  about  the  22nd  of  May,  and  many  of 
them  perished.  They  continued  to  come  up  for  about  two  weeks  this  year,  and 
by  the  21st  of  June  seemed  to  have  disappeared  in  this  neighborhood. 

I  have  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  this  locust  district,  but  have 


272  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

made  poor  progress.  I  am  informed  that  they  did  not  appear  at  Charleston, 
but  were  numerous  in  Nicholas  County.  They  appeared  in  Meig's  County, 
Ohio.  I  suppose  in  this  State  that  the  district  does  not  extend  to  the  Great  Ka- 
nawha River,  and  is  bounded  by  an  irregular  line  North  of  that  river.  It  is 
said  that  they  appeared  in  Grant  County  of  this  State.  I  had  previously  sup- 
posed that  this  district  did  not  extend  east  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  It  ex- 
tends quite  extensively  into  the  State  of  Ohio. 

As  to  Pennsylvania,  I  have  no  information  in  regard  to  the  Cicada.  All 
the  harm  this  insect  is  properly  chargeable  with,  is  in  puncturing  the  small 
branches  of  trees  with  their  ovipositors  to  lay  their  eggs  for  the  next  brood  in 
1914.    They  do  not  eat  anything  and  the  males  do  the  singing. 

In  old  times,  there  was  a  superstition  that  sometimes  the  Cicada  had  the 
letters  P  and  W  on  their  wings  indicating  Peace  and  War,  but  I  find  the  same 
character  appear  on  the  wings  every  year,  generally  resembling  the  letter  "N. " 

I  regret  that  I  cannot  furnish  you  with  more  valuable  information,  but 
such  as  it  is,  I  furnish  it  cheerfully. 

Very  respectfully, 

LUTHER  RAYMOND. 


We  were  but  two  years  of  age  when  the  Locust  of  1846  appeared,  but  we 
very  distinctly  remember  the  Locust  years  of  May  25,  1863,  May  17,  1880,  May 
27,  1897,  and  May  25,  1914.— The  Author. 

GOING  TO  MILL. 

Mrs.  Sallie  Sutton  Stump,  mother  of  Rev.  Dr.  John  S.  Stump,  of  the 
Baptist  church,  recently  related  an  experience  of  her  girlhood  days,  and  told 
of  her  fear  of  passing  a  graveyard.  She  said  that  she  often  went  to  the  old 
Adam  Gillespie  mill  on  horseback.  The  path  led  from  her  home  on  Granny's 
creek  over  the  hill  by  the  Bowlinggreen,  and  down  a  branch  of  Flat-woods  run 
to  the  Elk  river.  There  were  but  few  improvements 'along  the  way.  By  the 
side  of  the  path  on  the  old  William  Bell  place,  was  a  graveyard.  Sometimes 
she  was  delayed  in  getting  her  grinding,  and  it  would  be  dusk  before  she  would 
pass  that  point.  She  would  make  eveiy  effort  to  pass  the  graveyard  before  the 
shades  of  evening  fell  upon  that  lonely  spot. 

Cabin  standing  at  Hominy  Falls,  Nicholas  county,  built  in  1855,  and  oc- 
cupied as  storehouse  for  many  years  on  the  road  from  Summersvillc  to  Gauley. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


273 


STORE  HOUSE  ON  WILDERNESS 
ROAD,   NICHOLAS   COUNTY 


It  was  the  oldest  or  first  store  kept  in  that 
community. 

Early  in  the  forties,  there  was  quite  .1 
delegation  of  emigrants  from  Braxton 
county  to  Illinois.  Among  the  number  was 
Michael  and  James  Gibson,  Charles  Byrne, 
George  Peter,  Win.  and  Chauncy  Lough, 
Tramel  Gillespie,  Andy,  Charles,  Samuel 
and  Balard  Wyatt,  Chapman  Gibson,  An- 
drew Murphy,  and  others  whose  names  we 
do  not  have. 

Later  on,  about  the  year  1857,  another 
delegation  went  west,  locating  principally 
in  the  state  of  Kansas.  Among  this  num- 
ber was  Robert  and  Washington  Given, 

Duffield,  Benjamin  Enos,  John  Roberts, 
Frank,  Scott,  Tunis  and  Call  Davis,  Joseph 
Huffman,  John  Raner  and  possiblly  some 
others. 

These  people  moved  from  Sutton  to 
Charleston  in  flatboats,  carrying  their  pro- 
visions with  them.     They  have  numerous 
descendants  now  scattered  through  the  western  states. 

It  is  said  that  Steward  Donalme,  John  Sands  and  Rob  Thoma,s  Olden  of 
Pocahontas  county,  ran  off  and  came  to  the  mountain  between  the  Elk  and  the 
Holly.  They  were  the  first  settlers  to  make  an  improvement  on  the  mountain. 
They  planted  a  peach  orchard  which  grew  there,  the  fruit  of  which  became 
noted  for  its  fine  flavor.  They  were  afterwards  taken  back  to  Pocahontas  county, 
tried  for  the  crime  of  robbery  and  sent  to  prison  for  a  term  of  years.  After- 
wards, John  Hoover  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia  settled  at  that  place.  He  was 
the  father  of  John  and  Paul  Hoover,  and  the  mountain  went  by  the  name  of 
Hoover  for  many  years.  It  has  since  gone  by  the  name  of  Ware  Mountain. 
There  are  several  families  of  that  name  living  there.  The  locality  is  noted  for 
its  production  of  fine  fruit,  and  it  is  said  that  at  one  time  rattlesnakes  abounded 
there  in  great  numbers. 

John  G.  Morrison  went  south  during  the  Civil  war,  looking  for  his  father's 
horses  which  some  bush  whackers  had  taken  and  disposed  of  in  Pocahontas 
county.  He  recovered  his  horses,  and  traded  one  of  them  to  Isaac  Mann  Avho 
lived  on  the  head  of  Anthony's  creek,  taking  as  part  payment  a  Waltham 
watch,  No.  30,164.  Morrison  is  still  carrying  the  watch,  and  values  it  very 
highly. 

In  August,  1875,  there  came  a  tide  in  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  and  as 
Captain  Burns  was  running  some  flatboats  down  the  river,  his  rivermen  struck 
slack  water  four  or  five  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Leading  creek.    They  ran  on 


274  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

for  some  distance  and  tied  up  in  an  orchard.  They  then  discovered  that  Lead- 
ing creek  had  a  rise  of  twenty-four  feet  and  six  inches  of  plumb  water  which 
was  flowing  across  the  Little  Kanawha  like  a  milltail,  dashing  its  turbulent  wa- 
ters against  the  opposite  shore.  As  the  tide  receded,  the  boatmen  loosened  their 
crafts,  got  them  in  the  channel  of  the  river  and  went  on  their  way.  Jeremiah 
Gillespie  was  one  of  the  boat's  crew,  and  related  this  circumstance  to  the  author., 

What  might  seem  remarkable  in  the  preservation  of  sweet  potatoes  is  shown 
by  the  following  story  related  by  Mrs.  Sallie  Stump  of  Gilmer  county:  One 
spring,  in  taking  her  sweet  potatoes  out  of  the  box  in  which  they  had  been  kept 
during  the  winter,  she  overlooked  one.  In  the  fall  when  she  went  to  put  away 
her  seed  for  the  coming  spring,  she  found  the  potato  and  placed  it  back  in  the 
box  with  the  new  seed  potatoes.  It  saved  over  another  winter,  was  planted  in  a 
hotbed  the  following  spring,  and  grew. 

About  1888,  a  party  of  men,  supposing  that  the  MeAnany  family  had  a 
large  amount  of  money  and  other  valuables,  attempted  to  rob  them,  the  attempt 
being  made  after  the  family  had  gone  to  bed.  The  family  was  composed  of 
Michael  MeAnany  and  his  two  sisters,  Mary  and  Ann,  also  John  Smith,  an  old 
man  who  was  making  his  home  with  the  family.  Michael  slept  in  the  back  room 
downstairs,  and  being  a  strong  and  ambitious  man  attempted  to  fight  the  rob- 
bers. They  shot  a  time  or  two  at  him,  one  ball  striking  the  bedstead.  One  of 
the  women  got  out  and  ran  down  to  John  Young's  who  lived  close  by,  for  as- 
sistance. Young  grabbed  his  gun,  took  a  colored  man  named  Carrington  with 
him,  and  started  on  the  run.  Carrington  who  was  unarmed,  kept  saying  to 
Young,  "Don't  go  so  fast,  Mr.  Young."  Young  was  a  fearless  man  who  had 
seen  service  in  the  Civil  war  and  was  anxious  to  relieve  his  neighbor  and  get 
a  shot  at  the  robbers.  They  were  gone  however  before  he  arrived,  and  they  had 
succeeded  in  getting  some  jewelry  and  about  two  hundrd  dollars  in  money. 
John  Glenn,  Bose  Wine  and  another  man  Avere  indicted  for  this  robbery.  Glenn 
and  Wine  were  tried,  convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

The  early  frontiersmen,  being  exposed  to  danger  and  having  to  rely  upon 
their  wits,  studying  the  nature  and  habits  of  wild  animals,  became  as  shrewd 
in  their  examination  of  tilings  that  came  under  their  observation  as  a  modem 
detective.  A  company  of  hunters  on  one  of  the  streams  emptying  into  the  Elk 
river,  came  to  a  camp  which  had  recently  been  abandoned.  They  examined  the 
camp  and  ascertained  that  there  had  been  three  men  and  a  dog  there,  and  also 
that  two  of  the  men  had  ordinary  rifles  and  one  a  gun  with  a  short  barrel;  also 
that  the  dog  was  small  and  had  a  stump  tail.  They  examined  the  tree  against 
which  the  hunters  had  leaned  their  guns,  and  ascertained  their  lengths  by  meas- 
uring the  distance  between  the  impressions  made  in  the  ground  by  the  stocks 
of  the  guns,  and  the  places  where  their  muzzles  had  rubbed  the  bark  on  the 
tree.  They  saw  from  where  the  dog  sat  in  the  snow,  leaving  his  imprint  as 
perfect  as  if  a  modern  dentist  had  taken  an  impression  for  a  new  tail,  that  the 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  275 

dog  "had  lost  part  of  that  member  with  which  he  so  often  indicates  his  friend- 
ship for  man. 

In  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  there  was  a  colony  on  the  West 
fork  of  the  Little  Kanawha  composed  of  Cottrils,  McCunes  and  perhaps  some 
other  families  who  were  noted  for  their  native  shrewdness  and  their  repeated 
violations  of  the  law.  In  felony  cases,  they  have  been  known  to  hold  moot 
courts  in  which  they  would  go  through  the  whole  case  with  as  much  skill  as  is 
often  displayed  by  the  legal  profession  at  the  bar.  They  would  introduce  their 
evidence,  and  see  that  there  Avas  no  conflict  in  the  testimony.  Each  witness 
knew  what  the  others  were  expected  to  state,  and  each  one  was  to  corroborate 
the  testimony  of  the  other,  thus,  it  was  seldom  that  the  law  made  a  conviction 
out  of  the  numerous  violations  committed.  In  the  days  when  men  were  put  in 
jail  for  debt,  Felix  Sutton  who  was  Sheriff,  had  a  capias  for  a  man  named 
Murphy  who  lived  on  the  West  Fork.  Going  to  Murphy's  house  one  day  to 
make  the  arrest,  Murphy  ran  around  the  table  and  prevented  the  Sheriff  from, 
placing  his  hand  on  him,  without  which  there  was  no  arrest,  and  no  violation 
for  resisting  an  officer.  Murphy  sueceecleed  in  keeping  the  table  between  him 
and  the  Sheriff,  and  dinner  being  on  the  table,  both  finally  sat  down  and  ate 
dinner,  after  which  Murphy  made  his  escape.  Nearly  fifty  years  after  this 
occurrence  Mrs.  Murphy,  then  a  very  elderly  lady,  related  the  circumstances 
to  the  author  and  spoke  of  it  as  one  of  the  very  remarkable  and  amusing  occur- 
rences that  had  taken  place  in  the  early  history  of  the  country.  Mrs.  Murphy 
recently  died  having  lived  to  be  110  years  of  age. 

"Old  Pioneer"  Jack  Cottrill  who  lived  on  the  headwaters  of  the  West 
Fork,  was  one  of  the  noted  characters  of  that  region.  The  Cottrills,  it  is  said, 
had  Indian  blood  in  their  veins.  Jack  lived  a  typical  wild,  rural  life.  He  was 
a  hunter,  a  seng-digger,  lived  in  the  woods,  followed  bee  hunting,  roamed 
the  mountains,  crossed  every  low  gap,  followed  every  hog  trail,  fiddled  and 
danced  in  every  cabin,  but  never  laid  \ip  any  store  ahead.  The  writer  stayed 
over  night  many  years  ago  at  a  Mr.  Chenoweth's  who  kept  a  store  near  Jack's 
cabin,  and  early  the  following  morning  Jack's  wife  came  to  the  store  with  a 
little  launch  of  ginseng  roots  which  they  had  dug  the  day  before,  and  said  she 
had  stayed  up  nearly  all  night  drying  the  ginseng,  getting  it  ready  for  market 
early  the  next  morning.  They  had  no  meal,  she  said,  and  would  have  no  break- 
fast until  she  returned.  Old  Jack  told  the  merchant  one  day  that  as  soon  as 
"the  blessed  root  began  to  blossom"  he  would  have  plenty  of  ginseng,  and  his 
summer's  living  would  be  assured.  Such  was  the  wild  and  savage-like  state 
of  a  few  neighborhoods  in  central  West  Virginia  as  late  as  thirty-five  or  forty 
years  ago. 

The  cabins  in  which  the  great  majority  of  the  people  lived  were  built  like 
the  early  schoolhouses,  except  they  did  not  have  as  much  space  left  to  admit 
light.  An  ordinary  dwelling  or  log  cabin  was*  usually  about  16  x  20  feet,  made 
of  round  or  split  logs,  covered  with  clapboards,  had  a  puncheon  floor,  and  but 
one  door.     The  chimnej''  was  built  to  the  mantel,  the  material  used  being  loose 


276  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

rocks  and  mortar,  and  was  either  left  open  or  built  out  with  "cat  and  clay," 
being  small  flat  strips  split  out  and  cut  the  length  required  for  the  stem  of  the 
chimney.  These  were  laid  up  in  mortar  and  plastered  on  the  inside  with  the 
same  material,  answering  a  very  good  purpose  for  a  time,  but  never  safe  from 
fire.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  the  people  were  very  fond  of  danc- 
ing. Usually  they  danced  the  single  reel  or  "hoedown."  The  music  was  very 
fine,  some  of  the  old  pioneers  being  hard  to  excel  on  the  violin.  The  dances 
were  usually  held  where  there  was  the  most  room  and  in  cabins  having  the 
smoothest  floors.  Some  of  the  puncheon  floors  were  very  uneven  and  rough. 
It  was  related  to  the  author  that,  on,  one  occasion  where  they  were  having  a 
dance,  there  was  a  man  present  who  had  been  very  fond  of  dancing,  but  who 
had  recently  made  a  profession  of  religion  and  refused  to  engage  in  the  dance. 
He  was  sitting  in  the  chimney  corner  listening  to  the  music,  and  after  awhile 
he  began  patting  his  foot.  This  he  kept  up  for  a  while,  and  as  the  merriment 
of  the  occasion  went  on  and  the  music  rang  out  in  the  still  hours  of  the  night, 
he  jumped  out  on  the  floor  and  began  to  dance.  Doubtless  the  man  had  been 
sincere,  but  he  made  two  mistakes.  Tn  the  first  place,  we  are  commanded  to 
avoid  the  appearance  of  evil.  This  injunction  he  disobeyed  by  lending  his 
presence.  In  the  second  place,  if  occasion  called  for  his  presence  there  he 
should  have  kept  his  foot  still.  This,  through  grace,  he  might  have  done.  The 
early  settlers  had  but  little  recreation.  They  had  endured  great  privations 
and  dangers,  and  their  coming  together  under  most  any  circumstances  was  to 
them  a  source  of  great  pleasure.  More  recently,  a  lady  asked  a  Methodist 
Bishop  whether  he  considered  it  any  harm  for  a  Christian  to  dance.  The  bishop 
said  he  didn't  know  that  it  was,  but  that  a  Christian  did  not  want  to  dance. 

Note:  A  Christian  under  the  influence  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
knowledge  of  his  acceptance  with  God  must  possess  a  joy  that  can  not  be  har- 
monized by  placing  himself  tinder  the  influence  of  and  his  body  subject  to 
emotional  music  without  doing  violence  to  his  profession. — The  Author. 

We  remember  when  quite  a  boy  of  seeing  some  wild  turkeys  fly  out  of  a 
wheat  field  for  some  distance,  and  alight  in  a  meadow  near  a  high  rail  fence. 
The  timothy  grass  was  waist-high  to  a  man.  We  conceived  the  idea  of  capturing 
a  wild  turkey  alive  and  proceeded  to  come  up,  concealed  by  the  high  grass, 
keeping  the  turkey  between  us  and  the  fence;  and,  as  luck  would  have  it  (it 
must  have  been  luck  for  no  feat  of  the  kind  as  we  then  thought  had  ever  been 
accomplished  before),  we  succeeded  in  getting  close  to  a  large  turkey  hen,  and 
as  we  made  a  dart  for  the  game  she  rose  out  of  the  grass  and  started  to  fly,  but 
was  too  close  to  the  fence  and  struck  the  top  rail.  We  grabbed  her  and  then 
we  had  a  tussle  in  the  high  grass,  but  we  held  her  and  well  remember  the  little 
stringy,  blue  home-made  suspenders  that  we  wore  and  succeeded  in  getting 
them  off  without  entirely  losing  our  pantaloons  and  using  them  to  tie  the  tur- 
key's wings  and  feet  and  carried  her  home  in  triumph.  We  tried  to  keep  the 
turkey  alive,  but  she  refused  to  eat  and  pined  away  and  died. 

About  the  year  1853,  a  stone  cutter  named  John  Spinks,  from  Nicholas 


SUTTON'SHISTORY.  277 

county,  came  to  Braxton  and  made  the  first  tombstones  that  were  put  up  in 
the  county  as  far  as  we  have  any  knowledge.  He  used  a  fiat  rock  gotten  out  on 
the  land  of  Craven  Berry  on  Berry  fork  of  Salt  Lick  creek.  The  same  stone  was 
sometimes  used  for  grindstones.  Mr.  Spinks  did  very  good  work.  His  lettering 
was  very  plain.  He  had  a  uniform  price  of  ten  dollars.  After  a  period  of 
sixty  years  or  more,  these  stones  show  but  little  sign  of  disintegration.  About 
this  time,  a  Mr.  McCoy,  from  the  same  county,  passed  through  the  country 
making  and  hanging  gates.  This  work  he  did  by  hand.  He  went  to  the  woods 
and  split  his  lumber  and  posts  out  of  white  oak.  He  dressed  his  materials  with 
an  axe  and  drawing  knife.  The  gate  was  mortised  together,  and  the  posts 
were  hewn  out  about  ten  inches  square,  made  very  high  and  a  fancy  notch  cut 
at  the  top.  These  gates  were  very  strong  and  lasted  for  a  great  many  years. 
His  price  was  three  dollars  a  gate. 

Lewis  Knight  made  and  erected  draw  bars.  He  mortised  his  posts,  mak- 
ing posts  and  bars  out  of  white  oak.  The  posts  were  made  high  with  tenant's 
initial  cut  at  the  top,  then  a  piece  of  mortised  timber  went  across  to  hold  the 
posts  in  position.  Each  bar  rail  was  numbered  and  placed  so  far  apart  and  the 
letters  L.  K.  cut  on  each  post. 

After  the  Eevolutionary  war,  it  is  said,  there  was  a  test  made  in  Paris, 
France,  of  close-shooting  guns,  and  the  American  squirrel  rifle,  which  shot  a 
patched  ball,  was  declared  to  be  the  most  accurate  shooting  gun  in  the  world. 
In  Braxton  county,  there  were  some  very  fine  gunsmiths.  We  remember  An- 
drew Boggs,  Israel  A.  Friend,  Wesley  Frame  and  others  who  made  a  great 
many  rifles.  They  were  fine  marksmen  and  would  test  the  guns  of  their  own 
make  and  those  which  they  would  repair  for  others.  We  have  known  marks- 
men who  could  bring  squirrels  from  the  tallest  forest  trees,  shooting  off-hand. 
On  one  occasion  James  Sutton's  boys  were  squirrel  hunting  and  Sylvester 
wagered  with  the  other  boys  that  he  could  cut  the  hair  on  a  squirrel's  head 
which  they  had  treed  without  killing  the  squirrel.  When  he  fired  the  squirrel 
seemed  greatly  frightened.  He  then  reloaded  his  rifle  and  killed  the  squirrel, 
and  on  examination  they  found  that  the  first  ball  had  grazed  the  hide  on  the 
squirrel's  head.  Sylvester  won  the  wager.  It  was  very  common  to  have  beef 
and  turkey  matches.  In  a  beef  match  there  were  six  chances — first  and  second, 
hind  quarter;  third  and  fourth,  fore  quarter;  fifth,  hide  and  tallow;  sixth,  the 
lead.  The  lead  was  saved  by  placing  the  mark  in  front  of  a  block  of  wood  or 
tree,  and  the  person  winning  the  last  chance  had  the  privilege  of  cutting  the 
lead  out.  It  often  required  a  close  shot  to  get  even  the  lead,  and  nothing  but 
a  shot  driving  a  plumb  center  would  scarcely  ever  get  a  quarter  of  beef  or  a 
live  turkey.  The  rule  was  to  shoot'  one  hundred  yards  with  a  rest,  or  sixty 
yards  off-hand. 

Sennett  Triplett  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  Elk  River  Valley. 
He  lived  in  Braxton  (now  Clay)  county.  Triplett  was  a  man  of  fine  intellect, 
well  educated  and  was  far  above  the  average  citizen  in  intelligence.     He  was 


278  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

very  plain  in  his  manners  and  dress.  Pie  was  fond  of  hunting  and  kept  a  pack 
of  well-trained  dogs.  Triplett  was  a  surveyor,  and  was  summoned  to  attend 
court  in  Nicholas  county  in  a  land  suit  of  considerable  importance.  When  he 
presented  himself  in  open  court  he  was  accompanied  by  his  gun  and  dogs,  and 
was  dressed  in  buckskin.  He  wore  moccasins  and  coonskin  cap  with  the  tail 
hanging  down  his  back.  He  had  on  the  rudest  kind  of  hunting  shirt,  girded  - 
around  his  loins  with  a  piece  of  leatherwood  bark,  and  it  is  said  that  when  he 
walked  into  the  -courthouse,  followed  by  his  dogs  and  set  his  gun  down  in  one 
corner  of  the  room  and  hung  the  shotpouch  on  the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  the  dogs 
all  lay  down  by  the  gun.  The  people  were  amused  and  somewhat  surprised 
to  see  such  an  outfit.  The  lawyers  thought  that  the  man  was  demented  and 
consequently  not  qualified  to  give  testimony,  and  the  side  against  whom  Trip- 
lett was  to  give  evidence  objected.  The  court  said  they  could  question  the 
witness  as  to  his  sanity,  and' the  lawyer  thereupon  asked  him  who  made  him. 
Triplett  replied,  "I  reckon  Moses  did."  Triplett  then  said  to  the  lawyer,  "Who 
made  you?"  The  lawyer  said,  "I  suppose  Aaron  did."  Triplett,  being  well 
versed  in  Scripture,  said,  "I  have  read  in  the  Bible  where  Aaron  made  a  calf, 
but  I  didn't  know  that  the  darned  thing  was  bleating  around  yet."  Triplett 
gave  testimony. 

When  the  old  Superior  Courts  were  held  in  the  district,  a  majority  of  the 
lawyers  of  the  circuit  usually  gathered  at  the  county  seat  where  the  courts 
were  to  be  held.  It  sometimes  happened  then,  as  it  does  now,  that  strangers 
coming  to  a  town  were  exceptionally  smart  and  tried  to  display  it  at  the  ex- 
pense of  others.  It  happened  on  one  occasion  that  a  citizen  of  Braxton  attended 
a  court  held  in  a  neighboring  eounty  where  there  were  some  young  lawyers  at- 
tending court.  When  they  noticed  a  quiet  man  sitting  in  the  room  where  they 
were,  plainly  dressed  in  home-made  clothing,  they  thought  to  have  a  little  fun 
by  asking  him  some  foolish  questions.  He  answered  them  in  a  quiet  way.  When 
they  had  finished  he  started  a  conversation  with  them  on  a  different  subject 
He  took  an  invoice  of  their  general  information.  He  lead  them  back  to  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  inquired  about  the  rulers  and  conquerors  of  these  ancient  coun- 
tries. Then  he  asked  them  about  certain  fundamental  principles  of  law,  Eng- 
lish jurisprudence  and  so  forth.  When  he  had  explained  to  them  things  that 
they  did  not  know  and  asked  them  about  things  that  they  should  have  known, 
they  keenly  felt  their  humiliation,  and  when  they  had  opportunity  they  in- 
quired who  the  gentleman  was  to  whom  they  had  been  talking.  They  were  told 
that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  historians  of  Virginia,  a  man  of  superior  learn- 
ing and  exalted  character. 

It  is  related  that  Cato,  a  colored  ma.n,  who  belonged  to  John  D.  Sutton, 
brought  with  him  when  he  came  to  this  country,  a  little  poke  of  apple  seeds, 
which  he  planted  near  the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek,  about  where  the  B.  & 
0.  depot  now  stands.  From  this  little  nursery  were  started  the  first  orchards 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  Cato's  wife's  name  Avas  Milly.  They  lived  in  a 
cabin  near  the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek.     They  had  been  given  their  freedom. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  279 

They  were  honest  and  industrious  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  How  thoughtful 
in  this  old  colored  man  to  plant  in  a  wilderness  the  seeds  that  produce,  from 
generation  to  generation,  the  most  delicious  fruit,  and  thus  perpetuate  the 
names  of  Cato  and  Milly.  Mrs.  Naomi  S.  Young,  a  now  aged  lady,  has  in  her 
possession  the  old  broadhoe  with  which  Cato  and  Milly  cultivated  their  truck 
patch  and  little  nursery,  and  also  a  wooden  box  in  which  they  kept  their  little 
valuables.    Mrs.  Young  calls  it  the  "Milly  box." 

•   n  'f-m 

Some  historians  claim  that  Logan  and  Tecumseh  were  born  in  the  Hackers 
Creek  valley.  Hackers  creek  is  a  stream  of  considerable  size  traversing  a  rich 
and  beautiful  valley,  and  empties  into  the  West  Fork  river  near  where  the  his- 
toric Jackson  mills  are  located.  If  the  great  strategist  Stonewall  Jackson  was 
born  and  grew  to  manhood  near  these  waters,  and  if  the  historian  be  correct  that 
this  section  sent  forth  from  savagery  to  the  battlefield  such  splendid  warriors 
as  Logan,  the  white  man's  friend,  and  Tecumseh,  a  born  leader  of  men,  surely 
no  other  spot,  embracing  but  a  few  miles  of  territory,  can  claim  such  distinction 
of  honor  as  the  birthplace  of  these  renowned  warriors. 

MINNIE  BALL  FOUND  IN  THE  HEART  OF  A  DEER. 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  Arch  Hickman,  Fielding  McClung, 
Colonel  Ruffner,  of  Charleston,  Homer  A.  Holt,  John  G.  Morrison  and  John 
Shawver  went  deer  chasing  on  Rays  Knob  of  Little  Beaver,  in  Nicholas  county. 
Judge  Holt  had  no  gun  but  was  armed  with  a  Colt's  revolver.  The  parties 
stationed  themselves  at  the  different  points  at  which  the  game  might  pass.  It 
was  not  long  after  the  dogs  were  started  in  the  chase,  until  a  large  bu'ck  came 
by  Judge  Holt's  stand.  He  commenced  shooting  and  the  last  shot  from  his 
revolver  struck  the  butt  of  one  of  the  deer's  horns  and  knocked  it  clown.  The 
deer  sprang  up  and  before  it  gqt  out  of  gunshot  range  Fielding  McClung  killed 
it.  In  dressing  the  deer,  which  seemed  to  be  a  very  old  one,  they  discovered  an 
old  scar  in  its  side.  When  they  opened  the  deer  Colon!  Ruffner  discovered  a 
wound  in  the  point  of  its  heart,  and  lying  there  encased  in  the  interlining  was 
a  minnie  ball.  The  ball  was  not  battered,  and  evidently  had  been  a  spent  ball. 
It  was  said  that  Judge  Holt  was  so  animated  over  the  chase  and  over  his  success 
in  pistol  shooting  that  he  wanted  to  further  continue  the  chase. 

Charles  Perkins  had  a  little  saw  mill  about  two  miles  above  what  is  called 
the  Gulf  on  the  Elk,  and  something  like  ten  miles  above  the  old  Union  mill 
property.  Mr.  Perkins  built  a  flat  boat  and  loaded  it  with  walnut  lumber, 
and  when  the  tide  came,  he  "cut  it  loose,"  in  the  parlance  of  the  lumbermen. 
Acting  as  steersman,  and  with  his  bowhands,  he  dashed  down  the  turbulent, 
swollen  Elk.  He  was  twelve  miles  above  the  navigable  waters,  and  as  he  ap- 
proached the  head  of  the  island,  he  tried  to  hold  his  boat  to  the  right,  but  the 
heavy  current  drew  him  to  the  left,  amid  the  swirls  and  rocks.  Seeing  his 
condition,  and  being  powerless  to  control  his  craft,  as  well  as  frightened,  the 
dauntless  Charles  and  his  crew  leaped  into  the  water  and  swam  to  shore,  while 


280  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

his  boat  with  its  valuable  cargo  of  black  walnut  lumber  dashed  amid  the  swirls 
and  played  upon  the  seething,  maddened  waves,  coming  out  below  the  Gulf 
unharmed,  only  to  dash  on  without  a  steerman  to  direct,  its  course,  and  at  last 
plunged  against  an  island  below  which  rendered  it  (but  a  broken  mass.  Some 
of  the  heavy  boat  lumber  was  used  by  Isaac  Skidmorc  in  building  a  stable. 

HOOP  SKIRTS. 

About  the  year  1868  or  1870,  hoop  skirts  went  out  of  style,  same  having 
been  fashionable  sometime  in  the  50  's.  This  style  became  very  popular  and  was 
universally  adopted  by  all  classes.  No  lady  would  think  of  being  presentably 
dressed  without  a  hoop  skirt.  They  were  said  to  be  cool  and  pleasant,  and 
caused  a  wonderful  inflation  of  the  lower  garments.  They  were  made  of  the 
best  of  spring  steel  and  very  light.  They  enlarged  from  the  waist  to  the  bottom 
of  the  skirt.  The  hoops  were  placed  a  few  inches  apart,  and  were  held  in  place 
by  a  network  that  was  strong  and1  durable.  Each  steel  hoop  was 'covered  with 
cloth;  the  usual  price  of  a  good  class  of  hoops  being  about  $3.00.  They 
were  sometimes  inconvenient  in  time  of  wind  storms,  and  would  occasionally 
envelope  the  entire  upper  part  of  the  body.  The  fashion  was  very  popular  as 
well  as  stylish  and  becoming. 

Milton  Humphrey  relates  that  as  the  Confederates  were  making  a  retreat 
through  Gauly  county,  he  planted  a  battery  on  a  bill  near  a  farm  house,  and 
that  an  old  man,  a  little  girl  and  three  young  ladies  came  out.  At  the  same 
time,  the  Federals  were  planting  a  battery  on  another  hill.  Humphrey  told 
the  old  man  that  they  ought  to  get  out  of  the  way  as  they  were  going  to  be 
fired  on.  The  old  man  said  he  reckoned  not,  and  just  then  a  shell  burst  im- 
mediately over  them,  and  the  little  girl  began  to  scream.  The  old  man  picked 
her  up  and  ran  to  the  house,  but  Humphrey  noticed  as  he  picked  the  child  up 
that  her  white  garments  began  to  stain  with  blood.  The  three  young  ladies 
dressed  in  hoop  skirts  ran  to  reach  the  house,  and  became  lodged  in  the  doorway. 

Before  the  Civil  war,  it  was  very  common  for  the  men  to  comb  their  hair 
forward,  parting  it  behind,  wearing  a  roach  in  front,  wearing  the  hair  long, 
except  the  roach  which  was  combed  back  or  made  to  stand  up.  Following  that 
style,  the  hair  was  still  worn  long  and  combed  back  so  as  to  lay  back  of  the 
ears,  leaving  bare  the  temples.  It  was  much  easier  thus  to  keep  the  hair  in  po- 
sition. As  you  would  go  forward  or  face  the  wind,  it  naturally  fell  back. 
The  present  style  is  to  part  the  hair  on  one  side  of  the  forehead,  combing  it 
over  to  one  side,  and  it  is  also  worn  much  shorter.  A  few  young  men  part 
their  hair  in  the  middle;  this  style  is  neither  fashionable  nor  becoming,  but 
may  be  useful  in  keeping  the  head  balanced. 

A  SMALL  CHILD. 

The  smallest  child  born  in  the  state,  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  was 
Ruth  Avilla  Given,  daughter  of  E.  S.  Given,  of  Cedar  Creek,  Braxton  county. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  281 

Ruth  weighed  at  her  birth  a  little  lesr  than  two  pounds,  and  at  four  months 
her  weight  had  increased  to  six  pounds.  At  five,  months  she  had  gained  in 
weight  until  she  tipped  the  scales  at  seven  pounds.  Her  mother  died  when 
she  was  three  weeks  old  and  she  is  being  raised  on  Pratt's  food  and  is  being 
eared  for  by  her  aunt  and  sister,  who  say  that  when  Ruth  was  born  an  ordinary 
teacup  would  cover  her  head  and  neck  to  her  shoidders.  When  we  held  this 
little  one  on  our  lap  she  looked  up  with  an  intelligent  and  inquiring  gaze,  as 
much  as  to  say,  "Am  I  to  be  the  subject  of  a  historical  sketch?"  We  thought 
what  a  frail  human  bark  that  the  mildest  tempest  might  destroy.  How  insig- 
nificant and  helpless  to  enter  the  battle  of  life  when  the  seas  are  lashing  the 
shores  with  maddened  fury  and  the  strong  are  striving  for  the  mastery. 

SMALL  PEOPLE. 

Ezra  S.  Rexroad,  son  of  William  and  Sarah  J.  Curry  Rexroad..  is  per- 
haps the  smallest  man  that  West  Virginia  has  ever  produced.  Ezra  was  born 
in  time  of  the  Civil  war,  and  is  noM  fifty-three  years  of  age.  His  greatest 
weight  has  never  exceeded  sixty-five  pounds,  and  sixty  pounds  is  his  usual 
weight.  He  married  Elizabeth  McCray  who  tips  the  scales  at  one  hundred 
thirty  pounds,  or  a  little  more  than  double  the  weight  of  her  husband.  They 
own  a  good  farm  on  Fall  run  of  the  Little  Kanawha.  Mr.  Rexroad  is  an  expert 
teamster,  and  follows  teaming  and  fanning.     They  have  no  children. 

A  PROGRESSIVE  FAMILY. 

Wm.  M.  Campbell  who  married  a  Miss  Lockard,  beats  the  record.  Just 
nine  months  to  a  day  after  the  birth  of  one  of  her  children,  she  gave  birth  to 
a  set  of  twins. 

An  Englishman,  traveling  in  Virginia  in  its  early  settlement,  said  that  so 
rich  and  virgin  the  soil,  so  charming  the  atmosphere,  so  majestic  the  moun- 
tains and  lofty  the  forests,  that  every  hut  in  America  was  as  full  of  the  native 
offspring  as  the  birds'  nests  in  the  forests  were  of  young  birds.. 

Whilst  the  forests  and  the  cabins  are  gone,  we  still  have  the  mountains 
and  the  atmosphere,  and  what  was  true  of  the  cabin  is  true  of  the  more  modem 
dwelling. 

EARLY  AND  LATE  MARRIAGES. 

Henry  Rittenhouse  of  Lewis  county  in  his  eighty-second  year  married  for 
his  second  wife  a  Miss  Wilfong  of  Braxton  county.  She  was  about  thirty  years 
of  age.  There  were  two  children  born  to  this  union  who  are  now  about  grown. 
Mr.  Rittenhouse  died  in  his  eighty-eighth  year  after  a  long  and  busy  life,  leav- 
ing a  valuable  estate  to  be  divided  among  his  children. 

Abram  Reager  of  Upshur  county  in  his  eighty-first  year  married  the  wid- 
ow Hall. 

The  widow  Burk  married  for  her  third  husband  a  man  named  Mesenger. 
She  was  eighty-one  or  two  years  of  age. 


282  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Mary  Beamer  married  her  second  husband  in  her  seventy-third  year. 
i     a-  t 

Thomas  Colter,  a  minister  of  the  M.  P.  church,  and  for  many  years  a  won- 
derful pedestrian,  walked  from  his  home  on  Ben's  run  to  Richwood,  a  distance 
of  forty  miles  in  one  day,  carrying  forty  pounds  of  books,  and  at  another  time,  he 
carried  a  bushel  of  seed-corn  from  beyond  Gauley  river  to  his  home  in  this 
county,  an  equal  distance. 

SLAVE-HOLDERS. 

There  were  but  few  colored  people  in  this  county  at  any  time  prior  to  the 
emancipation.  The  following  list  will  show  the  names  of  those  who  owned 
slaves : 

Asa  Squires,  John  D.  Sutton,  Jackson  Singleton,  Dr.  John  L.  Rhea,  Wm. 
Bell,  C.  E.  Singleton,  James  M.  Corley,  William  Hutchison,  Elijah  Squires,  Ad- 
dison McLaughlin,  John  P.  Byrne,  Phillip  Duffy,  William  Morrison,  John  S. 
Camden,  William  Fisher,  P.  B.  Adams,  Samuel  Skidmore,  William  Haymond, 
John  C.  Taylor,  John  W.  White,  Benjamin  Conrad,  Daniel  Conrad,  John  Con- 
rad, Peter  Conrad,  B.  P.  Fisher  and  Uriah  Duffield.  William  Morrison  and 
Elijah  Squires  liberated  their  slaves. 

Braxton  county  has  had  but  few  coloi*ed  people  within  its  borders.  Wil- 
liam Bell  brought  a  family  of  slaves  to  Braxton  when  he  settled  here.  This 
family  has  been  noted  for  their  honesty,  piety  and  industry.  They  have  main- 
tained to  this  day  a  reputation  that  commands  respect  among  all  classes.  Mo- 
man  Rhea,  one  of  the  progressive  farmers  of  the  county,  has  accummulated  con- 
siderable property,  and  is  noted  for  his  acts  of  lundness.  He  is  one  of  the 
very  few  remaining  persons  of  the  county  who  was  brought  up  in  bondage. 

DANIEL  BOONE. 

Daniel  Boone,  son  of  Squire  Boone  and  grandson  of  George  Boone,  came 
from  England  in  1717,  and  settled  near  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  Quaker  and 
sought  the  colony  established  by  William  Penn.  Squire  Boone  settled  near 
Reading,  Pa.,  and  here  in  a  log  cabin,  Daniel  was  bora,  Nov.  2,  1734,  and  it  is 
said  that  at  the  age  of  twelve,  Daniel  was  the  owner  of  a  gun  and  was  a  marks- 
man of  great  skill,  and  when  he  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Linville  creek  near  Harrisonburg,  Va.  It  is  said  that  settlers  from 
Pennsylvania  were  buying  choice  lands  in  that  neighborhood  at  ten  cents  an 
acre.  At  or  about  this  time,  John  Lincoln,  grandfather  of  the  President,  was 
living  there.  The  Boones  went  to  North  Carolina  in  1757,  and  before  Daniel 
Boone  was  twenty  years  old  he  became  a  soldier  and  in  1754  marched  to  Win- 
chester, Va.  He  was  a  teamster  and  blacksmith  in  the  Braddock  expedition, 
and  escaped  the  disaster  there,  by  mounting  a  horse. 

He  was  married  in  1756  to  a  Miss  Biyaiit  with  whom  he  lived  for  57  years. 
About  1769,  Boone,  with  some  other  companions,  went  to  the  wilds  of  Ken- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  283 

tucky  to  hunt  game.  In  1774,  Boone  was  commissioned  a  captain  of  militia  by 
Governer  Dunsmore  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  settlers. 

Boone  established  on  the  6th  of  April,  1775,  the  settlement  of  Boonesbor- 
ough.  In  1777,  he  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  in  1780,  he  was  'Colonel  of 
Militia.     He  was  three  times  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 

During  14  years,  Boone  was  a  resident  of  West  Virginia.  He  lived  in 
Kanawha  County,  and  was  in  1789,  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Militia,  and  repre- 
sented Kanawha  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  and  was  Deputy  Surveyor.  He 
went  to  Missouri,  and  when  past  eighty  years  of  age,  he  visited  the  prairies  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  roaming  nigh  to  the  foot  of  the  Rockies. 

His  last  days  were  serene,  and  he  was  taken  care  of  by  his  grandchildren. 
He  died  September  26,  1820,  without  illness,  at  the  age  of  about  86.  At  that 
time  Missouri  was  about  to  become  a  state,  and  the  Constitutional  Convention 
was  sitting,  and  as  a  mark  of  respect,  adjourned  for  one  day. 

Daniel  Boone  was  the  father  of  five  sons  and  four  daughters.  Two  of  his 
sons  were  killed  by  the  Indians. 

THE  LINCOLNS  OF  ROCKINGHAM. 

Rebecca  Lincoln,  who  married  Matthew  Dyer,  was  related  to  the  war 
president.  The  family  is  of  New  England  origin,  and  its  pioneer  settlement 
in  Rockingham  was  on  Linville  Creek.  In  1785,  there  is  mention  of  John,  a 
deputy  surveyor,  and  of  Jacob,  a  constable  and  deputy  sheriff.  In  1782,  a 
Thomas  Lincoln  Avas  married  to  Elizabeth  Kessner.  The  father  of  the  president 
was  also  Thomas,  and  he  was  born  in  Rockingham.  In  1781  he  went  with  his 
father,  Abraham,  to  Kentucky,  where  the  parent  was  killed  from  ambush  by 
an  Indian  in  1786,  the  Indian  being  promptly  shot  dead  from  the  cabin  window 
by  a  son  about  twelve  years  old.  He  was  perhaps  the  same  Abraham  who  is 
mentioned  in  the  Rockingham  records  about  1780. 

In  1903,  Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  Lincoln  Pennypaeker  told  that  some  time 
prior  to  the  Revolution,  John  Lincoln  came  from  Pennsylvania  and  bought 
laud  on  Linville  creek.  The  place  is  a  short  distance  below  Wenger's  Mill. 
The  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  S.  M.  Bowman  ,built  about  1800  by  Captain 
Jacob  Lincoln  (1751-1822),  is  at  or  near  the  original  Lincoln  homestead.  The 
old  Lincoln  graveyard  is  nearby  on  the  hill. 

John  Lincoln  had  five  sons,  Abraham,  John,  Jacob,  Thomas  and  Isaac. 
Jacob  (Captain  Jacob),  grandfather  of  Mi's.  Pennypaeker,  was  the  only  one 
of  the  five  to  remain  in  Virginia.  Abraham,  with  his  little  son  Thomas,  aged 
about  four,  went  in  1781  or  1782  to  Kentucky.  Abraham  Lincoln,  later  Presi- 
dent, was  born  in  Kentucky,  Febraary  12,  1809,  when  Thomas  was  about  thirty- 
one  years  of  age.  The  family  of  Boones  of  which  Daniel  was  a  boy  about  fifteen 
years  of  age,  William  Bryan  who  married  a  Boone,  Henry  Miller  who  was  a 
cousin  to  Boone  and  a  hunter  and  trapper,  a  family  or  more  of  the  Friends  and 
others,  settled  on  Linville  creek. 


284  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

THE  COURTSHIP  OF  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Beautifully  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Pamunkey,  is  the  mansion  known 
as  "The  White  House."  It  stands  on  the  site  of  the  one  in  which  Washington 
was  married.  Prom  Custis'  Life  of  Mrs.  Martha  Washington,  we  extract  the 
account  of  his  courtship  and  marriage : 

It  was  in.  1758  that  Washington,  attired  in  a  military  uniform  dress,  and 
attended  by  a  body  servant,  tall  and  militaire  as  his  chief,  crossed  the  ferry 
called  William 's,  over  the  Pamunkey,  a  branch  of  the  York  River.  On  the 
boat  touching  the  southern  or  New  Kent  side,  the  soldier's  progress  was  ar- 
rested by  one  of  those  personages  who  give  the  beau  ideal  of  the  Virginia  gen- 
tleman of  the  old  regime,  the  very  soul  of  kindness  and  hospitality.  It  was  in 
vain  the  soldier  urged  his  business  at  Williamsburg,  important  communications 
to  the  governor,  etc.  Mr.  Chamberlayne,  on  whose  domain  the  militaire  had 
just  landed,  would  hear  of  no  excuse.  Colonel  Washington  was  a  name  and 
character  so  dear  to  all  Virginians,  that,  his  passing  by  one  of  the  castles  of 
Virginia,  without  calling  and  partaking  of  the  hospitalities  of  the  host,  was 
entirely  out  of  the  question.  The  colonel,  however,  did  not  surrender  at  dis- 
cretion, but  stoutly  maintained  his  ground  till  Chamberlayne,  bringing  up  his 
reserve,  in  the  intimation  that  he  would  introduce  his  friend  to  a  young  and 
charming  widow,  then  beneath  his  roof,  the  soldier  capitulated,  on  condition  that 
he  should  dine — only  dine — and  then,  by  pressing  his  charger  and  borrowing 
of  the  night,  he  would  reach  Williamsburg  before  his  excellency  could  shake 
off  his  morning  slumbers.  Orders  were  accordingly  issued  to  Bishop,  the  colo- 
enl's  body  servant  and  faithful  follower,  who,  together  with  the  fine  English 
charger,  had  been  bequeathed  by  the  dying' Braddock  to  Major  Washington, 
on  the  famed  and  fated  field  of  Monongahela.  Bishop,  bred  in  the  school  of 
European  discipline,  raised  his  hand  to  his  cap,  as  much  as  to  say,  "Your  or- 
ders shall  be  obeyed." 

The  colonel  now  proceeded  to  the  mansion,  and  was  introduced  to  variotis 
guests,  (for  when  was  a  Virginia  domicil  of  the  olden  time  without  guests?) 
and,  above  all,  to  the  charming  widow.  Ti*adition  relates  that  they  were  mu- 
tually pleased,  on  this,  their  first  interview — nor  is  it  remarkable;  they  were 
of  an  age  when  impressions  are  strongest.  The  lady  was  fair  to  behold,  of  fas- 
cinating manners,  and  splendidly  endowed  with  worldly  benefits.  The  hero 
was  fresh  from  his  early  fields,  redolent  of  fame,  and  with  a  form  on  which 
"every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal,  to  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man." 

The  morning  passed  pleasantly  away,  evening  came,  with  Bishop,  true 
to  his  orders  and  firm  at  his  post,  holding  the  favorite  charger  with  one  hand, 
while  the  other  was  waiting  to  offer  the  ready  stiri'up.  The  sun  sunk  in  the 
horizon,  and  yet  the  colonel  appeared  not.  "  'Twas  strange,  'twas  passing 
strange;"  surely  he  was  not  ■  wont  to  be  a  single  moment  behind  his  appoint- 
ments— for  he  was  the  most  punctual  of  all  men. 

Meantime,  the  host  enjoyed  the  scene  of  the  veteran  at  the  gate,  while  the 
colonel  was  so  agreeably  employed  in  the  parlor;  and  proclaiming  that  no  visi- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  285 

Tor  ever  left  his  home  at  sunset,  his  military  guest  was,  without  much  difficulty, 
persuaded  to  order  Bishop  to  put  up  the  horses  for  the  night.  The  sun  rode 
high  in  the  heavens  the  ensuing  day,  when  the  enamored  soldier  pressed  with 
his  spur  his  charger's  side,  and  speeded  on  his  way  to  the  seat  of  government, 
where,  having  dispatched  his  public  business,  he  retraced  his  steps,  and,  at 
the  White  House,  the  engagement  took  place,  with  preparations  for  marriage. 

And  much  hath  the  biographer  heard  of  that  marriage,  from  the  gray- 
haired  domestics  who  waited  at  the  board  where  love  made  the  feast  and  Wash- 
ington the  guest.  And  rare  and  high  was  the  reveiry  at  that  palmy  period  of 
Virginia 's  festal  age ;  for  many  were  gathered  to  that  marriage,  of  the  good, 
the  great,  the  gifted,  and  they,  with  joyous  acclamations,  hailed  in  Virginia's 
youthful  hero  a  happy  and  prosperous  bridegroom. 

"And  so  you  remember  when  Colonel  Washington  came  a  courting  of 
your  young  mistress  ? ' '  said  the  biographer  to  old  Cully,  in  his  hundredth  year. 
"Ay,  master,  that  I  do,"  replied  the  ancient  family  servant,  who  had  lived  to 
see  five  generations;  "great  times,  sir,  great  times — shall  never  see  the  like 
again!"  "And  Washington  looked  something  like  a  man,  a  proper  man — hey, 
Cully?"  "Never  seed  the  like,  sir— never  the  like  of  him.  though  I  have  seen 
many  in  my  day — so  tall,  so  straight!  And  then  he  sat  on  a  horse  and  rode 
with  such  an  air!  Ah,  sir,  he  was  like  no  one  else.  Many  of  the  grandest 
gentlemen,  in  the  gold  lace,  were  at  the  wedding;  but  none  looked  like  the 
man  himself."  Strong,  indeed,  must  have  been  the  impression  which  the  per- 
son and  manner  of  Washington  made  upon  the  "rude,  untutored  mind"  of  this 
poor  negro,  since  the  lapse  of  three-quarters  of  a  century  had  not  sufficed  to 
efface  it. 

LINCOLN'S  FAMOUS  SHORT  LETTER  OF  ACCEPTANCE. 

Lincoln  thought  it  necessary  to  write  only  a  short  letter  at  the  most  critical 
presidential  elections.  The  vice  president,  Hamlin,  wrote  a  letter  about  twice 
as  long.  Both  are  in  the  True  Delta  of  Happy  Memory  June  12,  I860.  Here 
is  the  Lincoln  letter: 

Springfield,  111.,  May  22,  1860. 
Hon.  George  Ashma.7i,  President  of  the  Republican  Notional  Convention: 

Sir:  I  accept  the  nomination  by  the  convention  over  which  you  presided, 
and  of  which  I  am  formally  apprised  in  the  letter  of  yourself  and  others,  acting 
as  a  committee  of  the  convention  for  that  purpose.  The  declarations  of  prin- 
ciples and  sentiments  which  accompany  your  letter  meet  my  approval,  and  Jt 
shall  be  my  care  not  to  violate  it  nor  to  disregard  it  in  any  part.  Imploring 
the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and  with  due  regard  to  the  views  and  feel- 
ings of  all  who  Avere  represented  in  the  convention,  to  the  rights'  of  all  the 
states  and  territories  and  people  of  the  nation,  to  the  inviolability  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  perpetual  union,  harmony  and  prosperity  of  all.  I  am  happy 


286  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

to  co-operate  for  the  practical  success  of  the  principles  declared  by  the 
convention. 

Your  obliged  friend  and  fellow  citizen, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

President  Lincoln  said,  "You  can  fool  part  of  the  people  all  the  time  and 
all  the  people  part  of  the  time,  but  you  cannot  fool  all  the  people  all  the  time. ' ' 

•  Through  the  following  letter,  written  nearly  a  half  century  ago  the  great 
heart  of  Abraham  Lincoln  speaks  eloquently  of  the  type  of  man  he  was.  Most 
of  those  who  knew  the  martyred  president  in  life  are  gone.  It  is  by  picture 
and  relic  that  he  is  remembered  by  the  present  generation.  And  this  letter  to 
a  sorrowing  New  England  mother  is  one  of  the  most  treasured  of  the  relics. 
Couched  in  its  simple,  beautiful  language,  it  has  always  been  regarded  as  one 
of  the  grandest  masterpieces  ever  written  in  America : 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 
Nov.  21,  1864. 
To  Mrs.   Bixby,  Boston,   Mass. 

Dear  Madam:  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the  War  Department  a  state- 
ment of  the  Adjutant  General  of  Massachusetts  t>at  you  are  the  mother  of 
five  sons  who  have  died  gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and 
fruitless  must  be  my  any  word  of  mine  which  should  attempt  to  beguile  you 
from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelming.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering 
you  the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the  republic  they  died 
to  save.  I  pray  that  our  Heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your 
bereavement,  and  leave  you  only  the  cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and  lost, 
and  the  solemn  pride  that  must,  be  yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice  upon 
the  altar  of  freedom. 

Yours  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

A.   LINCOLN. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  287 


CHAPTER  XL 

Tragedies;  Early  Habits  of  the  Citizens;  Stock  Raising,  Anecdotes. 

CANE  RAISING. 

About  the  year  1858  or  1859,  eane  which  is  commonly  called  sorghum,  was 
introduced  in  the  central  portion  of  our  state.     The  people  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  method  of  extracting  the  juice  from  the  stalks,  and  but  little  faith  in 
its  value  as  a  food  product.    The  first  method  or  test  that  was  given  it,  was  by 
cutting  the  stalks  at  each  joint  and  stripping  the  outside  of  the  stalk  off  with 
a  knife.  "  This  could  be  done  as  it  was  hard  and  tough,  leaving  the  pith  which 
contained  the  juice.    This  was  then  either  pressed  or  boiled  in  order  to  extract 
the  juice.     When  the  people  had  become  convinced  of  its  value  and  gained 
some  knowledge  of  its  manufacture,  they  made  wooden  mills.    These  were  simp- 
ly two  rollers  made  usually  of  sugar  wood.     These  rollers  were  about  twelve 
or  fourteen  inches  in  diameter  by  eighteen  inches  long,  turned  by  hand,  with 
journals  from  five  to  six  inches  in  diameter.     One  of  the  journals  extended 
above  the  frame  about  three  feet,  and  on  this  was  placed  a  sweep  about  twelve 
feet  in  length  to  which  a  horse  was  attached.     The  rollers  were  supplied  with 
wooden  cogs,  and  in  order  to  make  the  journals  as  well  as  the  gearing  work 
smoothly,  tallow  was  used  as  a  lubricant.    The  bench  and  cap  of  the  frame  were 
made  something  like  five  or  six  inches  thick  so  as  to  give  the  joiirnals  a  good 
bearing.     The  rollers  were  tightened  by  means  of  keys,  and  when  the  rude 
wooden  machinery  was  in  operation  the  friction  of  the  journals  and  cogs  created 
a  noise  that  was  simply  deafening,  and  could  be  heard  for  miles.    You  couldn't 
stop  the  horse  readily  as  it  was  impossible  to  make  it  hear,  consequently  many 
accidents  occurred.    It  was  not  an  unusual  tiling  at  that  day  to  see  a  boy  with 
his  hand  or  arm  ground  off.    At  a  later  time,  the  local  foundries  made  cast  iron 
mills.    Now  a  much  better  class  of  mills  is  made  with  three  turned  rollers  placed 
in  iron  frames.  While  for  many  years  the  juice  of  cane  was  boiled  in  iron  kettles, 
now  evaporators  are  used.    From  the  eane  is  made  an  excellent  quality  of  syrup 
which  is  most  palatable  and  healthful.     Some  people  prefer  it  above  sugar  for 
making  fruit  butters.     Farmers  make  a  mistake  in  not  raising  more  cane  as  a 
half  acre  planted  to  cane  will  amply  supply  any  family.     It  requires  from 
seven  to  eight  gallons  of  juice  to  make  one  of  syrup.     The  quality  of  the  soil 
as  well  as  the  season,  has  much  to  do  with  the  quality  of  the  juice.     The  juice 
of  cane  grown  in  a  dry  season  is  much  sweeter,  and  produces  more  syrup  per 
gallon  of  juice. 

SUGAR  MAKING. 

When  the  country  was  first  settled,  and  for  many  years  afterward,  nearly 
all  the  sugar  consumed  in  the  interior  of  the  state  was  made  from  the  sap  of 


288  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

the  sugar  tree  which  grew  in  great  abundance  along  the  water  courses  and  in 
the  rich  coves  and  flat  lands.  Some  sugar  camps  contained  as  many  as  five 
hundred  trees.  In  the  early  Spring  after  a  hard  freeze  and  the  sun  had 
warmed  up  the  sap,  the  farmer  would  tap  his  trees.  The  process  of  making 
sugar  was  very  simple.  There  were  two  ways  of  opening  the  trees — one  was 
by  the  use  of  a  gouge,  a  piece  of  flat  iron  about  the  size  of  an  inch  and  a  quar- 
ter chisel,  and  end  being  cupped.  This  gouge  was  driven  far  enough  through 
the  bark  and  into  the  sap  of  the  tree  to  allow  a  spile  of  similar  size  and  shape 
to  be  driven  into  the  incision  made  by  the  gouge.  These  carried  the  water 
from  the  tree  to  the  bucket. 

Another  way  of  tapping  a  sugar  tree  was  by  boring  a  small  augur  hole  in 
the  side  of  the  tree,  and  putting  in  a  spile  made  of  a  hollow  alder  or  sumac. 
The  custom  was  to  make  sugar  troughs  out  of  small  poplar  or  linn  trees.  These 
were  made  by  cutting  blocks  about  two  and  a  half  feet  long,  splitting  the  block 
so  as  to  make  two  troughs.  These  troughs  when  full  contained  about  three 
gallons.  If  there  were  but  few  trees,  the  water  was  collected  in  buckets  and 
taken  to  the  house  and  boiled  down  in  large  kettles  on  the  fireplace.  If  the 
number  of  trees  justified  it,  a  camp  was  built  and  a  furnace  that  would  hold 
four  or  five  kettles  was  placed  by  the  camp. 

The  usual  method  of  gathering  sugar  water  was  by  collecting  it  in  bar- 
rels and  hauling  it  to  the  camp  with  a  horse.  When  the  trees  were  situated  on 
a  hillside,  the  water  was  often  conveyed  to  the  furnaces  by  means  of  spouts 
which  were  sometimes  made  of  bark  pealed  from  saplings.  The  water  when 
boiled  down  usually  made  upon  an  average  of  three  pounds  to  the  tree,  Some 
seasons  were  much  better  than  others  for  sugar  making.  Seasons  following 
severe  winters  being  much  the  best  as  this  seems  to  be  nature's  method  of 
sweetening  the  sap  in  the  branches  of  the  trees.  After  the  sap  begins  to  be 
ropy  in  the  Spring,  it  is  used  only  for  making  molasses  until  the  warm  days 
dries  up  the  sap  and  converts  it  into  wood.  It  requires  abotn  forty-eight  gal- 
lons of  sugar  water  to  make  a  gallon  of  syrup ;  and  a  gallon  of  miaple  syrup 
when  reduced,  will  make  about  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  fine  sugar. 

When  Lewis  and  Clark  were  sent  out  by  the  government  to  explore  its 
western  possessions,  they  rescued  a  tribe  of  half-famished  Indians  who  had 
been  driven  from  the  plains  and  were  living  on  the  bare  mountains.  They 
gave  the  old  chief  a  piece  of  dried  pumpkin  to  eat,  and  he  remarked  that  it 
was  the  sweetest  thing  he  had  tasted  since  his  sister,  a  half  century  or  more 
before,  had  given  him  a  lump  of  maple  sugar  when  he  was  a  small  boy.  All 
these  years  had  not  removed  from  the  lips  of  that  savage  the  taste  of  the  little 
lump  of  maple  sugar.  We  should  spare  and  cultivate  the  tree,  remembering 
that  it  is  a  luxury  which  God  has  placed  within  the  reach  of  so  many  of  his 
creatures. 

I.  C.  Bishop  who  lives  on  Hacker's  creek,  Harrison  county,  says  that  the 
Spring  of  1915,  he  put  nineteen  or  twenty  spiles  in  one  large  sugar  tree,  and 


.     SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  289 

that  they  made  and  put  away  for  summer's  use  fifteen  gallons  'of  syrup,  be- 
sides what  the  family  used  while  they  were  making. 

The  season  of  1915  was  the  best  sugar  season  that  has  been  known  for 
many  years,  and  the  number  of  spiles  must  have  drawn  all  the  sugar  water 
from  the  tree. 

LUMBER  AND  OIL  DISTRICTS. 

Before  the  commercial  saw-mills  entered  the  interior  of  the  State,  a  great 
many  of  the  young  men  found  employment  on  the  farm  and  furnished  the 
labor  that  was  required  on  the  neighboring  lands.  Very  few  of  the  young 
men  left  the  farm  in  search  of  work.  They  supplied,  as  a  rule,  all  the  posi- 
tions, such  as  lawyers,  doctors,  teachers,  mechanics,  and  merchants.  In  the 
sections  where  the  farmers  became  wealthy  by  reason  of  the  development  of 
coal,  oil  and  gas,  as  a  rule  they  abandoned  the  farm  and  moved  to  the  towns 
and  cities.  Very  many  of  them  had  learned  habits  of  industry  and  economy. 
They  were  vigorous  and  strong.  The  early  dew  of  the  morning,  the  sunshine 
and  the  fresh  air,  wholesome  vegetables,  good  exercise  and  refreshing  sleep  had 
given  them  robust  constitutions,  but  in  a  great  majority  of  instances  they  re- 
versed the  whole  order  of  tilings.  In  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  they  fell  in 
with  the  city  boys.  In  too  many  instances,  they  learned  habits  of  idleness  and 
dissipation.  They  were  unaccustomed  to  city  life  and  were  unable  to  take 
care  of  themselves  and  conserve  their  interests.  The  fortunes  which  at  first 
seemed  to  them  to  be  immense  and  inexhaustible  soon  shrank  to  a  minimum 
and  at  last  bcame  exhausted,  leaving  the  lobsters  on  the  sand-bar  after  the 
floods  had  disappeared.  The  card  table,  the  saloon,  the  beer  bottle  and  the 
cigarette  became  the  inheritance  of  the  weak  and  the  foolish. 

The  young  men  of  the  lumber  districts  and  oil  fields,  as  a  rule,  leave  the 
farm  for  other  employment.  Those  of  the  lumber  districts,  not  coming  in  pos- 
session of  fortunes  sufficient  to  justify  city  life,  generally  went  to  the  lumber 
camp.  There  is  a  fascination  about  the  camp  and  woods  that  is  to  be  enjoyed 
nowhere  else.  The  pure  water  of  the  mountain  stream,  the  aroma  of  the  newly- 
cut  timber,  the  well-trakied  skidding  team,  the  inclines,  the  skidways,  the 
lightning-like  revolutions  of  the  band-saw  cutting  its  thousands  of  feet  of  lum- 
ber a  day,  the  whirr  and  buzz  of  the  machinery  fascinates  the  young  man  and 
keeps  him  wedded  to  his  job.  But  they  are  not  altogether  free  from  bad  in- 
fluences and  environments.  The  whiskey  jug,  the  cigarette,  cocaine  and  other 
drugs  equally  destructive  to  humanity,  follow  the  camp.  Profanity  increases 
as  men  gather  in  camp  as  well  as  in  war,  and  such  expressions  as  the  following 
may  be  heard  from  young  men  in  a  short  time  after  they  have  left  the  farm, 
"Look  here,  feller,"  "You  bet,"  "You're  damned  right,  old  man,"  "Yes,  my 
feller. ' '  But  after  all,  they  work.  Many  of  the  young  men  remain  for  several 
years  at  the  camp  and  become  useful  citizens,  but  the  vulgar  expressions  spoken 
of  rarely  ever  leave  the  lumberman.  Horrible  as  it  may  seem,  this  form  of  vul- 
garity is  often  communicated  to  others. 


290  SUTTON'S. HISTORY. 

"ROCK  OIL"  FORMERLY  RECOMMENDED  AS  A  PANACEA. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  article  written  by  John  MacRay,  and 
printed  in  the  Greenbrier  Independent,  telling  of  a  visit  he  made  to  the  oil 
wells  of  "Wirt  county  in  1861.  As  some  of  Braxton's  citizens  developed  the 
Wirt  oil  fields,  the  portion  of  the  article  reproduced  below  will  be  of  interest 
to  ,our  readers : 

Burning  Springs  as  it  was  called,  came  out  and  collected  gradually  in  a 
boggy  place,  covering  a  space  of  a  number  of  square  rods.  This  spring,  like 
many  springs  of  continental  Europe  and  of  America  west  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains,  ran  oil  as  well  as  water,  and  the  custom  was  to  absorb  the  oil  from 
the  top  of  the  water  by  means  of  flannel  cloths,  and  this  was  sold  as  "Rock 
Oil."  There  are  readers  now  who  remember  this  Rock  Oil  as  it  was  sold  in 
small  bottles  years  ago,  and  recommended  as  a  Panacea  for  all  the  ills  to  which 
flesh  is  heir.  This  was  done  before  the  boring  for  oil  began,  and  it  was  the 
scarcity  of  the  oil  that  lent  the  enchantment  to  its  curative  power.  Our  Eng- 
lish word  "petroleum"  coming  from  two  Greek  words  meaning  "rock"  and 
oil",  literally  means  "Rock  Oil." 

About  the  year  1857,  some  Pennsylvania  men  came  to  "Wirt  county  and 
bored  a  well  for  salt.  This  well  was  sunk  right  near  the  Burning  Spring  and 
was  pointed  out  to  us.  They  struck  some  oil,  and  as  it  greased  up  everything 
and  impeded  their  work  they  became  disgiisted,  quit  and  went  back  to  Penn- 
sylvania. Some  neighbors  of  their 's  heard  of  it,  procured  their  rights,  came 
down,  put  in  pumping  machinery  and  worked  away,  getting  two  or  three  bar- 
rels of  oil  per  day  when  a  joint  stock  company  was  formed  in  Sutton  with 
such  men  as  Jonathan  N.  Camden,  Thomas  B.  Camden,  Col.  B.  "W.  Byrne, 
Homer  A.  Holt  and  others  who  made  a  lease  for  a  term  of  years  of  an  old  Mr. 
Rathbone.  This  company  bored  a  well  very  near  the  spring  about  the  close  of 
the  year  1860.  This  well  was  known  in  the  oil  parlance  as  the  "Camden  well." 
"When  this  well  was  bored,  it  was  done  for  the  express  purpose  of  the  discovery 
of  oil.  At  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  oil  and  gas  were 
struck  in  such  vast  quantities  that  it  spouted  more  than  one  hundred  feet  in 
the  air,  blowing  the  drills  and  everything  in  its  Avay  entirely  out.  The  people 
loved  to  tell  this,  and  everyone  who  saw  this  marvel  of  nature  woidd  become 
excited  when  he  told  it. 

This  was  the  first  big  oil  well  in  Wirt  county.  For  weeks,  the  oil  ran  with 
all  the  force  that  nature  could  give  it.  The  owners  of  the  well  could  do  noth- 
ing to  stop  the  flow.  All  the  appliances  that  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
it  had  no  effiect  whatever,  and  immense  quantities  of  sand  were  used  to  stop  it, 
but  all  in  vain.  The  oil  wasted  in  enormous  quantities  and  the  Kanawha  river 
ran  black  for  miles  with  this.  Finally  every  available  boat  on  the  river  was 
procured  and  filled  with  oil  to  the  water's  edge,  and  by  this  last  means  the  oil 
was  spouted  into  the  boats  and  much  of  it  saved. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  291 

Finally  to  add  to  the  already  intense  excitement,  someone  set  this  oil  on 
fire  and  Kanawha  river  was  for  miles  a  burning  stream  of  water. 

The  Camden  well  and  spring  caught  fire  as  all  surface  oil  did  within  reach 
of  the  flames,  and  the  fire  continued  for  weeks  amid  the  wildest  excitement. 
This  is  how  the  name  "Burning  Spring"  originated.  When  this  was  made 
known  to  the  public,  there  was  a  mad  rush  for  the  place,  principally  by  the 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  people.  Oil  had  been  discovered  before  this  time  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  they  knew  its  value  better  than  anyone  else.  When  we  were 
there,  the  crude  oil  was  worth  thirty-three  cents  per  gallon  in  iron  hoop  barrels 
on  the  river  bank.  The  river  was  the  only  means  of  transportation  at  that 
time. 

There  were  only  a  few  people  in  Wirt  county  when  this  Camden  well  was 
bored,  but  within  a  few  weeks  there  were  fully  10,000  people  on  the  ground. 
This  Camden  well  continued  to  waste  and  burn  until  another  well,  larger  and 
stronger,  was  bored,  known  as  the  "Llewelyn,"  and  the  immense  flow  from 
this  well  practically  stopped  the  Camden  well. 

We  were  at  these  oil  wells  fully  a  week,  and  of  all  the  places  ever  seen, 
this  one  took  the  lead.  There  was  not  a  convenience  or  a  comfort  of  any  kind; 
everything  looked  greasy;  there  was  nothing  that  you  could  taste,  touch  or 
handle  but  that  coal  oil  was  on  it,  and  the  crude  oil  is  very  offensive.  The  der- 
rick hands  would  actually  wash  their  faces  and  hands  in  this  crude  oil,  claiming 
that  it  would  cleanse  the  skin  without  soap.  Their  occupation  had  rendered 
them  insensible  to  its  disagreeable  odor. 

The  state  of  society  at  these  oil  wells  was  something  fearful  to  contem- 
plate. "Every  man  was  a  law  unto  himself  and  did  that  which  was  right  in 
his  own  eyes."v  In  addition  to  the  fierce  greed  for  money,  the  feeling  created 
by  the  approaching  war  was  intense  and  terrible.  There  had  been  bloodshed 
and  murder  committed  a  short  time  before  our  coming,  and  acts  of  this  kind 
were  likely  to  occur  at  any  time.  It  was  "abolition"  and  "secesh"  as  each 
party  named  the  other.  The  abolitionists  had  the  greater  numbers.  We  never 
heard  the  name  of  God  mentioned  save  in  profanity,  and  the  swearing  and  vul- 
garity was  simply  fearful. 

SILK  FACTORY. 

In  1841  or  1842,  a  company  was  organized  in  Clarksburg  to  propogate  the 
silk  worm  and  manufacture  silk. 

The  silk  worm  is  fed  on  mulberry  leaves,  and  at  the  approach  of  cold 
weather,  spins  a  web  of  fine  threads  which  covers  it  over  completely,  making 
an  oblong  sack  called  a  cocoon,  and  when  unwound  from  around  the  worm, 
is  used  to  make  silk.  When  the  cocoon  is  undisturbed,  a  butterfly  comes  from 
it  in  the  Spring  which  lays  eggs  and  creates  the  silk  worm. 

The  building  used  for  this  purpose  was  located  near  the  Barnes'  Crossing 
and  was  called  a  co-coonery.  The  result  was  unsatisfactory,  only  about  enough 
silk  being  made  to  make  the  town  editor,  McGranahan,  a  vest. 


292  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

About  the  year  1875,  Pembrook  B.  Berry  of  Sutton,  a  cabinet  maker, 
brought  the  first  planing  mill  and  set  it  up  in  Sutton.  He  made  a  dinner  and 
invited  quite  a  number  of  the  citizens  in  honor  of  the  event.  It  was  some- 
thing new  to  the  people,  and  was  in  the  line  of  progress,  and  sounded  the 
death  knell  to  the  jack-planes  in  Sutton. 

EARLY  SALT  INDUSTRY. 

Many  years  before  the  Civil  war,  Asa  Squires  began  the  manufacture  of 
salt  near  Salt  Lick  bridge  in  a  very  small  way.  He  sunk  a  gum  to  catch  the 
salt  water  that  comes  up  in  the  side  of  the  creek,  and  with  six  large  iron  ket- 
tles he  made  some  salt,  but  soon  abandoned  the  project.  Some  of  the  old  kettles 
are  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Singleton  family. 

John  Haymond  and  Benjamin  Wilson  commenced  the  manufacture  of  salt 
at  Bulltown  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  (now  in  Braxton  county)  in  the  year 
1809,  and  discontinued  it  in  1823.  A  great  quantity  was  made  during  the  war 
with  Great  Britain. 

The  salt  qualities  of  the  waters  became  known  by  a  lick  being  frequented 
by  the  cattle  of  the  neighborhood.  It  has  always  been  said  that  Conrad's  cow 
discovered  the  salt  deposit. 

John  B.  Byrne  afterwards  made  salt  there  as  did  also  Adison  McLaugh- 
lin, but  the  business  was  discontinued  about  the  close  of  the  Civil  war. 

Terra  Salis,  or  Kanawha  Salines,  is  a  flourishing  town  about  6  miles 
above  Charleston,  containing  4  dry-goods  and  2  grocery  stores,  an  extensive 
iron-foundry,  1  Episcopal,  1  Presbyterian  and  1  Methodist  chruch,  and  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  800. 

The  Kanawha  salt-works  commence  on  the  river,  near  Chai'leston,  and 
extend  on  both  sides  for  about  15  miles,  giving  employment,  directly  and  in- 
directly, to  about  3,000  persons. 

The  discovery  of  salt  water  in  this  region  was  led  to  by  a  large  buffalo- 
lick  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  river,  5  miles  above  Charleston.  In  this  lick 
the  first  salt-well  was  sunk,  in  1809. 

The  whole  product  of  the  salt  district  is  estimated  at  1,200,000  bushels 
annually ;  and  this  product  must  continue  to  swell  with  the  increasing  demand, 
and  with  the  employment  of  additional  capital.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  and 
worthy  of  philosophical  inquiry,  that  while  the  salt  water  is  obtained  by  bor- 
ing at  a  depth  of  from  3  to  500  feet  below  the  bed  of  the  Kanawha,  it  in- 
variably rises  to  a  level  with  the  river.  When  the  latter  is  swollen  by  rains, 
or  the  redundant  waters  of  its  tributaries,  the  saline  fluid,  enclosed  in  suit- 
able gums  on  the  shore,  ascends  like  the  mercury  in  its  tube,  and  falls  only 
when  the  river  is  restored  to  its  wonted  channel.  How  this  mysterious  corre- 
spondence is  produced,  is  a  problem  which  remains  to  be  solved.  Theories  and 
speculation  have  been  heard  on  the  subject,  but  none  seem  to  be  precisely 
consonant  with  the  principles  of  science. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  293 

Several  vestiges  remain  on  the  Kanawha,  which  show  that  the  Indians 
were  acquainted  with  and  made  use  of  the  salt  water.  Remains  of  rude  pot- 
tery are  found  in  abundance  in  the  neighborhood  respecting  which  there  is  but 
little  doubt  that  they  are  the  remains  of  vessels  used  by  them  for  the  evapora- 
tion of  the  salt  water.  That  the  neighborhood  of  the  Big  Lick  was  their  fa- 
vorite resort,  is  evinced  by  the  traces  of  their  idle  hours  to  be  found  upon  the 
neighboring  rocks.  A  short  distance  below  the  Big  Lick  was,  some  years 
since,  a  rock  called  the  pictured  or  calico  rock,  on  which  the  natives  had  sculp- 
tured many  rude  figures  of  animals,  birds,  etc.  This  rock  was  finally  de- 
stroyed to  make  furnace  chimneys.  Another  similar  sculptured  rock  is,  or 
was  lately,  on  the  southwest  side  of  the  river,  upon  the  summit  of  the  nearest 
hill.  The  article  annexed,  originally  published  in  the  Lexington  Gazette  in 
1843,  above  the  signature  of  H.  R.,  describes  a  curiosity  peculiarly  interesting 
to  the  scientific,  and  promises  to  have  a  wonderful  influence  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  this  region. 

THE   GAS   WELLS   OF  KANAWHA. 

These  wonderful  wells  have  been  so  lately  discovered,  that  as  yet  only  a 
brief  and  imperfect  notice  of  them  has  appeared  in  the  newspaprs.  But  they 
are  a  phenomenon  so  very  curious  and  interesting,  that  a  more  complete  de- 
scription will  doubtless  be  acceptable  to  the  public. 

They  are,  in  fact,  a  new  thing  under  the  sun,  for  in  all  the  history  of  the 
world,  it  does  not  appear  that  a  fountain  of  strong  brine  was  ever  before 
known  to  be  mingled  with  a  fountain  of  inflamnable  gas,  sufficient  to  pump  it 
out  in  a  constant  stream,  and  then,  by  its  combustion,  to  evaporate  the  whole 
into  salt  of  the  best  quality. 

TANNERIES  AND  JOURNEYMEN  SHOEMAKERS. 

After  the  country  became  somewhat  settled  so  the  people  could  keep  do- 
mestic stock,  they  began  to  tan  their  own  leather.  This  was  a  simple  process. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  wras  to  dig  out  a  large  trough  and  partially  fill  it 
with  beaten  or  ground  tan  bark.  Chestnut  oak  bark  was  commonly  used. 
These,  troughs  were  kept  full  of  water.  A  similar  trough  was  prepared  in 
which  lime  or  acids  were  used  to  remove  the  hair.  The  hides  were  then  placed 
in  the  oak  ooze,  fresh  bark  being  added  occasionally  to  keep  up  the  strength 
of  the  tanning  solution.  It  required  about  twelve  months  to  properly  tan  a 
hide.  The  hides  were  taken  out  of  the  ooze  and  placed  on  a  bench,  one  end  of 
which  stood  on  two  legs  and  made  waist-high  to  a  man,  the  other  end  resting 
on  the  floor.  The  tanner  would  take  what  was  termed  a  currying  knife,  and 
with  this  he  would  remove  all  the  fleshy  parts  that  adhered  to  the  leather,  and 
usually  prepared  it  for  use  without  blacking  the  flesh  side.  This  rude  way  of 
tanning  leather  usually  left  it  hard  and  bony,  but  it  wore  well. 

Deer  hides  could  be  either  tanned  or  dressed.     After  removing  the  hair 


294  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

from  the  pelt,  the  hide  was  usually  dressed  in  deer  brains.  This  method  left  it 
soft  and  pliable,  and  it  was  used  for  moccasins,  and  often  for  men's  pantaloons, 
as  well  as  for  strings  and  other  various  purposes.  Public  tanneries  took  the 
place  of  the  home  tannery,  and  persons  would  have  their  leather  tanned  on 
shares,  one-half  for  the  other.  These  tanyards  were  built  close  to  running 
springs  of  water.  Several  vats  were  made  in  a  building  and  kept  full  of  tan- 
bark,  and  the  hides  were  transferred  from  one  to  the  other  during  the  process 
of  tanning.  These  tanneries,  as  a  rule,  made  good  leather — better  than  the 
steamed  product  that  is  thrown  on  the  market  at  this  day.  In  Ireland,  it  is 
said,  leather  is  kept  in  the  vats  for  seven  years,  and  is  unsurpassed  in  quality. 
David  Ireland  is  said  to  be  the  first  man  to  establish  a  tanyard  in  this  county. 
He  located  at  Sutton,  near  where  the  Jackson  mill  stood.  Gus  Hinkle  was  per- 
haps i  the  first  tanner  to  locate  at  Bulltown.  Later  John  Lorentz  conducted  a 
tanyard  there,  and  Neil  Hurley  had  a  tanyard  at  the  same  place  still  later. 
Samuel  McCorkle,  early  in  the  fifties,  had  a  tanyard  on  the  Old  Woman's  run, 
also  keeping  a  tollgate.  His  building  stood  just  below  the  mouth  of  a  little  drain 
which  heads  near  the  C.  C.  Hawkins  property  in  North  Sutton.  He  closed 
his  business  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war,  and  with  his  family,  went  back 
East  to  their  former  home. 

William  Berry,  the  founder  of  the  Berry  family  in  this  county,  tanned 
leather  in  a  small  way  at  his  residence  on  0  'Briens  fork  of  Salt  Lick,  as  early 
as  1833.  He  used  troughs  for  vats,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  he  did  very  much 
work  for  the  public.  It  is  said  when  the  stars  "fell"  in  November,  1833,  and 
the  people  became  so  alarmed,  thinking  the  world  was  coming  to  an  end,  Mr. 
Berry  told  his  boys  to  get  up,  that  the  leather  was  all  in  the  tan  vats  and 
would  be  destroyed. 

Perhaps  the  last  public  tannery  in  the  county  was  conducted  by  Benjamin 
Huffman  on  the  site  of  the  one  established  by  David  Ireland.  This  was  torn 
down  about  the  time  the  Coal  &  Coke  railroad  was  built  to  Sutton.  The  great 
commercial  tanneries  of  the  present  have  taken  the  place  of  the  county  tan- 
neries, just  as  they  did  of  the  individual  tanneries. 

Contemporary  with  the  early  tannery,  was  the  journeyman  shoemaker, 
but  the  large  shoe  manufacturers  have  driven  him  out  of  existence.  The  jour- 
neyman shoemaker  was  an  important  adjunct  to  civilization,  and  at  one  time 
the  people  thought  he  was  an  indispensable  being.  As  a  rule,  a  travelling 
shoemaker  was  wise  beyond  the  commonality  of  men,  and  often  it  was  with  dif- 
ficulty that  he  could  comprehend  his  own  greatness.  He  travelled  from  house 
to  house,  and  would  usually  be  the  inmate  of  a  family  for  a  week  at  a  time; 
he  saw  and  heard  all  that  the  family  knew ;  he  gathered  from  the  children  what 
they  knew,  and  heard  the  gossip  of  the  neighborhood;  he  travelled  from  one 
neighborhood  to  another,  and  was  a  veritable  encyclopedia  of  gossip ;  he  was 
full  of  sayings  and  witticisms,  and  catechised  the  children  with  an  overflow 
of  his  knowledge.  His  shop  was  always  in  the  parlor  of  the  cabin  where  the 
family  cooked,  ate  and  slept,  and  to  keep  the  children  from  handling  his  tools 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


293 


required  all  his  powers  of  forbearance,  patience  and  resistance.  He  manufac- 
tured his  own  lasts,  obtained  the  rosin  for  his  wax  from  pine  knots  and  pulled 
the  bristles  from  the  wild  hog.  He  manufactured  his  own  shoe  pegs  with  a 
saw  and  pocketknife,  and  some  sldllful  housewife  spun  the  flax  for  his  shoe 
thread.  Out  of  the  home-tanned  leather,  the  travelling  shoemaker  shod  the 
early  inhabitants  of  West  Virginia.  One  pair  of  shoes  was  all  that  any  mem- 
ber of  the  family  had  during  the  year.  About  mid- winter,  the  boys'  shoes 
would  have  to  be  half  soled  and  the  toes  capped,  waiting  for  the  good  old  sum- 
mer days  to  come.  Fifty  cents  or  a  bushel  of  corn  was  the  price  for  making 
men's  and  women's  shoes. 

STOCK  RAISING. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  counties  in  West  Virginia,  but  few  well-bred 
horses  were  raised  until  recent  years.  The  counties  of  Harrison  and  Green- 
brier were  perhaps  the  foremost  in  introduc- 
ing a  good  strain  of  horses.  The  principal 
horse  raised  in  the  State  was  the  common 
native  horse  called  the  "West  Virginia 
plug."  These  horses  were  bred  for  genera- 
tions without  very  much  care  or  intermix- 
ture with  the  more  improved  breeds.  They 
have  been  bred  and  inbred  until  they  have 
become  of  slow  growth  and  "pluggy",  by 
reason  of  hard  usage  and  little  care.  Some- 
times they  were  belled  and  turned  into  the 
woods  to  gather  their  own  food  with  the 
cattle.  As  a  rule  they  are  low  and  strong, 
seldom  weighing  over  a  thousand  pounds, 
and  are  inured  to  hardships.  They  have 
climbed  the  mountain  sides  and  traveled  over 
steep  and  rugged  paths  until  they  have  de- 
veloped every  muscle  of  the  body.  Some  of 
them  have  style  and  are  first-class  travelers, 
'and  can  endure  without  fatigue  what  would 
kill  an  ordinary  horse  raised  and  pampered 
in  a  level  country.  Central  West  Virginia  in 
recent  years  has  given  more  attention  to  the  breeding  of  horses.  A  great  many 
of  the  heavier  breeds  have  been  brought  into  the  state  from  France,  Germany 
and  Belgium,  also  the  Western  states,  and  crossed  with  our  native  stock.  In 
some  parts  of  the  state,  the  English  coach  horse  and  the  saddler  have  been  in- 
troduced, but  the  breeds  have  rarely  been  kept  pure  for  any  length  of  time, 
almost  invariably  becoming  crossed  with  the  native  horse.  The  size  and  style 
of  the  West  Virginia  horse  has  been  greatly  improved,  but  the  durability  and 
longevity  of  our  native  horses  have  never  been  surpassed  by  any  other  breed, 


EVANS     FAMILY 
Milking  the   cows 


296  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

and  with  the  "West  Virginia  plug,"  the  veterinary  surgeon  has  but  few  calls. 
The  first  blooded  horses  and  cattle  that  came  to  Braxton  were  brought 
here  by  William  Fisher  about  the  year  1835  or  1840.  They  had  an  imported 
horse  in  Pendleton  county  called  "Rattler,"  and  the  horses  brought  here  by 
Mr.  Fisher  were  of  that  stock.  They  were  iron  grey  and  very  hardy  service- 
able  animals,  and  as  a  rule  were  fine  workers.  Some  of  this  stock  is  yet  in  the 
country  and  retains  its  color  wherever  there  is  any  considerable  mixture  of  the 
blood.  B.  F.  Fisher  raised  two  stallions  some  time  within  the  fifties  that  were 
dappled  grey  and  very  fine  animals.  They  sold  for  about  six  hundred  dollars 
each  which  at  that  clay  was  considered  a  very  fine  price.  William  Fisher  in 
an  early  day,  introduced  the  Durham  cattle.  This  was  the  first  effort  made 
up  to  that  time  to  improve  the  cattle  of  this  section.  They  were  white  cattle 
brought  from  Pendleton  and  Hardy  counties,  and  locally  were  known  as  the 
Fisher  cattle. 

Stock  raising  has  always  been  a  profitable  business  with  the  farmers  of 
West  Virginia.  Greenbrier  and  Monroe  counties  are  noted  for  fine  cattle  and 
saddle  horses,  Mason  county  is  also  a  noted  stock  county.  Harrison,  Monon- 
galia, Marion,  Taylor,  Upshur,  Lewis  and  Braxton,  with  some  other  counties, 
have  been  engaged  in  stock  raising  since  the  Civil  war  on  an  extensive  scale. 
The  lands  of  these  counties  are  fertile  and  well  adapted  to  grazing.  Gilmer 
county  also  handles  considerable  stock,  her  lands  being  very  fertile.  Nicholas 
county  for  many  years  availed  herself  of  the  wild  lands  within  the  county 
and  adjacent  to  it  on  which  to  range  her  stock  in  the  summer  season.  That 
county  has  a  great  deal  of  meadow  land  on  Beaver.  Muddlety,  Peters  creek, 
McMillions  creek  and  other  smaller  streams.  The  glades  and  marshes  of 
Nicholas  county  when  cleared  of  the  timber  and  alder  brush,  produced  an 
abundant  amount  of  coarse  hay,  and  the  quality  is  being  improved  by  a  system 
of  drainage.  Nicholas  county  is  now  handling  a  better  grade  of  cattle  as  the 
country  is  being  settled  and  the  native  range  destroyed.  Stock  raising  will 
become  far  more  profitable  as  the  silo  is  just  being  introduced.  This  method 
of  feeding  cattle  is  destined  to  revolutionize  the  stock  raising  business  in  West 
Virginia.  Men  with  a  small  area  of  good  land  can  fatten  a  load  of  cattle  at  a 
profit  in  excess  of  what  could  be  realized,  under  the  old  system,  on  three  or 
four  times  the  acreage  of  land.  Cattle  fed  on  silage  can  be  advanced  in  weight 
and  condition  so  as  to  go  to  market  a  year  sooner  than  under  the  present  plan 
of  dry  feeding  and  grazing. 

SILOS. 

It  has  been  fifty  years  or  more  since  the  silo  began  to  attract  attention, 
and  came  into  use  in  some  of  the  eastern  states.  The  system  of  silage  feeding 
has  always  had  favorable  mention  in  the  agricultural  journals  of  the  country, 
and  also  by  most  writers.  Too  much  praise  can  not  be  given  the  silo  as  the 
most  economical  way  of  feeding  stock,  and  especially  so  in  dairy  farming.     It 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  297 

is  only  within  the  last  half  dozen  years  that  the  silo  has  been  tried  to  any  ex- 
tent in  West  Virginia. 

John  Loyd  who  keeps  a  dairy  near  Sutton,  was  the  first  man  to  build  a 
silo  in  Braxton  county,  with  the  result  of  three  years'  experience  he  has  built 
two  more. 

A.  C.  Sutton  of  Big  Otter,  Clay  county,  built  the  first  silo  in  that  county 
in  1914,  and  the  fall  of  1915,  the  Boggs  Brothers  built  nine  silos  on  their 
farms,  and  a  few  others  were  built  in  different  sections  of  the  county.  Brax- 
ton county  commenced  to  build  silos  in  earnest  during  the  season  of  1915. 

The  hoop  and  stave  silo  is  the  most  common  in  use,  and  the  most  popular 
size  is  12x30.  We  believe  the -silo  is  destined  to  revolutionize  the  stock  busi- 
ness in  West  Virginia,  and  greatly  increase  the  number  and  quality  of  the 
cattle  raised  and  fattened  for  the  markets. 

Cattle  raising  in  the  coal  and  oil  districts  of  West  Virginia  has  declined 
in  recent  years,  owing  to  the  development  of  these  mineral  resources.  Betore 
the  West  Virginia  &  Pittsburgh  division  of  the  B.  &  0.  railrorad  was  built 
from  Clarksburg  to  Richwood,  Bridgeport  was  the  principal  shipping  point 
for  a  great  portion  of  the  stock  from  several  counties  south  of  that  point.  The 
cattle  pens  at  Bridgeport  were  a  fine  paying  property.  They  were  valued  at 
about  ten  thousand  dollars,  or  equal  to  a  paying  capital  of  that  amount.  After 
the  railroad  was  completed  to  Sutton,  a  great  deal  of  stock  was  loaded  at  Mc- 
Nutt  siding.  We  have  known  as  many  as  eight  carloads  of  cattle  loaded  in 
one  day  at  that  point,  also  as  many  as  six  hundred  head  of  sheep  loaded  from 
the  pens  in  one  day.  However  since  the  railroad  has  been  extended  to  Rich- 
wood,  a  great  deal  of  the  stock  from  Nicholas  county  and  south  of  there  is 
shipped  from  that  point.  Since  the  completion  of  the  Coal  &  Coke  railroad, 
quite  a  number  of  cattle  and  sheep  are  now  loaded  from  Clay  and  Nicholas 
counties  at  points  along  that  line.  Before  the  railroads  were  built  to  the 
points  named,  we  have  seen  as  many  as  a  thousand  head  of  sheep  going  over 
the  Weston  and  Gauley  Bridge  turnpike  in  one  day.  Tt  was  not  uncommon 
in  the  Fall  or  Spring  seasons  to  see  two  hundred  head  of  cattle  in  one  drove 
passing  over  the  same  route.  These  cattle  were  bought  up  as  feeders  or  to  be 
grazed  and  put  in  good  condition  for  the  market. 

The  Shorthorn  Durham  was  for  many  years  the  favorite  cattle  in  West 
Virginia,  but  in  recent  years  the  Hereford  has  taken  the  lead.  They  are  a 
hardy  cattle,  and  seem  to  stand  the  winters  better  when  calves,  and  fatten  at 
an  earlier  age.  As  milkers,  the  Hereford  and  Black  Polled  Angus  which  is  a 
hardy  beef  cattle,  are  as  a  rule  very  inferior.  The  Durham  cattle  are  the  most 
beautiful  cattle  in  the  world,  and  to  feed  them  and  give  them  a  little  more 
time  for  development,  they  are  superior  to  all  other  cattle  in  weight  and  style. 

The  Jersey  breed  of  cattle  is  but  a  slight  improvement  over  the  lowest 
breed  of  scrub  cattle,  and  that  consists  in  the  quality  of  the  milk  which  they 


298  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

give.  They  have  greatly  damaged  the  breed  of  beef  cattle  in  sections  where 
they  are  kept.  The  slightest  admixture  of  blood  can  be  detected,  showing  in 
th  pale  color  of  the  hair,  the  cat  hams  and  a  large  paunch.  While  the  fat  Dur- 
ham or  any  of  the  improved  breeds  of  beef  cattle  will  dress  sixty  pounds  to  the 
one  hundred  pounds  gross,  the  Jersey  will  dress  less  than  fifty,  and  their  tal- 
low is  yellow  and  objectionable. 

Hornless  Cattle. 

A  citizen  of  Illinois  bred  the  Polled  Durham.  He  started  by 
crossing  the  thorough-bred  Durham  bull  with  a  muley  cow,  and  by  sixteen 
crosses  he  succeeded  in  breeding  a  hornless  cattle  of  very  superior  quality. 
Some  of  his  herd  found  their  way  to  West  Virginia,  and  other  breeds  of  cattle 
have  also  been  bred  hornless. 

The  practice  of  dehorning  has  of  recent  years  prevailed  generally  among 
stock  raisers.  This  operation  is  very  painful,  and  sometimes  results  in  the 
death  of  the  animal.  Two  methods  are  employed.  One  is  by  a  knife  placed 
in  an  iron  frame  and  worked  by  means  of  a  lever.  This  is  very  practical  when 
used  on  small  cattle,  but  with  older  cattle  it  sometimes  crushes  the  horn,  often 
injuring  the  skull.  The  saw  is  the  implement  most  generally  used  when  de- 
horning large  cattle.  When  the  horn  or  nub  of  the  young  calf  first  appears, 
it  may  be  destroyed  by  an  application  of  some  caustic  acid.  Removing  the 
horns  of  cattle  with  either  clippers  or  saw  is  extremely  brutal,  and  should  be 
discontinued.  While  it  is  not  practical  under  existing  methods  of  stock  raising 
to  handle  horned  cattle,  hornless  cattle  might  be  bred  and  would  become  uni- 
versal if  the  method  of  dehorning  was  prohibited. 

The  solution  of,  and  highest  attainment  in  stock  raising  in  West  Virginia 
will  be  reached  when  the  level  lands  are  cultivated  in  corn  and  other  grains  to 
be  fed  through  the  silo,  while  the  rolling  or  steep  lands  can  be  used  as  sheep 
pasture,  and  in  this  way  maintain  their  fertility  and  become  a  source  of  profit. 
At  the  World's  Fair  in  St.  Louis,  there  were  four  prize  winning  steers  ac- 
knowledged to  be  the  largest  and  finest  specimens  in  the  world.  The  largest 
was  the  famous  "Advance"  which  tipped  the  scales  at  the  enormous  weight 
of  4,270  pounds,  was  I8V2  hands  high,  girth  14  feet  and  2  inches,  and  meas- 
ured 4  feet  and  3  inches  across  the  back. 

The  second  largest  steer  was  "Baron  Lyndale"  which  weighed  4,000 
pounds,  and  the  third  largest  was  "Lord  Raleigh,"  weighing  3,830  pounds. 

Samuel  Ludington  of  Greenbrier  county,  this  state,  raised  a  thorough- 
bred Short  Horn  that  tipped  the  scales  at  4,400  pounds.  This  is  the  largest 
steer  of  which  the  world  has  any  record,  and  perhaps  in  the  six  thousand 
years  of  its  history,  no  steer  of  greater  weight  has  been  recorded.  He  was 
taken  to  the  railroad  station  in  a  truck  made  for  that  purpose. 

Huston  Carr,  near  Belfont,  this  state,  raised  a  Durham  steer  with  one- 
fourth  Polled  Angus,  which  at  two  years  of  age  weighed  1,520  pounds.     Carr 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  299 

sold  the  steer  to  L.  D.  Peppers  of  Glenville,  West  Virginia,  who  sold  it  to  John 
Goff.  He  was  exhibited  at  several  State  Fairs.  His  weight  at  five  years  was 
3,600  pounds.  Goff  sold  the  steer  to  Captain  O'Brion  of  Gilmer  county  who 
took  him  to  California.  It  is  said  that  he  attained  to  the  enormous  weight  of 
4,200  pounds. 

Asa  Carr  of  Belfont  raised  a  yearling  Short  Horn,  one-fourth  Polled 
Angus,  that  weighed  1,170  pounds  at  fifteen  months  of  age. 

A  yearling  bull,  bred  by  Daniel  O'Brien,  was  brought  to  Braxton  county 
in  the  Pall  of  1914,  and  his  gross  weight  was  1,105  pounds. 

The  largest  hog  butchered  in  the  county  was  raised  and  fattened  by  S.  B. 
Singleton  of  Salt  Lick  in  1913.  It  was  a  cross  between  the  Jersey  and  Poland 
China.  The  hog  was  two  years  old.  Its  gross  weight  was  886  pounds,  and  its 
net  weight  was  760  pounds.  One  of  the  midlings  made  into  bacon  weighed  110 
pounds,  and  141/9  gallons  of  lard  was  rendered  from  the  hog. 

BRAXTON  COUNTY'S  FIRST  FAIR 

was  held  at  Sutton  October  ....,  1916.  The  first  Agricultural  Fair  Association 
was  composed  of  the  following  members:  James  Balangee,  Vial  Sands,  J.  B. 
McCoy,  J.  W.  Howell,  C.  L.  Engle,  D.  L.  Long,  G.  R.  Rose,  G.  S.  A.  Barrett, 
M.  E.  McCoy.  The  organization  was  effected  by  the  election  of  John  D.  Sut- 
ton, President,  G.  S.  A.  Barrett,  Vice  President,  James  Balengee,  Secretary, 
and  C.  L.  Engle,  Treasurer. 

The  Fair  was  held  in  the  large  building  known  as  the  Rink,  standing  be- 
tween the  lower  end  of  the  town  and  the  B.  &  O.  depot.  This  large  room,  140 
feet  long,  by  50  feet  wide,  furnished  an  elegant  place  for  the  agricultural  ex- 
hibit, while  underneath  the  main  building  which  is  open  and  stands  some  nine 
or  ten  feet  above  ground,  was  divided  into  stalls  for  the  stock.  The  stock  ex- 
hibit was  not  large,  but  showed  some  very  good  live  stock,  including  horses, 
cattle  and  sheep.  The  horticultural  exhibit  of  fruit,  cereals,  art  and  needle 
work,  was  exceptionally  fine,  contributions  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  county. 

The  donations  for  premiums  used  at  this  event,  amounted  to  about  $300.00, 
and  was  contributed  principally  by  the  citizens  of  Sutton. 


300 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 
TRAGEDIES. 


BURNING    OP    RIVERVIEW    HOTEL,    SUTTON 

Jacob  Heater  who  lived  on  O'Brien's  fork  of  Salt  Lick,  was  in  the  woods 
some  distance  from  his  home  when  bitten  by  a  rattlesnake.  From  a  memoran- 
dum found  among  the  papers  of  Colonel  Asa  Squires,  we  learn  that  he  was 
bitten  on  Friday,  July  6,  1838,  about  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  that  he  died 
that  night  about  eleven  o'clock.  He  was  buried  on  the  following  Sunday  in 
the  old  Flatwoods  cemetery.  His  remains  and  those  of  his  wife  were  exhumed 
in  September,  1906,  sixty-eight  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Heater,  and  fifty- 
three  years  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  Mr.  Heater  was  born  March  27,  1798, 
and  his  wife,  Delila  Riffle  Heater,  was  born  Dec.  28,  1798. 

Many  years  ago  a  free  negro  came  from  the  East,  and  as  he  passed 
through  the  county  some  of  the  people  supposed  that  he  was  an  escaped  slave, 
and  tried  to  have  him  arrested.  The  poor  fellow  became  frightened,  and  tried 
to  avoid  arrest.  He  escaped  down  the  Elk  river,  and  a  constable  and  a  posse 
pursued  him.  Just  at  the  lower  end  of  the  eddy,  where  the  town  of  Gassaway 
now  stands,  he  tried  to  escape  by  swimming7  the  river,  and  was  drowned.  It 
was  later  learned  that  the  man  was  free,  and  was  making  his  way  westward. 

Felix  Sutton  was  the  sheriff  and  coroner,  and  summoned  a  jury  to  view 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  301 

'  } 
the  remains  and  ascertain  the  cause  of  his  death.  He  related  to  the  writer 
that  when  the  examination  was  over,  it  was  sundown,  and  every  person  who 
was  present  left  the  ground.  He  then  dug  a  shallow  grave  and  buried  the 
unfortunate  man  without  any  assistance,  being  detained  until  after  dark  in 
accomplishing  it.  The  grave  was  pointed  out  as  being  on  a  little  bank  be- 
tween the  river  and  a  deep  drain  which  emptied  into  the  Elk  at  that  place, 
just  a  short  distance  below  the  south  end  of  the  wire  bridge  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  town.  This  may  have  been  the  first  tragic  death  after  the  formation 
of  the  county,  and  is  doubtless  the  last  in  which  the  coroner  dug  the  grave, 
acted  as  pall-bearer,  friend,  minister  and  congregation  all  alone,  beautifully 
exemplifying  the  doctrine  of  his  church  which  recognizes  the  universal  broth- 
erhood of  man. 

A  young  man  named  Ashire,  stepson  of  Peter  Coger.  was  crushed  to  death 
by  a  saw  log  on  the  Elk  river  about  1847. 

Before  the  war,  three  miles  below  Stump  town,  a  Mr.  Bennett's  wife  and 
three  children  were  drowned  while  attempting  to  cross  the  swollen  waters  of 
Steer  creek  in  a  wagon.  Mr.  Bennett  succeeded  in  rescuing  one  of  the  chil- 
dren and  made  his  own  escape. 

At  the  tavern  house  and  saloon  of  Samuel  J.  Singleton,  who  lived  on 
O'Briens  fork  of  Salt  Lick,  where  Newton  G.  Singleton  now  lives,  a  boy  named 
Mollohan  was  urged  to  drink  a  quantity  of  whiskey  on  Sunday  about  5  o'clock 
and  died  about  10  o'clock  Monday  morning.  He  lived  about  seventeen  hours, 
and  was  buried  Tuesday  night  about  11  o'clock.  It  was  thirty-seven  hours 
befoi'e  the  corpse  was  released  by  the  coroner.  The  date  of  this  occurrence, 
not  definitely  stated,  was  in  1859. 

At  the  same  tavern  house  and  barroom  on  August  27,  1859,  Samuel  J. 
Singleton  shot  B.  P.  Farrow  with  a  pistol.  Singleton  claimed  the  shooting 
to  be  accidental.  The  ball  entered  the  bowels.  Farrow  lived  about  eleven 
hours,  having  been  shot  about  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  died  about  4  the 
next  morning.  On  Monday,  the  29th,  a  coroner's  jury  was  called  and  sat,  and 
on  Monday  night  the  corpse  was  taken  to  his  father's  house,  on  Salt  Lick 
creek,  and  buried  about  eleven  o'clock  that  night. 

About  1857  or  1S5S,  within  wheat  harvest,  Jesse  Farrow  was  killed  by 
lightning  on  the  hill  back  of  his  residence,  near  the  mouth  of  Rock  run,  on 
Salt  Lick. 

About  the  year  1858  or  1859  Mrs.  Margaret  Fisher,  while  looking  along 
the  branch  back  of  the  Fisher  residence  for  young  gosllings,  discovered  a 
colored  infant  lying  in  some  drift  along  the  creek.  The  family  owned  two 
colored  women  named  Hannah  and  Fannie.     Fannie  was  supposed  to  be  the 


302  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

mother  of  the  child.  Mrs.  Fisher  communicated  the  fact  of  her  discovery  to 
her  husband,  who  got  John  D.  Baxter  to  stay  with  his  family  while  he  went 
to  Sutton  to  confer  with  the  authorities.  The  two  colored  women  were  sold 
and  sent  South. 

Some  years  before  the  Civil  war,  a  boy  named  Fox  whose  parents  lived 
near  the  mouth  of  Birch  river,  was  playing  in  the  water  near  where  some  folks, 
were  washing.  A  large  pike  caught  him  by  the  leg  and  would  have  drowned 
him  had  he  not  been  rescued.  Samuel  Fox  killed  the  fish,  and  it  measured 
four  feet  and  three  inches  in  length.  Some  years  later,  this  same  boy  was 
shot  and  badly  crippled  by  a  man  named  Harrison  Beasley.  ♦ 

Before  the  Civil  war  a  man  named  Harris  was  drowned  at  the  mouth  of 
Birch  river. 

A  man  named  Berry,  who  lived  near  the  mouth  of  Big  Otter,  Clay  county, 

was  killed  by   McLaughlin,   brother   of  Warwick  McLaughlin. 

This  occurred  before  the  Civil  war,  and  domestic  trouble  was  said  to  be  the 
cause. 

Sarah  Frances  Humphreys,  daughter  of  Dr.  A.  C.  Humphreys,  in  her 
ninth  year  was  attending  a  school  taught  by  Mrs.  Dunlap  in  Sutton  about 
time  of  Civil  war.  She  was  standing  in  front  of  the  grate,  and  with  some 
others  was  looking  on  the  mantel  for  something  when  the  girls  standing  be- 
hind her,  pushed  her  dress  forward.  Having  on  a  hoop  skirt,  the  front  of 
her  skirt  went  over  the  blazing  fire  in  the  grate,  and  she  was  so  badly  burned 
that  she  died  the  eighth  day,  the  victim  of  a  useless  fashion. 

William  Squires,  son  of  Elijah  Squires,  was  drowned  in  Salt  Lick  creek, 
near  Salt  Lick  Bridge,  while  attempting  to  cross  the  swollen  stream.  This 
occurred  before  the  Civil  war. 

Early  in  the  50 's,  John  Gibson,  brother  of  Ellicot  Gibson,  was  drowned 
in  the  Elk  river  at  a  point  called  Breechclout,  near  the  mouth  of  Flatwoods 
run,  while  trying  to  cross  the  river  on  the  ice. 

Jemima  Green  who  had  just  moved  to  Little  Otter,  was  assaulted  by  some 
persons,  some  of  whom  were  thought  to  be  women,  and  beaten  to  death.  She 
was  found  the  next  morning  lying  in  her  bed.     Her  young  child  was  in  the 

bed  with  her.    The  child  grew  to  womanhood,  and  married 

It  was  never  fully  known  who  committed  this  atrocious  crime. 

Before  the  Civil  war,  it  is  related  that  Isaac  Bender  who  lived  on  Ferry's 
run,  Webster  county,  was  gathering  ginseng  on  a  steep  hillside,  and  was  bit- 
ten on  the  neck  by  a  rattlesnake.     Pie  died  almost  instantly. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  303 

In  Sept.,  1852,  Lemastes  Stephenson,  while  returning  from  Charleston 
on  horseback,  reached  down  with  his  penknife  to  cut  a  switch  from  the  road- 
side. In  some  way  the  knife  blade  slipped  and  cut  him  in  the  knee  joint,  from 
which  wound  he  died.    He  was  forty-eight  years  of  age. 

In  Sept.,  1855,  near  Bumsville,  John  M.,  a  son  of  Benjamin  Haymond, 
who  was  about  two  years  of  age,  was  drowned  by  falling  over  a  bank  into  a 
stream  of  the  Little  Kanawha  where  there  was  a  depth  of  about  a  foot  of 
water. 

Sometime  i  nthe  50 's,  while  Elijah  Perkins,  B.  F.  Fisher  and  Pinkney  El- 
lison were  crossing  the  Elk  river,  coming  from  the  old  Jackson  mill  to  town, 
their  canoe  capsized  and  went  over  the  milldam,  and  Ellison  who  was  a  good 
swimmer,  was  drowned.  Perkins  and  Fisher,  neither  of  whom  could  swim, 
made  their  escape  from  drowning  by  clinging  to  the  canoe. 

On  Brooks  run  of  the  Holly  river,  while  hauling  logs  with  a  team  of  cat- 
tle, Hedgeman  Davis  was  caught  by  a  log  rolling  over  him,  and  was  instantly 
killed.    This  was  early  in  the  50 's. 

Some  years  before  the  Civil  war,  John  Morrison,  in  company  with  Ellicot 
Gibson,  Avas  bringing  a  raft  of  lumber  down  the  Elk,  and  in  crossing  Breech- 
clout  rapids  the  raft  tore  up  and  Gibson  was  drowned.  He  had  previously 
made  the  remark  that  God  Almighty  had  never  made  that  water  in  which  he 
could  not  swim.  Morrison  who  was  unable  to  swim  clung  to  some  floating  lum- 
ber and  escaped. 

In  1861  William  Blagg  was  drowned  at  the  forks  of  Holly  while  in  bath- 
ing. 

Before  the  Civil  war,  Benjamin  Starbuck  had  a  whiskey  still  at  the  forks 
of  Wolf  creek.  The  still  was  located  near  the  present  residence  of  E.  D.  Bar- 
nett,  and  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  Mr.  Barnett  found  what  he 
supposed  to  be  a  grave  just  across  on  the  other  branch  of  the  creek.  He  and 
a  Mr.  Weese  opened  the  place,  and  found  some  human  bones  in  a  shallow 
grave.  Bocks  had  been  set  up  on  edge,  and  flat  stones  laid  over  them,  making 
a  kind  of  vault.  It  was  said  that  a  stranger  had  been  hanging  around  the 
still,  and  it  was  supposed  he  had  considerable  gold  on  his  person.  Who  mur- 
dered the  man,  in  case  he  was  murdered,  is  not  known.  Mr.  Barnett  relates 
that  they  placed  the  remains  back  where  they  found  them,  and  that  later  the 
public  road  was  made  over  the  grave,  and  the  remains  of  this  unfortunate 
man,  like  those  of  General  Braddock.  rest  beneath  the  traveling  public. 

Some  years  after  the  war,  a  man  named  Pritt,   at  the  head  of  Grassy 
creek,  Webster  county,  built  a  ring  fire  around  some  woodland  to  drive  the 


304  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

deer  out,  and  the  fire  caught  him.  and  burned  him  and  his  dog  to  death,  and 
the  stock  of  his  gun  was  also  burned  off. 

Mark  Hutchinson,  a  colored  man  belonging  to  Wm.  Hutchinson,  was  fight- 
ing forest  fire,  and  the  fire  burning  very  rapidly  up  the  hillside  and  being  be- 
low him,  the  colored  man  climbed  a  tree,  and  thereby  escaped  with  his  life. 
His  dog  however  perished  in  the  flames. 

One  of  John  Singleton's  little  girls  was  scalded  to  death  in  a  salt  kettle 
which  belonged  to  the  family.  It  was  the  remnant  of  an  old  salt  kettle  that 
Asa  Squires  used  in  making  salt  near  Salt  Lick  Bridge  over  a  hundred  years 


About  forty  years  ago,  George  Dean  who  lived  on  Coon  creek,  cut  a  small 
beech  tree  which  stood  near  the  house.  Two  of  his  children  were  in  the  yard, 
one  of  them,  a  little  girl,  was  in  the  cradle  and  a  little  boy  named  Thomas, 
was  rocking  the  cradle.  The  tree  fell  across  the  cradle  and  killed  the  little 
girl,  also  crippled  the  boy  in  the  hand.  He  is  still  living,  but  his  hand  grew 
badly  deformed  owing  to  this  accident. 

In  the  time  of  the  Civil  war,  a  boy  named  Samuel  Thorp  was  drowned  in 
Crawford  eddy  at  Centralia. 

Peter  Cogar  was  drowned  at  the  mouth  of  Granny's  creek  in  the  70 's. 

William  Dillion  who  had  been  a  Federal  soldier,  while  assisting  Dr.  New- 
Ion  to  remove  some  drugs  from  his  office  in  Sutton,  drank  some  aconite  which 
he  supposed  to  be  whiskey.  He  lived  but  a  few  minutes  after  drinking  the 
drug. 

A  few  years  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  Lieutenant  "Ob"  Wilson 
who  had  gone  through  the  war  as  a  commissioned  officer  of  the  Tenth  West 
Virginia  Infantry  and  had  seen  much  hard  service,  was  joking  with  a  weak- 
minded  fellow  who  became  offended  and  struck  Wilson  with  a  rock,  killing 
him  instantly. 

A  young  man  named  M.  T.  Long  was  squirrel  hunting  below  the  mouth 
of  Big  Buffalo,  and  was  drowned.  His  gun  was  found  near  the  water's  edge 
by  Curt  Skidmore.  A  few  days  later,  his  bodv  was  recovered  below  Strange 
Creek.  It  was  supposed  that  he  had  fallen  into  the  river  while  in  a  state  of 
unconsciousness  as  he  was  subject  to  fits.  This  sad  occurrence  took  place  in 
the  year  1875. 

Clinton  Townsend,  son  of  Granville  Townsend,  was  killed  in  Huffman's 
mill  in  Sutton  in  1879.  He  fell  in  the  water  wheel,  and  his  body  was  horribly 
mangled. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOE  Y.  305 

A  young  man  named  Fancher  of  northern  Ohio,  salesman  for  Greer  & 
Laing  of  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  was  drowned  while  bathing  in  the  eddy  in  the  Elk 
just  below  the  Sutton  suspension  bridge.    This  occurred  about  thirty  years  ago. 

May  15,  1880,  Susan  C.  Baxter,  daughter  of  William  D.  and  Annie  C. 
Baxter,  perished  in  the  flames  while  burning  some  brush  and  trash  heaps  on 
a  piece  of  new  ground  which  she  was  cleaning  up  on  the  hillside  between  the 
public  road  and  the  top  of  the  hill  near  the  Baxter  graveyard.  She  was  alone 
at  the  time  and  it  was  supposed  that  her  clothing  caught  fire.  Her  body  was 
so  badly  burned  and  disfigured  that  her  father  in  searching  for  her  passed 
near  where  she  lay  without  recognizing  her  body.  Henry  A.  Baxter,  her 
brother,  then  went  to  search  for  her  and  found  her  body.  Thus  perished  this 
noble  Christian  woman. 

John  Sheperson  was  shot  and  killed  on  March  3,  1882,  on  the  farm  of 
Vena  Floyd.  He  was  working  in  a  clearing  and  was  shot  from  ambush.  He 
was  originally  from  Jackson  county. 

August  23,  1887,  Sampson  Conrad  was  killed  near  the  Floyd  farm  while 
driving  .an  ox  team  for  Alex.  Dulin  and  H.  C.  Floyd.  He  fell  under  the 
wheels  of  the  wagon  and  was  crushed  to  death. 

A  son  of  Isaac  Lynch  was  drowned  in  the  eddy  below  the  Skidmore  farm 
near  the  mouth  of  Baker's  run,  many  years  ago. 

A  young  man  named  Mick  was  drowned  in  Salisbury  eddy  in  the  Elk 
river  while  bathing  and  swimming  a  horse.  He  pulled  the  rein  of  the  bridle 
and  turned  the  horse  backward.  It  is  supposed  that  he  became  injured  and 
strangled,  thus  was  unable  to  rise.  The  body  was  recovered  by  Norman 
Knicely  diving  into  twelve  feet  of  water. 

About  1888,  Elliott  Mollohan  was  drowned  in  the  Elk  river  near  the 
mouth  of  Duck  creek. 

About  the  summer  of  1888,  Calvin  G.  Squires  was  killed  by  lightning 
about  a  half  mile  above  the  forte  of  Salt  Lick.  He  was  going  in  the  direction 
of  Shaversville,  and  was  sheltering  from  a  rainstomi  under  an  oak  tree  that 
stood  by  the  side  of  the  road  at  Captain  Hyer's  field.  He  and  his  horse  were 
found  dead. 

In  June,  1889,  Lafayette  Prunty  killed  Wright  Childers  of  Copen  run  by 
striking  him  on  the  head  with  a  handspike.  They  were  engaged  in  fencing  a 
piece  of  land,  and.it  is  said  some  dispute  arose  over  a  trivial  matter. 


306  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Sylvester  W.,  son  of  Salathiel  S.  Dennison  Mras  accidentally  shot  by  his 
brother,  and  died  May  19,  1890,  near  High  Knob. 

•Perry  Wine,  about  the  year  1890,  while  living 'on  the  lands  of  Wm.  J. 
Perrine  on  Cedar  creek,  cut  a  tree  which  fell  across  his  cabin  and  killed  his 
wife  who  before  her  marriage  was  Amanda  Shields. 

Scott  Rains  who  at  one  time  lived  near  Stumptown,  was  shot  and  killed 
in  Webster  county  about  1890.  He  was  hiding  from  the  officers  of  the  law, 
and  it  is  said  was  betrayed  by  some  one. 

About  the  time  of  the  construction  of  the  railroad  through  Braxton,  an 
Italian  was  sitting  on  the  porch  at  the  residence  of  B.  F.  Fisher  and  while 
handling  a  gun,  accidentally  discharged  it,  the  contents  going  through  his 
body,  causing  instant  death. 

In  the  railroad  camp  at  the  head  of  Granny's  creek,  during  the  construc- 
tion of  the  railroad,  a  vicious  colored  man  shot  one  of  the  bosses  named  Hugh 
MeLane.  For  this  murder,  he  was  tried  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  but  was 
pardoned  a  few  years  later.  He  was  said  to  be  a  very  bad  character,  and 
some  time  after  his  release  he  got  into  some  trouble  and  was  killed. 

In  October,  1894,  while  working  in  a  sawmill  at  Palmer,  J.  Conde  Gilles- 
pie, son  of  Rev.  J.  Y.  Gillespie,  was  killed  by  a  piece  of  plank  or  narrow  strip 
of  lumber  which  was  thrown  from  the  machinery  with  great  force.  After 
being  struck,  the  unfortunate  young  man'  survived  but  a  short  time. 

A  boy  named  Mead  Meadows,  about  the  year  1895,  hanged  himself  in  a 
strip  of  woodland  facing  the  farm  of  Captain  Hyer  on  Salt  Lick.  He  was  a 
son  of  Thomas  C.  Meadows  who  lived  near  the  Morrison  church. 

James  Matheney  whose  home  was  on  Keener 's  Ridge,  was  driving  a  team 
near  Cowen,  Webster  county,  when  he  was  in  some  way  thrown  under  his 
wagon,  receiving  injuries  which  resulted  in  his  death  a  few  days  later.  This 
occurred  in  1896. 

About  the  year  1898,  Wesley  J.,  a  son  of  Jacob  Knicely,  twelve  or  four- 
teen years  of  age,  was  killed  by  a  tree  striking  him  in  some  way  as  it  fell. 

About  the  year  1900,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ward,  while  hauling  lumber, 
fell  from  his  wagon  and  was  killed. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  307 

Simon  Edgar  Tonkins,  son  of  Jacob  Tonkins,  was  killed  several  years  ago 
by  a  falling  rock  in  a  coal  bank. 

Mathew  B.  Hines  was  killed  in  the  year  1902  by  a  B.  &  0.  train  while 
crossing  a  bridge  over  Laurel  creek.  He  was  walking  under  an  umbrella  dur- 
ing a  very  hard  rain  and  the  rain  and  noise  made  by  the  stream  were  thought 
to  be  the  cause  of  his  failure  to  hear  the  approaching  train,  which  was  coming 
around  a  curve.  Hines  had  gotten  to  the  bridge  crossing  the  stream  and  was 
knocked  for  quite  a  distance  down  the  creek. 

A  grandson  of  John  Prince,  while  bathing  in  Elk  river  at  the  mouth  of 
Old  Woman 's  run  about  1902,  was  drowned. 

About  the  year  1902,  David  Hosey,  son  of  John  G.  Hosey,  was  stabbed 
.to  death  by  a  young  man  named  Grover  Coberly.  The  difficulty  occurred  at 
a  saloon  in  Centralia,  this  county.  Coberly  was  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  five  years  in  the  penitentiary.  He  escaped  from  jail  and  his  whereabouts  are 
still  unknown  by  the  authorities. 

Alfred  Squires,  a  colored  man:  inmate  of  the  county  infirmary,  was  burned 
to  death  about  1902.  He  was  alone  at  the  time  and  was  lying  in  bed  smoking. 
The  bed  caught  fire  and  he  was  too  aged  and  infirm  to  help  himself,  and  per- 
ished in  the  flames. 

About  1903  or  1904,  the  wife  of  Jasper  Carpenter,  while  washing  at  the 
river,  by  some  means  exposed  her  clothing  to  the  fire  and  they  were  ignited. 
With  her  clothing  burning,  she  ran  up  the  bank  to  the  house,  then  around  the 
house  and  finally  reached  the  door,  ran  into  the  house  and  jumped  in  the  bed. 
Her  indvalid  sister  pulled  off  her  clothing,  but  she  was  so  badly  burned  that 
she  lived  only  a  day  or  so.  The  unfortunate  woman  was  a  daughter  of  John 
Perkins.  , 

It  is  evident  from  this  and  other  similar  circumstances  that  most  persons 
entirely  lose  thier  minds  when  their  clothing  catches  fire.  How  easily  Mrs. 
Carpenter  might  have  extinguished  the  fire,  being  so  close  to  the  edge  of  the 
river. 

A  young  man  named  Van  Horn  was  drowned  in  Steer  creek  about  1904. 
It  was  supposed  that  he  and  some  parties  who  were  with  him  fishing  were  us- 
ing dynamite,  and  that  he  received  a  shock  which  caused  him  to  sink  after  he 
had  been  stunned  by  the  explosion. 

In  1904,  while  in  camp  on  a  hunting  expedition,  a  man's  voice  was  heard 
in  the  forest  crying  for  help.  K.  M.  Hoover,  Sherman  Hyer,  George  Dunford, 
James  Hinkle  and  Albert  Quin,  being  in  camp,  answered  the  cry  of  the  lost  and 


308  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

started  in  pursuit.  When  they  approached  the  man,  he  seemed  wild  and  de- 
lirious, and  would  run  from  them,  and  it  was  with  considerable  difficulty  that 
he  was  caught.  He  was  in  a  wild,  starved  and  emaciated  condition,  but  after 
he  had  become  composed,  he  said  that  his  fright  became  so  great  that  if  he 
heard  a  stick  crack  or  the  least  rustle  of  the  leaves,  he  would  run.  He  had 
become  partially  blind  while  working  in  the  coal  and  coke  fields  on  the  New 
river,  and  was  trying  to  come  through  the  mountains  to  his  home  in  Harrison 
county.  He  was  a  foreigner,  and  said  his  name  was  Kave  Cole,  and  had  been 
in  this  country  about  ten  years. 

William  Lacy,  a  colored  man,  was  shot  and  killed  in  Sutton,  near  the  Thayer 
boarding  house,  in  the  year  1905. 

A  very  sad  occurrence  took  place  in  190..  at  Heater  station  on  the  B.  &  0. 
railroad  at  the  residence  of  John  S.  Singleton,  Jr.,  a  son  of  Asa  Singleton. 
In  the  night,  the  house  caught  tire  from  a  gas  pipe  an  dburned,  and  three 
of  Singleton's  children  perished  in  the  flames. 

In  1906,  during  the  burning  of  the  Riverview  Hotel  in  Sutton,  occurred 
one  of  the  saddest  tragedies  in  the  history  of  the  county,  being  the  fatal  burn- 
ing of  Loyd  Garee  and  his  wife,  who  had  just  been  married.  They  were  on 
their  way  to  the  Garee  farm  five  miles  south  of  Sutton,  where  Mr.  Garee 's 
mother  lived.  The  fire  originated  from  a  defect  in  one  of  the  heating  pipes  in 
the  basement  of  the  hotel  and  spread  so  rapidly  that  nothing  was  saved,  Mr. 
Garee  and  his  wife,  who  occupied  an  upstairs  room!,  were  trying  to  save  some 
of  their  belongings  and  were  suddenly  cut  off  by  fire,  smoke  brusting  through 
the  hall.  What  was  left  of  their  bodies  was  deposited  in  the  family  graveyard 
on  the  Garee  farm. 

In  1906  Luther  Wright,  a  colored  man,  was  waylaid  and  shot  to  death  in 
the  public  road  leading  from  Sutton  to  Buffalo,  near  the  summit  of  the  hill. 

Adam  Moore,  who  resided  on  Steer  creek,  committed  suicide  by  hanging 
about  the  year  1907. 

At  Centralia,  in  the  year  1907  or  1908,  David  Cool,  while  bathing  in  the 
Elk,  took  cramps  and  was  drowned. 

Samuel  Hosey,  son  of  Silas  Hosey,  who  lived  near  Centralia,  was  killed  by 
a  log  rolling  over  his  body  near  Curtin. 

Matthew  Knight,  of  this  county,  was  shot  in  Webster  county  about  1908, 
near  Webster  Springs,  by  a  man  named  Tracy.  His  body  was  found  in  the 
woods  several  days  later.     Knight  and  Tracy  had  gone  squirrel  hunting  to- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  309 

gether.  There  was  trouble  between  the  men  on  account  of  domestic  affairs. 
Tracy  was  granted  a  change  of  venue  to  Braxton  county,  confessed  and  got  ten 
years  in  the  penitentiary. 

A  few  years  ago  Wesley  Tracy  was  drowned  in  the  Elk  river  below  Web- 
ster Springs. 

About  1907,  a  young  man  named  Utt  was  drowned  near  the  mouth  of 
Baker's  run.  Aunt  Delilah  Cogar  says  the  water  was  very  clear,  and  that  she 
could  see  the  corpse  plainly. 

Two  sons  of  John  Armentrout  were  drowned  in  the  Elk  while  bathing. 
Date  not  known. 

About  the  year  1909,  Willie  Garrettson,  a  small  boy,  was  killed  while  rid- 
ing on  the  turntable  at  Centralia.  This  was  a  most  sad  occurrence.  It  was 
with  great  difficulty  that  the  boy's  body  was  extricated  from  between  the  turn 
table  and  the  stone  wall  surrounding  it. 

About  1908,  while  Sherman  Rollyson.  his  wife  and  mother-in-law  were  at- 
tempting to  cross  the  Elk  river  at  G-assaway  in  a  skiff,  it  being  dark,  the  boat 
capsized  as  they  pushed  it  from  the  shore.  Rollyson  was  unable  to  swim,  but 
by  an  effort,  after  going  under  a  few  times,  reached  the  shore.  His  mother-in- 
law  held  to  the  boat,  which  was  upside  down.  His  wife,  it  is  said,  was  found 
some  distance  down  the  river  by  a  party  who  heard  their  cries  for  help  and 
was  found  to  be  dead  when  taken  out.  She  was  subject  to  some  kind  of  spells 
and  it  was  thought  that  the  shock  caused  heart  failure,  as  the  doctors  who  ex- 
amined her  said  she  had  not  died  from  drowning. 

James  Thayer,  son  of  Seth  Thayer,  while  sitting  in  Jehu  Carpenter's  house 
on  Wolf  creek,  was  shot  and  instantly  killed  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a 
gun.    This  occurred  in  1909  or  1910. 

The  burning  of  Mrs.  J.  D.  Harden  and  her  family  in  Sutton  in  1911  was 
one  of  the  saddest  tragedies  that  ever  occurred  in  the  central  part  of  the  State. 
Nothing  else  so  touched  the  tender  emotions  of  the  people  as  did  this  sad  occur- 
rnce — the  fatal  burning  of  Mrs.  Harden  and  five  of  her  children  and  a  little 
girl  named  Green  who  stayed  with  the  f amily.  Mr.  Harden  succeeded  in  es- 
caping from  the  burning  building  with  slight  injuries.  His  wife,  after  vainly 
trying  to  save  the  children,  was  cut  off  from  escape  by  the  flames,  and  fell  or 
jumped  from  an  upper  window,  dying  a  few  moments  later.  Mrs.  Harden 
was  an  estimable  woman  with  an  interesting  family  of  children.  They  lived 
in  a  pleasant  home  in  Sutton.  The  sad  occurrence  cast  such  gloom  and  sadness 
over  the  town  and  country  as  our  people  had  never  so  fully  experienced  be- 
fore. 


310  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

i 

A  Miss  Cogar,  who  lived  on  Camp  run,  a  branch  of  Laurel  creek,  in  the 

edge  of  Webster  county,  while  picking  beans  in  a  cornfield  was  shot  by  a  young 

man  named  Cogar,  a  nephew  of  the  woman  killed,  who  said  he  thought  he  was 

shooting  at  a  squirrel.     This  was  about  the  year  1912. 

About  1912  Lewis  Propst  was  killed  by  a  B.  &  0.  train  about  a  mile  above 
Holly  Junction.    This  tragedy  occurred  in  the  night. 

About  the  year  1912,  a  little  girl  of  Samuel  Holcomb,  while  playing  with 
matches  got  her  clothing  on  fire  and  was  so  badly  burned  that  she  lived  only 
a  few  hours. 

In  1913,  Thomas  McFall,  an  Irishman,  who  lived  on  a  small  tributary  of 
Cedar  creek,  near  the  Cutlip  neighborhood,  was  found  lying  in  the  creek  dead. 
The  deceased  was  an  elderly  man  who  had  no  family.  He  had  been  hiving  sev- 
eral years  on  a  piece  of  land  which  he  owned.  He  had  some  money  and  other 
property.  It  was  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  citizens  that  he  had  been  mur- 
dered. 

In  1914  a  boy  named  Keip,  son  of  Thaddeus  Reip,  was  drowned  in  the  Elk, 
near  the  mouth  of  Mill  creek. 

A  woman  named  Stout,  formerly  known  as  Mrs.  Laura  Woodall,  interfered 
in  a  fight  between  her  son  and  a  young  man  named  Cogar.  Willis  Cogar, 
brother  of  the  boy  engaged  in  the  melee,  in  attempting  to  take  a  stick  from 
Mrs.  Stout  in  order  to  prevent  her  from  striking  his  brother,  gave  her  a 
wrench  which,  it  is  supposed  ruptured  a  blood  vessel  and  she  lived  but  a  few 
moments.  The  boys  engaged  in  the  fight  were  intoxicated.  This  occurred  at 
Centralia  in  1914. 

Bell  Gibson,  wife  of  S.  J.  Gibson,  aged  about  41  years,  was  drowned  in  a,- 
well  at  Centralia  June  24,  1915.  Her  mind  had  been  bad  for  some  time.  Al- 
though the  family  looked  after  her  as  closely  as  they  could  she,  in  the  absence 
of  her  husband,  went  to  the  well,  which  was  some  distance  from  the  house,  and 
fell  head  foremost  through  a  small  aperture  which  had  been  cut  through  the 
platform  on  which  the  curb  rested.  One  of  her  little  boys  discovered  her  in 
the  well  a  few  moments  after  she  had  fallen  in.  Mrs.  Gibson  was  a  daughter 
of  the  late  John  Jenkins,  who  lived  on  O'Briens  Fork  of  Salt  Lick  creek. 

In  July,  1914,  Miss  Orlean  Plyman  of  Clarksburg,  and  a  man  named  Wm. 
L.  Fielder  (or  Fidler)  were  drowned  while  bathing  in  the  Elk  at  Webster 
Springs.  The  young  man  was  employed  as  bookkeeper  for  Greer  &  Laing  at 
Wheeling. 


SUTTON'S     HISTOKY.  311 

Robert  Carpenter,  an  aged  and  respected  citizen,  who  had  very  recently 
moved  from  Bakers  Run,  where  he  had  been  engaged  in  farming  and  mer- 
chandizing for  some  years,  to  his  farm  near  Erbacon,  Webster  comity,  was 
killed  in  May,  1915,  by  his  team  running  away.  It  seemed  that  Mr.  Carpenter 
and  a  boy  were  riding  on  a  wagon  which  was  loaded  with  lumber,  and  when 
he  laid  down  the  check  lines  to  draw  the  rubber,  the  horses  became  frightened 
and  started  to  run.    The  boy  escaped  unhurt. 

On  April  26,  1915,  Robert  Perrine  committed  suicide  by  hanging  himself 
in  Riley  Lewis'  undertaking  sbop  at  Bens  Run.  In  the  undertaker's  absence, 
he  placed  one  coffin  box  on  another  and  tied  a  rope  around  a  joist  and  from  this 
elevation  jumped  off  and  strangled  himself  to  death.  Difficulty  with  his  family 
seemed  to  be  the  cause  of  this  rash  act. 

In  1917  a  young  man  named  Bright  committed  suyicide  by  taking  a  poison- 
ous drug.    Bad  health  was  said  to  be  the  cause. 

In  April,  1916,  a  young  man  named  Audra  Davis,  son  of  Emma  Davis, 
while  working  on  a  B.  &  0.  railroad  bridge  at  Grafton  and  carrying  one  end 
of  a  heavy  board,  fell  through  the  bridge,  a  distance  of  thirty  feet  to  the  water, 
falling  on  his  back.  He  made  some  effort  to  swim,  but  sunk.  His  body  was 
recovered  in  about  fifteen  minutes.  He  was  brought  to  his  home  near  Plat- 
woods,  and  buried  at  the  Evans  church. 

During  the  Christmas  holidays  of  1916,  while  at  a  dance  at  a  house  on 
Granny's  creek,  Hank  Haymond,  a  colored  man,  shot  Wm.  Lacy,  colored.  The 
wounded  man  was  taken  to  a  hospital  at  Clarksburg,  but  he  lived  only  a  few 
hours. 

A  young  man  named  Caruthers  of  Clarksburg,  while  spending  his  Christ- 
mas in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Little  Birch,  on  Dec.  25,  1916,  got  into  trouble 
with  a  young  man  named  Facemire,  son  of  Van  Facemire  of  that  neighborhood. 
In  the  fight,  Facemire  cut  the  other  man's  throat,  a  wound  from  which  he 
died  a  few  days  later  in  a  hospital  at  Clarksburg. 

On  Dec.  18,  1916,  a  sad  occurrence  took  place  at  the  home  of  Charles 
Singleton,  who  lived  on  the  waters  of  Salt  Lick  when  his  wife  was  trying  to 
kindle  a  fire  by  pouring  lamp  oil  on  it  from  a  can.  The  oil  caught  fire  and 
enveloped  her  in  flames.  She  was  so  badly  burned  that  death  soon  relieved  her 
suffering.     She  left  four  young  children. 

In  August,  1917,  Lee  Dillon,  son  of  Absolum  Dillon,  was  killed  while  at- 
tempting to  turn  a  log  at  a  saw  mill  on  Laurel  creek.  The  canthook  which  he 
was  using,  suddenly  slipped  or  came  loose,  and  the  log  fell  back  and  caught 
the  young  man,  causing  instant  death. 


312  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Col.  John  Brown,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Nicholas  county,  in  attempting 
to  go  from  his  home  near  Big  Birch  River  to  Mucldlety,  was  found  on  Powell's 
Mountain  by  the  mail  carrier,  with  his  foot  hanging  in  the  stirup  of  the  saddle. 
It  is  said  that  the  horse  was  feeding  by  the  road  side.  '  The  Colonel  died  a  few 
minutes  after  he  was  released  from  the  horse. 

In  the  summer  of  1916,  Clyde,  a  son  of  Etta  James,  accidentally  shot 
himself  while  squirrel  hunting.     He  only  lived  a  few  hours. 

In  Gilmer  county  in  the  month  of  September,  1917, -Hanson  Glen  Heater 
and  Okey  Heater;  while  out  squirrel  hunting,  separated  to  meet  at  a  certain 
place.  Hanson  returned  first,  and  sat  down  to  await  the  return  of  Okey,  and 
Okey  coming  up  from  an.  opposite  direction,  and  seeing  the.  ton  of  Hanson's 
head  thought  it  was  a  ground  hog  and  fired  on  him,  killing  him  instantly. 

ANECDOTES. 

Quite  an  amusing  little  incident  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
war.  Paul  Hoover  lived  on  Little  Otter  and  was  engaged  in  getting  out  a  set 
of  boat  gunwales,  assisted  by  his  brother  John,  and  his  son  Wesley. 

Vague  and  alarming  stories  had  been  in  circulation  as  to  the  barbarity  of 
the  Northern  soldiers.  While  the  parties  referred  to  were  in  the  woods  at  work, 
some  one  went  out  in  great  alarm,  and  notified  them  to  flee  for  their  lives — that 
the  Yankees  were  coming.  All  three  broke  for  the  house.  Paul  was  light  and 
more  fleet  than  the  other  two,  and  was  in  advance.  As  they  approached  the 
house,  Paul's  Avife  whose  name  was  Martha,  was  standing  on  the  porch  watch- 
ing the  race.  Paul  cried  out  to  his  wife,  saying,  "Wes  it  here  and  John's 
a-comin'.    Get  us  a  bite  to  eat,  Marth,  and  we'll  be  out  of  here." 

Many  years  after  the  war  had  levied  its  toll  of  sacrifice  and  the  anguish 
and  conflict  had  abated,  the  Hoover  boys  had  it  for  a  by-word,  "Wes  is  here 
and  John's  comin'. "  It  was  one  of  the  jokes  that  made  merry  in  the  harvest 
field  when  we  cut  the  ripened  grain  and  rested  on  the  swaths  of  the  new-mown 
hay. 

A  very  amusing  incident  occurred  a  few  years  ago  at  Bee  run  school- 
house  on  Salt  Lick  ci'eek.  The  Methodists  were  holding  a  revival  meeting  which 
seemed  to  be  attended  with  great  success.  There  was  quite  a  number  of  seekers 
at  the  altar.  The  meeting  had  been  going  on  for  several  days  and  nights,  and 
th  congregation  was  nearly  worn  out.  At  one  of  the  services  at  night  the  sing- 
ing had  almost  ceased.  In  his  zeal  and  desire  to  keep  up  the  interest  in  the 
meeting,  Newlon  Squires  jumped  up  on  a  bench  and  cried  out,  "Farther  On." 
This  was  the  name  of  a  favorite  hymn  they  had  been  singing,  and  being  very 
hoarse  he  could  not  well  be  understood.  The  congregation  thought  that  he 
halooed  fire,  and  the  panic  started.  Some  ran  out  through  the  door,  others 
made  their  escape  through  the  windows,  and  it  was  said  that  some,  having 
more  presence  of  mind,   began  to  drag  the  "mourners"  out  into  the  yard. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.    '  313 

This  is  one  of  the  most  amusing  incidents  that  ever  occurred  in  our  country. 

About  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  Samuel  Holcomb  and  his  wife  Nancy, 
together  with  their  family  of  children  mostly  grown,  settled  on  Laurel  creek 
in  Webster  county.  Mrs.  Holcomb  was  a  remarkably  strong  woman,  and  a 
great  worker.  One  spring.  Mr.  Holcomb  had  a  contract  to  do  a  job  of  grubing 
for  Lewis  Waine.  The  season  was  getting  late,  and  the  work  had  been  sus- 
pended for  some  time,  and  Lewis  saw  Mr.  Holcomb  one  day  and  urged  him  to 
finish  the  work.  "All  right."  said  Holcomb.  "Me  and  Nance  will  be  there 
Monday  morning  and  finish  the  work."  True  to  his  promise,  they  came  on 
and  did  the  work.  Mrs.  Holcomb  lived  to  be  over  a  hundred  years  old,  ac- 
cording to  the  account  they  had  of  her  age.  Their  son,  Black  Holcomb,  is  a 
Free  Gospel  preacher,  and  though  limited  in  education,  he  has  a  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures  and  a  flow  of  language  that  renders  his  sermons  of  interest. 

Many  years  ago  a  colored  man  in  Braxton  commenced  preaching.  To  be- 
gin with,  he  was  a  very  fine  singer  so  it  wasn't,  long  until  his  fame  as  a  minister 
went  out  among  the  colored  people.  He  was  invited  to  one  of  the  large  towns 
to  preach,  and  accepted  the  call.  At  the  appointed  hour,  the  church  was  filled 
with  the  gentry  and  dusky  maids  of  the  town,  gorgeously  attired.  The  choir 
sang.  The  pastor  of  the  church  was  commanding  in  appearance  and  lordly  in 
bearing.  This  was  too  much  for  the  recent  convert  to  the  ministry,  and  when 
he  read  his  text  and  began  his  discourse,  a  dimness  came  across  his  memory. 
This  is  the  first  sign  of  stage  fright.  The  ceiling  began  to  revolve;  the  con- 
gregation was  a  blank ;  and  the  pulpit  seemed  to  be  an  uncertain  foundation  on 
which  he  stood.  His  native  wit,  however,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  grabbing 
his  jaw  with  both  hands  he  cried  out,  "Oh,  Lawd!  oh,  Lawd!  my  tooth."  He 
was  assisted  from  the  stage  in  convulsions.  For  a  long  time  after  that  appoint- 
ment, he  passed  through  that  town  on  through  trains  only. 

About  the  year  1858  or  1859,  Dennis  0.  Wade  lived  at  the  Dyer  place  in 
Flatwoods.  Dennis  had  come  from  the  lew  lands  of  Virginia  where  extrava- 
gance was  unknown,  and  Mrs.  Wade  was  a  careful,  frugal  housewife.  Late  in 
the  Fall,  they  butchered  a  fat  hog  and  Mrs.  Wade  cooked  the  ribs.  About  sup- 
per time  James  C.  Griffin,  a  demented  tramp,  called  for  supper  and  a  night's 
lodging.  Griffin  was  a  stranger  to  the  family,  but  was  known  by  most  every 
one  else  along  the  road.  He  was  noted  for  his  capacity  to  devour  whatever  was 
placed  before  him.  On  this  occasion  he  seemed  to  be  particularly  hungry,  and 
after  he  "cleaned  up"  what  Mrs.  Wade  had  prepared  for  her  family,  she  told 
the  writer,  who  chanced  to  come  along,  that  "Griffin  is  a  mighty  h'a'ty  man — 
he  left  no  less  than  fo'teen  spa 'ribs  at  his  plate,  and  other  things  acco'din'." 
Griffin  claimed  to  be  from  the  county  of  Fluvianna,  and  said  that  he  had  a 
sweetheart,  there  by  the  name  of  Melvina  Mendevender. 

In  time  of  the  Civil  war  while  the  Tenth  West  Virginia  Regiment  was  in 
•camp  at  Beveraly,  West  Virginia,  Lieutenant  Kerens,  who  was  acting  Adju- 


314  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

tant  of  the  Regiment,  ordered  John  D.  Baxter,  who  was  Orderly  Sergeant  of 
Company  F,  to  detail  two  soldiers  to  report  at  once  with  three  days'  rations. 
It  so  happened  that  Wesley  Loyd  and  the  writer  were  first  on  the  list  for  duty. 
We  made  all  possible  haste  to  become  ready,  and  report  ourselves  before  the 
hadquarters  tent.  The  Adjutant  came  out  and  viewed  us  most  critically,  first 
looking  at  one,  then  the  other,  from  head  to  foot,  and  said,  "You  go  back  to 
your  quarters  and  tell  Orderly  Baxter  to  report  here  at  once."  The  Orderly 
with  that  alacrity  and  promptness  for  which  he  was  noted,  hastened  down  to 
the  Colonel's  tent.  The  Adjutant  said,  "I  thought  I  ordered  you  to  send  me 
two  men."  "I  did  so,"  said  the  Orderly.  "You  did  not,"  said  the  Adju- 
tant, "you  sent  me  a  club-foot  and  a  greenhorn.  I  want  two  soldiers.  You 
go  back  and  send  me  two  men  at  once." 

At  a  reunion  of  soldiers  in  Buckhannon,  West  Virginia,  a  number  of  citi- 
zens brought  cider  to  the  camp  to  sell,  and  as  the  festivity  and  hilarity  of  the 
soldiers  on  this  occasion  lasted  nearly  all  night,  venders  of  cider  became  very 
anxious  to  sell  out  about  midnight,  offering  to  reduce,  the  price.  One  man 
cried  out  that  he  would  sell  two  quarts  for  a  nickel ;  another  that  he  would  sell 
his  cider  for  five  cents  a  gallon.  The  boys  seemed  to  have  about  all  they  wanted 
when  some  one  announced  that  he  would  give  his  cider  away.  Nobody  seemed 
to  want  it  as  a  gift;  then  some  one  cried  out,  "If  you  men  will  sell  your  cider 
on  credit,  we  will  take  all  you  have." 

After  General  Garnett  was  killed  at  Cheat  river  and  the  Confederates  were 
retreating  by  a  forced  march  through  the  mountains  in  the  directions  of 
Staunton,  late  one  night,  expecting  any  moment  to  be  attacked  by  the  Federals 
coming  up  from  Piedmont  or  some  point  on  the  B.  &  0.  railroad,  the  soldiers 
were  almost  exhausted,  but  were  urged  to  march,  on  and  keep  perfect  silence, 
when  suddenly  a  soldier  in  the  ranks  started  a  song — not  such  a  song  as  might 
be  heard  in  a  public  assembly,  yet  it  was  comical  and  his  voice  was  strong  and 
musical.  As  it  rang  out  on  that  clear,  cool  night  on  the  spurs  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies,  the  soldiers  were  inspired  by  that  song,  forgetting  they  were  tired ; 
those  who  were  half  asleep,  woke  up ;  others  who  were  straggling,  marched  on 
with  renewed  energy.  Just  then  one  of  the  general's  staff  officers  came  dash- 
ing back  and  inquired  what  soldier  had  sung  that  song.  No  one  answered,  and 
the  officer  said,  "Tell  him  to  sing  it  again."  The  soldier  was  AVesley  Heater 
of  Braxton  county. 

The  writer  had  occasion  one  time  to  inquire  of  a  lady  at  a  wayside  store, 
the  road  to  a  Mr.  Bailey's  residence.  She  said,  "You  can  follow  the  railroad 
to  the  mouth  of  the  next  creek,  then  go  up  the  creek  to  his  place.  This  route 
is  about  three  miles;  or,  you  can  go  over  the  hill  (pointing  to  a  low  gap  in  the 
ridge)  where  you  will  find  a  dim  path  leading  over,  and  this  will  save  you  half 
the  distance  or  more  if  you  don 't  care  to  rough  it. ' '  AVe  said  that  we  had  been 
"roughing  it"  all  our  life,  and  as  we  possessed  a  kind  of  hog  knowledge  of  the 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  315 

woods,  we  would  try  the  hill  route.  We  saw  a  twinkle  come  in  the  lady's  eye 
and  a  smile  on  her  face  as  she  said,  "You  will  find  mast  all  along  the  path." 
For  pure  wit,  this  is  a  gem  that  we  have  never  seen  equaled  in  any  work  we 
have  read. 

Uncle  John  Kaldrider,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  a  blacksmith  and 
loved  a  joke,  but  was  uncompromising  with  a  man  who  would  get  work  done 

and  refuse  to  pay  for  it.     A  Mr .,  living  in  the  neighborhood, 

who  was  considered  a  noted  liar,  had  on  one  pretext  and  another  had  become 

indebted  to  Kaldrider,  and  finally  was  refused  further  credit.     So  Mr 

had  to  go  about  two  miles  beyond  Kaldrider 's  place  to  get  his  work 

done.     Early  one  morning  as  Uncle  John  was  standing  in  his  shop  door,  Mr. 

came  up  the  road  and  seemed  in  a  great  hurry,  carrying  a 

mattock  on  his  shoulder.    He  said,  ' '  Good  morning,  Mr.  Kaldrider, ' '  and  never 

halted.     Mr.  Kaldrider  said,  "Good  morning,  Mr ,  what's  your 

hurry?  Stop  and  tell  us  a  good  one  this  morning."  "No  time  for  stories  this 
morning.  Wm.  Squires  died  last  night,  and  T  am  going  up  to  Corley  to  get  my 
mattack  fixed.  I  have  to  help  dig  the  grave,"  and  he  kept  going  all  the  time. 
"Hold  on,"  said  Mr.  Kaldrider,  "if  that  is  what  you  are  going  for,  come  in 
and  I  will  fix  your  mattock,  and  it  will  save  you  all  that  walk  and  time,  and 

will  cost  you  nothing."    Mr brought  his  mattock  into  the 

shop  and  Uncle  John  fixed  it  as  quickly  as  possible-,  discussing  with  him  Mr. 
Squires'  sudden  death  and  his  many  good  qualities.  When  the  work  was  com- 
pleted, Mr.  ...'. stai'ted  back  as  hurriedly  as  he  had  come.     Mr. 

Kaldrider  went  to  the  field,  caught  his  horse  and  notified  his  family  of  Mr. 
Squires'  death,  hurrying  down  the  creek  to  the  Squires'  residence  to  lend  his 
presence  and  any  assistance  that  he  could  to  the  bereft  family.  Imagine  his 
surprise  when  he  rode  up  to  the  house  and  saw  Mr.  Squires  sitting  on  the  front 
porch  smoking  his  pipe,  and  looking  across  the  creek  to  the  far  hillside  he  saw 
his  friend  grubbing  with  as  much  energy  and  haste  as  he  displayed  that  morn- 
ing going  to  the  shop. 

Colonel  Addison  McLaughlin  who  was  fond  of  cracking  jokes,  met  Andrew 
P.  Friend  one  public  day  at  the  courthouse  and  said  to  him,  "There  is  no  ac- 
count given  in  history,  ancient  or  modern,  where  a  miller  has  ever  gone  to 
heaven. ' '  This  greatly  amused  the  crowd  which  was  standing  around  as  Friend 
was  the  owner  of  a  grist  mill.  Friend  said,  "I  believe  you  are  right,  except 
in  one  instance.  We  learned  of  one  miller  who  slipped  through  the  gates,  and 
the  angels  when  they  discovered  him,  thought  to  ptu  him  out,  but  the  miller 
objected  and  inquired  for  counsel,  and  they  told  him  there  was  not  a  lawyer 
in  heaven."  This  greatly  amused  the  crowd  to  see  the  joke  turned  on  the 
Colonel. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  natural  wit  we  had  in  the  central  part  of  the  state 
was  William  M.  Barnett.    He  was  a  soldier  and  lost  a  leg  in  the  battle  of  Droop 


316  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Mountain.  Barnett  had  quite  a  family  of  half-grown  boys  and  lived  at  Salt 
Lick  bridge,  and  there  was  another  family  of  boys  by  the  name  of  Mick  living 
there  also.  Mr.  Mick  was  a  miller,  and  his  boys  had  some  dogs  and  were  fond 
of  hunting  opossums,  quite  often  insisting  upon  the  Barnett  boys  going  with 
them.  The  father  objected  to  them  going  with  the  Mick  boys,  and  he  told  them 
that  the  boys  would  keep  all  the  game  and  not  divide  with  them  fairly;  but 
this  objection  was  met  by  the  Mick  boys  agreeing  to  give  them  half  of  the  fur 
caught. 

Before  they  started  on  the  hunt.  Barnett  told  his  boys  to  watch  the  Micks ; 
that  the  only  valuable  fur  on  a  "possum  was  a  little,  very  fine  bunch  on  the  tip 
of  his  tail,  and  that  the  Mick  boys  would  be  sure  to  steal  that  off;  and  the  bal- 
ance of  the  fur  would  be  no  good.  Everything  being  arranged,  the  boys  gath- 
ered the  dogs  and  sallied  forth  in  quest  of  game  and  the  prospect  of  making  a 
few  nickels.  When  they  had  gone  far  out  into  the  forest,  they  heard  the  dogs 
give  a  yelp,  and  the  boys  broke  for  the  dogs.  The  Mick  boys  being  more  active 
and  more  accustomed  to  the  woods,  were  the  first  to  arrive,  and  when  the  other 
boys  came  up  the  boys  who  had  landed  first  had  shaken  a  large  fat  'possum 
from  a  bush,  and  were  holding  him  up  in  triumph.  When  the  Barnett  boys, 
who  had  been  cautioned  to  look  for  the  bunch  of  valuable  fur  on  the  'possum's 
tail,  saw  that  its  tail  was  smooth,  they  supposed  that  the  Mick  boys  had  stolen 
the  valuable  fur  as  their  father  had  told  them  they  would  do.  The  Barnetts 
then  immediately  accused  the  Micks  of  bad  faith  and  dishonesty,  and  the  fight 
began.  After  the  boys  had  exhausted  themselves  in  a  rough-and-tumble  scrap, 
they  returned  in  mute  and  sullen  silence  to  their  homes. 

In  an  early  day  when  goods  to  Webster  Springs  were  hauled  from  Clarks- 
burg, by  way  of  Sutton,  and  the  Big  Birch  river,  to  Webster  Springs,  Dick 
Scott  who  kept  goods  at  the  ford  of  the  Birch,  was  fond  of  playing  pranks. 
Scott  always  kept  some  whiskey,  and  on  one  occasion  Charles  S.  Evans  and 
some  other  teamsters  were  going  up  the  Birch  loaded  for  Webster  Courthouse. 
They  wanted  Scott  to  furnish  them  some  whiskey  but  he  refused,  thinking  they 
would  take  too  much  and  be  unable  to  drive  over  the  rough  roads.  A  mile  or 
so  above  Scott's  store,  Charley  Evans  made  out,  while  adjusting  his  harness 
with  his  hand  resting  on  a  log  which  lay  by  the  roadside,  that  lie  was  bitten  by 
a  snake.  One  of  the  teamsters  ran  down  and  told  Scott  that  Evans  was  snake- 
bit.  He  no  sooner  heard  this  than  he  took  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  and  went  in 
haste  to  administer  to  the  relief  of  the  suffering  man.  When  Scott  landed  al- 
most out  of  breath  with  his  whiskey,  Evans  was  sitting  by  the  roadside  ap- 
parently in  great  agony,  holding  his  hand.  Scott  gave  him  the  bottle  and  told 
him  to  drink  all  he  could.  He  took  a  good  big  drink  and  said  he  didn't  believe 
he  could  drink  any  more,  but  Scott  urged  him  to  drink.  He  said,  "Charley, 
you  must  drink  it — you  are  just  bound  to  drink  it :  and  he  urged  him  until  he 
drank  the  whole  pint  of  whiskey.  After  the  excitement  had  died  down,  and 
they  began  to  look  for  the  snake  and  the  marks  on  the  hand,  neither  could  be 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  317 

found.  Evans  said  he  felt  better  and  that  he  believed  that  he  was  entirely 
cured.  About  that  time  Scott  began  to  realize  that  he  had  Bret  one  who  was 
able  to  play  him  at  his  own  game. 

William  M.  Barnett  was  captain  in  the  general  entrance  and  lobby  depart- 
ment of  the  U.  S.  Pension  office  in  Washington,  I).  C.  He  gave  directions  and 
information  to  visitors  and  persons  having  business  with  the  various  depart- 
ments of  that  great  institution.  We  chanced  to  be  present  on  one  occasion  when 
a  stranger  came  in  and  inquired  of  Captain  Barnett  how  he  could  find  a  certain 
chief  of  one  of  the  divisions.    Barnett  pointed  to  one  of  the  rooms  in  an  upper 

story,  and  told  the  visitor  to  go  up  there  and  call  for  Mr — The 

party  started,  went  to  the  foot  of  the  stairway,  came  back  and  asked  the  cap- 
tain would  the  official  come  out.  "Oh,  yes,':  said  Barnett;  "knock  on  the  door 
and  if  he  doesn't  come  out,  butt  your  head  against  the  door  and  'holler'  fire, 
and  he'll  come  out."    The  party  then  appeared  satisfied  and  went  on  his  way. 

One  of  the  old  settlers,  never  having  seen  a  dish  of  fruit  jellies  or  pre- 
serves, went  one  day  to  dine  with  one  of  his  neighbors  who  had  recently  landed 
in  the  wilds  of  the  forest,  and  as  the  cabins  of  the  people  stood  far  apart  the 
social  call  of  a  neighbor  was  an  hour  of  keen  enjoyment,  and  awakened  the 
proverbial  hospitality  of  the  settlers.  When  the  puncheon  table  was  spread, 
in  addition  to  the  bark  tea,  the  Johnie  cake  and  the  bear  meat,  the  hostess  set 
a  glass  of  preserves  down  which  she  had  brought  from  her  home  in  the  East, 
more  as  a  reminder  of  the  sacrifices  she  had  made  to  become  a  citizen  of  a  new 
and  wild  country,  and  as  a  delicacy  to  be  observed  rather  than  to  be  eaten. 
But  the  social  friendship  being  awakened  by  the  occasion,  the  lady  of  the  house 
insisted  that  the  visitor  try  the  preserves  which  he  did  very  reluctantly.  He 
placed  a  little  on  his  plate  and  very  cautiously  tasted  this  strange  dish.  After 
he  had  convinced  himself  of  its  delicious  flavor  he  said  to  the  lady,  "That  stuff 
is  damned  good,"  and  thereupon  reached  over,  drew  the  glass  to  his  place  and 
consumed  its  contents.  Doubtless  tlris  was  the  first  glass  of  preserves  ever  con- 
sumed in  that  portion  of  central  West  Virginia  now  embraced  in  Braxton 
county.  The  man,  either  by  a  lack  of  civility  or  his  inability  to  control  his  ap- 
petite, consumed  the  luxury  of  a  whole  county  at  one  meal  and  brought  all 
future  social  functions  on  a  common  level.  We  have  often  thought  that  many 
of  his  posterity  are  yet  living. 

t 

One  of  the  old  settlers  of  Braxton,  having  some  business  at  the  Lewis 
county  court,  shouldered  his  old  hunting  rifle  and  started  to  the  ex-seat  of  jus- 
tice. On  his  way  he  killed  a  wild  turkey  and  carried  it  to  town.  He  went  to 
the  old  Bailey  tavern  and  negotiated  a  deal  for  the  turkey.  '  He  was  to  receive 
so  much  for  his  turkey  in  money,  and  in  addition  was  to  have  his  dinner.  They 
cooked  the  fowl  and  had  dinner  prepared  when  the  hunter  came  in  and  said 
he  had  a  considerable  distance  to  travel.  It  was  a  little  too  early  for  court  to 
adjourn,  and  having  transacted  the  business  which  brought  him  to  town,  he 


318  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

believed  that  if  they  would  give  him  an  early  dinner  he  would  start  home. 
The  request  seemed  so  reasonable  that  they  complied  with  it  at  once;  and  as 
the  turkey  was  done  and  the  gentleman  was  to  have"  his  dinner  out  of  it  they 
sat  him  down,  placed  the  turkey  near  his  plate  and  invited  him  to  help  him- 
self which  he  proceeded  to  do.  As  he  was  neither  slow  nor  bashful,  it  is  related, 
not  as  a  romance  but  as  a  fact,  that  the  old  man  cleaned  that  turkey  up,  and 
its  skeleton  had  to  be  removed  to  the  kitchen  before  the  regular  dinner  was 
served.  The  hunter  had  the  advantage  of  the  contract,  and  the  landlady  was 
off  her  guard.  The  probabilities  are  that  when  he  reached  town  he  took  a  little 
grog  which  gave  him  an  abnormal  appetite,  and  he  imagined  himself  in  the 
solitude  of  the  forest,  sitting  under  his  little  bark  shelter  and  enjoying  a  feast 
of  wild  game. 

On  one  occasion,  Mr.  James  Frame  borrowed  a  few  dollars  in  money  from 
John  Daly,  promising  to  pay  the  money  back.  Some  time  having  elapsed  Mr. 
Daly  told  Mr.  Frame  that  he  had  some  work  to  do  .  and  that  he  could  pay  the 
borrowed  money  in  work.  ' '  Oh,  no, ' '  said  Mr.  Frame,  ' '  I  can 't  pay  that  debt 
in  work.  It  was  borrowed  money,  and  I  can  discharge  the  obligation  only  in 
money."    The  debt,  we  are  told,  was  promptly  paid  in  cash.  i 

At  another  time,  Mr.  Frame  was  hard  pressed,  times  were  hard  and  money 
scarce.  He  went  to  Uriah  Singleton's  to  get  some  work  to  do.  Mr.  Singleton 
knew  his  aversion  for  a  tough  proposition  and  said,  ' '  Yes,  Jim,  I  want  a  few 
rails  made,  and  I  have  heard  you  tell  of  your  feats  in  railmaking.  You  go 
up  on  the  ridge  out  in  the  pasture  field,  cut  one  of  those  large  oak  trees  stand- 
ing there,  and  split  t  into  rails."  Mr.  Frame  went  up  and  chopped  the  tree 
down  which  had  become  tough  and  knotty  by  standing  in  the  cleared  land.  He 
cut  off  one  rail  length  and  was  using  the  maul  vigorously  when  the  horn  blew 
for  dinner.  It  was  a  hot  June  day,  and  as  Mr.  Frame  approached  the  house 
immersed  in  perspiration  and  gasping  from  fresh  air,  Mr.  Singleton  said,  "Well, 
Jim,  how  did  you  get  along?"  "Very  well,"  said  Jim  in  a  tenor  voice.  "I  cut 
the  tree  down,  took  off  the  butt  cut.  drove  in  all  my-wedges  and  I  think  it  will 
be  open  by  the  time  I  get  back.    I  left  it  in  a  powerful  strain. ' ' 

Uncle  Christian  Hyer  was  a  noble  Christian  gentleman.  He  owned  a  farm 
and  lived  about  a  mile  below  where  Shaversville  now  stands.  Uncle  "Chris" 
had  several  boys  at  home,  and  they  were  very  jolly  and  fond  of  sport.  They 
had  a  fondness  for  whiskey,  but  never  indulged  to  any  extent.  The  boys  had 
acquired  the  habit  of  playing  cards,  without  the  knowledge  of  their  parents. 
They  would  sometimes  go  coon-hunting  and  spend  part  of  the  night  playing 
cards.  On  one  occasion  they  had  been  out  quite  late,  and  when  they  came  in 
they  laid  their  deck  of  cards  on  the  wall-plate  of  the  house.  In  the  night  there 
came  up  quite  a  wind  and  rain  storm.  The  wind  caught  the  cards  and  scat- 
tered them  in  the  yard.  Captain  Hyer  in  relating  the  incident,  said  that  the 
yard  was  completely  covered  with  cards.    No  two  seemed  to  light  in  the  same 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  319 

place.  He  said  the  morning,  after  the  rain  storm,  was  clear  and  bright,  and 
when  he  called  them  in  the  morning  the  sun  was  shining  through  the  cracks 
of  the  house.  He  said  to  them,  ' '  Boys,  get  up ;  it  rained  last  night,  and  there 
was  a  powerful  storm.  It  rained  spades  and  clubs— the  ground  is  covered — get 
up."  When  they  went  down  they  realized  how  awful  was  their  exposure,  but 
their  father  said  nothing.  He  called  the  family  in,  read  a  chapter  and  had 
family  prayer.  They  ate  breakfast,  and  he  did  not  indicate  by  his  manner  that 
anything  unusual  had  occurred.  In  after  years  he  never  referred  to  the  great 
wind  storm.  The  Captain  said  the  boys  gathered  up  their  cards  and  committed 
them  to  the  flames,  and  were  so  thoroughly  disgusted  with  themselves  that  none 
of  them  in  the  long  years  after  this  incident  occurred,  had  ever  played  another 
game  of  cards. 

Frank  Rhea,  a  colored  man,  making  his  first  trip  to  the  city,  and  not  being 
familiar  with  the  different  modes  of  preparing  beef  steak,  on  being  asked  by 
the  waitress  how  he  would  have  his  steak,  done  or  rare,  he  said  "Rare,  madam, 
please,"  and  when  she  brought  the  steak,  it  was  raw  and  not  to  Frank's  liking; 
and  unwilling  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  a  fine  steak,  handed  it  back  and  said, 
"Please,  madam,  rare  it  again,  madam." 

Many  years  prior  to  the  Civil  war  when  the  country  between  Sutton  and 
Summersville  was  very  sparsely  settled,  the  only  stopping  place  between  these 
points  was  at  Colonel  Brown's  who  kept  hotel  and  store  at  the  Big  Birch  river. 
Travelers  going  that  way  usually  stopped  at  the  Colonel's.  His  home  was  the 
half-way  place  between  the  points  named,  and  the  judge  and  lawyers  from 
Weston  going  to  the  Nicholas  court  would  make  Sutton  the  first  day,  the  second 
day  would  feed  and  take  dinner  at  Colonel  Brown's,  then  cross  over  the  moun- 
tain and  land  in  Summersville  that  night.  Edwin  S.  Duncan  with  Judge 
Draper  Camden,  Matthew  Edmiston  and  other  lawyers  from  that  town  and 
other  places  as  far  distant  as  Clarksbiirg,  practiced  there,  and  in  the  courts 
of  adjoining  counties.  Court  coming  on  in  Summersville,  one  of  the  lawyers 
from  Weston  had  occasion  to  go  a  day  in  advance  of  the  others,  leaving  the 
Judge  and  two  or  three  lawyers  to  follow  the  next  day.  He  told  the  Colonel 
of  some  distinguished  guests  who  would  be  at  his  house  the  following  day  for 
dinner;  he  also  told  him  that  the  guests  would  want  the  most  frugal  meal  that 
his  hostlery  could  supply,  and  named  the  course.  They  ordered  cold  cornbread, 
the  oldest  that  he  had ;  the  sourest  buttermilk  that  could  be  obtained,  and  a  raw 
onion.  Nothing  more,  nothing  less.  The  Colonel  said  he  would  fill  the  bill. 
His  by-word  was  "I  say,  I  say,  I'll  fill  the  bill."  He  immediately  ordered  a 
pone  of  cornbread  baked,  and  the  buttermilk  and  onion  were  always  on  hand. 
The  cornbread  had  a  day  and  night  in  which  to  cool  and  the  crust  to  harden.  The 
buttermilk  had  reached  a  state  of  fermentation.  The  onion  being  of  the  Dutch 
variety,  every  requirement  had  been  fulfilled.  About  one  o'clock  the  following 
day  the  distinguished  guests  rode  up,  cold  and  hungry.    The  Colonel  had  their 


320  SUTTON'S     HIS  TOR  Y. 

mounts  put  away  and  fed.  Dinner  being  announced,  these  half-famished  legal 
lights  hastened  to  the  kitchen  where  meals  were  served,  the  family  having 
eaten.  The  lawyers  sat  down  in  silence.  The  Colonel  came  into  the  room,  in  his 
most  affable  manner  to  keep  them  company,  and  to  see  how  they  would  enjoy 
the  meal.  They  tried  the  bread,  sipped  a  little  of  the  buttermilk,  looked  at 
the  onion,  and  said,  "Colonel,  can't  you  do  a  little  better  than  this?"  The 
Colonel  said,  "I  say,M  say,  I've  filled  the  bill."  They  finished  the  meal  in  si- 
lence and  ordered  their  mounts  which  had  been  well  fed,  paid  the  usual-  hotel 
bill,  and  proceeded  to  cross  the  great  mountain  which  lay  before  them,  in  mourn- 
ful silence.  When  they  reached  Summersville  late  that  night,  cold  and  hungry 
and  were  plied  with  questions,  it  dawned  upon  them  that  they  had  been  the  vic- 
tims of  a  joke. 

This  same  Colonel  Brown  was  a  surveyor,  and  on  one  occasion  he  was  called 
as  a  witness  to  testify  with  reference  to  some  particular  piece  of  road.  When 
he  was  asked  whether  he  knew  this  certain  road  he  replied  that  he  did  as  he 
had  traveled  the  road  a  thousand  times.  The  Judge,  knowing  the  Colonel's 
candor  and  congenial  temperament,  said  to  him.  "Colonel,  isn't  that  a  great 
many  times  for  a  man  to  travel  one  road?"  The  Colonel  said,  "I  am  the  sur- 
veyor of  Nicholas  county,  and  I  say  Judge,  I  say,  I  have  traveled  that  road  a 
thousand  times." 

When  General  Rosecrans  marched  his  army  from  Clarksburg  through  the 
country  to  Carnefix  Ferry,  he  learned  of  Colonel  Brown's  knowledge  of  the 
country  and  sent  for  him,  requesting  him  to  make  a  map  of  the  county  roads 
and  streams  on  which  his  army  was  operating.  The  Colonel  told  General  Rose- 
crans that  it  would  be  endangering  his  life  to  do  this  as  the  country  in  which 
he  lived  was  strongly  Southern  and  subject  to  scouting  parties  from  the  Con- 
federate army.  The  General  said  he  would  fix  that,  and  requested  the  Colonel 
to  return  home.  He  had  not  been  long  at  home  when  a  squad  of  soldiers  came 
and  pretended  to  make  an  arrest,  and  took  him  back  to  camp.  He  was  pro- 
vided with  a  tent  and  all  the  material  necessary  with  which  to  work,  and  a 
guard  was  placed  at  the  tent  door.  In  a  few  days  the  guard  was  removed  and 
the  Colonel  went  home,  having  made  the  map  which  was  of  great  value  to  the 
army.  Colonel  Brown,  in  relating  this  incident  to  Captain  William  Kantner 
of  the  Federal  army,  said  that  his  family  and  neighbors  never  suspected  him  of 
being  a  Union  man.  Colonel  Brown  lived  and  died,  loved  and  respected  by  all 
who  knew  him. 

Elem  Mitchell,  a  Protestant  Methodist  minister,  was  in  his  belief  an  im- 
mersionist,  and  sometimes  advocated  that  mode  of  baptism  in  his  discourses. 
In  one  of  his  sermons,  his  subject  led  him  to  a  discussion  of  the  subject  of  bap- 
tism, and  he  concluded  by  declaring  immersion  to  be  the  proper  form.  At  the 
close  of  his  discourse,  a  lady  came  forward  bringing  her  infant  child  for  bap- 
tism.    The  Rev.  Mitchell  said,  "Brethren,  while  this  is  contrary  to  my  belief, 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  32i 

I  don't  know  a  better  way  to  do  away  with  a  bad  practice  than  to  put  it  into 
use,  and  he  baptised  the  child. 

Many  years  ago  there  was  a  trial  in  Sutton  of  some  parties  living  on  the 
Little  Kanawha  river  who  had  engaged  in  a  kind  of  general  battle.  One  of  the 
witnesses  stated  that  while  the  fight  was  going  on  in  the  yard  some  of  the  par- 
ties ran  out  of  the  house  through  a  hole  in  the  fireplace.  One  of  the  parties 
declared  that  he  was  wild  and  woolly  and  had  never  been  curried.  The  idea 
of  a  hole  in  the  fireplace  large  enough  for  a  man  to  go  through  and  the  declara- 
tion that  the  man  made  in  entering  the  melee  greatly  amused  the  court  and 
jury. 

Charles  Mollohan  was  a  fearless  man  of  unusaul  physical  strength.  On 
one  occasion  he  had  an  execution  against  John  Wyatt,  and  the  only  property 
owned  by  Wyatt  was  a  gray  mare  which  he  locked  up  in  his  stable,  and  refused 
to  deliver  her  to  the  Sheriff.  Mollohan  undertook  to  pry  the  door  off  the  Avooden 
hinges  with  a  piece  of  timber,  when  Wyatt  came  out  with  an  axe  for  battle. 
After,  making  some  threats,  he  laid  the  axe  down.  Mollohan  picked  it  up  and 
said,  "Why,  John,  this  is  the  very  thing  I  need,"  and  proceeded  to  cut  off  the 
wooden  hinges  of  the  door.  He  took  the  mare  to  Squire  Morrison 's  and  put  her 
in  pasture,  and  it  wasn't  long  before  Wyatt  paid  the  debt  and  redeemed  his 
property.    . 

On  another  occasion,  he  went  to  collect  a  deft  off  Mr ,  who 

was  a  very  strong  man,  and  a  fighter.  Mollohan  found  him  at  work  in  the  field, 
and  his  coat  laying  close  by.  He  picked  up  the  coat  and  this  very  much  en- 
raged the  man  who  threw  down  his  hat,  and  prepared  for  battle.  The  Sheriff 
picked  up  his  hat  also  and  laughing  at  the  man's  predicament,  walked  off  with 
his  hat  and  coat. 

A  Mr.  Gillespie  and  his  wife  of  Cedar  creek  were  thought  to  be  extremely 
low  with  grip  and  pneumonia.  They  were  so  poorly  that  the  doctor  said  Mrs. 
Gillespie  had  no  possible  show  for  recovery.  It  happened  that  Johnson  Car- 
penter came  along  and  Mr.  Gillespie  asked  him  to  take  a  basket  of  eggs  to  the 
store,  saying  that  there  might  come  a  cold  spell  of  weather  and  freeze  them. 
Mrs.  Gillespie  also  was  anxious  that  he  take  the  eggs,  saying  she  was  afraid  the 
price  would  come  down.  When  Carpenter  reached  the  store,  the  merchant  asked 
him  how  the  sick  people  were,  and  whether  Mrs.  Gillespie  were  living  yet. 
Said  Johnson,  "They  are  both  going  to  get  well."  "Get  well,"  said  the  store 
keeper,  "Why,  the  doctor  gave  Mrs.  Gillespie  up  to  die.  "I  don't  care,"  said 
Johnson,  "Gillespie  wanted  to  get  to  market  before  the  freeze  came,  and  Mrs. 
Gillespie  wanted  to  strike  the  market  before  the  price  went. down,  so  I  am  sure 
they  will  both  get  well."  And  in  a  few  days,  they  were  both  up  and  going 
around.  Carpenter  had  a  way  of  arriving  at  a  fact  that  beat  the  science  of  the 
doctor. 


322  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Sometime  in  the  nineties,  Edward  Lorentz  kept  a  drug  store  in  Sutton,  and 
as  he  was  congenial  and  liked  company,  his  store  was  a  place  where  the  men 
often  gathered  to  pass  away  the  time,  and  on  one  of  these  occasions  they  saw 
deaf  James  Perrine  coming  toward  the  drug  store.  Perrine  was  almost  entirely 
deaf,  and  inordinately  fond  of  whiskey.  For  many  years  he  travelled  over  the 
country  as  a  cobler,  making  and  repairing  shoes,  fixing  chairs,  etc.  They  kneis 
what  he  wanted,  and  some  one  said  to  Ed  to  give  him  a  drink  of  alcohol  which 
he  proceeded  to  do.  He  poured  out  a  tumbler  full,  a  half-pint  or  more,  not 
thinking  he  would  drink  very  much  of  it,  but  to  their  astonishment  he  drank 
it  all  down  and  walked  off.  They  soon  became  alarmed,  thinking  that  amount 
of  alcohol  taken  raw  might  prove  fatal,  but  concluded  to  wait  not  knowing  just 
what  to  do.  It  wasn't  long,  however,  before  they  saw  Perrine  coming  up  street 
and  coming  into  the  drug  store,  he  said,  "Ed,  have  you  any  more  of  that,  it's 
the  most  satisfyinest  whiskey  I  ever  drunk  in  my  life." 

Many  years  ago,  John  Knight  who  lived  south  of  the  Elk  on  Poplar  Ridge, 
was  very  fond  of  coon  hunting,  and  on  one  occasion  the  dogs  treed  a  coon  on  a 
tall  chestnut  tree  and  Knight  saw  the  coon  hanging  on  a  limb ;  so  he  proceeded 
to  climb  the  tree,  taking  the  axe  with  him.  His  object  was  to  cut  the  limb  and 
let  the  coon  fall,  but  he  climbed  out  on  the  limb  some  distance  from  the  body 
of  the  tree,  and  proceeded  to  cut  the  limb  off  between  himself  and  the  tree,  thus' 
precipitating  himself,  coon  and  all.  Knight  had  the  good  fortune,  however,  to 
lodge  on  a  lower  limb  of  the  tree  which  broke  the  force  of  the  fall.  "Whether 
he  became  excited  when  he  climbed  the  tree  or  whether  the  shadows  at  night 
turned  him  around,  he  didn't  explain,  but  we  imagine  the  coon  took  advantage 
of  the  situation. 

Cato,  a  colored  man  who  blonged  to  John  D.  Sutton,  was  very  pious.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  Wm.  D.  Braxton  was  his  class  leader. 
"When  the  Protestant  church  was  organized,  Cato  without  any  letter  or  cere- 
mony, joined,  but  still  claimed  to  be  a  Methodist.  He  was  called  up  to  give  an 
account  of  himself,  and  Mr.  Baxter  who  was  a  very  plain-spoken  man,  and  the 
feeling  between  the  two  churches  at  that  time  was  not  the  best,  said,  "Cato, 
what  made  you  join  the  radical  church?"  and  Cato  said,  "I  wants  to  be  in 
good  favor  with  all  the  societies,"  so  they  had  to  let  Cato  continue  to  have  a 
good  deal  of  latitude,  but  that  wasn't  the  only  time  that  Uncle  Baxter,  as  we 
always  called  him,  had  to  call  on  Cato  for  an  explanation.  Some  one  had  killed 
a  hog  which  belonged  to  old  Uncle  Davy  Frame,  and  they  accused  Cato  of  the 
act  so  Uncle  Baxter  called  him  up  for  trial,  and  he  said,  "Cato,  what  did  you 
kill  Davy  Frame's  hog  for?"  "I  didn't  kill  his  hog,  sir,"  said  Cato.  "Well, 
what  is  your  mark?"  "I  marks  with  a  crop  on  one  ear,  sir."  "Well,  what 
ear  do  you  crop?"  "I  crops  the  ear  next  to  the  river,  sir."  This  ended  the 
trial,  and  Uncle  Baxter  had  to  restore  Cato  to  fellowship  in  the  church.  Cato 
and  Milly,  his  wife,  lived  to  be  old.  They  were  well  respected  by  the  com- 
munity, and  were  released  in  1836  by  the  County  Court  from  paying  taxes. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  323 

Aunt  Hannah  Aldridge,  as  she  was  familiarly  called,  was  a  very  pious  old 
lady  and  passionately  fond  of  her  children.  She  was  the  wife  of  Richard  Al- 
dridge who  was  killed  on  Wolf  creek  near  their  home  by  the  Federal  troops  in 
the  Civil  war.  They  were  honest  people,  but  very  poor  as  many  of  our  people 
were.  On  one  occasion,  Aunt  Hannah  started  to  Sutton,  carrrying  a  half -bushel 
of  corn  to  the  mill  to  have  it  ground.  Their  provisions  had  run  very  low,  and 
this  was  the  only  means  she  had  to  replenish  her  supplies,  and  on  the  way  she 
saw  a  very  large  fat  opossum  near  the  road  which  she  proceeded  to  kill.  As 
the  fur  was  good,  she  skinned  the  animal  and  took  the  hide  with  her  to  the 
store,  trading  it  for  coffee.  She  had  hung  the  carcass  on  a  bush  until  her 
return  which  she  hastened  to  make  after  her  com  was  ground  and  the  trading 
done.  She  always  referred  to  her  children  as  "My  dear  children"  or  "my  dear 
blessed  children,"  and  when  Aunt  Hannah  returned,  her  family  gathered 
around  her  and  she  said,  "My  dear  blessed  children,  your  mother  has  brought 
you  meat,  meal  and  coffee. ' '  She  lived  to  be  quite  old,  her  family  grew  to  be 
men  and  women,  and  later  the  family  moved  West,  settling  in  the  state  of 
Kansas. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  Squire  Frank  Stewart  was  the  first  man  in 
the  country  to  receive  the  appointment  of  Notary.  This  was  something  new  to 
the  citizens,  and  they  inquired  of  the  Squire  what  the  duties  of  the  office  con- 
sisted of,  and  he  told  them  that  it  was  a  kind  of  judicial  office,  that  in  all  diffi- 
cult questions  coming  before  the  Court,  he  was  associated  with  the  Judge.  His 
neighbors  thought  that  the  Civil  war  had  developed  great  possibilities  for  the 
man  who  was  lucky  enough  to  be  a  Notary  Public. 

Squire  Stewart  was  naturally  intelligent  and  congenial,  but  we  never  heard 
of  it  being  necessary  for  the  Court  to  call  on  the  Notary  for  assistance. 

When  G  rover  Cleveland  was  first  elected  President,  the  matter  was  in 
doubt  for  some  time.  First  the  word  would  come  that  Blaine  was  elected,  then 
the  report  Avould  change  and  the  Democrats  would  have  a  season  of  rejoicing. 
Later,  the  matter  would  be  in  doubt  again. 

One  day  a  delegation  of  the  Carr  boys  came  to  Sutton,  determined  to  know 
the  truth,  and  they  called  on  Mrs.  Catherine  Berry,  a  Republican  and  a  lady 
of  sterling  character  and  intelligence.  They  inquired  of  her  what  the  latest 
news  was  and  she  said,  "Gentlemen,  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you,  but  the  election  has 
been  settled,  and  Cleveland  is  elected,  New  York  going  fourteen  hundred  Demo- 
cratic."  This  was  a  chill  and  they  all  looked  sad  and  dejected,  but  made  no 
reply.  Finally  one  of  the  Carr  boys,  a  big,  overgrown  lad  of  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen years,  raised  his  head  and  said,  "Pop,  that  damned  registration  law  done 
that." 

About  the  year  1900,  Wm.  Riffle  who  lived  on  a  small  stream  emptying  into 
the  Little  Kanawha,  a  few  miles  above  Burnsville,  discovered  what  he  supposed 
to  be  a  medical  spring,  possessing  great  curative  properties.     The  curious  soon 


324  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

began  to  flock  to  the  spring,  especially  on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  fame  of  the 
mineral  spring  spreading  far  and  wide,  and  quite  a  number  of  patients  came 
to  try  its  virtues,  many  declaring  that  they  had  been  greatly  benefitted.  Nat- 
urally, Mr.  Riffle  had  unbounded  faith  in  the  water.  It  happened  that  one 
of  his  neighbors  became  ill  and  died,  and  had  not  tried  the  healing  qualities  of 
the  mineral  spring.  After  the  man's  death,  some  of  the  neighbors  were  speak- 
ing to  Mr.  Riffle  of  his  good  qualities;  lamenting  his  death,  when  he  said,  ' '  Yes, 
he  was  a  veiy  good  man  and  we  deeply  regret  his  loss,  but  then,  he  knew  that 
the  water  was  here." 

One  of  the  amusing  incidents  of  the  Civil  war  occurred  on  the  ridge  be- 
tween the  farm  of  James  W.  Morrison  and  Carpenter's  fork.  Early  in  the 
war,  a  squad  of  Dutch  cavalry  was  scouting  in  that  vicinity,  and  came  across 
Thomas  Saulsburg  who,  they  thought,  was  an  enemy,  and  they  were  talking 
and  gesticulating  in  a  threatening  manner.  Saulsbury  began  to  think  that  his 
time  had  come,  and  Avhile  they  were  deciding  his  fate,  N.  B.  Squires,  a  Union 
man  whom  the  soldiers  seemed  to  know,  came  along  and  told  them  that  Sauls- 
bury  was  a  peaceful  citizen,  so  they  released  him  and  rode  away.  Squires  said 
that  Saulsbury  who  was  a  veiy  large  man  was  standing  with  his  back  against 
a  white  oak  tree  by  the  roadside,  and  as  he  heard  the  sound  of  horses'  feet  and 
the  clinking  of  the  bayonets  dying  away  in  the  distance,  his  limbs  seemed  to 
give  way,  and  he  sank  down  by  the  roots  of  the  tree  and  said,  "Squires,  it  is  a 

d ticklish  thing  to  tinker  with  this  government."     Tom  Saulsbury  was  a 

veiy  sensible  man,  and  told  many  quaint  and  humorous  stories,  and  one  only 
had  to  know  him  to  enjoy  his  wit  and  humor. 

When  oil  was  discovered  at  Burning  Spring  and  the  Rathbone  family  sud- 
denly became  rich,  Judge  Camden,  Johnson  N.  Camden  and  others  were  congrat- 
ulating the  elder  Mr.  Rathbone  who  was  then  on  his  deathbed,  on  the  great 
good  fortune.  He  says,  "Gentlemen,  it  comes  a  little  too  late  for  me,  but  it  is 
a  Godsend  for  the  boys." 

In  time  of  the  Civil  war,  two  brothers  of  a  prominent  family  lived  neigh- 
bors ;  one  was  a  Confederate,  and  the  other  a  Union  man.  The  Southern  broth- 
er had  two  half  grown  boys,  who  on  the  occasion  of  which  we  speak,  were  at. 
their  Uncle's.  On  looking  down  the  road,  they  saw  a  large  number  of  Con- 
federate soldiers  dashing  toward  the  house,  and  it  proved  to  be  the  command 
of  Col.  Witcher;  and  as  they  had  started  out  to  recruit  their  army  with  men 
and  horses,  and  also  to  procure  beef  cattle  for  the  Southern  army,  they  were 
not  slow  in  appropriating  anything  needful  for  themselves.  So  after  they  had 
gone  through  the  house,  and  carried  off  such  articles  as  they  desired,  and  had 
started  away,  the  Union  brother  went  out  in  a  rage,  and  told  the  boys  that  the 
first  Union  soldiers  that  came  in,  he  would  have  them  rob  their  father  of  every- 
thing he  had,  for  the  Rebel  thieves  had  taken  all  he  had.  Just  then  one  of  the 
Company  that  had  straggled  behind  and  had  been  contending  with  the  women 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  325 

of  the  house  for  some  cream,  came  round  the  corner  and  said,  "Mr.  can't  you 
make  these  •women  let  me  have  some  cream?"  and  he  turned  to  his  wife  and 
said,  in  the  most  plaintiff  tones,  "Mother,  can't  you  let  the  gentleman  have  a 
little  cream?" 

Andrew  Sterrett,  who  lived  on  Elk,  near  Sutton,  followed  lumbering.  One 
very  high  rise  in  the  river,  he  sent  his  brother,  Jackson  Sterrett.  down  to  watch 
the  river.  Uncle  Jack  was  not  long  from  the  old  country,  and  proceeded  to 
gauge  the  river  by  sticking  his  knife  blade  in  the  gunwall  of  a  flat  boat,  and 
after  some  time  watching,  he  went  up  to  the  house  and  reported  to  his  brother 
that  the  river  was  at  a  stand,  neither  rising  nor  falling. 

A  few  years  ago  the  doetoi's  and  newspapers  began  to  talk  about  disease 
germs.  An  old  lady  in  Sutton  said  that  she  was  so  glad  that  she  had  gotten 
her  family  raised  before  germs  came  in  fashion. 

In  time  of  the  Civil  war  some  of  the  Braxton  boys  commanded  by  Major 
Withers  went  on  a  scout  to  Webster  county  and  camped  one  night  at  old  Mr. 
McCourts  just  below  Addison.  He  was  extremely  poor,  and  the  old  man  with 
that  shrewdness  common  to  the  natives  seemed  very  kind,  and  said:  "Now 
gentlemen  you  are  welcome  to  anything  I  have,  but  for  God's  sake  don't  bother 
my  onions."  Except  for  a  nice  bed  of  onions  the  old  man  had  nothing  that 
any  mortal,  would  want.  His  manner  and  shrewdness  so  amused  the  soldiers 
that  the  onions  were  left  undisturbed,  and  during  the  period  of  the  war,  when 
the  boys  were  weary  and  foot  sore  some  one  wo  aid  say,  "take  anything  I  have, 
out  for  God's  sake  spare  my  onions;"  then  for  awhile  they  would  forget  their 
hardships  and  toil. 

Before  the  Civil  war,  B.  P.  Fisher  was  building  a  cabin  house  for  a  tenant, 
and  stone  being  scarce  on  his  farm,  he  was  using  a  good  deal  of  mortar  in  the 
chimney.  About  the  time  he  had  finished  the  chimney,  Charles  S.  Evans  came 
along,  and  in  surveying  the  work,  he  told  Fisher  that  he  had  plowed  more 
rocky  ground  than  that  chimney.  "Yes,"  said  Fisher,  "but  it  wasn't  any 
steeper. 

Mr.  G.  B.  Browning,  while  taking  the  census  several  years  ago,  was  inter- 
viewing a  Mrs.  Knight  as  to  the  ages  of  her  children.  She  said  she  was  unable 
to  give  their  ages,  but  if  he  could  see  Mary  Morton,  she  could  tell  him,  as  one  of 
her  children  was  born  the  same  time.  Another  child  was  born  the  same  time 
that  Jesse  Skidmore's  wife  had  a  child,  and  if  she  just  knew  what  year  John 
Frank  Beamer  had  wheat  in  the  hill  field,  she  could  give  him  the  age  of  the 
other  one  exactly. 

A  man  commonly  calLed  Ett  Rhea  joined  the  M.  P.  Conference  on  proba- 
tion as  William  Eldridge  LeGrand  Rhea.  He  was  subsequently  dropped  and 
later  entered  the  Conference  as  Schuyler  Graves  Rhea.  His  full  name  would 
have  been  William  Eldridge  LeGrand  Schuler  Graves  Rhea. 


326  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Personal  Writings;  Pisgah  Mountain,  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Riker;  Henry  G.  Davis  at 
Mount  Bayard;  Lists  of  Old  Persons;  Fifth  Generations,  and  Large  Fami- 
lies; Biographical  Sketches  and  Family  History;  The  Nation's  Fifth  For- 
eign War,  with  Lists  of  Volunteers  and,  Drafted  Men  from  this  County. 

FENCE  RAIL  PERIOD  IN  WEST  VIRGINIA. 

A  boundless  and  luxuriant  forest  had  scarcely  been  touched.  Nature  stood 
thus  robed,  buoyant  and  sublime.  A  little  clearing  and  farm  house  here  and  one 
there,  clustered  in  neighborhoods,  and  an  occasional  church  and  schoolhouse 
supplied  the  frugal  demands  of  the  people.  To  stand  on  some  eminence  look- 
ing out  through  an  unbroken  horizon  until  mountain  range  and  valley  faded 
away,  and  peak  after  peak,  with  all  of  their  grandeur  and  magnificence  was 
lost  in  the  distance,  and  then  to  behold  with  admiration  and  delight  a  deep, 
silent  and  unbroken  forest  on  whose  topmost  branches  in  springtime  could  be 
seen  the  variegated  bloom  of  the  poplar  and  lin,  nature's  once  limitless  flower 
garden,  when  the  dewdrops  and  the  early  sunlight  unfolded  their  petals,  was 
a  sight  as  enchantingly  grand,  even  as  sublime,  as  would  be  the  falling  of  the 
stars.  No  artist  could  paint  it ;  no  pen  could  describe  it.  Its  enchantment  will 
fade  as  the  mists  disappear,  or  as  those  who  saw  it  shall  see  it  no  more. 

Surely  nature  has  painted  a  fancy  sketch  in  the  mountain  gorges  of  the 
Elk  that  can  but  awaken  in  one's  mind  an  admiration  for  the  hand  that  directed 
their  formation  and  existance.  We  can  never  forget  the  majestic  scenery  as 
we  stood  on  a  pinnacle  on  an  autumn  evening.  We  looked  out  over  a  glorious 
sunset  with  all  its  sublimity,  and  saw  the  mountains  in  the  distance  rolling 
away  and  disappearing  in  the  mist,  and  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  west,  and 
casting  his  golden  rays  upon  the  mountain  tops,  we  could  see  the  clouds  be- 
neath us,  and  the  mist  rolling  up  from  the  foaming  waters  of  the  river  far  down 
its  channel. 

The  dizzy  heights,  the  deep  chasms,  the  clouds  beneath  our  feet,  the  gor- 
geous sunset,  made  the  scene  one  of  enraptured  delight.  If  we  can  in  the  even- 
ing of  life  stand  upon  an  eminence  that  rises  above  the  breakers  whose  founda- 
tion is  laid  in  wisdom  and  truth,  though  the  shadows  may  lengthen  as  they 
will,  the  step  may  falter  and  the  eye  grow  dim,  yet  the  flowers  of  the  autumn 
will  be  bright  and  the  evening  sunset  be  calm  and  joyous. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  327 

The  sun  was  casting  its  golden  rays 

Far  upon  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
While  the  waters  were  washing  the  sands  on  the  beach 

And  turning  the  wheels  of  the  mill. 

The  autumn  winds  were  chilly 

As  they  shrieked  to  the  mountains  a  sob, 
And  they  kissed  the  flowers  a  winter's  good-night 

As  they  passed  o'er  Jonathan's  Knob.  , 

And  as  the  shadows  lengthened 

And  the  rays  began  to  fall. 
The  darkness  of  the  twilight 

In  silence  veiled  them  all. 

At  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  several  companies  of  soldiers  and  militia, 
under  command  of  Clinebel,  came  out  as  far  as  Flatwoods  to  meet  the  enemy. 
We  remember  it  was  suggested  to  one  of  the  captains  who  in  company  with 
several  other  officers  and  soldiers,  was  taldng  supper  at  our  home,  that  as 
they  were  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  enemy  it  would  be  a  precautionary 
measure  to  put  a  few  of  the  men  on  watch  during  the  night.  The  captain  said 
that  all  military  bodies  had  an  officer  called  a  "cor-po-ri-al"  whose  business 
it  was  to  command  a  guard  while  the  main  body  of  the  army  slept.  This  was, 
to  me,  a  new  phase  of  military  parlance  and  tactics.  Subsequently,  we  learned 
more  about  that  class  of  heroic  mortals,  and  yet  we  never  rose  to  the  rank  and 
dignity  of  a  "Cor-po-ri-al"  during  the  entire  unpleasantness.  A  corporal 
meant  two  stripes  on  each  sleeve,  and  they  numbered  from  one  to  eight  in  a 
company.  The  eighth  corpoi'al  was  subordinate  to  the  seventh,  and  the  lawful 
and  legitimate  terminal  of  all  military  authority.  An  order  emanating  from 
the  commander-in-chief  goes  down  the  gradation  of  rank  and  expends  its  fury 
at  his  feet.  The  grace  and  dignity  of  a  corporal  lends  enchantment  to  the  mili- 
tary spirit  of  the  age,  and  gives  inspiration  to  the  vanity  of  the  American 
youth. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war,  quite  a  few  of  the  citizens  of  the  interior 
of  the  state  had  never  seen  a  colored  person,  a  gum  shoe  or  had  ever  heard  the 
click  of  a  telegraph  instrument.  The  first  Federal  soldiers  that  came  in  cap- 
tured Zack  Howell  of  Webster  county.  Zack's  keen  native  instinct  and  curiosi- 
ty soon  observed  that  the  gum  coat,  the  "coon"  and  the  telegraph  were  part 
of  the  army's  outfit,  and  his  environments  while  in  captivity  aroused  his  poeti- 
cal powers  and  he  wrote  a  poem,  one  verse  of  Avhich  was : 

A  gum  elastic  overcoat 

And  Yankeedoodle  shoes, 
A  nigger  on  the  telegraph 

Was  trying  to  read  the  news. 


328  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

It  should  be  regretted  that  more  of  this  untutored  woodman's  talent  was 
not  preserved  as  a  portion  and  infinitesimal  past  and  atom  of  the  history  of 
the  great  struggle.  In  looking  back  over  five  decades,  and  more  since  we  be- 
gan to  remember  events  which  were  transpiring,  we  find  the  landmarks  of  that 
youthful  period  are  being  rapidly  swept  away.  Sod  and  flowers  are  growing 
over  the  dust  of  noble  ones.  Hearthstones  that  were  once  moistened  with  tears 
of  joy,  and  sometimes  of  grief,  are  crumbling  with  the  decimation  of  time. 
Yet  there  is  not  a  day  nor  an  hour  of  that  period  that  we  would  not  live  over 
again.  While  all  was  ont  sunlight,  btu  toil  and  sorrow,  we  would  go  through 
the  shadows  to  again  enjoy  the  radiant  sunlight  of  youth. 

PERSONAL  WRITINGS. 

Strolling  from  our  Hotel  across  the  wire  suspension  bridge,  one  bright 
Sabbath  morning,  and  reflecting  on  the  memories  which  the  sacred  day  brings 
to  the  mind,  we  heard  the  church  bells  calling  the  children  to  Sabbath  School. 
As  we  lingered  on  the  shores  of  this  beautiful  river,  watching  the  waters  pass, 
the  church  bells  again  rang  calling  the  people  to  the  morning  services,  but 
children  were  seen  everywhere-— some  crossing  the  bridge,  others  in  different 
directions  going  toward  their  homes,  and  some  of  them  loitering  on  the  way. 
We  thought  there  could  be  no  morning  services  in  the  town.  Going  up  Main 
street,  and  meeting  a  group  of  young  men,  we  ventured  to  inquire  whether 
there  would  be  preaching,  and  no  one  seemed  to  know;  but  going  on,  we  saw 
a  child  and  a  lame  man  enter  a  church,  and  we  ventured  in  to  find  a  sparsely 
assembled  congregation  of  middle  aged  people.  We  supposed  that  by  agree- 
ment, the  people  divided  the  services,  the  children  going  to  one  and  the  parents 
and  adults  to  the  other. 

An  aged  man  was  in  the  pulpit,  and  he  was  introduced  by  the  pastor  as 
the  Rev.  J).  H.  Davis,  a  native  of  Braxton  county,  but  one  who  had  for  many 
years  been  preaching  the  Gospel  in  other  fields.  It  seemed  that  nativity  and 
age,  if  nothing  more,  should  have  called  the  people  together  in  greater  num- 
bers, but  when  this  aged  minister  stood  erect  in  the  pulpit,  we  discovered  that 
we  were  in  the  presence  of  no  ordinary  personage.  After  his  introductory  re- 
marks which  were  touching  and  eloquent,  he  showed  that  he  was  master  of  the 
English  language.  His  face  was  that  of  a  Roman  nobleman,  and  as  he  warmed 
to  his  subject  with  extended  hands  and  flashing  eyes  that  seemed  to  penetrate 
the  very  souls  of  men,  we  realized  that  he  was  a  man  of  surpassing  eloquence, 
a  reasoner  and  a  student.  When  he  spoke  of  the  mountains,  the  flowing  rivers 
and  the  shifting  sands  as  being  nothing  in  comparison  and  duration  to  the 
message  that  he  brought,  cold  and  indifferent  must  have  been  the  heart  that 
was  untouched.  Wonderful  in  knowledge  and  greatness  are  some  of  the  char- 
acters that  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia  have  brought  forth. 

Additional  mention  of  Rev.  D.  If.  Davis  is  made.  .See  Family  History. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


329 


THE  FELIX  SUTTON  CEMETERY 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LIFE  AND  VIRTUE  OF  HIS  DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 

By  John  D.  Sutton.     - 

In  the  death  of  "Mrs.  Bessie  Sutton,  wife  of  F.  0.  Sutton,  a  line  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family  might  be  excused.  For  eight  years  she  had  been  a  member  of 
the  family.  Her  sweet,  pure  character  had  endeared  her  to  the  home.  In  the 
heart  of  each  member,  her  virtues  had  been  enshrined  as  well,  we  believe,  as 
in  the  affections  of  all  who  knew  her.  During  this  brief  union  with  the  family 
she.  had  fully  shared  every  blessing,  every  aspiration,  as  well  as  every  sorrow 
and  bereavement.  When  the  deepest  sadness  came  to  our  home,  Bessie's  heart 
was  touched  and  her  sympathy  helped  to  bear  that  great  load.  For  the  few 
brief  years  of  her  married  life  and  motherhood  she  exemplified  everything  that 


330  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

that  implies.  The  first  lesson  she  taught  her  children  was  to  repeat  the  Lord's 
Prayer  before  they  retired,  and  her  custom  was  to  take  them  to  the  Sabbath 
school  and  in  every  way  to  influence  their  minds  that  were  so  young  and  im- 
pressionable with  the  lessons  of  truth.  But  after  a  brief  pilgrimage  of  thirty- 
two  years,  or  less  than  half  the  time  allotted  to  man,  and  after  eight  years  of 
wedded  life,  the  star,  that  had  shone  with  such  brilliancy,  that  had  illumined  a 
home  with  such  joy,  that  sanctified  motherhood  and  virtue,  sat  in  the  full  tide 
of  life.  She  had  often  shed  the  tear  that  flowed  by  her  friends  around  her 
bier — the  tear  that  Rev.  Warman  so  forcibly  and  eloquently  described  in  the 
great  prayer  that  he  made,  the  tear  that  is  the  universal  language  of  the  human 
family,  a  language  that  every  creature  under  stands.  We  had  often  thought 
that  in  our  declining  years  Bessie's  love  would  be  a  comfort  and  joy,  but  how 
forcibly  Ave  now  realize  that  we  have  lost  a  friend,  and  that  the  home  from 
which  she  has  been  taken  has  lost  a  sweet  companion  and  affectionate  mother. 
As  we  laid  her  to  rest  beneath  a  bank  of  beautiful  flowers  contributed  by  lov- 
ing friends,  the  day  seemed  to  be  wrapped  in  gloom ;  the  sun  was  hidden  behind 
the  clouds,  and  we  thought  that  nature  was  displeased  that  death  by  sin  had 
entered  into  the  world.  But  at  the  evening  sunset  we  visited  the  grave,  the 
clouds  had  dispersed  in  the  west,  the  sun  was  just  going  down,  and  as  we  looked 
towards  the  south  and  east,  we  beheld  a  clear,  limitless,  blue  sky  in  the  back- 
ground, and  on  it  the  reflection  of  the  sun  was  painting  the  most  magnificent 
picture  we  had  ever  beheld.  In  that  picture  there  were  mountains  and  valleys; 
and  the  mountains  were  terraced  and  painted  only  as  God  can  fashion  the  paint 
with  the  richest,  golden  tints.  Such  a  magnificent  scene  the  hand  of  man  would 
be  powerless  to  imitate  and  the  pen  would  be  unable  to  describe.  And  when 
the  early  morning  came,  we  went  again  to  the  newly  made  grave,  and  as  the 
sun  had  made  its  reflection  again  on  the  little  dew  drops  that  had  come  down 
during  the  night  to  keep  fragrant  the  beautiful  flowers— nature's  dew  drops, 
nature's  tears,  were  falling  where  human  tears  had  fallen  but  yesterday  to 
melt  down  the  little  clods  on  the  tomb.  Nature  seemed  to  be  dispelling  gloom 
and  rejoicing  that  Bessie  had  gone  home. 

RULES  OF  ETIQUETTE. 

One  of  the  rules  that  Washington  laid  down  was  that  against  eating  on  the 
streets.  It  is  not  unusual  at  this  day  to  see  persons  walking  the  streets  eating 
something  from  their  hands,  and  since  ice  cream  has  been  put  up  in  small 
cones,  and  other  viands  in  convenient  form,  this  habit  among  young  people  has 
become  very  common.  To  what  extent  Washington's  advice  corrected  the  habit 
of  impoliteness  that  must  have  prevailed  at  his  time  we  can  not  say,  but  the 
habit  has  broken  out  to  a  considerable  extent  in  recent  years,  and  to  see  young 
ladies  walking  the  streets  licking  a  cone  of  cream  greatly  exposes  the  tongue 
to  view  and  renders  them  less  affable  and  polite,  while  she  is  not  at  all  times 
in  position  to  greet  friends  with  a  handshake.     Moreover',  cream  being  absorbent 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  331 

is  subject  to  the  foul  odors  of  the  streets  and  can  be  enjoyed  very  much  greater 
in  a  clean  cream  parlor  or  at  home. — The  Author. 

CIVILITY. 

Parents  and  teachers  should  teach  children  this  rule,  and  older  persons 
should  know  that  one  person  approaching  another  should  always  speak  first. 
A  person  standing  on  the  street  or  in  the  doorway  or  by  the  roadside  should 
expect  to  be  spoken  to  by  those  moving  by.  A  person  approaching  your  home, 
the  salutation  should  be  mutual  as  well  as  by  parties  meeting  or  by  mutual 
friends.  Younger  persons  should  not  wait  to  be  addressed  by  those  much  older 
than  themselves.  This  rale  is  prompted  by  the  difference  in  age,  and  for  the 
further  reason  that  the  younger  should  recognize  older  persons  much  more 
readily  than  the  older  ones  recognize  the  young.  The  young  will  gain  the  affec- 
tion of  the  aged  by  referring  to  them  as  "Uncle"  or  "Aunt,"  or  by  addressing 
them  by  their  proper  name.  Some  may  ask  why  the  one  should  address  the 
other  first.  The  one  approaching  can  judge  more  accurately  at  what  distance 
the  salutation  should  be  given  or  at  what  speed  he  will  approach  or  pass  by; 
the  one  is  active,  the  other  is  passive  and  should  be  first  addressed. — The  Au- 
thor. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  cemetery  on  the  Sutton  farm  at  McNutt  siding 
stands  a  beautiful  arch,  erected  in  memory  of  Felix  and  Susan  Sutton  by  their 
children  and  grandchildren  dated  1911.  It  is  of  native  stone,  and  the  design 
is  beautiful.  The  work  was  done  by  Messrs.  C.  C.  Stoyle  and  J.  R.  McClain 
of  Clarksburg  who  put  in  several  weeks  on  the  job.  The  corner  stone  was  laid 
March  2nd,  1911,  and  the  ladies  of  the  Woman's  Home  Mission  Society  of  the 
Sutton  M.  E.  church,  South,  placed  in  the  cavity  many  documents  of  historic 
and  family  interest  contributed  by  the  Sutton  family,  also  coins,  engraved 
copper  plates,  etc.,  contributed  by  friends  of  the  family.  One  of  the  plates 
officials.  It  is  a  worthy  monument  to  the  memory  of  two  of  the  county's  most 
worthy  pioneer  citizens  by  his  descendants. —  (Braxton  Democrat.) 

June  16th,  1912,  about  one  thousand  persons  attended  the  unveiling  of 
the  statue  of  Miss  Jessie  L.  Sutton  at  the  Sutton  cemetery  and  the  union  Sun- 
day school  picnic  at  the  Sutton  Grove The  crowd  gathered  at 

the  grove,  where  an  address  of  welcome  was  made  by  Attorney  F.  0.  Sutton  of 
Clarksburg,  and  then  marched  to  the  cemetery.  The  statue  which  is  the  work 
of  a  noted  Italian  sculptor,  was  unveiled  by  Misses  Mabel  Stump,  Mabel  Great- 
house  and  Gertrude  Loyd;  Revs.  A.  Mick  of  Siitton  and  Dr.  John  S.  Stump 
of  Parkersburg,  officiating  at  this  service.  Afterwards,  Dr.  Stump  and  Miss 
Roena  E.  Shaner,  the  latter  a  "W.  C.  T.  U.  national  lecturer,  delivered  addresses 
in  the  grove.  Ten  Sunday  schools  participated  in  the  picnic  which  was  the 
largest  and  most  enjoyable  picnic  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  Braxton.     One  who 


332  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

was  present  says  it  was  the  best  looking,  most  intellectual  and  most  orderly- 
crowd  of  people  he  had  ever  seen  in  this  part  of  the  state. —  (Braxton  Dmo- 
crat, ) 

"MAJESTIC     CHILD     OF     NATURE,     I     CHRISTEN     THEE,     MOUNT 

BAYARD." 

(By  Heney  G.  Davis.) 

At  the  time  this  was  written,  the  marvelous  development  of  "West  Virginia's 
natural  resources  and  the  consequent  expansion  of  the  railway  system  is  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  the  entire  world,  with  the  result  that  capital  is  flowing 
into  the  state  by  the  millions.  It  is  difficult  for  our  older  residents  to  realize 
the  wonderful  changes  that  are  taking  place,  or  to  comprehend  how  it  has 
been  brought  about.    Each  day  brings  new  wonders. 

For  a  century  the  tide  swept  past  us  to  the  far  West,  where  great  com- 
monwealths sprang  into  existance  and  mighty  industrial  achievements  were 
performed.  Yet,  all  these  years  the  wealth  of  our  mountains  lay  dormant  and 
hidden  from  view.  But  at  last  the  awakening  has  come.  The  magic  hand  of 
enterprise  has  touched  our  hills  and  valleys,  and  today  there  is  greater  activity 
here  in  West  Virginia,  with  a  greater  prospect  of  development  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  western  hemisphere.  And,  best  of  all,  this  new  era  of  indus- 
trial development  has  come  to  stay. 

Colonel  George  H.  Moffett,  who  for  a  number  of  years  was  connected  with 
the  Ohio  River  railroad,  and  retains  his  position  as  associate  counsel  under  the 
B.  &  0.  management,  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1872, 
which  framed  the  present  constitution  of  the  State.  In  that  body,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  committee  on  corporations  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  effort 
to  incorporate  liberal  provisions  relating  to  corporations  into  organic  law.  Dur- 
ing the  legislature  of  1879,  he  was  speaker  of  the  House  and  a  member  of  the 
same  body  in  the  memorable  session  of  1881-1882,  when  the  first  railway  legis- 
lation was  enacted.  He  led  the  fight  against  the  Wilson  railroad  bill  which 
was  most  drastic  in  its  nature,  and  while  the  bill  was  not  defeated,  yet  it  was 
so  amended  and  pinned  down  as  to  eliminate  the  most  objectionable  features. 
He  based  his  opposition  to  the  Wilson  bill  upon  the  ground  that  the  state  should 
stand  ready  to  extend  an  open  hand  and  pledged  to  a  liberal  policy  towards  all 
enterprises  looking  to  its  development.  The  debate  on  the  Wilson  bill  was  the 
most  notable  forensic  display  in  our  legislative  history.  Besides  Colonel  Moffett, 
the  active  participants  in  the  discussion  were  Governor  Wilson,  the  father  of 
the  bill,  Judge  James  H.  Ferguson,  Hon.  W.  P.  Hubbard,  Hon.  D.  H.  Leonard, 
Hon.  W.  A.  Quarrier,  Judge  James  Morrow,  Hon.  John  W.  Grantham,  Judge 
Beckwith  and  others  of  equal  celebrity.  Colonel  Moffett  once  made  a  speech 
of  ten  hours'  length  which  was  printed  in  all  the  daily  papers  of  the  state,  and 
its  concluding  sentences  read  as  if  he  had  been  touched  by  the  spii'it  of  prophecy. 
They  read  as  follows: 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  333 

"Mr.  Speaker,  this  is  a  critical  period  in  the  history  of  West  Virginia's 
development.  The  boundless  variety  of  onr  resources  makes  the  state  an  empire 
of  material  wealth  within  itself.  The  hour  has  arrived  when  we  are  to  decide 
whether  we  will  remand  the  state  back  to  a  condition  of  retrogression  and  ex- 
tinction of  industrial  life,  or  whether  we  will  advance  in  the  spirit  of  progress 
and  liberality  to  the  high  destiny  which  awaits  us,  if  wisdom  should  control  our 
counsels. ' ' 

I  think  it  was  in  July,  1881,  said  Colonel  Moffett,  that  I  piloted  a  notable 
party  over  this  projected  line,  and  it  was  a  trip  that  had  some  historical  in- 
terest attached  to  it.  You  will  remember  that  when  Senator  Davis  and  Mr. 
Elkins  organized  the  West  Virginia  Central  company,  it  was  known  as  the 
"Senatorial  Syndicate"  on  account  of  the  number  of  United  States  Senators 
and  other  distinguished  persons  included  in  the  directory  of  the  company.  The 
list  included  James  G.  Blaine,  William  Windom,  Henry  G.  Davis.  Johnson  N. 
Camden,  Arthur  P.  Gorman,  Stephen  B.  Elkins,  Pinkney  Whyte,  W.  H.  Bar- 
num,  Senator  Chaffee  of  Colorado,  U.  S.  Grant,  Jr.,  and  the  late  Major  Alexan- 
der Shaw  of  Baltimore.  At  the  time  I  speak  of,  Mr.  Davis  had  arranged  to 
take  the  directors  over  the  projected  line,  and  the  trip  was  made  on  horseback. 
Unfortunately,  Mr.  Blaine  was  prevented  from  accompanying  the  party  on  ac- 
count of  the  assassination  of  President  Garfield  which  occurred  a  week  or  two 
previously,  and  Mr.  Blaine  being  Secretary  of  State,  was  compelled  to  remain 
in  Washington.  In  speaking  of  it  afterwards,  he  said  it  was  one  of  the  great 
disappointments  of  his  life  as  he  had  looked  forward  to  this  trip  with  univer- 
sal interest  because  of  his  great  faith  in  the  futiire  of  West  Virginia. 

"Colonel  Tom  Davis  furnished  the  mount  for  the  party  from  his  fine 
stables.  The  start  was  made  from  Oakland  on  the  B.  &  0.,  and  it  took  ten 
days  to  make  the  trip  through  to  the  Greenbrier  White  Sulphur  Springs  on  the 
C.  &  0.  road,  a  distance  of  over  two  hundred  miles,  and  a  great  'part  of  it 
through  the  virgin  forests.  Two  horses  laden  with  commissary  stores  were 
taken  along,  which  made  it  convenient  for  camping  out  when  a  settlement  could 
not  be  reached.  The  trip  was  interspersed  with  many  pleasant  incidents,  and 
all  enjoyed  it.  Occasional  stops  were  made  for  trout  fishing  in  the  clear  moun- 
tain streams.  The  big  trout  catch  at  Cosner's  in  the  upper  "Cancan  Valley" 
is  one  of  the  incidents  of  which  I  have  a  vivid  recollection.  Then  there  were 
some  amusing  things  by  the  way,  and  one  of  the  really  funny  spectacles  was 
the  sight  of  old  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Windom,  a  corpulent  man  of  Fal- 
staffian  build,  in  his  shirt  sleeves  chopping  down  pine  trees  to  make  a  bed  from 
the  boughs,  the  night  the  party  slept  out  at  the  McDonald  camp  on  the  Black- 
water  fork  of  Cheat. 

"The  event  of  greatest  historical  interest  occurred  the  sixth  day  out,  at 
the  point  known  as  the  ' '  Sinks, ' '  which  is  the  divide  between  the  waters  of  the 
Cheat  and  Greenbrier  rivers,  and  the  highest  elevation  in  the  state.  Although 
there  was  not  a  wagon  road  within  twenty-five  miles  of  this  place,  about  three 
thousand  acres  of  land  had  been  cleared  out  long  before  the  war  by  the  Van 


334  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Meters  of  the  South  Branch  Valley,  and  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak  it  was 
covered  with  the  finest  blue  grass  sod  that  I  ever  saw.  There  is  nothing  in 
Kentucky  to  equal  it.  Here  is  a  rich  limestone  region  that  gets  its  name  of 
"The  Sinks"  from  the  frequent  caves  and  depressions  in  the  ground,  a  feature 
peculiar  to  limestone  countries.  The  owners  of  this  territory  who  lived  on  the 
South  Branch  of  the  Potomac,  near  Moorfield,  drove  their  young  cattle  through 
the  mountains  to  this  rich  pasturage  land  every  spring,  and  then  drove  them 
back  in  the  fall  season.  They  kept  a  tenant  here,  and  old  man  named  Kyle 
who  looked  after  the  cattle  on  the  big  ranch,  and  although  he  had  no  neighbors 
within  many  miles  of  him,  lived  here  with  his  family  all  the  year  through. 
Kyle's  cabin  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  highest  peak  of  the  transverse  range 
which  made  the  divide  between  the  Cheat  and  Grenbrier  waters,  and  it  was  at 
this  hospitable  cabin  the  party  camped  the  fifth  night  out.  I  recall  the  bounti- 
ful supper  Mrs.  Kyle  spread  for  us  on  that  occasion.  As  I  passed  down  by 
there  the  week  before,  I  gave  them  notice  that  the  exploring  party  would  be 
along,  and  that  we  would  make  it  a  point  to  stay  over  night  at  their  place.  And 
they  were  ready  for  us  with  a  feast  that  would  make  a  fit  banquet  for  royalty. 
Two  large  wild  turkeys  had  been  lulled  and  roasted  to  the  queen's  taste;  we  had 
fresh  venison,  trout  piled  up  on  large  dishes,  and  milk  and  butter  as  sweet  as 
the  clover  blossoms.  And  then  the  cooking  and  seasoning  could  not  have  been 
surpassed  by  a  skilled  chef.  Senator  Bayard,  who  was  considered  a  coinnois- 
seur  in  epicurean  matters,  unqualifiedly  honored  it  the  best  meal  he  ever  ate. 
But,  I  have  wandered  from  my  story. 

"The  tall  peak  that  sat  up  from  the  Kyle  cabin,  and  towered  above  its 
majestic  fellows,  had  been  cleared  to  the  top  and  was  clothed  with  a  matted 
covering  of  blue  grass.  When  we  asked  the  name  of  this  towering  peak,  we 
were  told  that  it  was  known  as  "Snake  Knob,"  not  because  it  was  inhabited 
by  snakes,  but  on  the  contrary,  old  man  Kyle  had  once  killed  a  rattler  there, 
the  only  one  of  the  specie  ever  seen  in  that  locality.  All  agreed  that  this  ma- 
jestic mountain  deserved  a  more  euphonious  name.  Hence,  it  was  pre-arranged 
between  Senators  Davis,  Camden  and  myself,  without  communicating  our  secret 
to  the  others  of  the  party,  that  on  the  morrow  we  should  ascend  to  the  summit 
of  the  mountains  and  with  proper  ceremony  give  it  a  name  to  be  known  in  his- 
tory. The  next  day  was  one  of  those  rare  summer  days  peculiar  to  these  high 
elevations  of  rarified  atmosphere.  There  was  a  cloudless  sky,  and  as  we  as- 
cended the  mountain  in  the  early  morning  the  sunlight  lay  in  golden  bands 
across  the  greensward.  "When  the  summit  had  been  reached,  the  party  dis- 
mounted and  for  an  hour  partook  of  the  glories  of  the  prospect  spread  out  be- 
fore them.  There  was  nothing  to  obscure  the  view  except  the  limit  of  vision. 
Looking  northward,  we  could  see  away  into  the  state  of  Maryland.  Looking 
southward,  we  could  see  in  dim  and  distant  outline  the  Peaks  of  Otler  towering 
above  and  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  To  the  West  and  East,  lay  a 
vast  amphitheatre  of  mountains,  outlines  of  their  summits  gradually  receding 
like  the  waves  of  the  ocean.    Since  then  ,1  have  stood  on  Pike's  Peak  and  other 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  335 

high  points  of  the  Rockies,  T  have  climbed  over  the  Cascade  ranges  and  the 
Sierras,  yet  I  have  never  had  a  view  that  impressed  me  as  this  one.  Right  at 
the  crest  of  the  summit  springs  of  water  were  gushing  forth,  and  dancing  down 
the  sides  of  the  mountain  in  a  succession  of  cascades  rolled  on  to  mingle  with 
other  limped  streams  which  make  the  fountain  source  of  West  A^irginia's  great 
rivers.  Here  on  the  northern  crest  was  a  spring  that  flows  into  the  Laurel 
Fork  of  the  Cheat  river.  Just  over  there  on  the  southward  crest,  scarcely  a 
stone's  throw  distant,  another  spring  gushes  out  to  make  the  fountain  source 
of  the  east  prong  of  the  Greenbrier,  one  spring  emptying  into  th  Ohio  at 
Pittsburg,  the  other  into  the  Ohio  at  Point  Pleasant,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ka- 
nawha. 

"At  length  Senator  Davis  mounted  the  dead  trunk  of  a  fallen  cherry  tree 
and  called  the  assemblage  to  order.  He  announced  that  he  had  been  commis- 
sioned to  perform  a  pleasant  duty,  and  in  a  few  appropriate  remarks  explained 
that  it  had  been  decided  to  name  the  mountain  in  honor  of  the  distinguished 
Senator  from  Delaware,  and  would  proceed  with  the  christening  ceremony.  He 
took  from  my  hand  a  cup  of  water  I  had  lifted  from  the  spring  near  by,  and 
sprinkling  the  sparkling  fluid  over  the  ground  said,  'Majestic  Child  of  Nature, 
I  christen  thee,  Mount  Bayard  '  When  the  Delaware  Senator  and  future  am- 
bassador to  England  mounted  the  log  to  make  response,  it  was  apparent  that  he 
was  struggling  with  deep  emotion.  He  was  overwhelmed  by  the  suddenness 
as  well  as  the  impressiveness  of  the  occasion.  In  faltering  voice,  he  thanked  the 
party  for  the  honor  that  had  been  conferred  upon  him.  He  said  he  would 
treasure  it  as  the  proudest  distinction  of  his  life,  for  when  he  had  gone  hence 
and  his  public  acts  had  been  forgotten,  his  name  would  still  be  perpetuated  in 
this  god-erected  monument.  Here  his  voice  failed,  and  the  tears  coursed  down 
his  cheek.  In  deference  to  the  great  statesman's  emotion,  we  silently  remounted, 
and  as  we  rode  down  the  southern  slope  of  the  mountain,  each  one  experienced 
the  feeling  akin  to  that  of  the  old  apostle  of  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  that 
it  was  good  for  us  to  have  been  here. ' ' 

Mount  Bayard  is  the  greatest  elevation  on  the  Bison  Range. — The  Au- 
thor. ) 

THE  NATURAL  SCENERY  ON  PISCA'S  TOP. 
(By  Rev.  A.  B.  Riker.) 

I  was  requested  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Grose,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  West  Vir- 
ginia Conference  Campmeeting  Association,  to  accompany  him  on  a  tour  of  in- 
spection to  the  top  of  Pisgah  mountain,  the  prospective  location  of  the  Meth- 
odist Campmeeting  and  Chatauqua. 

The  Elk  river  was  swollen,  and  being  unable  to  ford  with  our  horses,  we 
crossed  in  a  boat  at  the  little  village  of  Henry,  the  county  seat  of  Clay  county, 
and  ascended  the  mountain  on  foot,  pulling  ourselves  up  by  shrubs  and  vines 
when  they  were  in  reach,  and  catching  our  fingers  in  crevices  among  the  rocks 


336  '         'SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

when  they  were  not.  Indeed,  we  literally  went  upon  hands  and  feet.  At  the 
base  of  this  towering,  almost  precipice,  winding  its  way  in  graceful  curves,  is 
the  beautiful  elk — its  waters  clear  as  the  crystal  dew  drop,  now  rushing  with 
deafening  roar  over  the  rocky  shoals,  now  sinking  into  peaceful  repose  and  si- 
lence, in  the  broad  expanse  of  a  crystal  lake  that  lay  at  our  feet  like  a  mighty 
mirror  reflecting  the  crags  and  cliffs  and  lofty  peaks  against  a  background  of 
fleecy  clouds.  What  a  picture  to  turn  one's  back  upon!  When  informed  that 
it  was  a  plan  of  the  association  to  construct  a  railroad  up  the  mountain  side,  I 
mentally  resolved  that  1  would  always  ride  up  backwards. 

Slowly  and  laboriously,  we  thus  ascended  six  hundred  feet,  and  we  could 
roll  a  pebble  into  the  river  below.  Here  we  reached  a  kind  of  plateau  sloping 
back  to  the  hills.  This  was  covered  with  ferns  and  evergreens  and  dotted  all 
over  with  massive  oaks  on  which  hung  the  moss  of  centuries,  fitting  emblem  of 
their  age  and  dignity.  At  our  back,  upon  our  right,  and  also  at  our  left,  was 
the  beautiful  river  whose  roar  made  a  melancholy  music  in  harmony  with  the 
eloquent  silence  that  surrounds  us,  but  in  front  of  us  rose  up  in  majestic  gran- 
deur the  grand,  shapely,  tapering  cone  that  has  associated  with  its  name  such 
beautiful  scriptural  sentiment.  Upon  one  side,  the  ascent  is  not  difficult,  but 
it  is  on  the  side  opposite  to  our  view.  In  fact,  from  the  plateau,  a  buggy  can 
be  driven  easily  to  the  very  summit. 

After  we  had  recovered  our  breath,  all  but  the  preacher  lit  a  cigar,  and 
we  walked  rapidly  on.  Did  you  ever  stand  by  and  watch  the  outlines  of  a  pic- 
ture appear  under  a  master's  hand*?  Up,  up.  higher,  higher,  and  each  step 
seemed  to  add  another  touch  to  the  beautiful  picture,  until  we  stood  upon  the 
very  top,  and  the  scene  was  complete.  A  picture  of  all  that  is  beautiful,  grand 
and  sublime — a  mingling  of  the  celestial  and  terrestial — a  picture  of  earth  on 
the  background  of  heaven.  To  the  north,  the  south,  the  east  and  the  west,  noth- 
ing obstructed  our  vision  but  the  limit  of  our  eye  sight.  Range  upon  range, 
peak  towering  above  peak,  until  the  blue  lines  of  earth  melted  into  the  blue 
canopy  of  heaven. 

Away  yonder  to  our  right,  hanging  over  the  hills  of  Greenbrier  was  an 
angry  cloud  and  the  rain  was  pouring  down,  while  the  lofty  peaks  of  Nicholas 
basked  in  the  beautiful  sunlight.  Through  a  break  in  a  bank  of  clouds  that 
hung  over  Braxton  county,  we  could  see  a  stream  of  sunlight  like  a  great  shin- 
ing road,  a  bright  paved  thoroughfare  from  earth  to  heaven.  Here  was  sun- 
shine and  shadow;  here  was  the  crystal  dew-drop,  glittering  in  the  morning 
sun;  here  was  the  valley  below;  here  was  the  towering  peak;  here  was  nature 
and  here  was  nature's  God.  I  lay  it  down  as  one  of  the  impossibilities  for  any- 
one to  stand  a  half  hour  on  Pisga's  top  and  not  go  away  better  than  he  came — - 
go  away  with  a  bigger  heart,  a  grander  soul,  a  broadened  intellect  and  a  greater 
love  for  the  sublimity  of  God.  Fartherest  away  from  all  that  is  bad — nearest 
to  God  and  all  that  is  good.  I  felt  like  saying  to  the  committee  who  has  the 
matter  in  charge,  "Brethren,  here  let  us  build  a  tabernacle,  a  splendid  and 
capacious  edifice,  and  let  us  entice  the  men  and  women  from  the  valleys  below, 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  337 

whose  hearts  have  become  cold  and  callous,  and  whose  noble  impulses  have  been 
smothered  and  cramped,  and  every  one  that  comes  will  be  a  better  man  or  a  bet- 
ter woman,  for  it  is  good  to  be  here. " 

This  peak  rises  seventeen  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  is  the  high- 
est point  in  all  the  surrounding  country.  Its  top  comprises  a  smooth  rolling 
surface,  covering  something  over  one  acre  of  ground.  Imagine  yourself  stand- 
ing upon  an  elevated  pinnacle,  looking  over  five  thousand  square  miles  of  the 
most  picturesque  scenery  in  the  world,  and  you  have  a  faint  conception  of  what 
your  sensation  will  be  on  Pisga's  summit. 

NAMES  OP  PERSONS  LIVING  100  YEARS  AND  MORE. 

Katie  Wilson,  mother  of  Eli  Wilson 100 

Dolly  Hyer,  who  became  a  county  charge 106 

James  M.  McCourt,  Webster  Co. 113 

Mrs.  Catharine,  McQueen,  Nicholas  Co 100 

Mary  Coger,  wife  of  Peter  Coger 104 

Jacob  Coger,  Webster  Co 106 

Eunice  Mace,  married  Jacob  Conrad,  said  to  be 118 

William  Coger,  Webster  Co 108 

Benjamin  Wine 100 

Lewis  Young,  colored,  Nicholas  Co.,  said  to  be 135 

James  Sutton,  Lewisburg,  now  living 106 

Jack  Nappels,  colored,  Charleston 123 

Wm.  M.  Craig,  Lewis  Co 100 

Levi  Bond,  Lewis  Co.,  now  living 102 

Andrew  Wilson,  said  to  be 114 

Barbary   Sands 104 

Dolly   Murphy 110 

Mary  Berry  Smith,  daughter  of  William  Berry  and  wife  of  James 

Smith,   Smithfield,  Ohio 104 

Hugh  Gartin,  of  Lewis  Co.,  (One  month  and  20  days) 100 

It  was  said  of  Jacob  Cogar  that  when  he  was  one  hundred  and  four  years 
old  he  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  tall  pine  tree  and  trimmed  the  limbs  off  from  the 
top  down. 

NAMES  OP  PERSONS  NEARTNG  THE  HUNDRED  MARK. 

Elizabeth  Westfall 99 

Simon  Prince  98 

Nellie  Rodgers,  Roane  Co 98 

Mrs.  John  Eubank  93 

Isaac   Riffle , 93 

And  his  son  Absolum 98 


338  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

John  B.  MeCourt,  son  of  James  M.,  (G  mo.  and  a  few  days) 99 

Marcellus  Byrne  92 

Lucinda   Singleton 93 

Eviline  Berry,  now  living 93 

Margaret  Rodgers,  now  living  92 

Peter  Bosley,  now  living 93 

Hon.  Henry  G.  Davis  93 

Betsy   Squires 93 

Wm.   Collison,  Clay - 90 

Thomas  Dixon,  Nicholas  Co 90 

Eli  Shock,  Gilmer  Co 91 

Sarah  Shields 94 

Enoch  Roberts 99 

Jessie  F.  Coger,  Webster  Co 94 

Delila  Coger,  now  living 93 

James  Carroll   90 

Benjamin    Huffman,    living    93 

Susan  Harper,  living  93 

Luther  Haymond  of  Clarksburg 99 

NAMES  OF  PERSONS  WHO  LIVED  TO  CELEBRATE  THEIR  GOLDEN 

WEDDING  ANNIVERSARY. 

Yrs. 

Simon  Prince  and  his  wife  Margaret  (Sisk)  Prince 50 

Thomas  Skidmore  and  his  wife  Catherine  (Hamrie)  Skidmore 57 

Andrew  Skidmore  and  his  wife,  Margaret  (HosMns)  Skidmore 61 

Capt.  Henry  Bender  and  his  wife,  Eliza  (Engle)  Bender 53 

Rev.  George  H.  Williams  and  his  wife 51 

James  W.  Morrison  and  his  wife,  Nancy  (Grims)  Morrison 57 

Asa  Squires  and  his  wife,  Sarah  C.  (Eastep)  Squires 58 

Bailey  Stump  and  his  wife,  Sally  (Sutton)  Stump 58 

Levi  J.  Huffman  and  Ins  wife,  (Stump)  Huffman 52 

Jessie  F.  Coger  and  wife  lived  together  over 74 

S.  I.  Stalnaker  and  wife,  Drusilla  (Frame)  Stalnaker 50 

Wm.  R.  Pierson  and  wife  57 

W.  F.  Morrison  and  wife,  Sally  (Berry)  Morrison ". 51 

E.  D.  Camden  and  wife,  E.  A.  (Newby)  Camden 53 

J.  D.  Sprigg  and  wife,  Jennie  (McCoy)  Sprigg 51 

James  Berry  and  wife,  Betty  (Squires)  Berry 53 

Isaac  Loyd  and  wife,  Catherine  (McPherson)  Loyd 54 

Isaac  Rodgers  and  his  wife,  Margaret  (Lough)  Rodgers 66 

Wm.  M.  Craig  and  his  wife,  Lewis  Co 63 

J.  D.  Sutton  and  wife,  M.  V.  (Morrison)  Sutton 53 

Samuel  Bennett  and  wife,  Annary  (Mayfield)   Bennett 51 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  339 

Benjamin  F.  SMdmore,  now  living  in  Kentucky,  and  Rebecca  Daily  are  the 
only  children  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  Gordon  Skidmore,  now  living  and  the  only 
living  grand  children  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  Johnson  Skidmore.  Andrew 
Skidmore  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 

David  Chenoweth  of  Calhoun  county  and  Delila  Skidmore  Cogar  are  the 
only  living  grand  children  of  Capt.  John  Skidmore,  soldier  of  the  Revolution. 
Mrs.  Cogar  is  in  her  93rd  year. 

David  Chenoweth  and  Calvin  Hart  of  Randolph  county  are  the  only  two 
grand  children  of  John  Chenoweth,  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Mr.  Chenoweth 
has  the  distinction  of  being  the  living  grand  son  of  two  soldiers  of  the  war  for 
Independence.    He  is  now  in  his  86th  year. 

LARGE  FAMILIES. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Bennett  of  Roane  county  are  the  parents  of  twenty- 
nine  children,  including  seven  pairs  of  twins  who  died  before  being  named. 
There  are  thirteen  children  living  at  this  time. 

Riley  Crites  by  his  two  wives  had  21  children. 

Mrs.  Naomi  Rodgers  had  19  children. 

Jacob  Shaver  had  16  children  that  lived  to  be  grown. 

Jennings  Skidmore  had  by  his  two  wives  16. 

James  W.  Morrison  had  14  children. 

Jacob  Summers  of  Clay  county  had  by  his  two  marriages  twenty-one  chil- 
dren, fourteen  by  his  first  wife  and  seven  by  his  latter  marriage.  They  all 
lived  to  become  heads  of  families. 

In  1787,  Colonel  Wilson  left  Randolph  county,  and  made  his  home  in  Har- 
rison county  where  he  entered  largely  into  business.  In  1795,  he  built  a  mill 
on  Simpson  creek,  and  subseqeuntly  enlarged  it  to  do  spinning,  weaving,  color- 
ing and  cloth-dressing.  On  June  18,  1795,  occurred  the  death  of  Mrs.  "Wilson 
who  had  become  the  mother  of  twelve  children. 

On  December  15,  1795,  Colonel  Wilson  married  Phoebe  Davisson  of  Harri- 
son county,  then  in  her  nineteenth  year,  and  she  became  the  mother  of  seven- 
teen children.     She  died  June  24,  1849. 

The  names  of  Colonel  Wilson's  children,  with  the  date  of  each  birth,  are 
as  follows:  Mary  B.,  born  July  9,  1771;  William  B.,  born  January  23,  1773; 
Stephen,  born  October  21,  1775 ;  Benjamin,  born  January  13,  1778 ;  St  rah, 
born  September  11,  1780;  Elizabeth,  born  August  17,  1782;  Ann,  born  January 
17,  1786;  John,  born  July  5,  1788;  Archibald  B.,  born  July  25,  1790;  Josiah 
D.,  born  October  12,  1796;  two  children  died  without  names;  David,  born  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1798;  Edith,  born  November  9,  1799;  Elizabeth,  born  October  15, 
1801 ;  Thomas  W.,  bom  May  12,  1803 ;  Margaret,  born  March  26,  1805 ;  Deborah, 


340  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

born  October  17,  1806 ;  James  P.,  bom  June  9,  1808 ;  Daniel  P.,  born  July  30, 
1810;  Phoebe  D.,  born  August  29,  1811;  Martha  M.,  born  January  23,  1813; 
Philip  D.,  born  June  29,  1814;  Noah  L.,  born  March  9,  1816;  Julia  Ann,  born 
September  28,  1817;  Harriet  B.,  born  November  13,  1818;  Rachel,  born  July 
20,  1820.    Two  infants  died  without  names. 

Twenty-four  of  these  children  lived  to  adult  age,  and  were  living  at  his 
death. 

A  Mrs.  Vanoy  of  Gilmer  county  had  twenty  children. 

James  Bdgel  of  Wetsel  county  had  seventeen  children,  nine  girls  and  eight 
boys.  He  lived  to  see  them  all  married.  One  son  and  two  daughters  are  now 
dead.  Mr.  Edgel  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war,  and  also  his  son,  W.  N.  Edgel, 
was  a  Chaplain  of  the  Grand  Army  of  West  Virginia  for  several  years,  and  is 
a  highly  respected  citizen  of  Clarksburg,  West  Virginia. 

Samuel  Bennett. 

Samuel  Bennett  and  Annary  Mayfield  were  married  Dec.  28,  1866,  by  Rev. 
George  Mclntire,  M.  E.  preacher  in  Tyler  county.  Their  living  children  are 
John,  Permela,  Porter,  Lymon,  Mariah,  Charles,  Scott,  James,  Henry  and  Mar- 
tha, twins,  Sarah,  Samuel,  Jr.,  and  Ollie.  There  were  seven  sets  of  twins  who 
died  before  being  named,  thus  Mrs.  Bennett  gave  birth  to  twenty-nine  children. 

Porter  relates  that  he  taught  a  school  in  which  ten  of  his  brothers  and  sis- 
ters attended. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  a  soldier  in  the  15th  West  Virginia  Infantry.  He  and 
his  wife  are  yet  living,  and  still  enjoy  good  health.  Their  home  is  near  Tan- 
nersville  in  Gilmer  county,  this  state. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bennett  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  anniversary  Dec. 
28,  1916,  and  are  residents  of  Roane  county. 

Jacob  Summers  of  Clay  county  had  by  his  two  wives  twenty-one  children, 
fourteen  by  his  first  marriage  and  seven  by  his  latter  marriage.  They  all  lived 
to  become  heads  of  families. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 
FIVE  GENERATIONS. 

Generation  Name  Born 

First    Simon   Prince  August  21,  1815 

Margaret   Sisk 

Second    Rachel    Jane    Princr         ...      August  13,  1837 

Taylor  Sutton 

Third    Maggie   Sutton  February  15,  1867 

James  Hoover 

Fourth    Mamie  Hoover  June  27,  1887 

■«  J  StfeliA")ert    Hefner 
Fifth     Spurgeon  Hefner  September  5,  1907 

Generation  Name  Born 

First    Lewis   Perkins  April   .....   1832 

Susan  H.  Rogers 

Second    John  R.   Perkins  December  15,   1851 

Third    jHallie   Perkins  June   18,  1875 

Fourth    Guy  Perkins  May  1,  1895 

Fifth     Mildred  Perkins  February    23,    1917 

Generation  Name  Born 

First    Andrew   Skidmore  March  20,  1780 

Margaret   Hudkins 

Second    Naomi    Skidmore 

Levi   Rodgers 

Third    Hannah  Rodgers  March  30,  1826 

Adam  J.  Hyer 

Fourth    Naomi  J.  Hyer  August  10,  1846 

Jonathan   Y.   Gillespie 

Fifth     Naomi  Gillespie  ,  1869 

Generation  Name  Born 

First    Jas.  R.  Kennedy 

Rebecca   Dennison  April   28,   1823 

Second    George  Pickens 

Rachel   Kennedy  October  11,  1845 

Third    Dory  Pickens 

S.   Wise   Stalnaker  February   8,   1867 

Fourth    Edna   Stalnaker 

Ord.  Neely  August  9,  1886 

Fifth     Neely 

Agnus    Nealy  August   10,    1908 


341 


342  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Generation  Name  Born 

First    Wm.  W.  Craig 

Emily  Brown 

Second    Susan   Craig 

Adam  Swecker 

Third    Mary   Swecker 

David  Dotson 

Fourth    Dora  Dotson 

Wm.  Hopkins 

Fifth     iHope    Hopkins 

Roy  R.  Hopkins 

"Wm.  Craig  lived  with  his  wife  sixty-three  years,  and  the  five  generations 
lived  in  one  house  for  a  period  of  two  years  after  Mrs.  Craig's  death. 

But  what  would  seem  remarkable  in  the  Craig  family,  "Wm.  Craig  had 
three  daughters  who  lived  to  see  their  fifth  generation,  Virginia  who  married 
Freeman  Sexton,  Luey  who  married  John  Cunningham  and  Susan  who  mar- 
ried Adam  Swicker. 

Generation  Name  Born 

First    Capt.   John  F.   Singleton 

Ducinda  Byrne 

Second    Uriah  Singleton 

Elizabeth    Heater 

Third    ,Sarah    Singleton 

Addison  Wyatt 

Fourth    Ursly  Wyatt 

John   Fox 

Fifth     .Three   children   of    above 

David   and   Sarah   Fox 

Mrs.  Lucinda  Singleton,  widow  of  John  Singleton,  lived  to  see  her  fifth 
generation  at  her  own  table.  There  were  present,  her  son,  Uriah  Singleton  and 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Addison  "Wyatt;  also  Mrs.  "Wyatt 's  daughter  and  grand 
daughter.  Mrs.  Singleton  was  married  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  as  stated 
elsewhere,  lived  to  the  good  old  age  of  ninety-three  or  eighty  years  after  her 
marriage.     Her  husband  died  many  years  before. 

YOUTHFUL  MARRIAGES. 

Stanley  Morrison,  aged  thirty-seven  years,  married  Georgia  Perkins, 
daughter  of  "Washington  Perkins.  She  was  married  May  29th  in  Maryland, 
and  attained  her  twelfth  birthday  on  the  25th  of  the  following  September. 

Jessie  F.  Cowger  of  "Webster  county  lived  to  see  the  fifth  generation  of  her 
family. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


343 


KENNEDY  FAMILY  AND  FIVE  GENERATIONS 
One  of  the  very  interesting  pictures  of  our  collection  is  the  above  where 
the  aged  great,  great  grandmother  sits  in  the  presence  of  her  descendents,  the 
fifth  generation  leaning  against  the  first,  and  the  second,  third  and  fourth  stand- 
ing as  a  support  to  youth  and  old  age.  The  Hope  of  Youth,  the  Wisdom  of  Old 
Age,  the  Strength  and  Courage  of  Middle  Life  adorn  this  picture  with  Meak- 
ness  and  Adoration. 


344  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

OUR  FIFTH  FOREIGN  WAR, 

On  April  4,  1917,  the  Senate  .adopted  a  joint  resolution  recognizing  a  state 
of  war  between  the  United  States  and  Germany.  At  a  few  minutes  past  three 
on  the  morning  of  April  6  the  House  of  Representatives  adopted  the  resolution 
by  a  vote  of  373  to  50.  At  a  quarter  past  one  that  afternoon  President  Wilson 
affixed  his  signature.  The  news  was  flashed  by  wire  and  wireless,  by  cable  and 
signal  flag,  to  every  army  post  and  every  ship  of  the  navy  from  Guantanamo 
to  the  Philippines.  The  war  was  on.  Immediately  the  War  Department  an- 
nounced that  it  wanted  to  train  more  than  a  million  men  in  twelve  months.  It 
proposed:  To  recruit  the  regular  army  to  a  full  war  strength  of  287,846.  To 
raise  the  National  Guard  to  its  war  strength  of  440,000.  To  choose  an  addi- 
tional force  of  500,000  men  by  selective  draft.  But  greater  drafts  have  been 
made  upon  the  country,  and  now,  1918,  we  have  over  a  million  well  armed  and 
equipped  young  mien  in  France,  Avith  two  million  and  more  preparing  for  the 
great  straggle  that  is  to  free  the  world  from  the  iron  clutches  of  autocracy  and 
send  the  nations  forth  in  the  new  garb  of  democracy  and  freedom.  A  spirit  of 
patriotism  is  sweeping  through  the  land  uniting  the  people  as  they  have  never 
been  united  before.  We  have  been  unable  to  get  a  full  roster  of  soldiers  going 
to  the  war  from  Braxton  county,  nor  could  it  now  be  completed  as  additional 
numbers  will  be  called  from  time  to  time  until  the  great  struggle  shall  end. 


-'^^i 


HIGH  PRICES. 

By  reason  of  the  Foreign  war,  and  the  combination  of  speculators,  prices 
of  all  commodities  are  becoming  extremely  high,  especially  anything  that  is 
made  of  iron  or  steel.  With  food  products,  many  articles  have  gone  as  high  as 
one  hundred  per  cent  above  normal.  Even  in  the  midst  of  great  national  pros- 
perity, great  numbers  in  the  large  cities  are  in  great  destitution.  One  reason 
is  given  why  food  cereals  have  soared  so  high  is.  the  lack  of  railroad  facilities 
to  transport,  the  western  grain  to  the  eastern  markets.  Another  reason  given 
is  that  the  western  farmers  have  either  sold  to  parties  who  have  bought  for  the 
Allies  or  that  many  farmers  and  local  shippers  are  holding  for  advance  prices. 

At  this  time  of  writing,  March  8,  1917,  chop  feed  cannot  be  bought  either 
at  the  wholesale  at  Sutton,  Burnsville,  Weston  or  Clarksburg.  The  lumbermen 
and  a  few  of  the  farmers  depend  entirely  on  western  grain.  We  are  informed 
that  at  this  time  hundreds  of  lumber  teams  operating  in  the  great  lumber  camps 
of  Camden,  Richwood,  Gauley,  and  other  timber  districts,  will  be  destitute  un- 
less speedily  relieved  by  the  shipment  of  grain. 

We  quote  some  local  prices:    Wheat,  $1.90  to  $2.00  per  bushel;  corn,  $1.25; 

oats,  80  cents;  chop,  $2.00  per  hundred;  mill  feed  $ ;  clover  seed,  $4.00; 

timothy  seed,  $3.10;  orchard  grass,  $1.75;  bluegrass,  $1.75;  potatoes  $2.00  to 
$4.00  per  bushel ;  onions,  $4.00 ;  cabbage,  8  cents  per  pound,  retailing  as  high  as 
12  cents ;  onion  sets,  75  cents  per  gallon.  While  the  winter  has  been  one  of  un- 
usual severity,  coal  is  quoted  as  high  as  $6.50  per  ton.    At  the  mines,  the  price 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  345 

prevailing  now  is  $5.00  and  $5.50.  Those  who  had  coal  mines  in  operation  at 
the  beginning  of  the  winter  have  made  quick  fortunes,  as  the  weather  continues 
with  heavy  snows  and  the  temperature  almost  to  zero,  breaking  up  with  one 
of  the  greatest  floods  in  twenty  years. 

Spring  and  summer  of  1918,  we  quote  prices  as  follows :  Wheat  $2.25  per 
"bushel,  com  $2.75,  oats  $1.10,  chop  $4,00  per  hundred  pounds,  mill  feed  $2.50, 
clover  seed  $22.00  per  bushel,  timothy  seed  $4.70,  orchard  grass  $3.25,  blue  grass 
$3.25,  onions  $7  to  $8  per  bushel ;  good  shipping  cattle  are  bringing  $12  to  $14 
per  hundred  and  lambs  16  to  $18  per  hundred.  Bacon  is  38  to  40  cents  per 
pound ;  farmers  are  paying  $2.50  per  day  for  harvest  hands,  and  unskilled 
labor  on  public  works  is  commanding  from  $4  to  $5  per  day. 

»  BIOGRAPHY. 

In  preparing  a  personal  biography  of  many  of  the  families  of  Braxton 
county,  it  is  more  limited  than  we  had  intended,  being  unable  to  get  the  neces- 
sary data  and  in  many  cases  we  had  nothing  by  which  we  could  secure  the  proper 
names  and  dates.  We  trust  those  whose  records  have  been  secured  may  feel  a 
satisfaction  in  their  publication.  We  regret  that  there  are  many  others  we 
failed  to  obtain. 

John  Adams. 

John  Adams,  son  of  Major  P.  B.  Adams,  was  born  in  1859.  In  1884  he 
married  Nancy,  daughter  of  Tubal  and  Delila  Skidmore  Cogar,  and  to  them  were 
born  nine  children,  Hannah,  Pierson  B.,  Delila,  Ellowese,  Mary  A.,  Jordye, 
John  G.,  Daniel  J.,  and  William  M.  Mr.  Adams  was  a  successful  farmer  and 
stockman;  he  owned  the  valuable  and  beautiful  Boling  Green  farm.  He  was 
elected  sheriff  of  Braxton  county  in  1896  and  served  a  term  of  four  years,  and 
was  elected  sheriff  again  in  1904  and  served  the  term  of  four  years.  Mr.  Adams 
was  well  beloved  by  his  countrymen.  Pie  died  December  17,  1912,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Duffy  cemetery  at  Sutton. 

Rev.  Richard  A.  Arthur, 

Rev.  Richard  A.  Arthur  was  born  in  Randolph  county,  Va.,  March  6,  1817. 
He  was  the  son  of  William  and  Davison  Arthur.  His  maternal  grandfather 
was  Joseph  Friend,  son  of  Captain  Joseph  Friend  of  Revolutionary  fame,  whose 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Skidmore.  and  sister  to  Captain  John  Skidmore. 
His  parents  removed  from  Randolph  county  to  what  is  now  known  as  the  famous 
Salt  Sulphur  springs  in  the  year  1819.  He  was  the  next  to  youngest  of  seven 
sons,  all  of  whom  were  respected  citizens.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  he  left 
his  home,  crossed  the  Elk  mountain  with  such  school  books  as  he  possessed,  and 
went  to  the  little  village  of  Summersville  where  he  entered  school  and  applied 
himself  diligently  until  such  time  as  he  was  enabled  to  teach.     After  teaching 


346  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

for  some  time  to  secure  sufficient  means  to  educate  himself  for  the  ministry,  he 
entered  college  at  Marietta,  Ohio.  After  completing  his  course  and  graduating 
with  honor,  he  went  to  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  where  he  became  principal  of  one  of 
the  city  schools.  In  1851,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Isabella  S.  Fisher  of  Wheel- 
ing. He  felt  the  call  to  the  ministry  to  be  his  life  work,,  and  after  teaching  in 
Wheeling  and  at  the  Clarksburg  Academy,  he  again  entered  the  work  of  the 
ministry  which  was  so  dear  to  his  heart.  He  preached  the  gospel  for  many 
years,  and  held  a  number  of  prominent,  positions  both  in  the  ministry  and  in 
educational  work. 

In  1867,  he  moved  his  family  from  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  to  Webster  county 
where  he  went  to  recuperate  his  health  which  was  failing  from  long  and  active 
service  in  the  itinerancy.  He  regained  his  health  in  a  large  measure,  and  often 
preached  the  gospel  with  great  earnestness  and  power.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Cincinnati  M.  B.  Conference  at  the  time  of  his  death,  having  been  transferred 
from  the  W.  Va.  Conference  in  1869.  In  his  memories  of  him,  Judge  Wesley 
Atkinson  says  that,  "As  much  as  any  other  man  of  his  generation,  in  the  state 
of  his  birth,  he  left  his  impress  upon  the  times  in  which  he  lived."  Rev.  Ar- 
thur died  Nov.  11,  1899,  at  Webster  Springs,  W.  Va. 

He  inherited  valuable  lands  in  Webster  county,  and  left  quite  a  comfort- 
able estate  to  his  family.  The  children  who  succeeded  him  were  William,  a 
prominent  business  man  of  Webster  county,  and  for  several  years  was  County 
Surveyor.  William  has  since  died.  His  daughters  now  living  are  Katie  who 
was  the  wife  of  Captain  Hillery  (now  dead),  and  Maggie  who  never  married. 
One  daughter  Belle,  died  in  Cincinnati  before  the  family  removed  to  W.  Va. 

The  Rev.  Arthur  was  a  man  of  very  fine  talent.  He  was  at  one  time  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  in  a  college  in  Ohio.  As  a  pulpit  orator,  he  had  few 
equals.  He  grew  up  in  the  ministry,  and  received  inspiration  from  all  that 
was  grand  in  Nature.  The  deep  gorges  and  murmuring  waters,  the  valleys 
and  giant  mountains  with  its  ever  living  foliage,  the  song  of  every  bird  of  the 
forest,  was  to  him  a  melody,  while  the  beauty  of  the  flowers  which  God  had 
created  to  beautify  his  handiwork  was  to  him  an  inspiration  that  throughout 
his  ministry  never  lost  its  charm. 

Rev.  Arthur,  his  wife  and  son  William  are  resting  in  a  beautiful  plot  of 
ground  near  Webster  Springs  on  the  banks  of  the  Elk. 

G.  W.  Aeboga-ST. 

G.  W.  Arbogast,  son  of  George  and  Mary  (Reed)  Arbogast,  was  born  Jan. 
29,  1849,  and  has  always  lived  in  Clay  county.  He  married  Ellen  Schoonover, 
and  their  children  are  Calvin  P.,  James  A.,  Wm.  E.,  Glenna  May,  Daniel  W.,. 
and  George. 

He  married  for  his  second  wife  Mary  Riffle,  and  by  this  union  there 
was  born  one  child,  Sarah.  Mr.  Arbogast  has  been  a  farmer,  except  for  a  period 
of  twenty-eight  months,  which  he  served  in  the  State  Guard  and  in  the  7th 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  347 

West  Virginia  Cavalry  under  C4eneral  Custer.    Mr.  Arbogast  was  Sheriff  from 
1884  until  1889. 

Solomon  Baker. 

Solomon  Baker  and  Mary,  his  wife,  came  from  New  River  about  the  year 
1812.  They  had  several  children,  only  two  of  whom  became  grown.  Mr.  Baker 
settled  near  the  mouth  of  a  run  which  empties  into  the  Elk  about  a  mile  below 
the  site  of  the  old  Union  mills.    It  is  now  known  as  Bakers  run. 

B.  "W.  Hefner. 

E.  W.  Hefner  began  in  the  merchandise  business  in  1890. 

1902— Elected  Clerk  County  Court  of  Braxton  county,  and  in  1908  re- 
elected. 

1915 — Entered  the  real  estate  business,  and  continued  same  to  present  time. 

1897 — Married  Mary  Sue  Hopkins,  daughter  of  Wm.  Hopkins,  of  Pendle- 
ton county. 

Children — Charles  Samuel,  Ernest  Lyle,  Virginia  Lee,  Mary  Louise. 

Son  of  Samuel  C.  Hefner  and  Sarah  E.  Hefner. 

Levi  Bond. 

Levi  Bond,  born  in  Harrison  county,  Va.,  April  3,  1817.  He  was  the  son 
of  Abel  Bond,  and  grandson  of  Major  Richard  Bond.  This  noted  family  came 
from  Maryland  to  Virginia,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  settled  on  Lost 
Creek,  Harrison  county.  Levi  Bond  celebrated  his  hundredth  birthday,  April 
3,  1918,  at  which  there  was  a  large  gathering  of  representative  citizens  present. 
■  For  almost  60  years  he  has  been  a  Deacon  in  the  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Clmrch, 
of  Lost  Creek,  and  has  been  a  member  of  that  church  for  eighty-five  years,  join- 
ing the  church  while  in  his  teens.  There  are  but  two  of  his  nine  children  now 
living,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Court-right,  of  Lost  creek,  with  whom  he  makes  his  home, 
and  Abel  Bond,  of  Tennessee.  He  has  seven  grand  children,  a  number  of  great 
grand  children,  and  one  great-great  grand  child,  Maxine  Zollinger,  the  little 
daughter  of  Eva  Zollinger,  of  Philippi.  Mr.  Bond  was  a  boot  and  shoe  maker, 
and  worked  on  the  bench  for  over  sixty  years. 

Wm.  D.  Baxter. 

Wm.  D.  Baxter  was  bom  in  Greenbrier  county,  Virginia,  March  25,  1795. 
Ann  C.  Sutton,  daughter  of  James  Sutton,  of  Alexander,  Va.,  was  born  October 
17,  1804.  They  were  married  October  21,  1828,  and  the  following  are  their 
children : 

Few  men  have  lived  in  our  community  who  commanded  greater  respect 
born  July  16,  1834;  Susan  C,  born  May  17,  1836;  John  D.  S.,  born  August  21, 


348  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

1838;  Jemima  A.,  born  June  1,  1841,  and  Joseph  A.,  born  one  hour  later;  James 
A.,  born  August  10,  ]  846 ;  Mary  M.,  born  November  28,  1848. 

Rev.  W.  D.  Baxter  was  a  local  preacher  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  was  a 
member  of  that  society  for  about  sixty-five  years.  In  an  early  day,  his  par- 
ents moved  from  Greenbrier  to  Kanawha  county  where  he  grew  to  manhood, 
and  learned  the  cooper's  trade. 

After  his  marriage,  he  settled  in  Braxton  county  on  the  waters  of  Granny's 
creek  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death  which  occurred  April  1,  1881, 
his  wife  having  died  June  16,  1874. 

They  were  both  noted  for  their  piety,  kindness  and  benevolence.  Mrs. 
Baxter  was  a  woman  of  splendid  intellectual  attainments. 

Nathan  Baenett. 

Nathan  Barnett  was  son  of  Isaac  Barnett,  and  came  with  his  father  from 
Ohio  and  settled  on  Granny's  creek  some  years  before  the  formation  of  the 
county.  Nathan  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  D.  and  Sally  Sutton. 
Their  children  were  Meletis  L.,  John  D.,  Susan  who  married  Dr.  Thomas  Duf- 
field,  Isaac  who  died  young,  Edward  D.,  James  K.,  Wm.  M.,  Poindaxter  W., 
and  Felix  J.  For  his  second  wife  he  married  the  widow  Duffield  whose  maiden 
name  was  Lydda  Knight.  They  reared  one  daughter,  Rebecca.  Mr.  Barnett 
died  in  1861. 

Rev.  M.  L.  Baenett. 

Rev.  M.  L.  Barnett,  son  of  Nathan  and  Elizabeth  Sutton  Barnett,  married 
Liza  Hamric.  They  had  one  daughter  who  died  early  in  life.  The  parents  and 
daughter  are  buried  on  Hackers  creek  where  the  best  years  of  his  ministry  were 
spent, 

i 
John  D.  Baenett. 

John  D.  Barnett,  son  of  Nathan  and  Elizabeth  Sutton  Barnett,  married 
Mary  Sprigg,  daughter  of  Edward  G.  and  Martha  Smith  Sprigg.  Their  chil- 
dren were 

E.  D.  Barnett. 

E.  D.  Barnett,  son  of  Nathan  and  Elizabeth  Sutton  Barnett,  married  Anna 
Hinkle.  Their  children  were  Miletus.  Edna,  Becky  and  Early.  For  his  second 
wife,  he  married  Malinda  Sowers,  daughter  of  Henry  Sowers.  By  this  union, 
he  had  one  daughter,  Esther.  Mr.  Barnett  served  through  the  war  of  the  60  's 
in  the  Confederate  army.  He  owns  a  farm  and  lives  on  Wolf  creek,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  M.  P.  church. 


sutton's    history.  349 

Felix  Joseph  us  Baxter. 

Felix  Josephus  Baxter  was  the  eldest  child  of  William  D.  and  Anna  C. 
Baxter,  and  was  born  in  or  near  Sutton,.  Aug.  10,  1830.  In  1858,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  and  began  the  practice  of  law  at  Clay  C.  H.  In  1861,  being 
opposed  to  slavery,  he  joined  the  Union  army,  again  locating  at  Clay  C.  H. 
after  the  termination  of  that,  bloody  conflict.  In  1869,  he  married  Miss  Sarah 
Prudence  Duffy  of  Nicholas  county,  and  moved  to  Sutton  where  he  resided 

until  his  death.     His  wife  died  . ,  leaving  three  children,  two 

of  whom  are  still  living — Mrs.  Mary  Augusta  Dillon  of  Sutton,  and  Mrs.  Rose 
T.  Cunningham  of  Fayetteville.  In  1894,  he  married  Miss  Margaret  B.  Berry, 
a  well-known  lady  of  this  county,  who  survives  him. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  surveyor  of  this  county  from  1855  to  1858, 
was  prosecuting  attorney  of  Clay  county  and  afterwards  of  Braxton  count}',  and 
served  one  term  in  the  state  senate,  having  been  elected  in  1876.  He  was  the 
first  mayor  of  Sutton  after  the  town  was  re-incorporated  in  1873,  and  later 
served  in  that  capacity.  Until  fifteen  years  before  his  death,  he  continued  the 
practice  of  law  in  Braxton  and  adjoining  counties.  The  date  of  his  death  was 
1909.    His  remains  rest  in  the  Duffy  cemetery  at  Sutton. 

Rev.  Henry  Alien  Baxter. 

Rev.  Henry  Allen  Baxter  was  born  in  Braxton  county  June  15.  1832,  and 
died  near  the  place  of  his  birth.  April  30,  1915.  He  was  the  son  of  Wm.  D.  and 
Anna  C.  Sutton  Baxter.  He  was  united  in  marriage  with  Caroline  Hudkins 
May  25,  1858,  who  died  Sept.  27,  1876,  leaving  him  the  care  and  training  of 
their  two  sons,  Wilbur  C.  and  J.  Oscar,  who  survive  him,  and  are  honored  and 
useful  citizens.  Early  in  life  he  was  converted  and  united  with  the  M.  E. 
church,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  in  which  he  lived  to  the  time  of  his  lamented 
death,  having  been  a  member  of  the  same  seventy-one  years.  Soon  after  he 
united  with  the  church,  he  was  licensed  a  local  preacher,  and  in  that  capacity 
continued  actively  as  opportunity  afforded  and  accasion  required,  to  within  two 
years  of  his  death,  when  from  excessive  labors  in  conducting  a  series  of  meet- 
ings he  was  compelled  to  retire  permanently.  This  meeting  which  resulted  in 
over  a  score  of  conversions  added  several  members  to  the  church. 

years,  member  of  the  board  o  feducation  in  1881,  and  is  still  serving.  He  is  a 
than  Henry  Allen  Baxter.  In  his  younger  days,  he  was  possessed  of  a  musical 
voice,  and  often  in  his  public  discourses  he  became  eloquent.  He  was  an  untir- 
ing worker  in  the  Sabbath  schools. 

He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1862,  and  was  elected 
County  Assessor,  but  the  war  prevented  him  from  serving  in  that  capacity. 
After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  County  Treasurer. 
He  died,  loved  and  respected  by  all. 


350  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Ca.pt.  Henry  Bender. 

Capt.  Henry  Bender  was  the  first-born  of  the  children  of  John  and  Ann  C. 
(Dabus)  Bender,  and  his  birth  occurred  Aug.  25,  1840,  while  his  parents  were 
living  in  Baltimore.    They  came  to  this  county  in  the  following  year. 

Henry  Bender  was  united  in  marriage  to  Elizabeth  Engle,  and  to  this 
union  nine  children  have  been  born,  eight  of  whom  are  still  living. 

Their  names  are  as  follows :  Kosa  Ann,  Leona  Hester,  Mary  Bernice,  Lil- 
lian Dale,  Lucy  Lee,  Christena  Caroline,  Julia  Alwilda  and  Victor  Goff. 

Henry  Bender  enlisted  Jan.  7,  1862,  in  Company  F,  10th  West  Virginia 
Infantry,  and  on  the  3rd  of  May,  1862,  was  commissioned  second  lieutenant. 
He  was  in  the  engagement  of  Wardensville,  Beverly,  Droop  Mountain,  Cheat 
river,  Leetown,  Maryland  Heights,  Snickers  Ferry,  Winchester,  Berryville, 
Opequon,  Fishers  Hill,  Cedar  Creek  (two  battles) ,  then  transferred  to  the  army 
of  the  James,  and  engaged  in  the  fight  at  Petersburg,  and  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Lee.  He  was  slightly  wounded  at  Droop  Mountain  and  again  at 
Opequon,  and  received  brevet-rank  of  captain  April  20,  1865.  In  a  civil  capaci- 
ty he  was  the  first  supervisor  of  Lincoln  township,  now  Otter  district,  and  was 
elected  magistrate  in  1866,  serving  one  year.  He  was  elected  to  the  State  Legis- 
lature in  1868,  sheriff  of  Braxton  county  in  the  fall  of  1870,  and  served  two 
years,  member  of  the  board  of  education  in  1881,  and  is  still  serving.  He  is  a 
retired  farmer,  living  on  Straight  fork  of  Steer  creek,  having  five  hundred 
acres  of  land. 

William  Berry. 

William  Berry  was  the  only  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Hagan)  Berry — 
English  extraction.  William  Berry  was  born  in  Virginia,  near  tide-water  in 
1778.  A  sister,  dyng  in  chldhood,  being  the  only  other  child.  The  children 
were  left  fatherless  early  in  life.  William  was  educated  for  a  sea  captain,  but 
did  not  like  it,  and  on  returning  from  a  second  voyage  across  the  water,  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  deserted  the  ship  on  which  his  mother  had  placed  him. 

Early  in  life,  he  married  Miss  Agnes  Kitchen,  sweetheart  of  his  boyhood. 
Five  sons,  William,  Fielding,  James,  Lewis  and  Benjamin,  and  two  daugh- 
ters, Mary  and  Emza,  were  born.  All,  save  the  last  one  named,  married  and 
reared  large  families. 

The  wife  of  his  youth  having  died,  he  married  Miss  Cynthia  Triplett.  Four 
sons,  Thornton,  Joel,  Craven,  Allen  S.  and  Washington  H.  and  three  daugh- 
ters, Agnes,  Elizabeth  and  Lucinda  S.,  were  born.  All  married  and  had  fam- 
ilies. 

In  the  spring  of  1818,  William  Berry  emigrated  from  Loudon  county,  Va., 
to  what  is  now  Braxton  county,  and  settled  on  the  O'Briens  fork  of  Salt  Lick 
creek,  a'  veritable  wilderness.  He  was  the  first  school  "master"  in  Braxton 
county.  Felix  Sutton,  Mrs.  Anna  Sutton  Baxter,  Christian  Hyer,  William  Gib- 
son and  William  Betts  being  among  his  pupils.    He  died  at  the  age  of  69  years, 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  351 

and  his  remains  rest  on  an  eminence  on  the  farm  of  the  late  Col.  Asa  Squires, 
overlooking  the  valley  of  Salt  Lick. 

"We  cannot  say  too  much  in  praise  of  this  old  nobleman  of  the  forest  and 
the  school  room.  His  numerous  progeny  attest  his  character  and  virtues — he 
imparted  to  his  race  that  energy,  frugality  and  honesty  which  have  marked 
their  generations  down  to  the  present  time.  He  came  to  a  wilderness  country 
where  young  men  and  women  were  growing  up  without  any  educational  ad- 
vantages, and  he  gathered  many  of  them  around  him  and  gave  them  the  rudi- 
ments of  an  education  which  enabled  them  to  transact  business,  fill  important 
stations  in  life,  and  become  useful  as  teachers  to  others.  The  influence  of  such 
a  life  will  go  on  and  on  until  the  humble  slab  at  his  grave  will  have  moldered 
into  dust. 

Joel  Berry. 

Joel,  second  son  of  William  and  Synthia  Triplet  Berry,  was  born  in  Louden 
county,  Virginia,  November  9th,  1812,  and  married  Elizabeth  Cummings  who 
was  born  December  18th,  1812.  To  this  union  were  born  Wm.  H.,  Ephriam  A., 
Thornton  J.,  Manervia  A.,  James  W.,  Mariah  A.,  Sarah  E.,  Granville  M.,  and 
Joel  T.  Mr.  Berry  owned  a  farm  and  lived  on  Obrien's  Fork  of  Salt  Lick 
creek  where  his  son  Thadeous  now  lives.  Mr.  Berry  died  August  1st,  1896, 
and  his  wife  died  December  26th,  1896 ;  they  were  honored  and  respected  citi- 
zens. 

Allen  S.  Berry. 

Allen  S.  Berry,  fourth  son  of  William  and  Synthia  Triplet  Berry,  was  born 
in  Lewis  county,  now  Braxton  county,  August  28,  1821.  He  married  Rebecca 
Alkire  in  1840  and  their  children  were  William,  Charles  W.,  Homer,  Emery  A., 
David  A.,  Joel  M.,  John  C,  Racheal,  Malissa,  Synthia  and  Margaret.  Mr. 
Berry  was  a  farmer  and  owned  a  good  farm  on  Obrien's  Fork  of  Salt  Lick 
creek,  where  his  son  John  C.  now  resides.  He  was  for  several  years  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  had  other  important  positions;  was  a  member  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  and  died  in  the  j^ear  1893. 

William  Berry. 

William  Berry,  son  of  Fielding  Berry,  married  Evelyn  Alkire;  their  chil- 
dren were,  Fielding,  James,  John,  Joel,  David  T.,  Granvil,  Martha,  Virginia 
and  Mary.  Their  son  John  was  a  physician.  Mr.  Berry  and  his  son  Fielding 
were  killed  or  died  in  the  Confederate  army.  Mrs.  Berry  is  living  in  her  94th 
year,  and  her  friends  are  hopeful  that  she  may  reach  the  century  mark. 

James  Berry. 

James  Berry,  son  of  Joel  Berry,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army. 
He  married  Betty,  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Elizabeth  Gibson  Squires,  and  set- 


352  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

tied  on  a  farm  near  Stone  Run  Church,  where  he  raised  a  large  family  of  chil- 
dren, who  grew  to  be  men  and  women.  They  are  all  married  and  have  families. 
Mr.  Berry  and  wife  are  living,  at  a  good  old  age,  having  recently  celebrated 
their  Golden  Wedding. 

Craven  Berry. 

Craven  Berry,  third  son  of  William  and  Cynthia  (Triplett)  Berry,  was 
born  in  Louden  county,  Va.,  Nov.  3,  1814,  and  died  Dec.  31,  1905,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  ninety-one  years. 

On  Feb.  26,  1818,  Wm.  Berry,  his  father,  migrated  to  the  wilds  of  what 
was  then  Lewis  county  (now  Braxton)  settling  on  the  waters  of  Salt  Lick,  a 
tributary  of  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  arriving  there  on  April  3rd.  The  means 
of  travel  was  by  a  four-horse  wagon.  Many  places  along  the  way,  roads  had 
to  be  made  and -temporary  bridges  constructed.  The  travel  required  more  than 
a  month.  Craven  was  in  his  fourth  year.  The  family  lodged  in  a  12x14 
hunter's  cabin,  shrouded  by  a  dense  forest  of  stately  oak,  poplar,  cherry  and 
black  walnut.  Inured  to  the  hardships  of  a  pioneer  life,  he  grew  to  manhood 
blessed  with  a  sturdy,  physical  frame. 

In  1839,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Susan  Cunningham.  To  this 
union  were  born  eight  children;  five  sons,  Wm.  C,  Jesse,  Thornton  T.,  John  P. 
and  Asa  M.,  and  three  daughters,  Louisa,  Vena  and  Lucy. 

Charles  Emery  Berry. 

Charles  Emery  Berry  was  a  son  of  Emory  Allen  Berry.  His  mother  was 
Caroline  Anderson,  daughter  of  John  Anderson.  Mr.  Berry  was  born  Jan.  6, 
1S63,  and  died  Feb.  20,  1914.  His  wife  was  Hermonie  Ophelia  White,  daugh- 
ter of  John  W.  and  Charlotte  Mitchell  White.  Their  children  were  Bubal  Ben- 
nett, Hallie  Mitchell  and  Newlon  White. 

Mr.  Berry  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Braxton,  his  native  coun- 
ty, and  when  a  young  man,  went  west  and  after  a  few  years  looking  over  the 
western  country,  came  back  and  married,  and  settled  on  his  father's  farm  on 
Fall  run  where  he  engaged  in  farming  and  merchandising  for  a  few  years.  He 
then  moved  to  Sutton  and  kept  hotel  until  he  was  appointed  Superintendent  of 
the  County  Infirmary.  After  two  years  of  service  in  that  Institution,  he  died 
of  cancer  of  the  liver.  Mr.  Berry  was  a  land  and  congenial  gentleman,  he  had 
an  estimable  family  and  his  wife  was  a  lady  of  culture  and  nobility  of  char- 
acter. 

THE  BOSLEY  FAMILY. 

Wm.  Bosley,  an  Englishman,  came  to  Baltimore  and  thence  to  Braxton 
county  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Peter,  the  only  one  of  the  family  now 
living,  was  bom  on  Little  Kanawha  river  nearly  ninety-three  years  ago.  He 
has  for  a  great  many  years  lived  on  his  farm  on  Cedar  creek.  About  a  year  or 
so  ago,  he  lost  the  use  of  his  eye  sight  entirely.    He  is  living  with  his  son  Wm., 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  353 

who  who  a  Confederate  soldier.    It  is  extremely  rare  at  this  day  to  see  an  old 
man  and  his  soldier  boy  who  participated  in  the  Civil  war  over  fifty  years  ago. 
(Later)- — Since  the  above  was  written.  Peter  Bosley  has  passed  away. 

Thomas  Bland. 

Thomas  Bland  was  born  in  1796,  in  Fairfax  county,  Va.,  a  descendant  of 
Thtodoric  and  Richard  Bland,  who  were  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Fairfax 
county.  Thomas  Bland  served  in  the  1812  war,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Fort 
Meigs.  He  married  Mary  Newlon  who  was  bom  in  1796,  and  they  settled  i  ti 
Lewis  county,  first  at  a  place  called  Westfield  where  the  county  seat  of  that 
county  was  originally  designated  to  be  located,  and  then  at  Weston  where 
Thomas  Bland  built  the  first  hotel.  He  represented  his  district  in  the  State 
Senate  a  number  of  terms,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1850.  was  a  number  of  years  Deputy  Sheriff  for  Lewis  county,  and  a  man  of 
note  in  the  county.  Mrs.  Edmiston,  Mrs.  Brannon,  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Lorentz 
were  the  three  daughters  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Bland.  Their  sons  were  Dr. 
W.  J.  who  was  at  one  time  superintendent  of  insane  asylum  at  "Weston;  Thedric 
(t.,  (died  in  1845),  Thomas,  (died  in  1834),  Newton  B.,  (at  one  time  physician 
of  Weston),  Dr.  John  T.,  (murdered  on  the  Mississippi  in  1876),  and  Edwin 
S.    Thomas  Bland  died  in  1867,  and  his  widow  died  in  1882. 

Edwin  S.  Bland. 

Edwin  S.  Bland  was  born  at  Weston  in  1835,  son  of  above  mentioned  par- 
ents. He  married  Lavinia  E.  Evans  in  1859  at  Morgantown,  and  their  union 
was  biassed  with  nine  children:  George  T.,  Mary  N.,  Edwin  L.,  Harry  E., 
Frank  (!.,  Charles  H,  Julia,  Thomas  E.  (deceased),  and  Earl  Dorsey. 

Edwin  S.  Bland  began  to  read  law  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  with  Judge 
John  Brannon,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1859.  He  continued  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  fJso  taught  in  the  public  schools  of  Sutton  for  many  years.  He 
died  Feb.  1.  1903. 

THE  BYRNE  FAMILY. 

This  family  in  all  probability  settled  in  America  early  in  its  history,  one 
George  Byrne  being  the  first  to  come,  he  having  come  from  the  county  of  WTick- 
low,  Ireland,  E,nd  settled  in  Virginia.  The  only  accurate  data  we  have  on  this 
pioneer  fam:ly  is  furnished  by  Prof.  S.  B.  Brown  of  Morgantown. 

Samuel  Byrne  married  Clary  Buckner,  and  to  this  union  were  born  seven 
children,  as  follows:  Peyton  Byrne  married  Barbara  Linn  before  1790  and 
moved  from  Prince  William  county,  Va.,  in  1794  to  Preston  county,  and  in 
1798  he  moved  on  to  a  four -hundred  acre  tract  of  land  at  the  mouth  of  Salt 
Lick  creek,  this  county.  He  was  sheriff  of  Lewis  county  when  he  died  in  1824. 
His  wife  Barbara  died  in  1838.    Their  age  at  time  of  death  is  not  known.     To 


354  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

continue  with  names  of  the  children — Sarah  married  Jacob  Zinn,  Mary  mar- 
ried John  Fairfax,  Charles  married  Charlotte  Ash,  Thomas  married  Rebecca 
Dorsey,  John  never  married,  and  Elizabeth  married  Archibald  Anderson. 

Peyton  Byrne  was  born  near  Dumfries,.  Va.,  his  wife  undoubtedly  being 
from  the  same  place,  and  they  were  married  there.  Their  children  were  eight 
in  number,  as  follows :  John  B.  married  Ann  Haymond,  Samuel  married  Eliza- 
beth Low,  and  died  on  Salt  Lick  Creek;  Thomas  and  Peyton  Buckner  went  to 
Kentucky  where  they  settled  and  reared  the  family  of  that  name  in  that  State ; 
Charles  died  at  home;  Nancy  married  Wilson  Haymond;  Elizabeth  married 
Jesse  Arnold  of  Harrison  county;  and  Mary  died  unmarried. 

John  B.  Byrne  died  July  8,  1846,  and  his  wife,  Ann  Haymond  Byrne,  died 
December  25,  1846.  The  children  of  this  union  were  William  H.,  quite  promi- 
nent in  the  early  history  of  this  country;  John  P.  also  was  a  prominent  figure 
in  the  early  organization  of  the  county,  he  having  been  one  of  the  first  deputy 
sheriffs  under  John  Clifton.  He  was  later  County  Clerk,  and  died  Feb.  2,  1860. 
He  married  Sabina  C.  Sterrett  April  3,  1845.  To  this  union  were  born  Mar- 
garet A.,  wife  of  J.  M.  Boggs;  John,  Andrew,  Amelia  and  Effie.  His  second 
wife  was  Jane  Hamilton,  and  to  this  union  were  born  Rebecca,  wife  of  James 
Taylor  Frame,  Charles  Y.,  and  Peyton.  The  two  surviving  children  of  John 
P.  Byrne  are  John  Byrne  of  Sutton,  of  the  first  marriage,  and  Peyton  Byrne 
of  Washington,  D.  C,  by  the  second  marriage. 

The  children  of  this  family  who  have  been  honored  by  elective  offices  in 
Braxton  were  John  who  was  elected  Sheriff ;  Charles  Y.  Byrne  was  elected  Cir- 
cuit Clerk  of  the  county  for  three  terms,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  in 
office.  We  doubt  whether  any  man  ever  lived  in  Braxton  who  had  more  friends 
than  he.    Peyton  Byrne  represented  his  county  in  the  Legislature  for  one  term. 

The  other  children  of  John  B.  Byrne  were  Roena  H.,  married  Jas.  R. 
Dyer;  Benjamin  W.,  well  known  by  all  throughout  the  state;  Marcellus,  Tom 
M.,  Thaddeus,  Miranda,  Sarah  E.  Dunlap,  Mafia  Darlington,  and  Mary  A., 
who  married  Judge  Homer  A.  Holt. 

John  Byrne  married  Francis  Catherine  Squires,  daughter  of  the  late  Nor- 
man B.  and  Rheuma  Squires,  and  to  this  union  were  born  Sabina  C,  wife  of 
the  late  Joel  S.  Berry,  Norman,  Ella,  wife  of  Dr.  M.  T.  Morrison ;  John  Peyton, 
Guy  (deceased),  Chas.  M.,  Russel  (deceased),  Mamie,  wife  of  John  Newlon; 
Robert,  Hugh,  Ethel,  George  Coble  and  Clarence. 

Charles  Byrne. 

Charles  Byrne  was  an  early  settler  on  Salt  Lick.  He  married  Temperance 
Gibson,  and  moved  to  Illinois  many  years  ago. 

Benjamin  Wilson  Byrne. 

Benjamin  Wilson  Byrne  was  born  May  16,  1820,  near  Burnsville,  in  Lewis 
(now  Braxton  county)  Virginia.    He  was  the  son  of  John  B.  Byrne  and  Ann 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  355 

Haymond  Byrne.  His  ancestors  settled  in  Prince  William  county.  Virginia,  in 
1720.  Early  in  the  last  century  his  father  moved  to  and  settled  in  what  was 
then  Harrison  (now  Braxton  county).  His  family  connections  were  numerous, 
and  among  them  were  the  Raymonds,  Wilsons,  Camdens,  Holts  and  other  dis- 
tinguished families  who  adorned  the  history  of  Virginia  and  later  West  Vir- 
ginia. He  was  well  educated  and  studied  law  at  the  famous  law  school  of  Judge 
Lucas  P.  Thompson  in  Staunton,  Va.  In  1848,  almost  as  soon  as  he  was  licensed 
to  practice  law,  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  from  the  district  composed  of 
Braxton,  Lewis  and  Gilmer,  the  same  territory  now  covering  Calhoun,  Upshur, 
half  of  Clay  and  half  of  Webster,  and  portions  of  Barbour  and  Ritchie,  a  grand 
constituency.  He  served  in  the  session  of  1848-49,  and  in  the  extra  session  of 
1849,  called  to  re-vise  the  code. 

In  1849,  he  married  Mary  Louisa  Holt,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Holt,  and 
sister  of  the  late  Hon.  Homer  A.  Holt,  of  the  Supreme  bench,  and  also  of  Mrs. 
T.  B.  Camden  of  Parkersburg.  He  was  again  elected  to  the  legislature  in 
1857  from  the  counties  of  Braxton  and  Nicholas,  and  in  that  year  he  had  the 
new  county  of  Clay  carved  out  of  Kanawha,  Braxton  and  Nicholas.  He  served 
in  another  session  in  1858. 

Colonel  Byrne's  children  surviving  him  are  Mrs.  J.  C.  Given  of  Canton, 
Ohio ;  Mrs.  J.  M.  Boggs  of  Big  Otter,  this  state ;  Mrs.  M.  W.  Venable,  Mrs.  Olin 
White,  George  Byrne  and  W.  E.  It.  Byrne  of  Charleston.  These  and  their 
children  and  his  devoted  widow  will  mourn  him  and  revere  his  memory  as  a 
beloved  husband  and  an  unselfish  and  ever  land  father,  while  this  city  and 
state  will  always  honor  the  memory  of  his  useful  and  honorable  life.  His  death 
occurred  at  Charleston  in  September,  1903. 

W.  E.  R.  Byrne. 

W.  E.  R.  Byrne  was  born  Oct.  26,  1862,  at  Ft.  Defiance,  Va.  His  father, 
Benjamin  W.  Byrne,  was  a  native  of  Braxton  county,  and  his  mother,  Mary  L. 
Holt,  was  born  at  Beaver,  Pa.  His  grandparents  were  John  B.  Byrne  and  Anne 
Haymond. 

Mr.  Byrne  was  married  June  12,  1889,  to  Amanda  Austin,  and  their  chil- 
dren are  George  A.,  Marie  L.,  Barbara  Linn,  Charlotte  and  Wm.  E.  R.,  Jr. 
W.  E.  R.  Byrne  served  as  Prosecuting  Attorney  from  1893  to  1897,  and  moved 
to  Charleston  Jan.  1,  1897,  where  he  now  resides. 

Mr.  Byrne  is  a  man  of  sterling  character,  a  safe  councilor  and  a  strong  ad- 
vocate. He  formed  a  partnership  with  G.  R.  Linn,  and  they  have  a  hicrative 
and  extensive  practice  in  Charleston. 

Samuel  J.  Clawson. 

Any  history  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  church  without  the  name  of  Sam- 
uel J.  Clawson,  would  be  incomplete.  He  was  one  of  the  noted  pioneer  preach- 
ers in  Central  West  Virginia.     He  preached  the  word  without  fear  or  favor 


356  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

and  could  meet  and  put  to  flight  the  boldest  and  most  daring  skeptic ;  he  roamed 
the  mountains  and  searched  the  valleys  for  sinful  men  to  call  them  to  repent- 
ence.  At  times  in  his  preaching  he  would  reach  such  a  climax  in  the  denuncia- 
tion of  sin  that  it  seemed  like  a  thunderbolt  from  the  sky.  Rev.  Clawson  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania  and  was  the  son  of  a  "Revolutionary  soldier.  He  began 
preaching  in  1834  in  his  native  state,  but  for  many  years  his  labors  were  in 
West  Virginia,  where  he  was  universally  beloved. 

Rush  Conrad. 

Rush  Conrad,  son  of  A.  R.  and  Lydia  E.  Conrad,  and  grandson  of  John 
and  Rachel  Conrad,  was  born  March  25,  1820,  at  Bulltown.  He  was  married 
Nov.  16,  1843,  to  Lydia  E.  Singleton.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church. 

John  Chenoweth. 

John  Chenoweth  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  his  record  in  the  war  de- 
partment is  that  he  was  in  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  He  was  bom  November 
15th,  1755 ;  he  lived  in  Randolph  county,  where  he  died  and  was  buried  near 
Elkins.  His  descendants  placed  a  monument  at  his  grave.  There  his  son 
Robert  was  born  July  4th,  1782.  He  married  Edith,  daughter  of  Capt.  John 
Skidmore;  they  moved  to  the  Holly  river  and  settled  on  the  big  bottom  known 
as  the  Skidmore  farm,  and  afterward  moved  to  the  Elk  river,  not  far  from 
Frametown.  Mrs.  Chenoweth  was  bom  September  15th,  1788 ;  they  spent  the 
last  years  of  their  lives  on  the  Westfork  in  Roane  county,  where  they  are 
buried. 

Their  son  David  W.  Chenoweth  was  born  November  22,  1831,  in  Randolph 
county,  Virginia,  and  came  to  the  Holly  river  with  his  parents  in  his  fourth 
year.  He  x-elates  that  he  rode  horse  back  with  his  mother  and  part  of  the  time 
she  carried  him  in  her  lap.  He  remembers  crossing  the  Little  Kanawha  river 
at  Bulltown;  the  river  was  swollen  and  one  of  Mr.  Haymond's  colored  men  set 
them  over  in  a  canoe.  Mr.  Chenoweth  married  a  Miss  Mollohan  and  reared  a 
large  family.  He  is  now,  1918,  living  at  his  old  home  on  the  "Westfork  in  his 
87th  year. 

The  children  of  Robert  and  Edith  Skidmore  Chenoweth  were  Susana, 
Rachael,  Leah,  Anna,  Emma,  Edith,  Ira  S.,  Sarah  J.,  Isaac  R.,  James  and  David 
"W.  David,  the  youngest  and  only  one  living,  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being 
one  of  two  living  grand  children  of  John  Chenoweth,  the  Revolutionary  soldier, 
the  other  being  Calvin  Hart  of  Randolph  county.  Also  he  and  Delilah  Cogar 
are  the  only  living  grand  children  of  Capt.  John  Skidmore,  who  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  357 


Rev.  Curtis  W.  Chenoweth. 


Rev.  Curtis  W.  Chenoweth,  son  of  William  North  and  Ann  H.  Stump 
Chenoweth,  was  born  in  Gilmer  county,  West  Virginia.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  and  began  teaching  when  quite  young.  So  rapid  was  his  progress  in 
learning  that  he  determined  to  acquire  an  education,  but  before  going  away  to 
school  he  married  Jessie  Rider,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Julia  Hyer  Rider, 
.and  he  and  his  young  wife  attended  school  for  a  few  months,  then  he  began 
preaching  and  was  appointed  to  the  Rosedale  circuit  by  the  Conference  of  the 
M.  E.  Church.  After  serving  that  charge  for  one  or  two  years,  he  took  work 
near  Buckhannon,  where  he  and  his  wife  for  the  next  five  years  attended  school 
at  the  Seminary.  Later  he  graduated  with  high  honors  at  Harvard  University, 
at  the  same  time  filling  a  pastorate  in  Cambridge,  and  after  his  graduation  he 
held  the  chair  of  oratory  in  Harvard.  Recently  he  resigned  all  his  work  and 
joined  the  U.  S.  army  and  was  made  Chaplin  of  the  302nd  Mass.  Field  Artillery 
and  ranks  as  First  Lieutenant. 

Lieut.  Chenoweth  descended  from  Revolutionary  stock;  his  great,  great 
grand  father  John  Chenoweth  served  in  Gen.  Washington's  army,  and  on  his 
maternal  side  his  great  grand  mother  Edith  Chenoweth  was  a  daughter  of  Capt. 
John  Skidmore  of  the  Revolutionary  army.  His  mother  descended  from  Major 
George  Stump,  also  of  Revolutionary  fame. 

THE  CAMDEN  FAMILY. 

There  were  three  brothers  who  came  over  from  England,  namely:  Richard, 
John  and  Henry.  Henry  settled  in  lower  Maryland,  married  and  had  three 
children,  Joseph,  Hester  and  Susan.  He  married  a  second  time  a  widow  named 
Shrievner,  who  had  a  daughter  by  a  former  marriage,  and  she  married  Joseph 
Camden.     Their  issue  was  eight  children. 

Rev.  Henry  B.  Camden. 

Rev.  Henry  B.  Camden  was  born  May  4,  1773,  and  married  Jan.  8,  1793, 
to  Mary  Belt  Sprigg,  daughter  of  Major  Frederic  Sprigg  and  Deborah  Wood- 
ward. Their  issue  was  ten  children :  Debby,  Fredei'ic,  John  Shrievner,  Joseph 
Hill,  Lenox  Martin,  Gideon  Draper,  Lorenzo  Dow,  Richard  Pindal,  Minerva 
Weems,  Eliza  Pool.  Rev.  Henry  Camden  was  granted  license  to  celebrate  the 
rites  of  matrimony  by  the  Harrison  County  Court,  June,  1807,  and  for  some 
time  was  a  circuit  rider  in  the  M.  E.  Church.  He  served  the  church  at  Buck- 
hannon, since  known  as  Carper's  church.  He  and  his  wife  were  buried  at 
Jacksonville,  Lewis  county. 

John  Shrievner  Camden. 

John  Shrievner  Camden  was  born  Sept.  15,  1798,  in  Montgomery  county, 
Md.,  and  married  Nancy  Newlon,  daughter  of  Wm.  and  Sarah  Furr  Newlon, 
Feb.  20,  1825,  issue,  fourteen  children:     Wm.  H.,  Johnson  Newlon,  Thomas 


358  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Bland,  Mary  B.,  Sarah  E.,  Harriet,  Richard,  Ann,  Edwin  D.,  Win.  D.,  Lorenzo 
Dow,  Amanda  E.,  Mary  Matilda,  and  John  Scribner. 

Mr.  Camden  settled  in  Sutton  in  1837,  and  was  a  prominent  man  in  the 
affairs  of  the  county.  He  represented  the  county  in  the  Virginia  Legislature 
two  terms,  1845-1846,  for  Lewis,  Gilmer  and  Braxton  counties,  and  served  in 
various  capacities  as  an  official  of  the  county.  For  many  years,  kept  a  public 
tavern  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Bridge  streets  in  Sutton  where  most  of  the 
children  were  born.  He  died  in  "Weston,  May  25,  1862,  and  his  wife  died  Feb., 
18th,  1862.     They  were  buried  at  Weston,  Lewis  county,  this  state. 

I 
Johnson  N.  Camden. 

Hon.  Johnson  Newlon  Camden  was  born  in  Collins  Settlement,  Lewis 
county,  W.  Va.,  March  6th,  1828.  His  parents  were  John  S.  and  Nancy  New- 
lon Camden.  Mr.  Camden,  about  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  county  of 
Braxton,  in  1836,  removed  to  Sutton,  where  he  reared  his  family  and  continued 
to  reside  until  the  Civil  war  broke  out.  Johnson  N,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
at  the  age  of  14,  went  to  Weston  and  entered  the  service  of  the  County  Clerk 
for  one  year.  He  then  attended  the  North- Western  Academy  for  three  years. 
The  following  year  was  spent  as  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Braxton 
county,  with  his  uncle,  Wm.  Newlon.  He  then  received  an  appointment  as 
Cadet  at  West  Point  Military  Academy,  but  remained  only  through  half  the 
course.  His  mind  being  directed  toward  the  law,  he  was  in  1851  admitted  to 
the  Bar,  and  was  soon  thereafter  made  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Braxton  coun- 
ty and  subsequently  of  Nicholas  county.  In  1853,  Mr.  Camden  settled  in  Wes- 
ton, and  became  Assistant  Cashier  of  the  Old  Exchange  Bank  of  Virginia.  In 
1857,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  manufacture  of  oil  from  Cannel  coal,  and 
later  to  the  oil  field  at  Burning  Springs,  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river.  It  was 
here  that  Mr.  Camden's  great  financial  talent,  his  close  application  to  business, 
was  displayed.  It  was  there  that  he  so  wisely  laid  the  foundation  for  a  great 
fortune.  Mr.  Camden  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  develop  the  natural 
resources  of  the  great  State  of  West  Virginia.  About  1875  he  assisted  in 
building  the  narrow  guage  road  from  Clarksburg  to  Weston,  thence  to  Buck- 
hannon,  and  afterwards  he  was  associated  with  Henry  G.  Davis  and  others  in 
building  the  West  Virginia  Central.  The  railroad  from  Wheeling  to  Hunting- 
ton was  projected  and  built  through  Mr.  Camden ;s  resources  and  energy.  The 
road  from  Buckhannon  to  Pickens,  and  from  Clarksburg  to  Richwood  and  also 
to  Sutton,  and  other  lines  aggregating  about  500  miles,  was  projected  and  built 
by  Mr.  Camden,  and  known  as  the  Camden  System.  In  all  the  large  enterprises, 
involving  millions  of  capital.  Mr.  Camden  has  either  acted  as  President  or  as 
one  of  the  directing  minds  in  the  direction  of  the  business.  Mr.  Camden  was 
twice  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  by  the  Democratic  party  of  West 
Virginia.  In  statesmanship  he  displayed  that  same  careful  and  wise  policy 
that  characterizes  his  great  business  career.    In  1858  Senator  Camden  married 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  359 

Anna,  the  daughter  of  the  late  George  W.  Thompson,  of  Wheeling,  and  his  two 
surviving  children  are  Johnson  N.  Camden,  late  Senator  from  Kentucky,  and 
the  wife  of  General  B.  1).  Spillman,  of  Parkersburg. 

Edwin  D.  Camden. 

Edwin  D.  Camden  was  born  March  30th,  1840,  and  married  Elizabeth 
married  Lee  Jack;  Anna,  died;  Kate,  married  Burk  Hall;  Minnie,  married 
married  Lee  Jack ;  Anna,  died ;  Kate,  married  Burk  Hall ;  Minnie,  married 
James  Morrison ;  Flora,  married  Bedford  Jones ;  Bessie,  married  Kalph  Holden. 

E.  D.  Camden  was  captain  of  Company  "C,"  25th  Virginia  Infantry  Vol- 
unteers. He  served  the  entire  period  of  the  Civil  war,  and  saw  much  hard  ser- 
vice under  the  command  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  also  in  prison  where  he  was 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  his  own  men.  Captain  Camden  by  occupation  is  a  farmer, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 

Wilson  Cutlip. 

Wilson  Cutlip,  son  of  Dr.  Samuel  Cutlip,  married  Lucinda  Sutton  Berry, 
daughter  of  William  Berry.  Their  children  were  Newton,  Elizabeth,  Catherine, 
Jane,  Samuel,  James  E.,  John,  Joel,  Abel  and  Theodosia.     Two  children  died 

in  infancy.     He  owned  a  fine  farm  on  Cedar  Creek.    Mr.  Cutlip  died  in  , 

and  Mrs.  Cutlip  married  Wm.  Burk,  and  after  his  death  she  married  for  her 

third  husband Messenger.    She  survived  the  death  of  Mr.  Messenger 

an  died  in  her  88th  year.  She  was  a  woman  of  sturdy  qaulities  and  exemplary 
in  character. 

Dr.  Samuel  Cutlip  with  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Williams,  moved 
in  an  early  day  from  Greenbrier  county,  Virginia,  to  Braxton  county,  then 
Randolph  county,  and  settled  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  where  he  acquired 
valuable  lands.  He  afterward  moved  to  Cedar  creek  and  made  his  home  near 
the  three  forks  of  that  stream.  His  possessions  there  proved  to  be  very  valua- 
ble. He  farmed  and  practiced  medicine  until  his  death.  His  children  were, 
Addison,  Williams  and  Wilson,  which  sons  all  reared  large  families. 

James  E.  Cutlip. 

James  E.,  son  of  Wilson  and  Lucinda  Berry  Cutlip,  and  grandson  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Cutlip,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Central  West  Virginia,  was  born 
at  Cutlipville,  Braxton  county,  Nove'mbe'r  23rd,  1864,  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
he  learned  those  habits  of  energy  and  industry  so  essential  to  a  successful  life. 
After  attending  the  public  schools,  he  spent  three  years  in  the  West  Virginia 
University,  and  for  three  years  he  was  Principal  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Rip- 
ley, Jackson  county,  and  for  one  year  was  Principal  of  the  Public  Schools,  of  Rip- 
of  Ravenswood.  He  studied  law  in  the  offices  of  Warren  Miller,  Congressman 
from  the  Fourth  District.    He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  practiced  in  Jack- 


360 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


son,  moving  to  Braxton  county  in  1893.  He  was  twice  elected  Prosecuting  At- 
torney of  Braxton  county,  and  in  1917,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Cornwell, 
Pardon  Attorney  for  the  State.  On  March  28,  1898,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Maude  Lambert.  To  this  union  were  born  six  children,  Eldridge,  Rich- 
ard, Edwin,  Katharine,  Jean  and  Thornton,  and  by  a  former  marriage  he  had 
one  daughter,  Reca.    Mr.  Cutlip's  home  is  in  South  Sutton. 

James  P.  Carr, 

t 

James  P.  Carr  was  a  native  of  England  and  came  to  America  when  a  young 
man.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  U.  S.  Army,  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle. 
He  died  in  Monroe  county,  Va. 

His  son,  James  Carr,  came  to  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Braxton,  in 
the  early  settlement  of  the  county.    He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812. 

He  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  James  Boggs,  and  reared  a  large  family 
of  children :  Andrew.,  John,  Denum,  Silas,  Prank  B.,  Isaac,  Henry,  Anderson, 
Mary,  Susan,  Betty  and  Agnes. 

Three  of  Mr.  Carr's  sons,  Silas,  F.  B.  and  Isaac,  were  U.  S.  soldiers  during 
the  Civil  Avar.    Isaac  was  killed  in  front  of  Petersburg. 


CARPENTERS. 

Wm.  Carpenter,  now  living  at  the  advanced 
age  of  94,  son  of  Solomon,  who  was  the  first  child 
born  in  the  county.  His  birth  place  was  under  a 
cliff  of  rocks.  Wm.  is  a  grand  son  of  Jeremia,  the 
first  white  settler  in  the  county,  and  a  great 
grand  son  of  Wm.  Carpenter,  who  was  killed  by 
the  Indians  on  Jaeksons  river  in  1764.  Uncle 
Billy,  as  he  is  familiarly  called,  has  spent  the 
long  years  of  his  life  on  the  Elk  river,  and  has 
doubtless  caught  more  fish  and  game  on  this  beau- 
tiful stream  than  any  man  living,  and  is  still  able 
to  enjoy  his  favorite  sport.  He  is  a  citizen. of 
Sutton  and  is  universally  respected. 

The  massacre  of  Benjamin  Carpenter  and  his 
wife  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1792,  though  With- 
ers memoirs,  record  it  as  late  as  1793,  and  Wil- 
liam Doddrill  places  the  date  as  early  as  1784, 
eight  years  before  its  actual  occurrence.  The 
account  which  he  gives  of  the  pursuit  of  the  Indians  after  the  murder  of  Benja- 
min Carpenter  must  have  been  the  account  of  the  time  that  Hughs  and  others 
frailcd  the  Indians  and  came  up  with  them  when  one  of  their  number  was 
killed  on  the  Hughs  river.     The  two  Indians  who  found  Carpenter  and  killed 


Wm.  Carpenter 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  361 

Benjamin,  made  their  escape  without  being  pursued.  The  summer  of  1792  was 
the  last  Indian  raid  in  central  West  Virginia  except  a  party  that  made  a  raid 
in  the  Tygerts  Valley  as  late  perhaps  as  1794. 

Of  this  interesting  pioneer  family,  more  than  a  passing  notice  should  be 
given.  As  early  as  1790  or  perhaps  a  year  or  two  earlier,  Jeremiah  and  Benja- 
min Carpenter  settled  on  the  Elk  river  near  the  mouth  of  the  Holly.  Their 
mother  and  a  brother  named  Enos  lived  with  them.  Jeremiah  settled  on  what 
is  known  as  the  Samuel  Skidmore  bottom,  and  Benjamin's  cabin  stood  in  the 
"bottom  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Holly.  Their  father's  name  was  "William, 
and  was  killed  at  the  Big  Bend  on  Jacksons'  river  by  the  Indians,  and  his  son 
Jeremiah  was  taken  prisoner  and  remained  with  the  Indians  from  his  ninth  to 
his  eighteenth  year.  He  together  with  three  of  his  brothers,  afterward  became 
soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  army. 

Their  settlement  must  have  been  but  a  few  years  priod  to  1792  as  this  is 
the  date  of  the  Indian  raid  in  which  his  brother  Benjamin  and  his  wife  were 
killed;  and  either  at  this  time  or  perhaps  a  raid  that  was  made  a  few  months 
later,  he  and  his  family  made  their  escape  to  a  cliff  of  rocks,  and  within  their 
stay  there  his  son,  Solomon  was  born,  being  the  first  white  child  born  in  the 
county.  « 

Many  incidents  are  related  of  this  pioneer  family  by  their  descendants  and 
the  older  people  who  have  heard  the.  story  of  their  adventures. 

Wm.  Carpenter,  familiarly  known  as  "Squirrely  Bill,"  who  resides  at 
Sutton,  is  in  his  90th  year,  and  is  a  son  of  Solomon  Carpenter.  He  relates  that 
his  great  uncle,  Benjamin  Carpenter  who,  with  his  wife  was  killed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Holly,  was  dressing  a  deer  skin  on  the  bank  of  the  river  just  at 
the  mmith  of  the  Holly  when  he  was  fired  upon.  It  seems  from  his  story  and 
others  of  the  Carpenter  family,  that  there  were  two  Indians,  a  large  and  a 
small  Indian,  and  that  the  large  one  was  unarmed  and  the  smaller  Indian  fired 
the  shot,  but  missed.  At  that,  Carpenter  jumped  and  ran  for  his  gun,  but  the 
large  Indian  reached  the  house  first  and  secured  Carpenter's  gun,  and  was  in 
the  house  when  Carpenter  entered  the  door.  He  fired  and  Carpenter  fell  out- 
side, then  the  Indians  tomahawked  and  scalped  Mrs.  Carpenter  who  was  deli- 
cate and  lying  on  the  bed.  They  had  no  children.  The  Indians  set  fire  to  the 
cabin  and  left.  Mrs.  Carpenter  had  sufficient  strength  to  crawl  out  in  the  yard. 
Only  a  few  hours  after  this  occurrence,  Amos  Carpenter  came  home.  It  seems 
that  he  had  been  either  to  the  West  Fork  settlements  or  to  Fork  Lick  on  horse- 
hack  and  was  returning  with  some  meat.  Mrs.  Carpenter  said  to  him,  "The 
Indians  have  killed  poor  Ben  and  me,"  and  he  put  her  on  the  horse  before  him 
and  started  to  go  across  the  Elk  just  at  the  head  of  the  island,  and  while  he  was 
crossing  the  river  she  died  so  he  laid  her  body  on  some  logs  in  a  drift  heap.  He 
then  hastened  on  to  his  brother  Jerry's  who  lived  above  on  the  Skidmore  bot- 
tom. 

Wm.  Carpenter  also  relates  that  Benjamin  Carpenter's  mother  was  at  his 
house  helping  to  bum  some  logs  in  a  clearing,  and  that  she  was  not  discovered 


362  BUTTON'S     EISTOKY. 

by  the  Indians.  She  saw  them  however,  and  also  witnessed  the  shooting  of  her 
son  Benjamin.  She  had  one  of  her  children  with  her,  and  she  took  the  child 
and  went  up  the  river  to  give  notice  of  the  presence  of  the  'Indians.  They  then 
went  back  to  the  settlement  and  Jerry,  his  younger  brother  Jesse  and  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Schoolcraft,  came  back  and  buried  Benjamin  and  his  wife. 
Withers  fixes  this  date  as  being  in  the  early  spring,  and  this  is  carried  out  by 
traditional  testimony.  Benjamin  had  fallen  so  near  the  building  that  his  body 
was  nearly  consumed  by  the  fire.  The  Indians  carried  away  his  gun,  also  the 
coat  in  which  he  was  married. 

Wm.  Carpenter  says  that  later  another  raid  was  made  by  the  Indians,  and 
they  are  the  ones  who  burned  Jerry  Carpenter's  house  and  barn,  partly  de- 
stroyed an  apple  tree  and  cut  down  some  green  corn;  also  that  this  was  the 
time  his  grandfather  and  uncle  Amos  went  to  the  cliff  where  his  father  was 
born.    Withers  mentions  only  one  Indian  raid. 

Thomas,  Jeremiah  and  Solomon  were  privates  in  Capt.  John  Lewis'  Bote- 
tourt county  Regiment.  Joseph  Carpenter  was  a  soldier  and  drew  a  pension, 
but  it  is  not  stated  in  what  command  he  served.  Thus  we  see  that  four  broth- 
ers served  their  country  as  soldiers  in  the  Eevolution,  and  were  the  most  daring 
and  skillful  Indian  fighters  that  ever  ventured  to  the  wilds  of  central  West 
Virginia. 

Mrs.  Carpenter  said  that  first  thing  which  went  into  Solomon's  mouth  was 
bear's  meat  and  sweet  potatoes.  There  must  have  been  a  second  raid  as  the 
circumstances  would  seem  to  bear  out,  hence  it  must  have  been  later  in  the  sea- 
son as  sweet  potatoes  do  not  mature  before  the  latter  part  of  August  in  that 
section,  and  the  time  could  not  have  been  much  later  than  July  or  August  as 
Jeremiah  Carpenter  buried  his  brother's  body  and  that  of  his  wife  in  bark 
coffins,  and  they  could  hardly  obtain  bark  after  the  season  named. 

The  Carpenters  must  have  settled  on  the  Elk  a  few  years  before  this  occur- 
rence as  they  had  some  land  cleared  and  some  property.  "Jerry"  had  planted 
some  apple  trees.  The  Indians  cut  a  limb  from  one  of  the  trees,  but  the  tree 
lived  and  bore  a  red  apple.  It  was  called  the  Indian  tree,  and  was  living  un- 
til a  few  years  ago. 

"Jerry"  Carpenter  and  his  wife  are  buried  at  the  Skidmore  cemetery  not 
far  from  where  his  cabin  used  to  stand.  Mrs.  Delila  Coger,  a  granddaughter 
of  Capt.  John  Skidmore,  was  born  and  reared  on  the  Elk  river  where  she  now 
resides  and  is  at  this  time  over  ninety  years  of  age.  She  says  after  the  massa- 
cre of  the  Carpenter  family  that  his  brother  placed  their  bodies  in  bark  which 
he  peeled  from  the  timber,  and  buried  them  on  the  island  in  the  Elk  just  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Holly,  and  that  he  placed  them  at  the  head  of  the  island 
which  has  since  been  washed  away.  About  twenty-one  years  ago,  the  Holly 
River  Lumber  &  Coal  Company  built  a  large  band  saw  mill  not  far  from  where 
.Carpenter's  cabin  stood.  Wm.  Gum  and  others  who  were  putting  down  the 
foundation  for  the  boilers  or  engine  house,  say  they  removed  the  head  stones 
from  two  graves,  and  digging  down  about  two  feet  into  the  earth  which  ap- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  36:3 

peared  to  be  loose  they  placed  a  cement  foundation  there.  In  speaking  again 
to  Mrs.  Coger  in  reference  to  the  matter,  she  still  contended  that  Benjamin 
Carpenter  and  his  wife  were  buried  on  the  island,  and  that  the  graves  discovered 
by  the  workmen  were  a  part  of  the  John  Mollohan  cemetery,  but  this  grave- 
yard is  a  mile  or  so  above  the  mouth  of  the  Holly.  Wm.  Carpenter  says  that 
his  great  uncle  Benjamin  and  his  wife  were  buried  where  the  Palmer  mill  now 
stands  and  that  he  has  often  seen  their  graves,  which  doubtless  is  correct. 

It  is  said  that  either  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  or  a  later  period  of  that 
season,  Jeremiah  took  his  family  and  went  to  a  cliff  of  rocks,  there  watching  the 
Indians  burn  his  house  and  destroy  his  property.  The  cliff  of  rocks  as  pointed 
out  is  opposite  the  mouth  of  Baker's  run  on  the  north  side  of  the  Elk,  and  is 
situated  near  the  top  of  the  mountain  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Elk  for 
some  distance.  He  and  his  family  then  made  their  way  to  a  camp  under  a 
cliff  of  rocks  near  the  head  of  Camp  run,  a  branch  of  Laurel  creek,  about  four 
miles  above  his  residence  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  Skidmore  bottom.  Camp 
run  is  remarkably  rough,  and  near  the  head  are  cliffs  that  look  to  be  over  a 
hundred  feet  high,  with  gulches  and  broken  stone  below,  making  the  whole 
mass  stand  above  the  tallest  pines  which  start,  the  water's  edge.  It  is  on  the 
top  of  this  mass  of  rock,  a  few  yards  back  from  its  precipitous  edges,  where  the 
famous  Carpenter  camp  was,  there  being  a  large  projecting  rock  which  formed 
a  room  about  25x30  feet  and  8  feet  high.  Between  this  camp  and  the  edge  of 
the  cliff  is  a  public  road.  It  is  related  that  Jeremiah  Carpenter  and  his  fam- 
ily waded  up  Laurel  creek  and  Camp  run  to  avoid  making  any  sign  by  which 
they  might  be  tracked  by  the  Indians. 

Joseph  Carpenter,  son  of  Solomon,  relates  that  his  great  uncle  Solomon 
and  his  wife  went  to  the  rocks  with  his  grandfather,  and  that  when  his  father 
was  born  he  was  named  for  his  uncle  Solomon.  At  the  time  of  the  Indian  raid, 
there  was  a  child  in  the  Carpenter  family  named  Libby,  a  granddaughter  of 
old  Mrs.  Carpenter,  mother  of  the  Carpenter  family.  Mrs.  Carpenter,  as  stated 
before,  was  burning  some  brush  on  the  point  between  the  Elk  and  the  Holly, 
just  across  the  Holly  from  Benjamin's  cabin.  She  discovered  the  Indians  and 
started  up  the  river  to  notify  the  .family.  The  child  Libby  being  too  small  to 
make  her  escape  by  flight,  was  placed  in  a  hollow  stump  and  told  to  be  quiet. 
When  Jeremiah  saw  his  mother  coming,  he  knew  there  was  trouble.  He  re- 
turned for  the  child.  She  lived  to  be  a  woman,  and  her  daughter  married  a 
man  named  Andrew  Ware.  Withers  speaks  of  a  Carpenter  being  killed  by 
the  Indians  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river.  He  may  have  been  a  relative  of  this 
family.  There  remains  a  doubt  as  to  the  time  that  Jeremiah  Carpenter  fled  to 
the  rock  cliffs,  but  the  best  impression  seems  to  be  when  the  massacre  occurred, 
at  which  time  the  others  fled  to  the  settlement  on  the  West  Pork. 

In  April,  1792,  William  Kipet  and  a  Mr.  Neal  's  son  were  killed  up  the  Lit- 
tle Kanawha  river  by  the  Indians.  As  this  was  on  the  India  ntrail  leading  to 
the  upper  settlements,  it  is  probable  that  this  murder  was  committed  by  the 
same  band  that  killed  Benjamin  Carpenter  and  his  family.     That  was  the  last 


364  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

raid  made  by  the  red  men  in  central  West  Virginia.  Both  murders  occurred 
in  the  same  month  and  year,  unless  it  be  true  that  a  later  raid  to  the  Carpenter 
settlement  was  made  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  which  is  most  probable  and  is 
borne  out  by  well  authenticated  traditional  history. 

Solomon  Carpenter  had  four  brothers.  Joseph  who  was  killed  while  log- 
ging near  Addison ;  Amos  and  Jeremiah,  both  of  whom  moved  to  the  West  Fork 
of  the  Little  Kanawha  and  died  there;  and  John  who  died  on  Camp  run  near 
the  cliff  under  which  his  brother  Solomon  was  born. 

Solomon  Carpenter  was  the  father  of  seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  viz: 
Thomas,  John,  Jacob,  Benjamin,  William  J.,  Solomon,  Joseph,  Caroline,  Mary 
and  Elizabeth.  Of  these  only  three  are  living — William  J.,  of  venerable  towns- 
man, who  is  now  past  eighty  years  of  age,  Joseph  who  resides  on  Spring  Ridge, 
and  Elizabeth. 

There  is  a  daring  adventure  told  of  Solomon  Carpenter's  wife  Betsy.  She 
tied  the  children  to  the  bed  post,  and  went  for  the  cows  across  the  Elk  river. 
In  her  absence  the  river  raised,  and  she  was  unable  to  recross.  Her  husband 
being  away,  and  the  house  being  liable  to  attack  by  the  Indians,  she  determined 
to  risk  her  life  by  swimming  across  the  river.  Being  unable  to  swim  hei*self, 
she  drove  the  cows  in,  caught  the  bull  by  the  tail,  wrapped  the  switch  around 
her  hands,  plunged  into  the  swollen  Elk  and  crossed  in  safety.  One  of  her 
daughters  named  Betsy  married  John  P.  Hosey. 

The  present  and  future  generations  that  enjoy  the  blessings  of  civilization, 
with  all  of  its  immunities  and  advantages,  and  the  security  to  life  and  property, 
will  never  be  fully  able  to  appreciate  the  hardships,  the  great  endurance,  the 
personal  sacrifice  and  valient  daring  of  the  early  pioneers  who  forged  the  way 
to  civilization  through  a  land  of  savagery  and  privation. 

R.  M.  Cavendish. 

R.  M.  Cavendish  Avas  born  in  Fayette  county,  May  12,  1863.  His  parents, 
J.  M.  Cavendish  and  R.  J.  Cavendish  (nee  Deitz),  and  grandparents,  Andrew 
Cavendish,  and  Virginia  Cavendish  (nee  McCrung),  were  natives  of  Greenbrier 
county.  R.  M.  Cavendish  was  married  August  9,  1888,  to  Sallie  B.  Williams. 
They  have  one  daughter,  Mary  Elizabeth;  a  son,  Willie  Byron,  having  died  in 
childhood.  Mr.  Cavendish  taught  school  for  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  having 
taught  in  the  public  schools,  Burnsville  Academy,  and  was  superintendent  of 
Sutton  schools.  He  graduated  from  Summersville  Normal  with  degree  of  B.  S. 
in  1898.  Studied  law  at  the  W.  Va.  University,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1908.  Prof.  Cavendish  represented  Braxton  county  in  the  State  Legislature, 
served  the  people  for  several  years  as  County  Surve3ror,  and  as  a  Civil  En- 
gineer he  is  very  efficient,  his  services  being  in  great  demand.  Prof.  Caven- 
dish descended  from  an  old  and  honored  family  of  England,  the  family  imi- 
grating  to  America  about  the  year  17G0.  William,  the  progenitor  of  the  fam- 
ily, settled  on  the  James  river,  afterward  moving  to  Greenbrier  county,  and 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  365 

was  sheriff  of  that  county.  When  Kanawha  county  was  formed,  he  was  made 
the  first  clerk.  His  son  Andrew  was  a  soldier  in  the  "War  of  1812,  and  was  aid- 
de-camp  to  the  Commanding  General  at  Norfolk,  Va. 

Captain  Granville  C.  Carlin. 

Captain  Granville  C.  Carlin,  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Gall  Carlin,  was  born 
in  Harrison  county,  Va.,  Nov.  4,  1836.  He  moved  to  Braxton  county  in  1880. 
He  served  as  Captain  in  the  Confederate  service  in  Company  H,  18th  Virginia 
Mounted  Rifles.  Captain  Carlin  married  Susan,  daughter  of  John  W.  Rider. 
Their  children  were  ,  John  M.,  Edward  R.,  Edna  L.,  and  Wil- 
liam R. 

Captain  Carlin  owned  two  hundred  and  thirteen  acres  of  land  on  Fall  run 
of  Little  Kanawha  where  he  resided  for  thirty-one  years,  his  wife  having  died 
a  few  years  since.  He  now  lives  with  his  son,  Dr.  Wm.  B.  Carlin,  near  Craw- 
ford, W.  Va. 

Rcy  Bird  Cook. 

Roy  Bird  Cook  was  born  April  1,  1886,  at  Roanoke,  Lewis  county.  His 
father,  David  Bird  Cook,  was  a  native  of  Weston,  and  his  mother,  Dora  Eliza- 
beth Conrad,  was  bom  at  Roanoke.  His  paternal  grandparents,  John  Cook 
and  Margaret  A.  Bird,  were  born  in  Virginia,  while  the  maternal  grandparents, 
Isaac  N.  Conrad,  was  born  at  Culpepper,  Va„  and  Mary  Queen,  at  Johnstown, 
this  state. 

Mr.  Cook  was  married  August  23,  1907,  to  Nelle  Williams  Camden,  a 
daughter  of  John  S.  Camden  of  Parkersburg,  formerly  of  Braxton  county.  The 
names  of  his  children  are  Nelle  Elizabeth,  Eleanor  Bird  and  Mary  Randolph. 
Mr.  Cook  is  a  resident  of  Huntington,  and  is  a  druggist  by  occupation. 

Samuel  E.  Duffield. 

Samuel  E.  Duffield  was  born  August  1,  1846,  at  Glendon.  His  father, 
Uriah  C.  Duffield,  and  mother,  Melvina  Given,  were  born  at  the  Birch  River. 
Names  of  grandparents,  Robert  V.  Duffield  and  Nancy  Goiter. 

Mr.  Duffield  was  married  to  Mary  M.  Mollohan  Nov.  8,  1877.  and  names 
of  children  are  Richard  E.,  Rosy  B.,  Lilla  M.,  Clarence  S.,  and  Earl  C. 

THE  CORLEY  FAMILY. 

Minoah  Corley,  with  his  family  and  three  of  his  brothers,  came  from  near 
Cork  in  Ireland  about  the  year  1765,  and  settled  in  Farquier  county,  Va.  One 
brother  settled  near  Lexington,  S.  C,  on  the  James  river  below  Richmond,  and 
the  other  went  farther  south. 

The  children  of  Mineah  Corley  and  his  wife  whose  maiden  name  was  Fogg, 
were  Richard  who  lived  to  be  one  hundred  and  five  years  old,  John  Gabriel, 


366  .  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Garland,  William,  Hezekiah  and  Agnes.    The  last  named  marred  Jonathan  Poe. 

Three  of  the  other  daughters  married  Blagg,  Fishback 

and Lewis.     Three  of  these  women  lived  to  be  over  one  hundred 

years  of  age,  and  one  reached  the  extreme  age  of  one  hundred  and  eight  years. 

William  married  Catharine  Whitman,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth 
Whitman.  Their  children  were  Noah,  Edwin,  James,  Madison,  Henry  Whitman, 
John  Marshall,  William  Fogg,  Allen  Lewis. 

.   James  Madison  Corley. 

James  Madison  Corley  was  the  son  of  William  Corley  of  Randolph  county. 
He  was  for  many  years  a  citizen  of  Braxton,  and  served  as  Sheriff  and  Deputy 
Sheriff,  also  a  member  of  the  County  Court.  He  also  served  one  term  in  the 
State  Senate.  Mr.  Corley  married  Edith,  daughter  of  James  Skidmore.  Their 
children  were  John  P.,  a  Federal  soldier  who  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Kerns- 
town,  Va.,  and  Virginia  who  married  James  Conrad  of  Lewis  county.  Mrs. 
Edith  Corley  died  at  their  home  near  Doling  Green  in  the  spring  of  1851,  and 
is  buried  there  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Corley 's  mother,  the  grave  being  marked  by 
a  plain  marble  slab.  Shortly  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Corley,  Mr.  Corley  mar- 
ried Miss  Deborah  Camden  Sprigg,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Sprigg, 
formerly  of  Maryland.  The  children  of  this  union  were  Henry  Sprigg,  Eliza- 
beth who  married  Warren  Gaudy,  Catherine  who  married  George  Woodard,  and 
James  who  died  in  early  childhood.  Mr.  Corley  was  a  soldier  in  the  Union 
army,  and  served  in  the  same  company  with  his  son.  He  died  near  Clarksburg, 
W.  Va.,  in  1881.  Mr.  Corley  was  a  kind  and  congenial  man,  hospitable  in  his 
home,  but  at  times  became  irritable.  He  was  a  Whig  of  the  old  Clay  and  Har- 
rison type. 

Manoah  Corley. 

Manoah  Corley,  whose  wife  was  a  Miss  Fogg,  came  from  near  Cork,  Ire- 
land, about  1765,  accompanied  by  three  of  his  brothers,  and  settled  in  Farquier 
county,  Virginia. 

Their  children  were  Richard  who  lived  to  be  105  years  of  age;  four  other 
sons,  Gabriel,  Garland,  William  and  Hezekiah;  also  four  daughters,  Agnes  who 
married  Jonathan  Poe,  while  the  given  names  of  the  other  three  daughters  are 
not  given.  One  of  them  married  a  Blagg,  one  married  Fishback,  and  one  mar- 
ried a  Lewis.  Three  of  these  women  lived  to  be  over  one  hundred  years  of  age, 
one  reaching  the  extreme  age  of  108  years. 

fhis  is  a  record  of  longevity  in  one  family  that  has  never  been  equaled  in 
Virginia;  four  centenarians  in  one  family. 

Noah  Corley. 

Noah  Corley,  son  of  William  and'  Catherine  Whitman  Corley,  was  born 
and  reared  in  Randolph  county,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the  Federal  army.  He 
was  captured  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  and  died  in  prison.     His  son,  Jackson 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  367 

L.  Corley,  who  was  so  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  Braxton  county,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Confederate  army. 

Allen  Lewis  Corley. 

Allen  Lewis  Corley,  son  of  William  and  Catharine  Whitman  Corley,  and 
grandson  of  Manoah  Corley  (his  grandmother  being  a  Miss  Fogg). 

Mr.  Corley  was  raised  in  Randolph  county,  Virginia.  He  came  to  Braxton 
county  about  the  year  1858,  and  married  Rebecca  Boggs,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
L.  Boggs. 

Mr.  Corley 's  children  were  M.  F.,  and  Jane  C.  married  C.  M.  Mollohan.   One 
child  died  young. 

Mr.  Corley  was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army  in  Capt.  McNeal's  Com- 
pany. 

He  was  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Birch  District  No.  1  for 
several  years,  and  ballot  commissioner  for  the  county.    He  died  August,  1915. 

Wm.  Fogg  Corley. 

Wm.  Fogg  Corley,  son  of  Wm.  and  Catherine  Whitman  Corley,  was  raised 
in  Randolph  county,  Virginia.  He  married  Sarah  Ann  Skidmore,  daughter  of 
James  and  Sarah  Kittle  Skidmore. 

The  children  of  Wm.  Corley  were  Wm.  H.  H.  who  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Tenth  W.  Va.  Regiment,  Archibald  W.  who  was  a  lawyer,  Mary,  Addison, 
Rachael,  Stephen,  Noah  E.  and  Lida. 

W.  L.  J.  Corley. 

W.  L.  J.  Corley  was  born  July  27,  1827,  in  what  is  now  included  in  Bar- 
bour county,  West  Va.  He  was  a  son  of  Noah  E.  and  Louisa  (Wilson)  Corley, 
and  his  father  died  in  the  army  in  1864.  Mr.  Corley,  subject  of  this  sketch, 
enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  after  one  year's  service  was 
commissioned  lieutenant  of  Company  C,'  25th  Virginia  Infantry,  and  served 
through  the  entire  war.  He  was  captured  at  Williamport,  Maryland,  July  14, 
1863,  just  after  the  Gettysburg  fight,  in  which  he  was  wounded,  and  was  car- 
ried to  Hagerstown,  Md.  He  was  held  there  until  the  following  September, 
then  taken  to  Chester,  Pa.,  thence  to  Point  Lookout,  Md.,  and  on  Dee.  1st,  was 
again  moved  to  Johnsons  Island,  at  mouth  of  Sandusky  river,  Ohio.  April  17th, 
he  was  taken  back  to  Pt.  Lookout  where  he  remained  until  August,  and  was 
then  taken  to  Washington  City.  He  was  there  confined  in  the  Old  Capitol 
Prison  one  week,  then  sent  to  Philadelphia,  thence  to  Ft.  Delaware  where  he 
arrived  in  Sept.,  and  where  he  was  exchanged  Oct.  1st.  He  was  unfit  for  duty, 
and  remained  in  hospital  at  Liberty,  Va.,  until  the  close  of  the  war.  After 
returning  to  Braxton  county,  he  held  several  county  offices.  On  Sept.  12,  1878, 
he  married  the  widow  of  Wm.  Kelly  who  before  her  marriage  was  Sarah  C. 


368  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Newlon,  and  two  daughters  were  born  to  them,  Louisa  and  May.  Being  clerk 
of  the  County  Court  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  Mr.  Corley  issued  his  own. 
marriage  license,  the  only  incident  of  the  kind  recorded  in  Braxton  county. 

A.  W.  Corley. 

A.  "W.  Corley,  son  of  William  and  Sarah  (Skidmore)  Corley,  was  born 
June  9,  1851.  He  married  Anne  Dow  Newlon,  daughter  of  Colonel  Wm.  and 
Elisa  Pool  (Camden)  Newlon,  on  Nov.  13,  1877.  Their  children  are:  Ann 
Elisa,  Rachael  Jane,  Mary  Edith,  Nellie  Camden,  Genevieve,  Marguerite  and 
Sarahpool. 

Mr.  Corley  was  born  and  reared  in  Randolph  county.  Va.,  where  he  at- 
tended the  public  schools,  and  later  graduated  in  the  Fairmont  Normal.  He- 
taught  several  schools  in  his  native  county  before  coming  to  Braxton  county 
where  he  taught  as  principal  of  the  Sutton  school.  Mr.  Corley  acted  as  deputy 
clerk  of  the  County  Court  under  his  cousin,  Wm,  L.  J.  Corley.  He  studied  law 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Sutton.  Was  elected  Prosecut- 
ing Attorney  of  the  county  in  1881.  Was  a  prominent,  candidate  for  the  nomi- 
nation of  Judge  on  the  Republican  ticket.  He  formed  a  law  partnership  with 
G.  H.  Morrison,  with  whom  he  was  associated  for  several  years. 

Mr.  Corley  was  a  man  of  remarkable  memory,  and  was  one  of  the  best  in- 
formed historians  of  the  state.  He  died  in  Texas  where  he  was  visiting  his; 
daughter,  Mrs.  Kunst,  on  May  4,  1916,  and  is  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Sutton. 

John  C.  Cunningham. 

John  C.  Cunningham  was  born  Jan.  9,  1814,  in  Randolph  county,  (then)' 
Virginia,  being  a  son  of  Henry  and  Nancy  (Hayes)  Cunningham.  At  an  early 
age,  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  this  county,  and  the  lives  of  both  were  here 
ended.  On  Jan.  19,  1843,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Armstrong 
who  was  born  in  Pendleton  county,  Dec.  19,  1836,  being  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Sarah  (Pullins)  Armstrong.  Thirteen  children  were  born,  as  follows:  Han- 
son, H.  Thomas,  Thad.  B.,  Margaret  Ann,  Sarah,  George  L.,  Nancy,  Samuel  L., 
Elizabeth,  Emily,  Amanda,  Mary  Jane  (who  died  at  age  of  fourteen),  and 
Melissa.  John  C.  Cunningham  settled  on  a  tract  of  nine  thousand  acres,  and 
by  his  own  toil  felled  the  forest,  made  a  home,  and  left  his  family  provided  for. 
He  died  July  15,  1877,  and  is  buried  in  the  family  cemetery  on  the  farm. 

T.  B.  Cunningham. 

T.  B.  Cunningham  was  a  grandson  of  Henry  Cunningham,  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  what  is  now  Braxton  county,  and  a  son  of  J.  C.  and  Elizabeth  (Arm- 
strong) Cunningham  whose  record  has  just  been  given.  He  married  Ann  Moss, 
Dec.  24,  1882,  she  being  the  daughter  of  Pleasant  and  Elizabeth  (Bragg)  Moss 
of  Lewis  county. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  369 

E.  H.  Cunningham. 

E.  H.  Cunningham,  son  of  Moses  and  Phoebe  W.  (T-Iaymond)  Cunning- 
ham, and  a  grandson  of  John  Haymond,  one  of  the  first  and  most  prominent 
of  the  settlers  of  Bulltown.  He  was  born  on  the  Kanawha  river,  Aug.  3,  1845, 
and  this  county  has  always  been  his  home.  He  has  been  honored  with  several 
public  offices,  all  of  which  he  has  filled  with  ability.  He  was  elected  Justice 
of  the  Peace  in  1S80,  succeeding  his  father  in  the  office :  was  appointed  Notary 
Public  in  1879  by  Governor  Mathews,  and  was  elected  to  the  County  Court  in. 
July,  1881,  and  he  is  still  servng  in  this  capacity.  At  later  dates,  he  served 
as  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  president  of  the  County  Court,  and  president  of  the 
board  of  education  in  that  district.  He  still  owns  the  excellent  farm  where  he 
has  lived  for  a  great  many  years.  He  married  Sarah  M.  Armstrong,  May  16, 
1877.  She  was  a  daughter  of  George  and  Sarah  H.  (Pullen)  Armstrong  who 
came  from  Highland  county,  Va.,  to  Lewis  county  many  years  ago.  George 
H.,  John  H.  and  Floda  are  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  H.  Cunningham. 
There  was  also  an  infant  who  did  not  live  to  bear  a  name.  Mrs.  Cunningham 
was  appointed  postmistress  in  1879,  which  place  she  filled  for  a  number  of  years. 

George  H.  Cunningham. 

George  H.  Cunningham,  son  of  E.  H.  Cunningham,  married  Isa  Norman. 
They  have  one  child  named  Paul  W.  Mr.  Cunningham  is  by  profession  a  civil 
engineer;  he  lives  in  Clarksburg,  West  Va. 

John  H.  Cunningham. 

John  H.  Cunningham,  son  of  E.  H.  Cunningham,  married  Mary  Singleton. 
They  have  one  child  named  Beatrice.  He  lives  on  the  old  farm  near  the  Ka- 
nawha river  at  Bulltown. 

Abel  It.  Cunningham. 

Abel  R.  Cunningham  ,son  of  Thomas  and  Catharine  (Runnyan)  Cunning- 
ham, was  born  in  Lewis  county,  July  16,  1819.  He  came  to  Braxton  county  in 
1840,  and  commenced  working  by  the  month,  making  brick  for  the  first  court- 
house. He  then  engaged  in  farming  and  lumbering,  in  which  business  he  en- 
gaged for  many  years.  On  Sept.  11,  1845,  he  married  Mary  C,  daughter  of 
Benjamin  L.  and  Jane  (Cutlip)  Boggs.  Following  are  names  of  their  children: 
Catharine  Jane  (deceased),  Benjamin  F.,  Susan  L.,  Mary  M.,  Rebecca  L.,  Enos 
(died  in  infancy),  Caroline,  Thomas  H.  Mr.  Cunningham  served  two  terms 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace  before  the  Civil  war.  He  was  a  successful  farmer  and 
died  possessed  of  valuable  real  estate. 


370  sutton's   history. 

Morgan  Dyer. 

Morgan  Dyer,  originally  from  Pendleton  county,  came  to  Braxton  county 
when  a  very  young  man  and  married  a  Miss  Rader.  They  had  two  children, 
A.  C.  Dyer  and  one  daughter  who  died  young.  Mr.  Dyer  was  a  popular  and 
correct  business  man,  being  a  merchant  in  Sutton  many  years  prior  to  the  Civil 
war.  He  was  at  one  time  Surveyor  of  the  county.  Tn  1841,  he  was  a  Delegate 
from  Braxton  county  to  an  Educational  Convention  held  in  the  town  of  Clarks- 
burg, showing  his  interest  in  public  education.  Mr.  Dyer  owned  a  farm  in  Flat- 
woods,  where  he  once  resided. 

James  Daly. 

James  Daly  was  born  in  1849,  one  mile  east  of  Heater  station.  Both  his 
parents  and  grandparents  were  born  in  Ireland.  Mr.  Daly  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  and  taught,  several  terms.  He  is  now  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock  raising,  and  owns  the  McAnany  farm.  Mr.  Daly  is  an  enterprising  man, 
and  highly  esteemed  as  an  exemplary  citizen. 

P.  B.  Duffy. 

P.  B.  Duffy,  son  of  Philip  and  Margaret  Kelly  Duffy,  was  born  about  1840. 
He  graduated  at  a  college  in  Maryland,  was  Captain  of  Co.  C,  25th  Virginia 
Infantry,  in  the  Confederate  Army.  He  was  promoted  to  Lieut,  Col.  and  served 
through  the  war.  He  married  a  lady  of  Charleston,  West  Virginia.  They  had 
one  son.  Col.  Duffy  died  in  the  seventies.  He  was  loved  and  respected  for  his 
amiable  character. 

Addison  C.  Dyer 

Addison  C.  Dyer  was  born  July  27,  1847,  being  the  son  of  Morgan  and 
Sarah  (Rader)  Dyer.  Oct.  14,  1875,  he  married  Mary  B.  Singleton  who  was 
born  in  Braxton  county,  Aug.  14,  1852,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Charles  E.  and 
Margaret  (Gibson)  Singleton.  Their  children  were  Sarah  May,  Flora  Maggie, 
Mintie  Lee  and  Charles. 

Mr.  Dyer  served  in  the  last  year  of  the  Civil  war  as  a  member  of  the  ' '  Pen- 
dleton Reserve,"  Confederate  service  subject  to  General  Imboden;s  order.  He 
served  until  the  war  closed.  He  served  one  term  as  sheriff  of  Braxton  county. 
Moved  to  state  of  Washington  where  he  died. 

Philip  Duffy. 

Philip  Duffy,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Braxton  county,  after  its  forma- 
tion, married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  Kelly,  of  Nicholas  county.  Their 
children  were  Patrick  B.,  Margaret,  Virginia,  Maud  and  Madora.  Mr.  Duffy 
was  a  merchant,  and  in  connection  with  Patrick  Beirne,  of  Greenbrier,  and  John 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  371 

Duffy,  of  Nicholas  county,  he  commenced  merchandising  in  Sutton,  shortly 
after  the  county  was  formed.  He  accumulated  considerable  property,  but  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  war  he  went  South,  and  most  of  his  estate  was  lost.  He 
died  near  Sutton,  some  years  after  the  war,  and  is  buried  in  the  Duffy  ceme- 
tery. 

Harrison  Dean. 

Harrison  L.  Dean,  son  of  Ferdinand  L.  and  Mahala  Crites  Dean,  was  born 
August  22,  1855,  in  Upshur  county,  West  Va.  He  married  Florence  Shreve, 
December  20,  1876,  and  their  children  are,  Daniel  A.,  Catherine  L.,  Juda  A., 
Ester  L.,  Mary  J.,  Emma  J.,  Major  F.,  William  C.  Leedana,  Agatha  M.,  Daisy 
P.,  and  Urcy  F.  Mr.  Dean  moved  to  Braxton  county  about  twenty  years  ago'. 
He  owns  a  good  grain  and  stock  farm  on  the  Bison  range  near  the  Bolinggreen, 
and  is  noted  for  his  industry  and  hospitality. 

Rev.  Daniel  H.  Davis. 

Daniel  H.  Davis  was  born  March  19,  1838,  in  Randolph  county.  His  par- 
ents, Jesse  Davis,  and  Permelia  Lloyd  Prine  Davis,  were  both  natives  of  Pen- 
dleton county.  His  grandparents,  Thomas  Davis  and  Aurelia  (Pennington) 
Davis,  were  natives  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Davis  has  been  married  three  times.  The 
first  marriage  was  to  Susanna  Kendall  of  Mannington,  W.  Va..  in  Nov.,  1862, 
and  the  following  children  were  born:  Mary  Isabelle,  William  F.,  Benjamin 
Franklin.  Second  marriage  was  to  Maria  Louisa  Kendall  of  Harrisville,  this 
state,  on  Nov.  11,  1875,  and  two  children  were  born:  Herbert  K.  and  Linnejl 
H.  The  third  marriage  took  place  June  15,  1893,  to  Anna  Laura  Bookman  of 
St.  Marys,  W.  Va.  To  this  union  were  born  four  children:  Lorena  May, 
Daniel  Holland,  John  Waitman  and  Mildred  Eveline. 

Mr.  Davis  has  been  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  church,-  and  for 
some  years  editor  of  the  Christian  Echo.  For  the  last  eleven  years,  he  has 
been  editor,  proprietor  and  publisher  of  the  Mikrophone,  and  resides  at  Pull- 
man. 

His  great  grandfather,  Thomas  Davis,  emigrated  from  England  when  a 
young  man,  and  served  the  American  colonies  through  the  Revolutionary  war. 
He  married  Nancy  Baker  of  Baltimore  who  was  of  Irish  descent.  They  had 
three  sons:  James,  a  preacher,  Thomas  (grandfather  of  subject  of  this  sketch), 
and  Benjamin  who  went  south  in  an  early  day  before  adequate  mail  service  was 
established,  and  has  never  been  heard  of  by  the  family  since.  There  were  also 
several  daughters  in  this  family,  btu  there  seems  to  be  no  available  knowledge 
concerning  them.  Rev.  D.  H.  Davis  has  been  in  the  active  ministry  for  over  half 
a  century,  and  is  calmly  waiting  the  going  down  of  a  brilliant  sunset. 

Simeon  T.  Deen. 

Simeon  T.  Deen,  son  of  John  J.  and  Elizabeth  (Teeter)  Deen,  was  born 
in  Pendleton  county  July  9,  1833,  and  Braxton  county  became  his  home  when 


372  SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 

only  three  years  of  age.     Pie  had  two  brothers,  George  W.  and  Silas  C,  who 
were  Confederate  soldiers,  the  last  named  serving  through  the  entire  conflict. 

Simeon  T.  Deen  was  married  April  28,  1858,  to  Maria  Tinney,  daughter  of 
Thurman  and  Catharine  (Davis)  Tinney.  Nine  children  were  born  to  this 
union:  Alfred  J.,  James  C,  John  M.,  Thurman  F.,  George  S.  (died  in  infancy), 
Dennis  H.,  William  H.,  Jonathan  E.  (died  same  year),  Warder  S. 

J.  J.  Dolliver, 

J.  J.  Dolliver  who  rode  the  Braxton  circuit  prior  to  the  Civil  war,  was  at 
one  time  Presiding  Elder,  and  it  is  said  was  once  prior  to  this  a  saloon  keeper  in 
Ohio.  When  he  was  converted  at  a  camp  meeting,  he  went  home,  destroyed 
his  stock  of  whiskies  and  went  to  preaching. 

It  was  while  he  was  Presiding  Elder  at  a  meeting  held  on  Muddlety  at  the' 
old  log  church  in  Nicholas  county,  that  Rev.  Jones,  circuit  rider,  was  leading 
in  prayer,  and  J.  J.  Dolliver  was  looking  over  the  congregation  and  saw  a  cross- 
eyed man  named  Renox  Hannah,  winking  at  a  girl.  Dolliver  rose  up  and  said, 
"Young  man,  take  the  door."  The  young  man  immediately  left.  Later,  Dol- 
liver left  the  West  Virginia  Conference,  and  Avent  to  Iowa.  One  of  his  sons 
represented  that  state  in  the  U.  S.  Senate. 

Alex.  Dulin. 

Alex.  Dulin  was  born  in  Wirt  county,  Va.,  Feb.  22,  1854.  His  father,  A. 
H.  Dulin,  and  mother  Rebecca  Burns,  were  both  natives  of  Virginia,  also  his 
grandfather,  Albert  Dulin. 

Alex.  Dulin  was  mai*ried  Dec.  24,  1884,  to  Cora  Belle  Floyd,  and  their 
children  are  W  H.  Dulin,  A.  G.  Dulin  and  Edwin  L.  Dulin,  all  deceased. 

•  Attorney  Dulin  came  to  Braxton  county  when  quite  a  young  man,  and  en- 
tered upon  his  chosen  profession,  soon  building  up  a  good  practice.  He  is  ac- 
tive in  church  work,  and  served  several  years  as  Moderator  in  the  Elk  Valley 
Baptist  Association.  Mr.  Dulin  is  noted  as  an  affectionate  parent,  a  good 
neighbor,  and  is  kind  and  affable  in  his  manner. 

Major  Charles  D.  Elliott. 

Major  Charles  D.  Elliott,  son  of  Dr.  Thomas  Irvin  Elliott,  was  born  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1861,  in  Clarion  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  after  the  close  of  the 
Civil  war,  Dr.  Elliott  with  his  family  came  to  the  hills  of  West  Virginia,  and 
settled  in  Tyler  county.  Here  Major  Elliott  received  the  rudaments  of  a  com- 
mon school  education;  afterwards  he  was  given  advantages  at  the  State  College 
at  Flemington.  He  supplemented  his  practical  education  by  spending  six 
years  in  the  great  plains  of  Colorado  and  Wyoming.  In  1886  he  returned  to 
West  Virginia,  and  located  at  Sutton,  Braxton  county,  and  engaged  with  Gen- 
eral Curtin  in  the  lumber  business.     He  was  later  appointed  Deputy  Collector 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  373 

under  A.  B.  White.  In  1896  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  but  has  never  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law.  On  June  18,  1901,  Major  Elliott 
was  appointed  U.  S.  Marshall.  For  many  years  he  has  been  actively  engaged  in 
political  work  in  West  Virginia.  During  the  Spanish  American  war  he  was 
made  Major  of  the  2nd  West  Virginia  Infantry;  he  was  later  commissioned  by 
the  President,  Major  of  the  47th  U.  S.  Infantry  during  the  war  with  the  Phil- 
ippines, and  was  appointed  Inspector  General  on  the  staff  of  Governor  White 
in  March,  1901.  On  December  1st,  1901,  General  Elliott  purchased  the  Par- 
kersburg  News.  He  formed  a  company,  and  became  the  president.  This  jour- 
nal was  one  of  the  leading  papers  of  the  State,  and  under  the  management  of 
the  new  company  it  more  than  trippled  its  circulation.  In  1912,  General  Elliott 
was  appointed  Adjutant  General  of  the  State.  His  health  failing,  he  went  to 
the  mountains  of  Colorado,  and  worked  in  a  gold  mine.  Recovering  his  health, 
he  returned  to  Braxton  county  and  engaged  in  the  coal  business  in  Braxton 
and  Webster  counties.  General  Elliott's  indomitable  energy  will  move  on, 
through  every  vicissitude  fortune,  looking  with  a  sweet  temperament  on  the 
brighter  side  of  life. 

In  1888,'  General  Elliott  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary,  daughter  of 
Attorney  Joseph  Thompson,  of  Staunton,  Virginia.  The  two  children  of  this 
union  are  Viola  N.  and  Catharine  E.  General  Elliott's  home  is  in  Sutton, 
West  Virginia. 

Dr.  Albert  N.  Ellison. 

Dr.  Albert  N.  Ellison  was  born  in  Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  February  17, 
1817.  His  father,  Wm.  Ellison,  moved  from  Virginia  to  Ohio  in  an  early  day. 
His  father's  name  was  John,  and  he  came  to  Virginia  with  three  brothers.  Two 
of  them  settled  in  Virginia,  and  two  in  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  A.  N.  Ellison  came  to  Braxton  county  about  1840,  and  settled  first  at 
Sutton,  but  shortly  afterward  moved  to  the  Little  Birch  where  he  made  his 
future  home.  Dr.  Ellison  had  a  large  practice.  He  was  for  several  years  a 
minister  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  He  was  a  man  of  great  influence  in  his 
community  and  universally  beloved. 

He  married  Eliza  Mace,  and  their  family  consisted  of  five  daughters  and 
two  sons.  The  oldest  son,  William,  was  killed  at  Fredericksburg,  Md.,  being  a 
soldier  in  the  Confederate  army. 

Rev.  A.  C.  Ellison,  for  several  years  a  traveling  minister  in  the  M.  P. 
Church,  is  living  near  the  old  homestead  on  the  Little  Birch. 

Dr.  Ellison  was  a  Whig  until  the  slavery  question  became  so  prominent  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Civil  war,  when  he  cast  his  lot  with  the  South,  and  volun- 
teered in  its  defense.  He  was  twice  elected  Assessor  of  Braxton  county,  and 
was  at  one  time  captain  of  the  militia.  He  died  in  his  eighty-sixth  year  at  his 
home  on  the  Little  Birch. 


374  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


H.  E.  Engle. 


H.  E.  Engle  was  born  in  Barbour  county,  Va.,  Sept.  30,  1849.  His  father, 
William  Engle,  was  born  in  Pendleton  county,  Va.,  April  9,  1824.  His  mother, 
Tahitta  Criss  Engle,  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Va.,  Oct.  12,  1823.  His 
grandparents,  Solomon  Engle  and  Sarah  George  Engle,  were  born  in  England 
in  1800.    All  were  Methodists. 

Mr.  Engle  is  well  learned  in  vocal  music,  having  taught  in  that  line  for 
many  years.  He  wrote  the  music  to  the  West  Virginia  Hills  and  other  pieces 
of  merit.     Mr.  Engle  is  a  member  of  the  present  County  Court. 

David  Evans. 

David  Evans  and  Christeney,  his  wife,  came  from  Randolph  county,  Vir- 
ginia, to  Braxton,  then  Lewis,  at  an  early  period  of  the  settlement  of  the  county. 
They  settled  on  the  Elk  river,  a  few  miles  above  the  town  of  Sutton.  Mr.  Evans 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade.  The  latters  years  of  his  life  he  lived  in  Sutton,  where 
he  reared  his  family,  consisting  of  five  sons  and  one  daughter,  Petro,  Jacob 
and  Isaac,  (twins),  Marshall  and  Charles  S.,  Mary  Ann,  whose  first  husband 
was  Lemaster  Stephenson,  and  after  his  death  she  married  Levi  Waybright. 

Jacob  M.  Evans. 

Jacob  M.  Evans,  son  of  David  and  Christena  Evans,  married  Lydda,  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  Riffle,  on  Salt  Lick.  They  reared  a  family  of  several  chil- 
dren, most  of  whom  reside  in  Braxton.  Mr.  Evans  was  a  successful  fanner,  a 
prominent,  and  reliable  citizen.  He  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  several  years, 
and  a  useful  and  active  member  of  the  M.  P.  Church  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  was  noted  for  his  generous  support  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  his  universal 
custom  on  meeting  occasions,  to  give  a  general  invitation  to  his  home.  He  is 
buried  on  the  hill  at  the  old  farm,  overlooking  the  church  where  he  used  to  wor- 
ship.   His  companion  still  survives  him. 

Charles  S.  Evans. 

Charles  S.  Evans,  son  of  David  and  Christena  (Petro)  Evans,  was  born 
in  Randolph  county,  Va.,  April  11,  1830.  Feb.  6,  1853,  Charles  S.  Evans  wed- 
ded Maria  Heater  who  was  born  in  this  county,  Nov.  11,  1834.  Her  parents 
were  Jacob  and  Delilah  (Riffle)  Heater.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans 
were:  Virginia,  James  Clark,  Mary  P.,  Pierson  (killed  by  a  falling  tree),  Ma- 
dora,  Charles  Homer,  Lorenzo  D.,  Margaret  L.,  Fanny  M.  (died  young),  Ida 
May,  and  William  W.  who  died  in  infancy. 

James  H.  Facemire. 

James  H.  Facemire  was  the  son  of  Aaron  Facemire,  and  the  eldest  of  twelve 
children.     Bom  in  Kanawha  county  in  1831,  moving  to  what  is  now  Braxton 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  375 

county  the  followwing  year,  he  grew  up  on  the  beautiful  Elk  and  its  tribu- 
taries. It  was  here  that  he  learned  the  art  of  hunting  and  trapping.  He  mar- 
ried Caroline  Stonestreet,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children.  His  family  was  of 
German  descent. 

Mr.  Facemire  has  been  a  man  of  keen  observation  and  great  memory,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  hear  him  -talk  of  the  past,  and  especially  to  relate  his  exploits 
in  the  wilds  of  the  forest.  He  remembers  many  of  the  older  settlers  of  the 
county.  He  also  remembers  having  seen  the  old  war  gun  that  red-headed  Jesse 
Carpenter  took  from  the  Indians  when  he  made  his  escape  from  captivity; 
with  this  gun,  he  killed  an  Indian  by  shooting  across  the  Ohio  river.  The  gun 
had  been  furnished  by  the  French  to  the  aid  the  Indians  in  their  war  against 
.the  Americans. 

He  relates  that  he  killed  two  bears,  over  three  hundred  deer,  and  gives  an 
account  of  one  night's  coon  hunt  on  Skyles  creek  of  the  Big  Birch  river,  in  which 
he  treed  and  killed  nine  coons,  and  the  following  night,  killed  five  more.  He 
gave  part  of  the  coons  to  come  person  as  pay  for  carrying  the  others  on  a  horse 
to  his  home  on  Two  Lick  run  of  the  Little  Birch. 

He  estimates  that  the  number  of  bee  trees  that  he  has  cut  would  run  into 
the  thousands;  sometimes  he  cut  as  many  as  three  in  one  day,  often  obtaining 
large  quantities  of  honey.  He  said  that  at  one  time,  he  salted  down  six  hundred 
pounds  of  venison  and  seventy-five  pounds  of  coon  bacon.  He  killed  wild  cats, 
black  foxes,  hawks,  owls,  skunks,  rattlesnakes,  and  was  a  terror  to  everything 
that  was  harmful  and  destructive  to  domestic  animals  or  dangerous  to  man. 

Squirrel  hunting  and  fishing  were  two  of  his  most  delightful  sports.  I 
have  seen  him  bring  down  squirrels  from  the  tallest  twig  on  the  loftiest  hickory 
tree  with  his  rifle  offhand.  His  greatest  day's  hunt  for  squirrels  was  one  hun- 
dred, around  James  A  Ross'  corn  field,  and  the  next  day  he  killed  forty-seven 
on  Mr.  Linger 's  farm.  On  Bug  ridge,  he  killed  fifty-six  in  one  day.  To  be  a 
successful  hunter  and  trapper,  one  has  to  study  the  nature  and  habits  of  ani- 
mals. A  great  day's  catch  of  fish  occurred  one  day  while  the  old  woodsman 
was  waiting  for  his  grist  at  the  old  G-illespie  mill.  He  and  Mr.  Knight  went  to 
the  shoal  above  the  mill  and  saw  a  great  school  of  fish.  The  river  was  very 
low,  and  they  drove  the  fish  to  a  little  pool,  built  a  rock  dam  below,  and  caught 
eighteen  or  twenty  large  fish,  some  measuring  three  feet  long. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  strength  and  endurance.  His  greatest  weight  was 
never  over  148  pounds,  but  if  he  had  been  trained  as  pugulists  are  now  trained, 
his  great  nerve,  natural  skill  and  generalship  in  battle  would  have  made  him 
one  of  the  greatest  middle  weight  pugulists  of  the  world.  He  never  was  beaten 
in  a  fisticuff,  though  he  met  in  single  combat  some  of  the  best  heavy-weights  of 
the  country.  He  would  have  been  killed  by  Bill  Meeks  if  the  knife  blade  had 
hot  broken  off  in  his  skull,  the  point  of  which  he  has  carried  there  for  half  a 
century  or  more;  but  he  never  fought  a  man  unf airly,  no  matter  how  large  or 
powerful  his  enemy. 


376  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

We  remember  several  coon  hunts  with  this  old  veteran  of  the  forest.  It 
was  the  custom  in  those  clays  to  roast  corn  grown  in  the  field  from  which  you 
scared  the  coons  and  in  the  dry  fall  season  when  water  was  scarce,  it  was  con- 
sidered not  unusual  to  burst  the  rind  of  a  lucious  melon  while  the  dogs  were 
out  looking  up  the  game. 

James  Facemire  was  a  hard  working  man  and  a  good  neighbor.  He  had 
for  a  companion  a  noble  woman  who  never  turned  a  hungry  man  away  from 
their  cabin.  When  we  see  his  once  fleet  and  active  frame  tottering  on  broken 
limb,  leaning  on  his  staff,  with  gun  and  traps,  wending  his  way  to  the  forest  in 
his  ever  persistent  pursuit  of  the  wild  game,  we  can  imagine  the  blazing  fires 
of  energy  that  once  animated  the  woodsman's  unquenchable  desire  for  sport, 
and  realize  the  fleeting  years  that  overtake  us  all. 

FOX  FAMILY. 

The  earliest  information  on  this  family  is  that  sometime  before  the  Revo- 
lution, Samuel  Fox  came  from  England  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Nelson 
county,  Virginia,  near  Avon  of  that  county.  This  is  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
county  and  near  the  main  line  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railroad.  Samuel  Fox 
had  seven  children,  namely,  Samuel,  Richard,  Joseph,  William,  Jackson,  Bart- 
lett  and  Lucy.  i 

Of  these  children,  Samuel,  Richard  and  Joseph  lived  and  died  in  Nelson 
county,  Virginia,  and  Lucy  married  a  Mr.  Quick  and  moved  to  some  point* in 
what  is  now  West  Virginia.  William  and  Jackson  Fox  moved  to  what  is  now 
Sum  mere  county,  West  Virginia.  William  Fox  had  several  sons,  one  of  whom 
was  David  Fox.  David  Fox  had  several  sons,  two  of  whom,  B.  F.  Fox  and  John 
L.  Fox,  moved  to  Braxton  county.  John  L.  Fox  is  dead.  B.  F.  Fox  lives  near 
Frametown  in  this  county.  William  Fox  had  a  daughter,  Ruth,  who  married 
Lewis  Ballengee  who  lived  and  died  near  the  mouth  of  Strange  Creek  in  this 
county. 

Bartlett  Fox  was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Virginia,  about  1780.  He  married 
Mary  Lively  who  was  born  in  Albemarle  county,  Virginia,  about  the  year  1800. 
Bartlett  Fox  died  in  1861  and  his  wife  died  November  5,  1878. 

Bartlett  Fox  moved  to  what  is  known  as  the  Lively  place  in  Nicholas  coun- 
ty, about  the  year  1835 :  he  next  moved  to  what  is  now  the  J.  B.  McLaughlin 
place  near  the  mouth  of  the  Birch  river  in  1840 ;  he  next  moved  to  what  is  now 
the  John  L.  Ballengee  farm  near  the  mouth  of  Strange  Creek  and  next  to  the 
farm  now  owned  by  Troy  Nottingham. 

Bartlett  Fox  had  eight  children,  namely,  Samuel,  M.  D.,  L.  F.,  George  W., 
Tiburtis,  Henry,  William,  Jane  and  Mary.  M.  I).  L.  Fox  lived  on  what  is  known 
as  the  David  Evans  farm  on  Leatherwood  Run ;  George  W.  Fox  lived  the  greater 
portion  of  his  life  in  the  edge  of  Nicholas  county  and  died  on  Carpenters  Fork  of 
the  Little  Birch  near  where  John  Brown  now  lives;  Tiburtis  Fox  enlisted  in  the 
Confederate  army  in  the  beginning  of  the  war.  between  the  states  and  was  cap- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  377 

tured  and  died  in  prison  in  1861 ;  Henry  and  William  Pox  both  died  prior  to 
the  war;  Jane  Fox  married  Maxwell  H.  Fi*ame,  and  Mary  married  John  S.  Not- 
tingham. 

Samuel  Fox  was  bora  on  the  day  of  ,  1817,  and  died  the 

1st  day  of  October,  1892.  He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Susan 
Boggs,  daughter  of  Benjamin  L.  Boggs,  who  died  on  the  18th  of  August,  1855, 
aged  23  years,  4  months  and  20  days.  There  were  two  children  born  to  this 
marriage,  Camden  Fox,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1854,  and  Rebecca  Fox,  a 
year  or  two  prior  to  that  date.  She  married  G.  R.  Mollohan  and  now  lives  in 
California.  Samuel  Fox's  second  wife  was  Mary  Dean  who  is  still  living.  They 
were  married  about  1856. 

Fred  L.  Fox. 

Fred  L.  Fox,  son  of  Camden  and  Caroline  (McMorrow)  Fox,  was  born  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Big  Birch  river,  Oct.  24,  1876.  Samuel  Fox  and  Dr.  Job  Mc- 
Morrow were  his  grandfathers,  both  being  prominent  men  in  the  lower  end  of 
the  county.  Mr.  Fox  was  educated  in  Braxton  county  schools,  taking  a  law 
course  in  the  West  Virginia  University  with  a  degree  of  L.  L.  B.  in  1899.  He 
began  practice  of  law  in  Sutton  in  1899,  and  was  associated  with  Alex  Dulin 
from  1901  to  1904,  and  with  W.  E.  Haymond  since  1904  in  the  law  firm  of  Hay- 
mond  &  Fox.  He  was  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  Committee  in  campaigns 
of  1902,  1908  and  1910;  elected  to  State  Senate  in  1912,  and  re-elected  in  1916; 
was  Democratic  leader  in  the  State  Senate  in  the  sessions  of  1915  and  1917. 

Mr.  Fox  was  married  in.  1900  to  Anna  Lee  Frame  of  Sutton,  daughter  of 
James  T.  and  Rebecca  Byrne  Frame,  and  their  children  are :  Gordon  Byrne, 
John  Holt,  G-eorge  McMorrow,  Agnes  Jane,  Rebecca  Ellen  and  Anna  Jean. 

Elmore  Frame. 

Elmore  Frame  was  bora  March  13,  1819,  and  died  April  17,  1896.  His 
"wife  Marcella  Frances  A.  (Ray)  Frame,  was  born  May  4,  1829,  and  died  March 
28,  1909.  They  were  married  October  10,  1849,  and  names  of  their  children  are 
as  follows:  W.  L.,  Jasper,  Willis,  Martha  Y.  T.,  David  and  Elmore  W.  Mr. 
Frame  joined  the  M.  E.  church  in  1S39,  and  his  wife  joined  a  short  time  later. 
He  was  many  years  a  class  leader  in  this  church,  and  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
for  sixteen  years. 

David  Frame. 

David  Frame,  son  of  above  mentioned  parents,  was  born  July  12,  1865,  in 
Harrison  county,  and  was  married  to  May  M.  Mowrey,  Aug.  28,  1887.  Names 
of  their  children  are:  Eddyth  A.,  Harry  E.,  Flora  I.,  Ira  Ray,  Ella  Ruth, 
David  W.,  Jr.,  and  Ruby  L.  Mr.  Frame  resides  near  Gassaway,  and  is  engaged 
in  farming.  Mr.  Frame  was  for  several  years  a  magistrate  in  Otter  district, 
and  is  now  Deputy  Game  and  Fish  Warden. 


378  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

THE  FRIEND  FAMILY. 

The  first  account  given  of  this  most  numerous  and  hardy  pioneer  family, 
is  in  Kerchival's  History.  He  says  that  Israel  Friend  came  from  Maryland  to 
the  Valley  of  Virginia  in  1730,  in  company  with  fifteen  others,  and  it  was  sup- 
posed that  they  came  through  the  gap  at  Harpers  Ferry.  From  there,  the 
friends  worked  their  way  up  the  Potomac  river  and  we  find  them  scattered  along 
through  the  South  Branch  valley  and  Randolph  county,  also  as  far  west  as 
Braxton  and  Nicholas  counties. 

A  lonely  Indian  warrior,  the  only  one  of  a  northern  tribe  who  escaped  with 
his  life  in  a  battle  with  another  tribe  of  Indians  some  where  on  the  upper 
branches  of  the  Potomac,  was  ferried  across  the  Potomac  by  a  man  named 
Friend  who  lived  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the  river,  and  to  whom  the  Indian 
related  the  incidents  of  the  battle,  including  an  account  of  the  massacre  of  his 
comrades.  Therefore  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  the  early  settlers  of  the  Friends 
came  to  the  Potomac  Valley  from  Maryland.  .  The  Friends  are  of  German  de- 
scent. 

Joseph  Friend. 

Joseph  Friend  married  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Rachael  Skidmore  and 
a  sister  of  Captain  John  Skidmore.  They  had  a  son,  Joseph,  whose  daughter 
married  ¥m,  Arthur.  Joseph  Friend  had  valuable  land  in  what  is  how  "Web- 
ster county  where  he  resided  for  many  years  and  died  there.  Joseph  Friend, 
the  progenitor  of  the  Friend  family,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war,, 
and  was  Captain  of  Scouts. 

Jacob  Friend. 

Jacob  Friend  settled  in  Pendleton  county  before  the  Revolutionary  war. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Skidmore,  sister  of  Andrew  Skidmore.  They  had  nine 
children,  six  boys  and  three  girls.  Three  of  his  sons  were  drafted,  and  went 
to  Norfolk  in  the  war  of  1812.  Others  of  his  children  settled  on  the  Elk  river, 
near  the  mouth  of  Otter.  The  names  of  his  children  were:  Andrew  P.,  Jacob, 
Isreal,  Thomas,  Jonas,  Jonathan,  Margaret,  Elizabeth  and  Catherine. 

William  Fisher. 

William  Fisher,  bom  February  14,  1786,  died  March  11,  1853;  Elizabeth 
Fisher,  his  wife,  was  born  July  9,  1792,  and  died  in  1861.  Their  children  were 
William,  born  April  16,  1821,  and  died  in  Hardy  county;  Susannah  Martha, 
born  September  18,  1823,  who  was  married  twice,  her  first  husband  being  Dr. 
Robert  Newby,  and  her  second  husband  Rev.  Michael  Lancaster ;  Jemima,  born 
July  13,  1828,  married  Jonathan  Koiner  of  Augusta  county,  Virginia;  George 
B.,  born  May  17,  1830,  died  young;  Benjamin  Franklin,  born  August  17,  1831, 
died  August  2,  1902;  Adam  Fisher,  born  August  31,  1834,  and  died  May  29, 
1837. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  379 

"William  Fisher  moved  from  Hardy  comity,  Virginia,  to  Braxton  county, 
then  Nicholas  county,  about  1832,  and  settled  on  the  head  of  Granny's  creek. 
He  was  a  farmer  and  stockman. 

Benjamin  Franklin  Fisher. 

Benjamin  Franklin  Fisher,  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  Fisher,  was  born 
August  17,  1831,  and  died  August  2,  1902.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  his 
county  and  represented  Braxton  county  in  the  legislature  sessions  of  1881,  1882 
and  1885.  He  inherited  the  large  and  valuable  farm  upon  which  he  was  reared, 
and  by  economy  and  good  management  he  added  other  lands  to  his  posses- 
sions. He  married  for  his  first  wife,  Margaret  Sutton,  daughter  of  Felix  and 
Susan  SMdmore  Sutton.  She  was  born  November  4,  1834,  and  died  April  24, 
1885 ;  Avas  noted  for  her  kindness  and  benevolence.  They  had  a  family  of  nine 
children:  William,  who  died  in  infancy,  Felix  R..  John  L.,  George  B.,  Jake,  and 
William.  The  girls  were  Susan,  who  married  John  Lloyd,  Anna,  who  married 
A.  L.  Morrison,  and  May,  who  married  A.  W.  Berry;  she  died  in  1901. 

Mr.  Fisher  married  for  his  second  wife,  Mrs.  Susan  Hopkins  of  Pendleton 
county,  a  woman  of  noble  character,  who  is  still  living  at  an 
advanced  age.  He  and  Ins  first  wife  are  buried  in  the  Fisher  cemetery  where 
rest  three  generations  of  the  family. 

Mr.  Fisher's  sons  are  prosperous  farmers  and  stock  dealers.  Jake,  who 
studied  law  in  the  offices  of  Flick  and  Westenhaver,  Martinsburg,  West  Va., 
was  educated  at  Washington  &  Lee  University.  He  represented  Braxton  county 
in  the  legislature  sessions  of  1899,  1901,  and  as  senator,  sessions  1905,  1907  and 
1911.  He  was  elected  Judge  of  the  9th  Judicial  Circuit  in  1912,  and  resides 
in  Sutton,  W.  Va. 

D.  J.  Fury. 

D.  J.  Fury,  son  of  Wm.  O'Dell  and  Rebecca  Fury,  was  born  at  West 
Milford,  May  25,  1878.  He  was  married  August  10,  1906,  to  Nealie  Esta  Bailey. 
He  has  one  daughter,  Ruth  Marie  Fury.  The  family  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church.  Mrs.  Fury  is  a  railroad  telegraph  operator.  The  author  has  been 
the  recipient  of  the  friendship  and  hospitality  of  this  family,  and  holds  them  in 
highest  esteem. 

John  Andrew  Grose. 

John  Andrew  Grose  was  born  on  the  Grose  home  farm,  one  mile  south  of 
Summersville,  Nicholas  county,  April  17,  1864.  His  father  was  John  Mc- 
Dowell Grose,  son  og  Samuel  Grose,  whose  wife  was  an  Oliver.  Samuel's  father, 
Jacob  Samuel  Grose,  settling  in  Nicholas  county,  on  Line  Creek,  soon  after  the 
Mexican  war,  in  which  he  was  a  soldier,  moving  from  Virginia. 

John  Andrew's  mother  was  Melvina  Hamilton  Grose,  daughter  of  John 
McKee  Hamilton  and  Rebecca  Robinson  Hamilton,  whose  mother  was  a  daugh- 


380  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

ter  of  James  Robinson  and  Betsy  Lemasters,  the  latter  a  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Lemasters. 

His  mother  died  when  he  was  eight  years  old  and  his  father  when  he  was 
fourteen  years  old.  A  very  excellent  stepmother,  who,  before  marriage  to  his 
father,  was  the  widow  of  Thomas  McVey,  she  being  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Koontz, 
remained  with  him  and  his  younger  brothers,  William  Rush  Grose  and  David 
Oliver  Grose,  until  the  fall  of  18S1  , when- they  "broke  up"  housekeeping.  At 
this  time  he  entered  the  Nicholas  Chronicle  office,  where  he  began  learning  the 
printer's  trade  and  the  newspaper  business,  having  attended  the  district  schools 
previous  to  this. 

He  came  to  Sutton  in  September,  1885,  when  he  purchased  an  interest  in 
the  Braxton  Democrat,  then  a  7-column  folio,  with  650  circulation.  In  one  way 
or  another  he  has  been  connected  with  this  paper  since  that  date,  except  from 
1889  to  May,  1893,  when  he  resided  in  Nicholas,  during  which  time  he  and  his 
brother,  D.  0.  Grose,  acquired  the  Nicholas  Chronicle. 

The  Democrat  is  now  a  6-column  quarto,  with  2,450  circulation. 

In  April,  1896,  he  and  Dr.  T.  S.  Wade  established  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Advocate  in  the  interest  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  the  paper 
being  known  at  present  as  the  AdvoeattvHerald.  He  is  manager  and  publisher 
of  both  the  Braxton  Democrat  and  Advocate-Herald,  and  is  also  associate  editor. 

But  I  must  not  fail  to  mention  his  rather  uncommon  record  as  to  marriages, 
as  follows : 

To  Miss  Mattie  Patterson,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Patterson, 
May,  1888,  who  died  January,  1890 ;  to  Miss  Nannie  Camden,  daughter  of  Capt. 
and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Camden,  April,  1892,  who  died  September,  1898;  to  Mrs.  Esther1 
Peck,  March,  1901;  to  Miss  Lucy  Smith,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H. 
Smith,  Sr.,  September,  1908,  who  died  April,  1913;  and  to  Mrs.  Margaret  E. 
Baxter,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen  S.  Berry,  November,  1915 — all  happy 
and  congenial  marriages,  except  that  to  Mrs.  Peck,  which  ended  unhappily  for 
both  in  less  than  a  year. 

One  daughter,  Bessie  M.  Grose,  school  teacher,  Charleston,  survives  Mattie 
Grose.  One  daughter,  Ruth  N.  Grose,  school  teacher,  Charleston,  and  one  son, 
Lieutenant  John  Edwin  Grose,  of  the  Regular  Army,  survive  Nannie  Grose; 
another  son,  Thomas  Wade  Grose,  having  died  at  the  age  of  three  and  a  half 
years — all  having  been  born  in  Sutton,  Braxton  county,  West  Virginia. 

Benjamin  Skidmore. 

Benjamin  Skidmore,  son  of  William  S.  and  Mary  Ann  Skidmore  Gillespie, 
was  born  in  Sutton,  September  19,  1869.  He  attended  the  best  schools  of  the 
county,  and  after  graduating  from  the  schools  at  Sutton,  he  learned  the  printer's 
trade,  working  in  the  office  of  the  Braxton  Central  and  the  Braxton  Democrat, 
and  by  diligence  he  i*ose  to  the  position  of  Assistant  Editor  and  Manager.     By 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  381 

his  efforts  very  largely,  the  Democrat  has  attained  its  present  high  standard  as 
a  county  journal.  As  a  writer,  Mr.  Gillespie  has  no  superior  in  central  West 
Virginia.     Congenial  and  affable  in  character,  he  is  universally  liked. 

In  1912,  he  was  elected  Magistrate,  and  served  four  years,  refusing  a  second 
election,  to  become  against  the  assistant  editor  of  the  Democrat.  May  22,  1907, 
he  married  Miss  Lillian,  daughter  of  Edward  and  Kitty  Taylor  Snopps.  To 
this  union  have  been  born  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Their 
home  is  in  North  Sutton. 

Morgan  Gibson. 

Morgan  Gibson,  son  of  Jacob  and  Eva  (Lough)  Gibson,  was  born  in  Brax- 
ton county,  Dec.  18,  1827.  He  lived  at  home  and  worked  with  his  father  until 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age  when  his  parents  moved  west,  but  he  remained 
in  Braxton  county.  He  began  lumbering,  and  about  the  time  of  his  marriage 
added  farming  to  his  duties,  and  followed  both  until  the  war  ruined  both,  leav- 
ing him  with  nothing  except  his  family.  After  the  war  closed,  he  again  returned 
to  fanning  and  grazing.  He  had  one  brother,  Nicholas  G.  Gibson,  who  was  a 
surgeon  in  the  Confederate  army  during  the  entire  war.  He  also  had  five 
brothers  in  the  Federal  army,  William  G.  Jacob  S.,  Irving,  James  M.,  and 
George  W.  All  went  from  Illinois,  enlisting  early  in  the  conflict,  and  served 
until  its  close. 

Morgan  Gibson  married  Elizabeth  Jane  Given,  Feb.  1,  1849.  and  the  fol- 
lowing children  were  born:  Arthur  (died  in  infancy),  Phebe  E.,  Rebecca  Jane, 
Millard  Fillmore,  Ruann  (deceased),  Viola  Victoria,  Luther  H.  and  Eva  M. 

John  Gillespie. 

John  Gillespie,  progenitor  of  the  Gillespie  family,  came  from  Bath  county 
about  1830,  and  settled  in  Hackers  Valley  for  a  short  time,  and  then  moved  to 
upper  Flatwoods  where  he  lived  several  years  prior  to  his  death.  His  is  buried 
on  what  is  called  the  Wyatt  farm  where  he  lived,  and  his  wife  is  buried  at  the 
old  Morrison  cemetery. 

John  Gillespie. 

i  I E 

John  Gillespie  came  from  Bath  county,  Va.    His  children  were  Wm.,  John, 

Adam  and  Tramel;  Betsy  married  Paulson  Shaver,  Becky  married  Lewis  Per- 

rine.     The  Wyatt  and  Gillespie  families  settled  on  adjoining  lands  in  upper 

Flatwoods. 

Rev.  J.  Y.  Gillespie. 

Rev.  J.  Y.  Gillespie  was  born  May  15,  1842,  at  Flatwoods.  His  parents, 
John  Gillespie,  was  born  in  Bath  county,  Va.,  and  mother,  Ribera  Morrison,  in 
Greenbrier  county,  Va.  He  was  married  Jan.  20,  1875,  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Slrid- 
more,  and  his  children  are  Samuel  L.,  Cora,  Pat.  C,  Harry.  Lena  and  Conde. 


382  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

He  was  first  married  to  Miss  Naomi  J.  Hyer  in  1868,  and  their  only  child, 
Naomi,  died  at  about  five  years  of  age.  Naomi  was  the  fifth  generation  from 
Andrew  Skidmore,  but  never  saw  her  great,  great  grandfather. 

Rev.  J.  Y.  Gillespie  was  for  several  years  a  travelling  minister  in  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  church.  He  is  a  man  of  exemplary  character,  and  served  as  a 
soldier  in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil  war.  He  now  resides  at  Hyer,  this 
county. 

Jeremiah  H.  Gillespie.    • 

Jeremiah  H.  Gillespie,  son  of  Adam  and  Nancy  Morrison  Gillespie,  was 
bom  in  Nicholas  county,  Virginia,  October  13,  1835.  Married  Almira  J.  Posey. 
Their  children  were  Benjamin  F.,  deceased;  James  M.  Allie  (twins),  John  D. 
Delbert,  Minnie,  Lydia  G.  and  Martha  L. 

His  second  wife  was  Elizabeth  Post,  widow  of  James  Preil.  They  are  liv- 
ing, at  an  advanced  age,  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

Adam  Gillespie,  born  in  Bath  county,  Virginia,  married  Nancy  Morrison. 
Their  children  were  Mariah,  Griffin,  Jeremiah  H,  Cynthia,  Mary,  James  P., 
William  S.,  George  W.,  John  and  Julia. 

Given. 

We  find  the  name  of  John  Given  mentioned  as  Captain  of  a  company  from 
Bottount,  Augusta,  or  a  company  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  served  in  Col. 
John  Boyer's  Regiment,  Campbell's  Brigade  under  Lafayette,  and  was  with 
Colonel  Boberton  when  Tarleton  plundered  Charlottville.  We  see  another  Cap- 
tain Given  mentioned  as  Captain  and  later  a  Colonel  in  the  militia  from  Augusta 
in  the  war  of  1812.    His  name  was  Alexander  R.  Given. 

In  a  nearly  day  in  the  settlement  of  Braxton  county,  Wm.  Given  came  from 
Bath  county  and  settled  on  the  Big  Birch.  His  father  was  Irish,  and  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  His  wife  was  a  Miss  Bratton.  Whether 
he  was  the  Captain  John  Given  spoken  of  or  not,  we  have  no  authentic  account. 
John  Given  was  the  only  Revolutionary  soldier  of  whom  we  have  a  record. 

James  F.  Given  was  the  son  of  Wm.  Given,  his  mother  being  a  Miss  Frame. 
He  was  born  Sept.  20,  1818,  and  grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm.  He 
married  Ruth  Duffield  who  bore  him  thirteen  children.  For  several  years  he 
worked  on  the  farm  and  in  the  blacksmith  shop.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  char- 
acter, and  a  strong  believer  in  the  principles  of  Jefferson.  In  1852-53,  he  repre- 
sented Nicholas  and  Braxton  counties  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  and  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  strong  men  of  that  body.  In  1866,  he  represented  Braxton 
county  in  the  W.  Va.  Legislature,  and  for  many  years,  he  was  connected  with 
the  educational  institutions  of  the  comity  as  president  of  the  school  board.  He 
was  one  of  the  strong  leaders  and  wise  councilors  of  his  party.  Perhaps  no  man 
ever  lived  in  the  county  who  had  more  sincere  friends  than  James  F.  Given  or 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  383 

one  in  whom  the  people  had  greater  confidence.    He  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and 
left  many  descendants. 

"William  Given. 

William  Given,  a  son  of  Robert  and  Jane  (Given)  Given,  was  born  Jan.  18, 
1838,  in  Braxton  county.  He  married  Elizabeth  A.,  daughter  of  Adam  and 
Granville  (Rose)  Given,  Oct.  6,  1864,  and  the  following  children  were  born: 
Robert  A.,  Granville  J.,  Ruina  A.,  Benton  H.,  Oscar  L.,  Adam  A.,  Jennie  C, 
Blemie  L.    William  Given  died  June,  1917. 

David  Given. 

David  Given  lived  on  Scotts  Mountain  about  the  year  1840.  He  married 
a  Miss  Lamastus  of  Nicholas  county.  Their  family  of  seven  children  is  as  fol- 
lows:   Malinda  married  Joseph  Duffield;  Kasiah  married  Tunis  Davis;  Charity 

married  Roberts;  Becky  Jane  married  Benjamin  Roberts;  Alema- 

rinda  went  West  and  married  Roberts;  Agnes  married  Frank  Scott; 

and  one  son,  Washington,  went  West. 

James  Frame  Given. 

James  Frame  Given  was  bom  at  Glendon  on  Oct.  18,  1864.  His  parents, 
James  F.  Given  and  Ruth  Duffield,  were  born  near  Herold,  this  county.  Wil- 
liam Given  was  his  grandfather,  and  a  Miss  Frame,  his  grandmother. 

Mr.  Given  was  married  to  Amanda  B.  Keener  on  March  28,  1895,  and 
their  children  are  Eunice.  Hugh,  Ethel  and  Bruce.  Mr.  Given  is  a  devout  mem- 
ber of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  is  a  very  industrious  farmer  near  Frame- 
town. 

George  Goad. 

George  Goad  was  a  Virginian,  born  in  Carroll  county,  April  15,  1850,  and 
a  son  of  Andrew  and  Ellen  J.  (Avers)  Goad.  His  father  entered  the  Con- 
federate army  in  1862,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  returned 
to  his  fanning  in  Carroll  county.  George  Goad  worked  with  his  father  until 
he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  then  began  for  himself.  He  commenced 
dealing  in  horses,  locating  in  Braxton  county  in  1875,  and  lumbering,  drifted 
and  rafted  timber  and  logs  to  Charleston.  He  added  to  his  other  business  the 
conduct  of  a  store  of  general  merchandise  which  he  established  at  the  mouth 
of  Strange  creek.  He  was  married  June  20,  1879,  to  Sarah  A.  Frame,  and  the 
following  children  were  born:  Nimmie  (deceased),  Nettie,  and  Norman  who 
is  a  physician  at  Strange  Creek  at  this  time.  George  Goad  represented  this 
county  in  the  State  Legislature  during  the  sessions  of  1889,  1891  and  1893.  He 
also  served  the  people  of  this  county  as  Sheriff.  He  died  at  his  home  at  Strange 
Creek  in  July,  1917. 


384  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

IRA   H.   GREATHOUSE. 

Ira  H.  Greathouse,  a  son  of  Asa  and  Lydia  Queen  Greathouse,  was  born, 
in  Harrison  county,  April  27,  1860.  On  December  6,  1888,  he  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Mary  L.  Morrison,  and  to  this  union  were  born  five  children,  four  of  whom 
are  now  living.  They  are  Charlie  T.,  deceased,  Asa  Carl,  Maggie,  Mabel  and 
Genevieve.  Mr.  Greathouse  is  a  successful  farmer,  and  a  member  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South.  He  was  formerly  a  merchant  in  this  county,  and  a  lumberman,, 
and  was  for  one  term  a  member  of  the  County  Court. 

Homer  A.  Holt. 

Homer  A.  Holt,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  of  West  Virginia, 
was  born  in  Lewis  county,  Virginia.  When  quite  a  young  attorney,  he  came 
to  Braxton  county  to  practicce  his  profession.  He  married  Mary  Ann  Byrne,, 
daughter  of  John  B.  Byrne,  on  Jan.  27,  1857.    . 

Judge  Holt  continued  his  residence  in  Sutton  until  1874,  when  he  was. 
elected  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  embracing  the  county  of  Greenbrier.  He 
then  removed  to  Lewisburg,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  his  home  in  Lewisburg  in.  1897. 

Judge  Holt  was  the  son  of  Mathew  Holt,  a  Methodist  preacher.  His  chil- 
dren were  John  Homer  Holt,  of  Huntington,  Robert  Byrne  Holt  and  Mrs. 
Charles  S.  Dice,  of  Lewisburg.     He  was  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  16 

years,  and  in  18  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 

West  Virginia,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  ability.  Mrs.  Holt,  wife  of  Judge 
Holt,  died  at  Lewisburg,  Feb.  3rd,  1914,  in  her  79th  year. 

John  H.  Holt. 

John  H.  Holt,  son  of  Homer  A.  Holt  and  Mary  Ann  Byrne  Holt,  was  born 
in  Sutton,  Braxton  county,  Virginia,  August  10th,  1860.  He  attended  the 
local  schools,  and  subsequently  took  a  course  of  two  years  at  Randolph  Macon 
College,  Virginia,  and  studied  law  one  year  with  his  father,  after  which  he  took 

a  summer  course  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  under  Dr.  John  B.  M 

This  was  followed  by  a  law  course  at  George  Town  University,  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, where  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  L.  L.  B.  Mr.  Holt  then 
took  the  post  graduate  course  of  law  at  Yale,  graduating  with  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Laws.  He  located  at  Wheeling  and  formed  a  partnership  with  M.  T. 
Frame,  and  there  spent  three  years.  In  1890  he  removed  to  Huntington,  West 
Virginia,  forming  a  law  partnership  with  C.  W.  Campbell.  On  the  retirement, 
of  his  father  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeals,  he  was  nominated,  in  1896, 
by  the  Democratic  Convention,  to  succeed  him,  but  was  defeated,  running  2,000 
votes  ahead  of  his  ticket.  In  1900  he. was  the  standard  bearer  of  his  party  for 
Governor,  but  was  again  defeated,  running  ahead  of  his  ticket. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  285 

In  1886,  at  Wheeling,  Mr.  Holt  was  united  in  marriage  with  Effie  Ewing. 
They  have  four  children,  Homer,  Dorcas,  Helen  and  Klea. 

As  an  attorney,  and  profound  jurist,  Mr.  Holt  has  no  superior  in  West 
Virginia.  He  practices  in  all  the  higher  courts.  His  affable  and  congenial  na- 
ture, together  with  his  great  ability,  renders  him  one  of  the  most  popular  men 
of  the  State. 

Dr.  Andrew  C.  Humphreys. 

Dr.  Andrew  C.  Humphreys  was  born  March  13,  1810,  in  Greenbrier  coun- 
ty, Virginia,  He  married  Mary  McQuain  Hefner  in  1832;  she  was  born  in 
Pocahontas  county.  Dr.  Humphreys  came  with  his  family  an  dsettled  in  Sut- 
ton, West  Va.,  in  1860,  and  practiced  medicine  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
September  15,  1866.  Mrs.  Humphreys  died  October  7,  1893;  they  are  buried 
in  the  Skidmore  cemetery.  Their  children  were,  Caroline  J.,  Samuel  A.,  An- 
drew J.,  Malinda  A.,  Mary  E.,  James  W.,  Milton  W.,  John  C,  Robert  H., 
Sarah  F.,  Daniel  F.,  Houston  B.  His  son,  Milton  W.,  graduated  at  Washing- 
ton &  Lee  University,  Berlin  University  and  at  the  University  of  Leipsie.  He 
is  the  author  of  many  works  of  the  highest  merit:  some  of  his  text  books  are 
used  in  the  best  institutions  of  learning  in  America.  He  ranks  as  one  of  the 
great  scholars  of  the  world.  Two  sons  are  living  in  Sutton,  Robert.  H.  and 
James  W.     The  latter  has  four  sons  in  the  U.  S.  army. 

John  Hacker. 

John  Hacker  was  born  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  came  to  the  Buckhannon 
settlement  in  1768  or  1769.  He  located  permanently  in  1773  on  Hacker's  creek 
which  was  named  for  him.  He  held  the  office  of  .Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  bore 
a  prominent  part  in  the  Indian  wars  of  his  neighborhood.  It  is  said  that  he  had 
served  with  General  Clark's  Vincennes  Campaign.    He  died  in  1821. 

John  Hoover. 

John  Hoover  moved  from  the  Valley  of  Virginia  to  Braxton  county,  at  an 
early  date,  and  settled  on  the  mountain  between  the  Elk  and  the  Holly,  for 
many  years  known  as  Hoover  mountain,  now  called  Ware  Mount  ain.  Mr. 
Hoover's  wife's  name  was  Esther.  They  had  two  sons,  John  and  Pan1.  Their 
daughters  were  Sally,  who  married  McKeever,  and  Eliza,  who  married  Wm. 
Morrison.  Mr.  Hoover's  family  were  born  and  reared  in  the  Shenandoah  Val- 
ley. He  was  one  of  a  large  family,  said  to  be  six  brothers,  that  scattei'ed  and 
settled  in  Pennsylvania  and  other  states. 

John  Hoover,  son  of  John  and  Esther  Hoover,  married  Lucinda  Butcher; 
they  lived  for  many  years  on  Flatwoods  Run,  where  they  reared  a  family  of 
six  sons  and  one  daughter.  Their  children  were  Jesse  M.,  Asa,  Wesley,  Wil- 
liam, Francis,  Granville  and  one  daughter,  Caroline. 


386  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Paul,  son  of  John  and  Esther  Hoover,  married  Martha  Short.  Their  chil- 
dren were  Morgan,  James,  Thomas  Benjamin  and  two  daughters.  The  eldest 
married  Morgan  Simmons. 

Henry  S.  Hefner. 

Henry  S.  Hefner  was  born  June  24,  1859,  at  Sutton.  His  father,  Samuel 
C.  Hefner,  was  born  in  Greenbrier  county,  W.  Va.,  and  his  mother,  Sarah  E. 
Shaver,  at  Flatwoods.  Mr.  Hefner  was  married  Sept.  1,  1886,  to  Sarah  A. 
Stout,  and  their  children  are  Ersie  D.,  Effie  L.,  and  Sarah  Rachel.  He  now 
resides  at  Barboursville,  W.  Va.,  and  is  engaged  in  farming  and  the  real  estate 
business. 

Mr.  Hefner's  father  served  four  years  in  the  Confederate  army,  having 
unlisted  in  1861,  and  was  lieutenant  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  soon  after- 
wards moved  to  Glenville,  living  there  seven  years,  then  moved  to  the  farm 
on  Salt  Lick  near  Burnsville  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
mother  spent  the  latter  part  of  her  life  at  his  home  in  Barboursville. 

Benjamin  Huffman. 

Benjamin  Huffman  was  born  in  Barber  county,  Va.,  May  9,  1828.  His 
father,  Alexander  Huffman,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  was  said  to  be  of 
German  descent.    His  mother,  Hannah  Vanoy,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  to  Drusilla  Stump  on  Nov.  16,  1846, 
and  their  children  are  Granville,  Henson,  Daniel,  Jacob,  Ward,  Ruhala  Jane, 
and  John.  By  occupation,  Mr.  Huffman  has  always  been  an  industrious  farmer, 
and  is  a  faithful  member  of  the  Missionary  Baptist  church. 

Col.  John  Haymond. 

John  Haymond,  the  son  of  Major  William  Haymond,  was  born  near  Rock- 
ville,  now  in  Montgomery  county,  Maryland,  December  7,  1765,  and  came  with 
his  father  to  near  Morgantown  in  1773.  He  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of 
Colonel  Benjamin  Wilson,  July  3,  1787,  who  then  lived  in  Tygart's  Valley 
near  Beverly.  The  wedding  party  from  Clarksburg  on  their  way  to  the  bride's 
hon»e  camped  out  all  night  under  a  cliff  of  rocks  a  short  distance  from  Philippi 
on  the  Valley  river.  It  was  said  that  the  bride  and  groom  were  the  hand- 
somest couple  on  the  f rontier. 

John  Haymond  was  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Randolph 
Academy,  Deputy  Surveyor,  Sheriff ,' Member  of  the  Legislature  from  Harrison 
county,  Member  of  the  State  Senate,  an  officer  of  Militia,  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  Indian  wars  and  was  in  many  expeditions  against  them.  In  a  skirmish 
with  the  Indians  on  Middle  Island'  Creek,  now  in  Doddridge  county,  a  ball 
passed  through  a  handkerchief  which  he  had  tied  around  his  head. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  387 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Senate  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the 
celebrated  resolutions  of  1798,  and  in  all  phases  of  the  parlimentary  contest 
in  that  memorable  struggle,  his  name  is  found  as  voting  against  them. 

About  the  year  1S07  he  moved  onto  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Little 
Kanawha  river,  in  what  is  now  Braxton  county  near  Bulltown,  built  a  mill 
and  established  a  salt  works.  He  built  canoes  and  floated  down  the  river  to 
the  Ohio  and  thence  up  to  Pittsburgh,  purchased  kettles  in  which  to  boil  salt 
water  and  returned  with  them  by  the  same  route,  a  long  tedious  and  laborious 
journey. 

He  conducted  a  manufacture  of  salt  for  many  years  and  died  September 
5,  1838.    His  descendants  still  live  in  Braxton  county. 

John  Haymond. 

John  Haymond,  a  house  carpenter  and  joiner,  came  from  England  to  the 
Colonies,  some  time  prior  to  1740.  He  located  in  the  Colony  of  Maryland.  He 
had  three  sons,  William,  John  aud  Calder,  all  of  whom  served  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war. 

William,  after  the  war,  located  near  Clarksburg.  John  Haymond,  called 
and  known  as  Col.  John  the  Indian  fighter,  was  a  son  of  William,  and  set- 
tled at  Bulltown,  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river.  He  reared  a  large  family. 
William  P.  Haymond,  whose  name,  by  reason  of  his  being  a  land  surveyor  and 
Commissioner  of  Delinquent  and  Forfeited  Lands,  is  connected  with  more  of 
our  land  titles  than  any  other  name,  was  a  son  of  Col.  John  Haymond.  Wm. 
P.  was  the  owner  and  proprietor  of  the  mills  at  the  Palls  of  the  Little  Kanawha, 
from  an  early  day,  until  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1869. 

Thomas  Haymond,  a  son  of  Col.  John,  was  the  father  of  Luther  D.  Hay- 
mond, who  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  county  when  the  Civil  war  began. 
Luther  D.  Haymond  joined  the  Confederate  army;  and  was  Captain  of  a  com- 
pany from  this  county.  After  the  war,  he  located  in  Virginia,  and  practiced 
law  there,  until  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1886. 

Eugenus  Haymond  was  a  son  of  Thomas;  and  John  Q.  Haymond,  who 
now  lives  near  Falls  Mills,  and  who  was  a  Federal  soldier,  and  Sarah  J.  Squires, 
wife  of  E.  H.  Squires,  living  at  Flatwoods,  are  children  of  Thomas,  and  the 
only  children  of  his  large  family  now  living. 

All  of  the  Haymonds  in  this  county  are  descendants  of  Col.  John,  and 
many  of  his  descendants  are  to  be  found  in  other  counties  of  this  state,  and  other 
states  of  the  Union,  especially  westwardly. 

W.  E.  Haymond,  an  attorney- at- law,  was  the  son  of  Eugenus  and  Mary  J. 
Berry  Haymond,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Berry.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm,  not 
far  from  Falls  Mills.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of  the  neighborhood  in 
the  winter  season,  and  labored  on  the  farm  in  summer,  and  after  acquiring  a 
good  common  school  education,  he  taught  school  for  a  few  terms.  Afterwards, 
he  read  law  in  Weston,  Lewis  county,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  in  Sutton, 


3S8  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

in  1879.    He  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Braxton  county  in  1884,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  for  eight  years. 

Mr.  Haymond  married  his  first  wife,  Emma  C.  Hawkins,  of  Buckhannon. 
To  this  union  were  born  two  children,  Gertrude  and  Nora.  For  his  second 
wife  he  married  Ethel  Rhoades,  of  Lewis  county. 

Mr.  Haymond  was  a  candidate  for  Congress  on  the  Democratic  ticket  in 
1900.  The  District  being  Republican,  he  was  unable  to  reduce  the  large  ma- 
jority that  confronted  him. 

He  has  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  law  practice,  being  chief  council  for 
E.  D.  Fulton,  of  New  York  vs.  Geo.  J.  Gould,  The  Little  Kanawha  Syndicate 
and  others,  in  which  about  50,000  acres  of  coal  land  was  involved,  in  Braxton 
and  Gilmer  counties.    For  his  services  in  this  suit  he  was  paid  $35,000. 

Mr.  Haymond  has  done  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  citizen  of  his  town, 
to  promote  such  interests  as  would  build  up  the  town  and  community.  It  was 
through  his  influence  that  the  Coal  &  Coke  Railroad  was  extended  from  Gassa- 
way  to  Sutton.  It  is  through  his  efforts  that  the  Government  is  locating  an 
extract  plant  at  Sutton,  which  will  add  greatly  to  this  section  of  country. 

Andrew  J.  Hopkins. 

Andrew  J.  Hopkins,  son  of  Caleb  and  Mary  A.  (Cocke)  Hopkins,  was  born 
in  Goochland  county,  Va.,  Jan.  17,  1825,  and  came  to  Braxton  county  with  his 
parents  in  1842.  On  Dec.  16.  1851,  he  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  G.  G.  and 
Martha  (Stout)  Dennison.  Their  children  numbered  ten:  Lucian  M.,  Minerva 
C,  Martha  A.,  Matilda  E.,  Lucy  J.,  Narcissus  W.,  Sabina  C,  Walter  L.,  Alice 
V.  and  William  J. 

Elijah  Heater. 

Elijah  Heater,  son  of  Solomon  and  Betsey  E  .(Wilson)  Heater,  was  born 
in  this  county  in  1834.  He  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army  in  1861,  in  Gilmer 
county,  and  served  through  the  war.  Among  the  battles  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged were:  Laurel  Hill,  Droop  Mountain,  Bulltown,  Beverly  and  Buckhan- 
.  non.  At  Droop  Mountain,  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  to  Fort  Delaware 
where  he  remained  eighteen  months  at  which  time  he  was  released  and  sent  to 
Clarksburg. 

March  1,  1874,  Elijah  Heater  married  Victoria  Wyatt  who  was  born  in 
Randolph  county,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Kittie  A.  (Johnson)  Wyatt.  Their 
children  were  Al.  B.,  Hayes  P.,  Early  S.,  Sarah  I.,  and  boy  unknown. 

John  Heater. 

John  Heater  was  born  July  5,  1818,  and  died  at  his  home  near  Heater  sta- 
tion Dec.  15,  1804.     (In  Oct.  17,   1847,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Eliza- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  389 

beth  A.  Berry,  daughter  of  William  and  Caroline  Berry,  by  which  union  they 
were  blessed  with  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four  daughters;  the  eldest, 
William  Wirt,  died  Dec.  4,  1882;  Madora  J.,  wife  of  T.  Cunningham,  J.  B. 
Heater,  Leo  A.,  wife  of  N.  G-.  Singleton,  Charles  B.  Heater,  Sophrona  Heater, 
wife  of  J.  H.  Long;  and  Rebecca,  wife  of  Jacob  Huffman,  died: 

J.  H.  Hutchinson. 

J.  H.  Hutchison  was  born  Feb.  13,  1884,  at  Flatwoods.  His  father,  Wm. 
Hutchison,  was  born  in  this  county,  while  his  mother,  Esther  C.  Jones,  was 
born  in  Highland  county,  Va.  His  grandparents,  Felix  Hutchison  and  Anne 
Kniceley,  were  natives  of  Nicholas  county. 

Mr.  Hutchison  was  married  to  Miss  Blanche  Mearns  Dec.  25,  1906,  and 
their  children  are  Bernard  Mearns  and  William  Milton.  He  began  teaching 
school  in  1901,  attending  Glenville  Normal  in  1902  and  1903.  He  was  elected 
County  Superintendent  of  Free  Schools  in  1914.  As  a  teacher  and  County 
Superintendent,  he  is  very  popular.  When  not  engaged  in  school  work,  he 
cultivates  his  farm  situated  on  the  head  of  Salt  Lick. 

William  Hoover. 
William  Hoover,  son  of  John  and  Cynthia  Hoover,  married  Jerusha,  daugh- 
ter of  Tunis  McElwain  who  was  born  in  Pendleton  county  in  1773.  Mr.  Hoover 
settled  on  the  head  of  Birch  shortly  after  his  marriage  which  occurred  in  1867. 
He  was  the  father  of  eleven  children,  and  two  of  his  sons  are  prominent  men 
of  Webster  county.  Dr.  Marshall  Hoover  is  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of 
his  county.  John  Hoover  is  a  lawyer,  and  enjoys  a  lucrative  practice,  and  is 
the  present  Prosecuting  Attorney.  William  Hoover  died  in  1890,  and  his  wife 
died  in  1909. 

Francis  Hoover. 

Francis  Hoover,  brother  of  William  Hoover,  married  Amanda  Prince, 
daughter  of  Simon  and  Peggy  (Sisk)  Prince.  They  raised  a  large  family. 
Mr.  Hoover  died  in  1916. 

Captain  N.  M.  Hyer. 

The  founder  of  the  Hyer  family  came  from  Germany  at  an  early  period 
of  the  country's  history,  and  settled  on  the  James  river  at  or  near  Jamestown. 
He  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom  emigrated  East,  and  the  other  moved  to  Rock- 
ingham county,  Va.  It  was  here  that  Leonard  Hyer,  grandfather  of  the  de- 
ceased, was  born  about  the  year  1758.  He  was  captured  by  the  Indians  at  the 
age  of  thirteen,  and  kept  in  captivity  for  three  years.  After  regaining  his 
liberty,  he  joined  General  Washington's  army,  and  served  until  the  indepen-' 


390  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

dence  of  the  country  was  gained,  then  returning  to  Rockingham  he  married 
a  lady  by  the  name  of  Rohrbaugh  and  reared  seven  children.  Two  of  these 
children,  Christian  and  Mary,  came  to  Harrison  county,  now  Braxton,  and  set- 
tled near  Flatwoods  about  1817 ;  the  other  five  emigrated  to  Ohio. 

Captain  Hyer  was  a  son  of  Christian  and  Julia  Hyer;  his  mother's  name 
was  Sirk ;  she  was  a  niece  of  the  celebrated  Adam  Poe.  It  was  at  the  exemplary 
Christian  home  of  his  parents  that  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  Avhence  he  received 
his  early  moral  and  religious  training. 

He  married  Elizabeth  Jane,  daughter  of  James  W.  Morrison,  and  their 
children  are  James  M.,  Mary  E.,  Nancy  V.,  Emma  T.  and  John  W. 

In  1862,  when  the  struggle  waged  the  fiercest  and  vast  armies  were  strug- 
gling for  supremacy,  Mr.  Hyer  volunteered  as  a  private  in  Company  F,  Tenth 
"West  Virginia  Infantry,  and  was  shortly  afterwards  made  1st  Lieutenant  of 
the  company,  and  then  elected  Captain,  a  position  that  he  held  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  was  taken  prisoner  in  1863  and  was  sent  to  Libby  and  then  to 
Charleston,  S.  C,  from  there  he  was  sent  to  Savannah,  Ga.,  remaining  as  a 
prisoner  seventeen  months  and  eleven  days.  He  had  as  companions  in  Libby, 
Bishop  C.  C.  McCabe,  Neal  Dow,  the  great  temperance  advocate  of  Maine,  and 
others  of  national  celebrity.  His  prison  life  was  one  of  great  privation  and 
danger,  and  at  the  time  of  his  release  his  life  hung  upon  a  very  brittle  thread. 

Captain  Hyer  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 

A.  J.  Hyer. 

A.  J.  Hyer,  son  of  Christian  Hyer  and  Judy  (Sirk)  Hyer,  was  bom  in 
Braxton  county  Aug.  24,  1818.  He  married  Hannah  Rodgers,  daughter  of 
Levi  and  Naomi  (Skidmore)  Rodgers,  and  to  this  union  were  born  Naomi  J., 
Jacob  S.,  Christian  B.,  Julia,  Mary  E.,  Alice,  Wm.  G.,  George  T. 

By  his  second  marriage  with  Hannah  Morrison,  widow  of  James  Morri- 
son, there  were  born  three  children,  Joseph,  Jackson  and  Flora.  Mr.  Hyer 
owned  a  good  farm  in  Boling  Green  that  he  bought  by  his  own  industry  and 
frugality.  He  was  a  model  farmer  and  citizen,  and  for  many  years  was  a 
member  of  the  M.  E.  church.  He  died  December  10th,  1894,  and  was  buried 
at  the  Hyer  cemetery  on  his  father's  old  farm  near  Flatwoods,  by  the  side  of  the 
remains  of  his  first  wife. 

Leonard  W.  Hyer. 

Leonard  W.  Hyer,  son  of  Christian  and  Judy  (Sirk)  Hyer,  was  born 

,   18 He  married  McPherson  and  their  children  Avere 

James,  Harvy.  Mr.  Hyer  served  through  the  Civil  war  in  his  brother's  com- 
pany. He  owned  a  farm  on  Cedar  creek,  and  was  a  carpenter  as  well  as  a 
farmer.    Was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  391 

L.  D.  Hyer. 

L.  D.  Hyer,  son  of  Samuel  E.  and  Clara  J.  (Wheeler)  Hyer,  was  born  in 
1861.  He  married  Clemena  Riffle,  and  their  children  were:  Victor,  Minter, 
Porter,  Dessie,  Edgar,  Carder,  Hallie,  Orile  Otis  and  Oley  Oris,  the  last  two 
named  being  twins. 

Mr.  Hyer  owned  a  good  farm  on  O'Brions  creek  in  Clay  county  where  ne 
resided.  He  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Clay  county  in  1908.  He  died  May  4,  1911, 
and  his  son  Porter  finished  his  term  of  office. 

Jacob  S.  Hyer. 

Jacob  S.  Hyer,  son  of  Adam  J.  and  Hannah  Rodgers  Hyer,  was  born  in 
Braxton  county,  Jan.  10,  1849.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  until  his  thirteenth 
year.  It  was  his  industry  and  close  application  to  business  that  induced  his 
parents  to  send  him  to  Weston  where  he  could  have  better  educational  advan- 
tages. The  opportunities  thus  afforded  were  very  diligently  improved.  After 
he  left  school,  he  secured  a  position  with  George  A.  Jackson  in  the  clerk's  office, 
and  later  he  entered  the  mercantile  store  of  A.  A.  Lewis  as  a  clerk. 

After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  Mr.  Hyer  came  back  near  his  old  home, 
and  went  into  the  mercantile  business  at  Flatwoods  run,  on  the  Elk,  at  a  place 
now  called  Hyer.  After  successfully  conducting  the  business  there  for  a  few 
years,  he  moved  his  store  to  Sutton  where  he  expanded  in  business  and  soon 
became  the  principal  merchant  of  the  town.  He  helped  organize  the  old  Sutton 
Bank  which  was  the  first  bank  established  in  the  county,  and  became  its  Presi- 
dent, a  position  which  he  held  until  his  death  in  1903.  He  was  a  candidate  on 
the  Republican  ticket  for  House  of  Delegates,  and  while  the  county  was  largely 
Democratic,  he  reduced  the  majority  and  lacked  only  a  small  number  of  votes 
of  being  elected.  He  was  the  nominee  of  his  party  in  1892  for  the  office  of 
State  Auditor,  and  once  more  reduced  the  majority  in  the  sections  where  he 
had  been  best  known  for  many  years.  Mr.  Hyer  was  connected  with  school 
work  in  this  town  for  many  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
and  the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  was 
liberal  of  his  means,  and  active  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  church. 

He  married  in  1878  a  daughter  of  Charles  E.  Singleton,  and  after  a  short 
period,  this  highly  esteemed  lady  was  taken  from  his  embrace,  and  he  was  left 
with  two  children,  George  Edwin  and  Charles  J. 

In  1886,  Mr.  Hyer  married  for  his  second  wife,  Mary  C,  the  daughter  of 
Wm.  Hawkins  of  Buckhannon.  By  this  union,  he  had  the  following  children, 
Harry  Jackson,  Thomas  Hawkins  and  Lulu  Winifred. 

Mr.  Hyer  accumulated  a  large  estate,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  finest 
business  men  and  financiers  in  the  central  part  of  the  state.  He  died  at  his 
home  in  Sutton  July  7,  1903,  of  typhoid  fever,  greatly  beloved  by  his  country- 
men. 


392  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Jacob  Hyer. 

Jacob  Hyer,  son  of  Christian  and  Judy  Sirk  Hyer,  born  1828,  owned  a 
farm  on  the  Elk  river  near  Hyer.  He  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Eliga  Squires. 
She  was  bom  in  1837.  They  were  married  in  1849.  Their  children  were  Ellis, 
B.  F.,  and  Jacob. 

Ellis  Hyer. 

Ellis  Hyer,  son  of  Christian  and  Judy  Sirk  Hyer,  married  Clara  Wheeler. 
Their  children  were  Sherman,  L.  D.,  John,  and  one  daughter.  Mr.  Hyer  was 
a  farmer.  He  lived  several  years  in  Clay  county  and  owned  valuable  land  on 
O'Briens  creek  where  he  lived.  He  died  some  years  after  the  Civil  war,  and 
was  buried  at  his  old  home  where  rest  the  remains  of  most  of  his  children  who 
died  in  middle  life. 

In  1816,  Isaac  Shaver  and  Christian  Hyer,  brothers-in-law,  moved  from 
Rockingham  county,  Va.,  to  Flatwoods,  now  Braxton  county,  and  settled  on 
lands,  part  of  which  is  still  in  the  hands  of  their  descendants.  They  landed 
in  October,  bringing  their  goods  in  one  wagon. 

Rev.  Levi  J.  Huffman. 

Rev.  Levi  J.  Huffman,  son  of  Alexander  and  Hannah  (Vannoy)  Huffman, 
was  born  in  Calhoun  county,  June  9,  1839.  On  Nov.  17,  1860,  he  married 
Ruhala,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Jane  (Boggs)  Stump.  Her  birth  was  in  Gilmer 
county,  Oct.  3,  1842.  Mr.  Huffman  was  converted  in  1860,  and  was  ordained 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry  on  July  23,  1866.  Since  that  time,  he  was  con- 
stantly and  actively  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  calling  in  the  Baptist  church 
•until  a  few  years  ago  when  he  closed  out  his  fiftieth  year  in  active  ministry. 
Rev.  Huffman  was  married  Aug.  24,  1916,  to  Mrs.  Lelia  Belsches  of  Charles- 
ton, his  former  companion  having  deceased  some,  years  previous. 

William  S.  Hefner. 

William  S.  Hefner,  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Propst)  Hefner,  was 
born  in  Pendleton  county,  Nov.  20,  1817.  He  was  twice  married,  Rachel  Mc- 
Wallace  being  the  former  wife  and  Elizabeth  (Morgan)  Talbert,  the  latter. 
His  former  wife  was  mother  of  the  following  family:  Hannah  M.  E.,  Rachel 
Evaline,  Lyda  C,  Benjamin  L.,  Samuel,  Mott,  Matthew  W.,  William  C,  Edna, 
John  B.,  and  Rachel  Me. 

William  Hudkins. 

William  Hudkins  was  born  in  Randolph  county,  Va.,  in  1805.  He  was  the 
son  of  Bascal  Hudkins.  He  came  to  Braxton  when  a  young  man,  and  married 
Polly,  daughter  of  James  and  Becca  Boggs.    She  was  born  in  1814.    Mr.  Hud- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  393 

kins  died  in  June,  1877,  and  his  wife  died  in  Nov.,  3886.  Their  children  were 
Susan  who  married  James  Squires  (son  of  Eligah),  Hanson  B.,  married  Lyddia 
Squires,  daughter  of  Eligah  Squires;  Caroline  married  H.  A.  Baxter,  son  of 

"Wm.  D.  Baxter;  one  ehiid  died  young;  James  P.  married  Ki'zer.    Mary 

married  Thomas  C.  Meadows,  Jane  married  Nelson  McLaughlin,  Francis  B. 
married  Bucy  Stewart,  daughter  of  Richard  Stewart;  Sarah  married  Harvey, 
son  of  Leonard  Hyer;  Minter  and  Lisa  Link  were  twins;  Minter  married  a 

Miss  Young,  and  she  having  died,  he  married  for  his  second  wife 

Lisa  Link  married  Gillespie. 

Elias  Hughes. 

Elias  Hughes  was  born  on  the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac,  his  birth  oc- 
curring sometime  before  Braddock's  defeat  in  1755. 

He  first  appears  on  the  public  stage  as  a  soldier,  participating  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Point  Pleasant  in  1774.  in  which  he  took  an  active  part.  He  was  the  last 
survivor  of  that  conflict  and  lived  seventy  years  after  it  was  fought. 

He  next  appears  in  Harrison  county  where  for  many  years  he  was  engaged 
-as  a  scout,  watching  the  Indian  war  parties  and  giving  notices  of  their  ap- 
proach to  the  settlers  of  the  Monongahela  Valley,  and  in  this  capacity  he  was 
of  great  service  to  the  frontier  by  his  activity  and  knowledge  of  Indian  war- 
fare. 

He  pre-empted  four  hundred  acres  of  land  in  1770  on  the  West  Fork  river 
near  the  mouth  of  Hacker's  creek. 

Hughes'  father,  and  others  of  his  kindred  ,and  a  young  lady  to  whom 
he  was  much  attached  were  murdered  by  the  Indians.  These  acts  of  barbarity 
made  him  ever  after  an  unrelenting  and  merciless  enemy  of  the  Indian  race, 
and  he  never  spared  one  of  them  when  opportunity  occurred. 

The  Indian  troubles  having  ceased  by  the  treaty  at  Greenville  in  1795, 
Hughes'  services  not  being  longer  required,  he  enterd  into  the  employmnt  as 
-a  hunter  for  a  party  of  surveyors  in  Ohio,  probably  under  the  direction  of 
John  G.  Jackson,  Deputy  Surveyor  under  Rufus  Putnam,  Surveyor  for  the 
United  States  Government. 

Hughes  was  attracted  by  the  fine  appearance  of  the  land  on  the  Licking 
river,  and  concluded  to  locate  on  it.  Accordingly  in  1797,  with  his  wife  and 
twelve  children,  his  nephew  John  Ratcliff  with  his  wife  and  four  children  on 
foot  and  pack  horses,  started  west  and  settled  on  what  is  called  the  Bowling 
Green  on  the  banks  of  the  Licking  four  miles  east  of  the  present  city  of  Newark. 
This  colony  of  twenty-one  souls  was  the  first  permanent  white  settlement  in  the 
present  county  of  Licking,  State  of  Ohio. 

In  1801,  four  horses  were  stolen  by  two  Indians  from  Hughes  and  his  neigh- 
bors. They  were  followed  and  overtaken,  and  though  his  companions  en- 
deavored to  persuade  Hughes  to  spare  their  lives,  he  strenuously  objected,  his 


394  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

old  hatred  for  the  race  was  too  great  to  be  overcome  and  the  horse  thieves  paid 
the  penalty.' 

Although  about  sixty  years  of  age,  he  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  as  also 
did  three  of  his  sons,  one  of  whom  died  from  disease.    ■ 

He  died  in  1844,  at  about -the  age  of  ninety  years,  and  was  buried  with 
military  honors. 

Jesse  Hughes. 

Jesse  Hughes,  the  noted  border  and  Indian  scout,  was,  it  is  supposed,  born 
on  the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac,  and  came  to  the  "West  in  1770,  and  lo- 
cated his  four  hundred  acres  on  Hacker's  creek,  adjoining  lands  afterwards 
owned-  by  Colonel  William  Lowther. 

He  participated  in  many  expeditions  against  the  Indians,  and  was  perhaps 
better  known  and  had  a  wider  reputation  for  daring  than  any  other  man  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Monongahela,  and  he  did  much  to  protect  the  settlers, 
from  the  forays  of  the  savages. 

He  had  a  fierce  temper  and  bore  an  intense  hatred  to  the  Indians,  and  no 
one  of  that  race  was  safe  with  him  either  in  war  or  peace. 

He  lived  to  a  great  age  and  died  at  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  George 
Henshaw,  in  Jackson  county,  West  Virginia,  about  1830. 

(Hutchinson.) 

The  name  is  Scotch  and  can  be  traced  back  as  far  as  the  days  of  Charles 
Stuart,  first  of  the  family  that  reigned  as  king  of  England,  in  his  parliament 
was  a  Colonel  Hutchison  who  was  a  faithful  and  efficient  leader  for  the  Stuart 
cause.  However  when  Charles  the  first  was  beheaded  and  Oliver  Cromwell  be- 
came the  same  as  king,  all  the  assistants  and  sympathizers  of  Charles  the  first 
that  did  not  seek  safety  in  fight  were  put  to  death.  As  it  happened  Colonel 
Hutchison  died  at  this  time  and  certain  ones  of  his  descendents,  his  children 
to  be  exact,  emigrated  to  the  new  world,  with  William  Penn,  and  the  Pennsyl- 
vania colonists.  This  was  in  the  year  of  1682.  Joseph  Hutchison  settled  some- 
where near  Chester,  Pa.  David  Hutchison,  son  of  Joseph  Hutchison,  settled 
in  Westmoreland  county.  In  1745  William,  son  of  David,  settled  in  the  valley 
of  Virginia  where  one  of  his  daughters  married  Jacob  Warwick  and  moved 
to  Clover  Lick,  Pocahontas  county.  September  17,  1770,  William,  son  of  Wil- 
liam, married  Rebecca  Warwick.  (They  were  cousins.)  In  June,  1771,  he- 
took  pneumonia  fever  and  died.  His  wife  went  and  lived  with  her  father 
where  on  Oct.  17,  1771,  she  gave  birth  to  three  children,  Rebecca,  William  and 
Jacob.  Rebecca  married  David  Hanna  of  Greenbrier  county,  William  went 
to  Ohio  and  was  lost  sight  of,  and  Jacob  married  Hanna  MacMillian  June  27,. 
1797.  Pour  children  were  born :  John,  May  4,  1798 ;  William,  May  6,  1800  j 
Jacob,  May  22,  1802 ;  Joseph,  July  23,  1804. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  395 

William  and  Jane  MacMillian,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Jane  MacMillian, 
were  married  February  6th,  1825.  (They  were  cousins).  For  his  second  wife 
he  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Bell;  to  this  union  no 
children  were  born.    To  the  former  marriage  the  following  children  were  bom : 

Nathan  MacMillian  Hutchison,  born  Dec.  15,  1825. 

Daughter  (not  named) ,  born  Feb.  9,  1827.    Died  Feb.  10,  1827. 

Hannah  Jane,  born  March  6,  1828. 

Joseph,  bom  Sept.  22,  1829. 

Felix,  born  Feb.  20,  1831.    Died  April  22,  1916. 

Virginia,  bom  Nov.  8,  1832. 

Miles  M.,  bom  Nov.  11,  1834. 

Ann,  bom  March  9,  1838.    Died  Dec.  22,  1838. 

William  Hutchison  died  May  16,  1866.  His  former  wife  died  April  5th, 
1838. 

Felix  Hutchison  married  Ann  E.  Knicely,  daughter  of  John  and  Nancy 
Knicely,  Aug.  28,  1852,  by  the  Rev.  William  Sisk.  She  was  born  May  23,  1832, 
and  died  Aug.  7,  1906.    The  children  were : 

William,  bom  Sept.  12,  1853. 

Henderson  B.,  born  April  25,  1855. 

John  R.,  bom  July  25,  1857. 

Elizabeth  J.,  born  Nov.  10,  1859. 

Ellis  Lee,  bom  March  27,  1862.    Died  Sept.  15,  1880. 

Nancy  F.,  bom  Aug.  9,  1864.    Died  Aug.  28,  1877. 

Clark,  bom  June  5,  1868.    Died  May  12,  1869. 

Winheld  S.,  born  April  7,  1870.    Died  March  17,  1872. 

Charles  L.  Hutchinson. 

Charles  L.  Hutchinson  was  bom  June  4,  1887,  at  Gem,  Braxton  county. 
His  father,  H.  B.  Hutchinson,  was  bom  at  Corley,  April  25,  1855,  and  his 
mother,  Sarah  V.  (Moyers)  Hutchinson,  was  born  at  Cutlip,  May  28,  1860. 
His  grandparents,  Felix  Hutchinson  and  Ann  (Knicely)  Hutchinson,  were 
born  at  Corley,  in  the  years  1831  and  1832,  respectively. 

Charles  L.  Hutchinson  was  married  Feb.  5,  1910,  to  Elsie  D.  Hefner.  Mr. 
Hutchinson  is  a  manufacturer  of  knit  goods,  and  now  resides  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

John  Jackson. 

John  Jackson,  the  pioneer  of  the  Jackson  family  in  West  Virginia,  was 
bom  in  Londondei*ry,  Ireland,  about  the  year  1719,  his  father  removed  to  Lon- 
don when  John  was  quite  young  and  there  he  learned  the  builders  trade. 

In  1784,  he  imigrated  to  Cecil  county  in  the  colony  of  Maryland  and  there 
married  Elizabeth  Cummins,  an  English  woman,  who  according  to  tradition 


396  SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 

was  a  large,  strong  minded,  energetic,  courageous  woman  of  great  strength  of 
character,  which  traits  were  inherited  by  her  descendants. 

This  couple  were  the  progenitors  of  a  long  line  of  able  enterprising  men 
who  were  distinguished  in  military  and  civil  life  and  left  their  impress  on  the 
times  in  which  they  lived. 

Several  years  after  their  marriage  the  young  couple  moved  West  and  after 
several  temporary  locations,  in  1769,  crossed  the  mountains  and  located  on  the 
Buckhannon  river  at  the  mouth  of  Turkey  Bun.  Jackson  had  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Samuel  Pringle  explored  the  country  in  the  year  previous,  1768. 

John  Jackson  did  his  share  of  pioneer  work  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 
Indian  wars  of  the  period.  He  was  the  father  of  George,  who  was  distinguished 
above  his  brothers,  the  grandfather  of  John  G.,  the  able  United  States  Judge 
and  Congressman,  and  the  great  grandfather  of  Thomas  J.  (Stonewall)  whose 
fame  as  a  soldier  is  world  wide. 

He  died  at  Clarksburg  in  1804,  aged  85  years.  His  wife,  Elizabeth,  also 
died  in  Clarksburg  in  1825  at  the  age  of  101  years. 

JACKSON  FAMILY. 

Very  early  in  the  settlement  of  the  country,  Jesse,  Bobert  and  Abraham 
Jackson  came  and  settled  on  the  Birch.  They  were  the  sons  of  Bobert  Jackson 
who  lived  in  Bath  county,  Ya. 

Jesse  Jackson. 

Jesse  Jackson  was  born  Sept.  18,  1811.  He  married  Eebecca,  daughter  of 
Andrew  and  Margaret  (Johnson)  Skidmore.  Their  children  were  Polly,  Bobert, 
Sylvester,  David  M.  and  Abigal.  His  home  was  on  the  Little  Birch  where  the 
turn  pike  road  crosses  the  river.  He  built  the  first  mill  on  the  Little  Birch, 
and  it  is  still  in  use,  bein  gowned  by  his  son,  David  M.  Jesse  Jackson  died 
May  1,  1888. 

David  M.  Jackson. 

David  M.  Jackson,  son  of  Bobert  Jackson,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Sarah  Cuberly,  and  granddaughter  of  Andrew  Skidmore,  Sr.  The  children  of 
Bobert  Jackson  were  William,  David,  Henry  L.,  James  (who  died  in  the  south- 
ern army),  Washington,  Clayton,  Felix,  Sarah,  Mary  and  Eliza.  Mr.  Jackson 
built  a  mill  about  two  miles  below  Ms  brother  Jesse's  residence  where  he  lived 
and  reared  his  family. 

Abraham  Jackson. 

Abraham  Jackson,  son  of  Bobert  Jackson,  came  to  Braxton  county  in  an 
early  day.  His  wife  was  Polly  Balph.  They  were  married  before  coming  to 
this  county. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  397 


David  M.  Jackson. 


David  M.  Jackson,  son  of  Jesse  and  Rebecca  (Skidmore)  Jackson,  was 
bora  Aug.  4,  1838,  and  was  married  to  Sylvina  May,  June  10,  1865.  Their 
issue  consisted  of  sixteen  children,  of  whom  fourteen  are  living,  including  one 
set  of  triplets:  Abigal,  Sarah,  George  C,  Edna  J.,  Rebecca,  Warder,  Minter, 
Alice,  Allia  (last  three  named  being  triplets)  ,Warner,  Grover  C,  Bertie, 
Violet,  Mariah,  Lafayette,  and  one  child  who  died  unnamed.  Mr.  Jackson  in- 
herited the  old  home  farm  where  he  was  born,  and  where  he  has  reared  his 
family.  His  land  is  underlaid  with  very  fine  coal  seams,  and  the  old  mill  still 
grinds  and  mainly  supplies  his  bread. 

Governor  Joseph  Johnson  of  Harrison  County,  Va. 

Joseph  Johnson  was  born  in  Orange  county,  New  York,  December  19, 
1785,  and  came  with  his  mother,  a  widow,  to  near  Bridgeport  about  1803,  where 
he  lived  until  his  death  February  27,  1877. 

He  was  self  educated,  and  was  always  an  eager  participant  in  the  debating 
societies  in  his  neighborhood.  In  1811,  he  was  appointed  a  constable,  his  first 
appearance  in  public  life.  He  was  captain  of  a  Company  of  Riflemen  from 
Harrison  county  in  the  war  of  1812  with  England  and  marched  it  to  Norfolk. 

He  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1818.  In  1823,  he  was  elected  to  the 
18th  Congress,  also  the  19th;  to  the  vacancy  in  the  22nd,  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  Philip  Doddridge,  serving  from  January  21  ot  March  2,  1833 ;  and  to 
the  24th,  25th,  26th  and  29th  Congress  retiring  in  1847.  He  was  again  elected 
to  the  Legislature  in  1847  and  in  1850  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention. 

While  serving  in  that  body,  he  was  elected  Governor  for  a  short  term  by 
the  Legislature,  and  upon  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  by  which  that 
office  was  made  elective  by  the  people,  he  was  elected  Governor  for  four  years 
defeating  George  W.  Summers. 

Previous  to  this  time,  the  Governor  had  always  been  chosen  by  the  legis- 
lature and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Mr.  Johnson  was  the  first  Governor  of 
Virginia  chosen  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people,  and  the  only  one  who  ever  held 
the  office  living  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains. 

In  the  war  of  1861,  Governor  Johnson's  sympathies  were  with  the  South, 
and  during  that  period  he  left  Bridgeport,  and  lived  quietly  inside  of  the  Con- 
federate lines  in  Virginia,  and  returned  to  his  home  in  1865  after  the  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities. 

Governor  Johnson  was  a  medium  sized  man  of  agreeable  manners,  a  per- 
suasive stump  speaker,  an  dof  great  political  popularity  among  the  people. 

When  he  was  a  candidate  for  Governor,  he  was  opposed  by  George  W. 
Summers  of  Kanawha  county,  who  was  a  finished  orator,  and  the  idol  of  the 
Whigs  in  Western  Virginia. 

There  were  no  joint  debates  during  the  campaign,  and  Johnson's  political 


398  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

opponents  charged  that  he  would  not  dare  meet  Summers  on  the  stump  to  dis- 
cuss the  issues  of  the  campaign. 

To  this  Johnson  replied,  "I  do  not  shrink  from  meeting  Mr.  Summers, 
for  have  I  not  met  the  lion  of  the  forest  and  shaken  the  dew  drops  from  his 
mane?"  This  illusion  is  to  Philip  Doddridge  who  was  perhaps  the  ablest  man 
in  the  West,  and  had  a  reputation  as  a  scholar,  lawyer  and  orator,  exceeded  by 
none. 

Governor  Johnson  was  a  good  conversationalist,  and  having  met  all  the 
prominent  men  of  his  time,  his  recollection  of  past  events  was  exceedingly  in- 
teresting. 

He  had  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  people  of  his  county,  and  his 
private  life  was  without  reproach. 

Okey  Johnson. 

Okey  Johnson  was  born  Sept.  17,  1888,  at  Herold,  W.  Va.  Both  his  father, 
L.  N.  Johnson,  and  mother,  Malissa  Isabel  Johnson,  were  bom  at  Herold.  His 
grandfather,  Wm.  Johnson,  was  bom  in  Monx*oe  county,  and  his  grandmother, 
Jane  Given,  was  born  in  Braxton  county.  He  was  married  April  30,  1913,  to 
Miss  Bessie  Leigh  Robertson  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  and  now  resides  in  Charles- 
ton where  he  holds  the  position  as  Credit  Man  in  the  Abney-Barnes  Co.  of  that 
city. 

John  McH.  Kelly. 

John  McH.  Kelly,  son  of  Robert  and  Margaret  (Hamilton)  Kelly,  was 
born  Feb.  14,  1824,  in  Nicholas  county.  He  made  his  home  in  Braxton  county 
in  1850,  and  was  married  Oct.  23,  1860,  to  Allie  V.  Hamman  who  was  born  Oct. 
23,  1860,  at  New  Castle,  Va.,  and  her  parents  were  Jacob  and  Amma  (Ferrier) 
Hamman.  Four  children  were  born:  Fanny  F.,  Margaret,  Sallie  C,  and 
Leonidas  H.  On  March  9,  1863,  Mr.  Kelly  was  shot  by  bushwhackers  while  on 
his  road  as  a  private  citizen,  from  Braxton  to  Nicholas,  the  dastardly  deed  oc- 
curring on  Powells  mountain.  He  died  Nov.  27,  1873,  and  is  interred  in  the 
Sutton  cemetery. 

L.  H.  Kelly. 

L.  H.  Kelly,  son  of  John  McH.  Kelly,  was  born  in  Sutton,  June  28th,  1871. 
After  attending  the  public,  schools,  he  read  law  in  local  office  in  Sutton,  and 
was  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Braxton  from  1890  to  1892.  At  the 
expiration  of  his  Deputy  Clerkship,  he  attended  the  Washington  &  Lee  Uni- 
versity at  Lexington,  Va.,  taking  the  law  course,  graduating  in  1893,  at  the 
head  of  his  class.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  that  year.  Mr.  Kelly  has 
been  exceptionally  successful  in  his  profession.  He  formed  a  partnership  with 
Wm.  E.  Hines,  early  in  his  professional  career,  that  still  exists.     Mr.  Kelly 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  393 

served  his  town  as  Mayor  and  his  county  as  Prosecuting  Attorney,  and  his 
party  as  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  also  as  a  member  of  the 
State  Executive  Committee,  and  in  1918  he  was  appoined  by  President  "Wilson 
as  District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  West  Virginia.  He  married 
for  his  former  wife,  Miss  Bertha  Gorrell,  by  whom  he  had  two  children,  Robert 
and  Janet.  She  died  in  March,  1904.  For  a  latter  wife  he  married  Miss  Nell  Kid- 
dy, of  Buckhannon,  W.  Va.  Their  home  is  in  North  Sutton,  on  a  beautiful  emi- 
nence overlooking  the  Elk. 

Wm.  Kelly. 

Wm.  Kelly,  son  of  Robert  and  Margaret  Hamilton  Kelly,  was  born  in 
Nicholas  county,  Va.  He  came  to  Braxton  while  yet  a  young  man  and  entered 
the  mercantile  business.  He  married  Sarah  Newlon.  daughter  of  Col.  "Wm. 
Newlon.  They  reared  a  large  family.  Two  of  their  sons,  "Wm.  and  Robert, 
died  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kelly  were  noted 
for  their  kindness  and  hospitality.  They  are  buried  in  the  Duffy  cemetery  at 
Sutton. 

Dr.  John  "W.  Kidd. 

Dr.  John  "W.  Kidd  was  born  Jan.  9,  1857,  in  Upshur  county,  Va.  (now  "W. 
Va.)  His  father,  Matthew  Kidd,  was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Va.,  Jan.  28, 
1833,  and  his  mother,  Sarah  J.  (Hodges)  Kidd  was  born  in  Louisa  county,  Va., 
Sept.  13,  183S.  His  grandparents,  Thos.  Kidd  and  Margaret  (Johnson)  Kidd, 
were  both  natives  of  Nelson  county,  Va.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  mar- 
ried Aug.  31,  1885,  to  Miss  Mary  B.  Bodkin,  and  their  children  are  Sarah  A., 
Robert  H.,  "Wm.  M.,  and  Bernice.  He  was  graduated  from  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Baltimore  in  1884.  He  has  served  one  term  as 
County  Health  Officer,  one  term  in  the  "West  Virginia  legislature,  and  at  pres- 
ent is  Health  Officer  of  the  municipality  of  Burnsville.  His  wife  died  in  June, 
1911. 

Dr.  Kidd  has  represented  his  party  in  one  or  two  national  democratic  con- 
ventions, and  was  an  alternate  to  the  St.  Louis  national  convention  that  nomi- 
nated Woodrow  Wilson.  In  the  West  Virginia  Legislature  of  1917,  he  was 
made  doorkeeper,  a  position  he  now  holds. 

Dr.  Kidd  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  M.  P.  church,  and  has  served  his 
church  in  various  important  positions. 

John  Kniceley. 

John  Kniceley,  son  of  Jacob  and  Ann  Kniceley,  was  born  in  Rockingham 
county,  Va.,  Oct.  20,  1807.  In  1827,  he  married  Nancy,  daughter  of  John  and 
Ann  (Irvin)  Armstrong.  She  was  born  in  Pendleton  county,  Oct.  22,  1802. 
Their  children  were  Samuel  E.,  James  A.,  Ann  E.,  George  H.,  John  T.,  Jacob 
D.,   (died  while  a  baby),  Mary  Jane  (deceased),  Joseph  H.,  William  N.,  and 


400  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Daniel  B.  In  1862,  John  Kniceley  and  three  of  his  sons,  Samuel,  Joseph  and 
William,  enlisted  in  the  Federal  army,  Company  P,  10th  W.  Va.  Infantry,  and 
all  served  until  honorably  discharged. 

John  Kniceley  was  married  a  second  time,  Nancy  Raymond  being  the 
maiden  name  of  the  second  wife,  and  their  children :  Archibald  M.,  Melinda. 
A.,  Ruhama  R.  (died  young),  and  Ola  U. 

Hon.  A.  A.  Lewis. 

Hon.  A.  A.  Lewis,  son  of  Charles  and  Rebecca  Lynch  Lewis,  was  born- 
Oct.  24,  1817,  and  died  at  his  home  in  Weston  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-five 
years.  Mr.  Lewis  was  a  tailor  by  trade,  and  came  to  Sutton  while  quite  a  young 
man.  He  was  a  member  of  the  County  Court  for  several  years,  and  was  de- 
servedly a  very  popular  gentleman.  On  leaving  Sutton  in  1845,  after  a  sojourn 
of  a  few  years,  he  established  himself  in  Weston,  Lewis  county,  as  a  merchant, 
where  he  was  successful  in  business  until  his  death.  He  was  a  constant  at- 
tendant at  the  Episcopal  church,  and  was  a  member  of  both  the  Masonic  and  the 
Odd  Fellow  lodges.  He  represented  the  county  of  Lewis  in  the  Virginia  Legis- 
lature. Few  men  had  more  personal  friends  than  Albert  A.  Lewis.  He  has 
related  to  the  writer  many  interesting  and  amusing  incidents  that  occurred  in 
the  early  formation  of  Braxton  county,  trials  and  decisions  of  the  County  Court 
while  he  was  serving  in  that  capacity,  manners  and  customs  of  the  people,  his; 
great  admiration  for  the  old  settlers,  his  battle  with  a  huge  rattlesnake  just  be- 
yond the  Morrison  gate  at  Laurel  fork,  and  many  other  incidents.  Mr.  Lewis 
never  married. 

H.  S.  League. 

Henry  Samuel  League,  son  of  Samuel  W.  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Smith 
League,  was  born  and  reared  in  Jefferson  county,  Virginia.  Mr.  League  was 
the  youngest  of  seven  children.  John  F.,  the  oldest  of  the  family,  was  a  grad- 
uate of  West  Point,  and  served  in  the  18th  Mississippi  Infantry  in  the  Civil 
war  as  Lieutenant  Colonel.     He  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  Va. 

James  W.,  another  brother,  was  in  the  artillery  service  and  served  in  A. 
P.  Hill's  Corps.  He  rose  to  the  rank  of  Major.  He  was  in  the  revenue  service 
as  storekeeper,  under  the  administration  of  Grover  Cleveland,  Benjamin  Har- 
rison and  Theodore  Roosevelt.  His  home  was  for  many  years  in  Smithfield,. 
Jefferson  county,  West  Virginia.    He  was  a  merchant. 

Henry  League  married  Ida  F.  Knicely  of  Jefferson  county.  Their  chil- 
dren were  John  S.,  Harry  E.  and  George  Aldie. 

After  leaving  Smithfield,  he  was  a  merchant  in  Martinsburg,  W.  Va.,  and 
in  1907,  he  moved  to  Gassaway,  W.  Va.,  and  entered  the  mencantile  business 
where  he  has  been  successful  in  accumulating  valuable  property.  He  still  re- 
tains interests  in  Jefferson  and  Berkeley  counties  of  this  state.  Mr.  League  is 
an  old  school  Jeffersonian  Democrat,  and  takes  a  very  keen  interest  in  political 
affairs. 


S  U  T  T  O  N  '  S     H  I  S  T  O  R  Y.  401 


Michael  Lancaster. 


Michael  Lancaster  came  to  Braxton  about  1848  as  a  minister  of  the  M.  E. 
church,  South.  He  was  a  widower,  having  three  children,  Wm.  Ransom,  Mary 
and  Belle,  and  shortly  after  coming  to  Braxton,  married  Susan  Newby.  To 
this  union  were  born  two  children,  Lucy  and  Susan.  Rev.  Lancaster  died  of 
flux  in  1861,  and  was  buried  at  the  Fisher  cemetery. 

Wm.  Ransom,  son  of  Michael  Lancaster,  married  Alice,  daughter  of  Wm. 
Floid.  Their  residence  is  on  Salt  Lick.  Mr.  Lancaster  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Confederate  service,  owns  a  good  farm  and  is  prosperous  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising. 

Asa  Long. 

Asa  Long,  a  highly  respected  citizen,  son  of  Jacob  Long,  married  Matilda, 
daughter  of  James  and  Polly  Skidmore  Sutton.  Mr.  Long  raised  a  large  fam- 
ily of  boys  and  girls.  He  was  twice  married.  His  second  wife  was  a  Miss  John- 
son. He  owned  a  farm  near  the  head  of  Buffalo.  He  was  a  neat  and  pros- 
perous farmer  and  local  blacksmith.  One  of  Mr.  Long's  sons,  H.  A.  Long,  is 
the  president  of  the  County  Court  of  Braxton.  He  was  a  devoted  member  of 
the  M.  P.  Church. 

N.  J.  Long. 

N.  J.  Long  was  born  March  22,  1884,  near  Tesla.  His  parents,  Henry  A. 
Long  and  Carrie  B.  Pettit,  were  both  bom  in  Braxton  county,  also  Ms  grand- 
father, Asa  Long.  His  grandmother  was  a  Miss  Sutton.  N.  J.  Long  was  mar- 
ried Jan.  5,  1911,  to  Miss  Nora  E.  Weiser,  and  their  only  child  is  Lewis  Wilmer 
Long.  Mr.  Long  is  now  a  resident  of  Basin,  Wyoming,  where  he  is  manager 
of  a  milling  and  grain  business. 

- 
Emery  B.  Loyd. 

Emery  B.  Loyd  was  born  at  Lloydsville,  Oct.  12,  1856.  His  father,  Isaac 
H.  Loyd,  was  born  in  Rockingham  county,  Va.,  while  his  mother  was  born  in 
Stafford  county  of  same  state.  Names  of  grandparents,  Isaac  Loyd  and  Julia 
Ann  Sirk.  Mr.  Loyd  was  married  April  10,  1879,  to  Caroline  Gerwig,  and 
his  children  are  Ida  M.,  Osie  C,  Mary  Grace  andxIsaac  C.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  M.  E.  church,  and  is  engaged  in  farming  and  stock  raising. 

John  L.  Loyd. 

John  L.  Loyd  was  born  Feb.  14,  1859,  in  Braxton  county  being  of  the 
same  parentage  as  above  sketch.  He  was  married  Nov.  19,  1885,  to  Susan  E. 
Fisher,  and  the  names  of  their  children  are,  Victor  F.,  Gertrude  M.,  Bruce, 
Mary,  Frank,  Annie,  Susie  and  John  L.  Mr.  Loyd  is  engaged  in  farming,  being 


402  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

a  most  successful  dairyman.  He  built  the  first  silo  in.  the  county.  He  is  the 
owner  of  valuable  lands  on  Grannies  creek  where  he  lives,  also  on  Cedar  creek. 
He  is  a  consistent  and  worthy  member  of  the  M.  B.  church,  and  has  labored 
many  years  in  the  Sunday  School.  His  wife  is  a  splendid  type  of  American 
womanhood,  her  mother  being  Margaret  Sutton  Fisher,  a  woman  of  exalted 
character,  noted  for  her  benevolence,  generosity,  and  her  consideration  for 
those  needing  sympathy  and  friendship. 

Jacob  Lorentz. 

Jacob  Lorentz  was  born  in  Lancaster  comity,  Pa.,  in  January,  1776.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  he  imigrated  to  Virginia,  and  in  Randolph  county,  he  mar- 
ried Rebecca,  daughter  of  Valentine  Stalnaker.  In  1807,  they  moved  to  what 
was  then  Harrison  county,  where  he  was  four  years  a  farmer,  then  went  into 
a  mercantile  business.  He  was  commissioned  and  sworn  in  Justice  of  the  Peace 
in  Harrison  county,  continued  in  the  office  when  that  section  of  Harrison  was 
set  apart  as  Lewis  county,  and  still  held  the  office  when  Upshur  county  was 
formed  in  1852,  after  which  he  declined  to  serve  longer,  having  served  in 
three  counties  without  moving.  He  was  Sheriff  in  Lewis  county  two  years,  and 
was  also  commissioner  in  chancery.  Sixteen  children  were  born  of  this  mar- 
riage with  Rebecca  Stalnaker ;  twelve  lived  to  maturity  and  married,  and  be- 
fore his  death,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  children,  grandchildren  and 
great-grandchildren  had  been  born  to  him.  He  died  April  11,  1866,  his  wife 
having  died  seven  years  before. 

Mifflin  Lorentz, 

Mifflin  Lorentz  was  born  in  Lewis  county,  Dec.  29,  3823,  and  his  former 
wife  was  Fanny  Warren  White,  born  Feb.  1,  1829,  in  Henrico  county,  Va. 
They  were  married  Dec.  28,  1848,  and  she  died  in  1864.  Their  children  were: 
Mary  Christian,  Joseph  Henry,  Isaetta,  Bettie  Kent  (died  at  seven  years  of 
age),  Miffin  (died  at  age  of  one  year). 

His  latter  marriage  took  place  Nov.  8,  1S71,  to  Mary  Boggess,  and  three 
children  were  born:     Egbert,  Bessie  Lee  and  Pare  Hanson. 

Mifflin  Lorentz  was  elected  clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Upshur  county 
in  1851,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  1861,  acting  at  the  same  time  as 
deputy  clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court.  In  1872,  he  made  his  home  in  Braxton 
county,  and  practiced  law  in  Bulltown. 

Joseph  H.  Lorentz,  son  of  Mifflin  and  Fannie  White  Lorentz,  was  born  in 
Upshur  comity,  Nov.  9,  1852,  and  was  married  to  Ada  E.  Berry,  daughter  of 
Capt.  James  M.  Berry.  They  had  four  children,  Fannie  E.,  now  Mrs.  0.  L. 
Hall  ,of  Clay,  W.  Va. ;  Fred,  Joseph  Mifflin  and  James  Berry. 

Mr.  Lorentz  was  a  merchant  for  a  good  many  years,  but  was  once  ap- 
pointed, and  twice  elected  Circuit  Clerk  of  Braxton  county,  which  office  he 
held  to  the  time  of  his  death,  March  17,  1904. 


sutton's    history.  403 

Washington  Linger. 

"Washington,  son  of  Nicholas  Linger,  came  to  Braxton  county  in  1873.  He 
married  for  .his  first  wife  Sarah  J.  Craig,  daughter  of  Wm.  Craig.  Their  chil- 
dren were  Cary  M.,  Charles  P.,  Freeman,  James  Barrett,  Delia  J.  and  May. 
His  second  marriage  was  with  Mary  Dotson.  Their  only  child  was  named  Earl 
L.  His  third  marriage  was  with  Jaby  L.  Dennison.  Their  children  were  Claud 
R.  and  Violet  E.  Mr.  Linger  died  in  1906.  Three  of  his  sons  by  his  first  wife 
are  in  the  west.  Charles  P.  and  Barrett  are  farmers  and  real  estate  agents, 
they  both  having  taken  a  course  in  law.  Freeman  is  a  minister  in  the  M.  E. 
church  and  is  noted  for  his  piety  and  ability.  Earl  L.  is  a  large  farmer  in  the 
state  of  Montana.  Mr.  Linger  was  an  exemplary  citizen  and  member  of  the  M. 
P.  church. 

THE  MeANANA  FAMILY. 

The  McAnanas  came  to  Braxton  county  about  1840,  and  settled  on  the 
waters  of  Granny's  creek,  where  they  cleared  out  a  large  farm.  They  imigrated 
from  Maryland.  The  husband  of  the  family  worked  on  the  canal  between  Cum- 
berland and  Baltimore,  and  died  there  before  the  family  came  to  Braxton. 

Mary  McAnana,  the  mother  of  the  family,  was  a  sister  of  John  and  Peter 
Duffy  of  Nicholas  county,  and  of  Philip  Duffy  of  this  county.  Mr.  McAnana 
had  six  children:  Michael,  John,  Peter,  Susan  who  married  John  Daley,  Mary 
who  married  Martin  Mulvy,  and  Ann.  Susan  was  the  only  one  of  the  family 
who  had  children.  Michael,  John,  Peter  and  Ann  never  married.  Peter  joined 
the  Union  army,  and  died  early  in  the  war  at  Parkersburg.  John  went  south 
during  the  war,  and  died  not  many  years  after  its  close.  Michael  lived  many 
years,  and  improved  a  large  farm  now  owned  by  the  Daley  heirs.  He  was  high- 
ly respected,  and  was  one  of  Braxton's  noble  citizens. 

James  M.  McCourt. 

James  M.  McCourt  came  from  Ireland  about  1745,  and  probably  settled 
in  Bath  county,  Va.  He  was  a  weaver  by  trade.  He  afterward  came  to  the 
Elk  river  and  lived  with  his  son,  John  Beri  McCourt  who  had  come  to  the 
country  at  an  early  period.  They  lived  seven  or  eight  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  Laurel  creek  in  "Webster  county.  James  M.  McCourt  lived  to  be  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  years  of  age.  He  died  a  year  or  two  before  the  Civil  war  began, 
and  was  buried  in  the  family  cemetery  on  the  banks  of  the  Elk.  His  grave  has 
never  been  marked.  His  son,  John  B.,  was  a  millwright  by  trade.  He  came 
from  Bath  county,  Va.,  having  been  educated  in  Ohio,  and  was  said  to  be  a  very 
good  scholar.    He  lived  to  the  good  old  age  of  ninety-nine  years. 

Job  McMorrow,  M.  D. 

Job  McMorrow,  M.  D.,  was  bom  in  Hardy  county,  Va.,  March  19,  1819, 
and  was  a  son  of  "William  and  Margaret   (Maloy)    McMorrow.     He  came  to 


404  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Braxton  county  in  1846,  and  his  parents  joined  him  in  1851.  On  Nov.  12, 
1846,  he  m'arried  Jane  McCoy,  who  was  born  April  13,  1829,  being  the  daugh- 
ter of  James  G.  and  Elizabeth  (Cutlip)  McCoy.  Ten  children  were  born: 
Elizabeth  M.,  Margaret  A.,  Edna,  Susan  (deceased),  Caroline,  Harriet,  Mil- 
lard Fillmore,  an  unnamed  daughter  who  died  a  few  days  after  birth,  Philip 
H.  Sheridan  (deceased),  and  Waitman  T.  "Willie. 

Mr.  McMorrow  began  life  for  himself  as  a  school  teacher,  but  not  liking 
the  profession  he  abandoned  it.  He  later  tried  farming,  and  not  caring  for 
that,  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine.  He  commenced  practice  for  himself 
about  1856,  and  soon  established  a  large  and  lucrative  business.  He  followed 
this  profession  until  his  death. 

Thomas  B.  McLaughlin. 

Thomas  B.  McLaughlin,  son  of  Jacob  Warwick  and  Agnes  (Boggs)  Mc- 
Laughlin, was  born  in  Braxton  county,  Feb.  7,  1839.  On  August  3,  1860,  he 
married  Martha  J.  Perkins  who  was  born  near  Charleston.  Her  parents  were 
William  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Anderson)  Perkins.  They  had  nine  children: 
Johnson  Ellsworth,  Ruhama  A.,  Ursula  S.,  Harriet  J.,  Abel  M.,  Rebecca  A., 
Minora  V.,  James  W.  and  Patrick. 

Thomas  B.  McLaughlin  enlisted  in  Company  F,  10th  West  Va.  Infantry, 
and  was  honorably  discharged  July  1,  1865.  He  later  taught  school,  and  held 
several  minor  offices  of  the  count y.  Before  his  death,  he  was  employed  by  the 
government  for  several  years.  His  sons  have  since  become  prominent  in  the 
business  affairs  of  the  county. 

Addison  McLaughlin. 
Colonel  Addison  McLaughlin  was  the  son  of  Dennis  McLaughlin  who  mar- 
ried a  Miss  McClary.  No  history  of  Braxton  would  be  complete  without  giv- 
ing space  to  the  life  and  character  of  Colonel  Addison  McLaughlin.  He  was 
born  in  the  city  of  Richmond  about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
His  father  was  a  boatman  on  the  James  river,  and  it  is  related  that  by  the 
sinking  of  his  boat,  he  became  financially  embarrassed  and  died  soon  there- 
after, leaving  his  widow  with  several  children.  Addison  was  then  twelve  years 
of  age.  The  family  moved  to  near  Lewisburg  in  Greenbrier  county.  Mrs. 
McLaughlin  who  was  a  Miss  Sarah  Jane  Landcraft,  had  wealthy  relatives  in 
that  county.  Addison  attended  the  academy  in  Lewisburg,  walking  three  miles 
from  his  home.  He  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Wm.  Cary  of  that  town.  He 
then  moved  his  mother  and  the  children  to  Nicholas  county,  and  was  elected 
to  represent  that  county  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  before  he  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  Colonel  McLaughlin  moved  from  Nicholas  county  to  Weston, 
Lewis  county,  Va.,  and  practiced  law  in  Lewis  and  adjoining  counties,  and  in 
1851  he  bought  the  Bulltown  salt  works  and  settled  at  that  place.  He  made 
large  quantities  of  salt,  considering  the  meager  and  primitive  facilities  of  that 
day. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  405 

Colonel  McLaughlin  represented  Braxton  county  in  the  Legislature.  He 
was  a  man  of  superior  talent,  a  very  fine  orator  and  an  affable  gentleman.  One 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Whig  party  in  central  West  Virginia,  he  was  instrumental 
in  having  the  county  of  Webster  established.  He  donated  land  for  the  public 
buildings,  and  the  county  seat  was  named  Addison  in  honor  of  its  founder. 
In  boring  a  well  for  salt  at  that  point,  he  struck  the  famous  salt  sulphur  spring 
whose  healing  properties  have  given  such  comfort  and  hope  to  the  thousands 
that  drink  annually  from  its  copious  fountain. 

Colonel  McLaughlin,  in  traveling  from  his  home  to  Webster  Springs  on 
horseback,  died  on  his  way  along  the  Holly  river.  His  family  consisted  of  seven 
children,  six  girls  and  one  son  whom  he'  named  Duncan  after  Judge  Duncan 
who  held  the  first  court  in  Sutton. 

Catherine  McQueen. 

Born  of  distinguished  ancestry,  this  lady  was  a  charming  exponent  of 
gentle  breeding;  beautiful  in  person,  sweet  and  unassuming  in  manners,  be- 
nevolent and  charitable  in  her  attitude  to  others,  firm,  judicious  and  with  the 
finest  sense  of  honor  in  all  questions  of  right  and  wrong,  her  gentle,  dignified 
personality  was  a  power  for  good  among  all  classes.  Her-  gentle  spirit  passed 
out  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1913,  after  having  a  short  time  before  passed 
her  one  hundredth  mile-stone. 

We  append  hereto  a  statement  made  and  written  down  by  Mrs.  McQueen 
at  her  centennial  birthday  celebration  on  Nov.  15,  1912:  "I  was  married  Jan. 
16,  1834,  to  Archibald  McQueen  in  Picton,  Nova  Scotia,  at  the  home  of  my 
parents,  Dr.  George  and  Christina  McKenzie.  After  living  in  Nova  Scotia 
fourteen  years,  we  came  to  this  country  in  1848.  My  parents  died  in  Nova 
Scotia,  my  father  in  his  94th  year,  and  my  mother  in  her  60th  year. 

"God  blessed  us  with  ten  children.  Seven  were  born  in  Nova  Scotia, 
namely:  Christina,  Arch,  Henry,  George,  William,  Catherine  and  Lillian. 
Charles  and  David  were  born  in  western  Virginia.  Julias  was  born  in  Nicholas 
county,  this  state.  Five,  Arch,  Henry,  George  William  and  Julius  have  gone 
on  before  and  await  my  coming.  My  husband  died  Dec.  12,  1892,  on  Buck's 
Garden,  in  his  83rd  year.  I  am  the  oldest  one  of  our  family,  and  the  only  one 
now  living.  I  have  lived  with  my  daughter,  Lillian  Rader,  on  Buck's  Garden, 
since  my  husband's  death,  where  I  am  kindly  cared  for.  I  close  with  good 
will  to  everybody. — C.  McQueen." 

E.  C.  Marple. 

E.  C.  Marple  was  born  Sept.  12,  1869,  in  this  county.  His  parents,  J.  M. 
Marple  and  Sophia  Cunningham,  were  natives  of  Virginia,  and  his  grand- 
parents, EziMel  Marple  and  Cenna  Shomore,  also  were  born  in  same  state. 
He  was  married  Sept.  26,  1894,  to  E.  E.  Skidmore,  and  their  children  are  Floda 
P.,  Sophia  J.,  John  W.,  Clarence  D.,  Clara  M.,  and  Marjoria  V.     Mr.  Marple 


406  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

is  a  successful  merchant  and  business  man  of  Flatwoods,  owning  some  valuable 
real  estate  there.    His  wife  died  about  three  years  ago. 

Esmond  G.  Moore. 

Esmond  G.  Moore  was  born  Aug.  17,  1852,  in  Appomattox  county,  Va. 
His  father,  James  D.  Moore,  was  born  in  Appomattox  county,  Va.,  and  his 
mother,  Sallie  A.  Moore,  in  Campbell  county,  Va.  His  grandparents,  Chris- 
topher C.  and  Elizabeth  E.,  were  both  natives  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Moore  was  married  first  to  M.  Alice  Landrum,  Aug.  14,  1879,  to  which 
union  were  born  seven  children,  as  follows:  Glenworth  W.,  Sallie  A.,  Evelyn 
G-.,  Esmond  G.,  James  B.,  Virginia  C,  and  Russell  P.  Mr.  Moore  was  next 
married  on  June  15,  1909,  to  Rena  Stalnaker.  He  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E. 
church,  South.  His  father  and  six  brothers  were  in  the  Confederate  army,  one 
having  been  killed  at  second  Cold  Harbor,  the  others  not  being  wounded  while 
in  service. 

THE  MORRISON  FAMILY. 

William  Morrison  was  born  near  Winchester,  county  seat  of  Frederick 
county,  Va.,  in  1779.  In  1798,  he  married  Maria  Perkins  who  was  born  in 
Greenbrier  county  in  1782.  In  1829,  William  Morrison  with  his  family  sought 
a  home  in  the  part  of  Nicholas  county,  Va.,  which  is  now  included  in  Braxton 
county,  this  state.  His  children  were  thirteen:  James  (who  died  young)., 
John  and  James  W.,  Cynthia,  Margaret,  Nancy,  Andrew,  Francis,  Rebecca, 
Elizabeth,  William,  Eleven  (so  named  because  the  eleventh  child  born),  and 
Leroy.  After  lives  of  usefulness,  honored  by  all  who  knew  them,  William 
Morrison  and  his  wife  departed  this  life. 

James  W.  Morrison. 

James  W.  Morrison,  son  of  above  mentioned  parents,  was  born  Jan.  10, 
1806.  In  Greenbrier  fcounty,  on  May  14,  1829,  he  married  Nancy  L.  Grimes  who 
was  born  Oct.  24,  1813.  In  the  same  year,  they  accompanied  his  parents  to 
this  vicinity  where  over  fifty  years  of  wedded  life  was  spent.  They  were 
parents  of  fourteen  children:  Elizabeth  J.,  John  G,  Mary  H.,  William  W., 
Sheldon  C.  (killed  in  battle  of  Winchester),  Martha  C,  James  W.,  Welling- 
ton F.,  Maria  V.,  Leah  T.,  Francis  L.,  Nancy  R.,  one  child  died  unnamed,  and 
Harvey  M. 

James  W.  Morrison  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  eighteen  con- 
secutive years,  nine  by  appointment,  and  nine  by  election.  He  also  served 
four  years  as  Sheriff,  and  was  Postmaster  for  about  twenty  years. 

John  G.  Morrison. 

John  G.  Morrison,  son  of  James  W.,  commenced  farming  for  himself  in 
1854,  and  later  added  lumbering  to  his  farming.     His  first  wife  was  Julia  A. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  407 

Rodgers,  and  they  had  one  daughter  whom  they  named  Julia  A.  The  second 
wife  of  Mr.  Morrison  was  Alice.  Hutchinson,  and  they  had  one  daughter, 
named  Cleora  A.  On  Feb.  5,  1863,  he  married  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  James 
E.  and  Elizabeth  E.  (Hamilton)  Hickman,  and  the  widow  of  James  H.  Shaw- 
ver.  To  them  were  born:  Viola  A.,  (died  young),  Emma  S.,  Robirda  D., 
LilliaTG.,  Wesley  W.,  Belden  Emerson  (died  young),  and  Nannie  B.  (died  in 
infancy.) 

John  Moerison. 

John  Morrison,  son  of  William  and  Maria  (Perkins)  Morrison,  was  born 
in  Greenbrier  county  March  4,  1804,  and  came  to  Braxton  county  in  1824. 
On  May  4,  1826,  he  married  Mary  Lough  who  was  born  in  Pendleton  county, 
Jan.  7,  1807.  They  had  six  children:  Maria  J.,  William  B.  (died  in  infancy), 
James  M.  C,  Morgan  H.,  Margaret  E.  and  George  H. 

When  the  Civil  war  was  inaugurated,  Mr.  Morrison  had  a  fine  farm  of 
three  hundred  acres.  The  "Moccasin  Rangers"  came  to  his  farm,  burned  his 
house  and  all  its  contends  to  the  ground,  leaving  not  even  one  bed  to  sleep  on, 
and  drove  off  his  cattle  and  horses.  In  the  spring  of  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany F,  10th  Virginia  Infantry,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

On  June  27,  1865,  he  was  a  second  time  married,  to  Diana  Bainbridge 
who  was  bom  in  Rockingham  county,  Va.,  Jan.  19,  1829.  He  filled  the  office 
of  Constable  for  ten  years,  was  four  years  Deputy  Sheriff,  then  was  elected 
Sheriff  for  two  terms  of  two  years  each. 

Morgan  H.  Morrison. 

Morgan  H.  Morrison,  son  of  John  and  Polly  (Lough)  Morrison,  was  born 
Dec.  2,  1832.  He.  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  but  was  several  years  in  public 
life  as  Deputy  Sheriff,  Constable,  Magistrate  and  Clerk  of  the  court.  Mr.  Mor- 
rison mai*ried  for  his  former  wife,  Susan  Sterret  by  whom  he  had  several  chil- 
dren. A  latter  wife  was  the  widow  of  Charles  Hall,  daughter  of  Colonel  Ad- 
dison McLaughlin.  Mr.  Morrison  moved  to  the  state  of  Kansas  where  he  re- 
cently died,  having  held  the  office  of  County  Judge  in  that  state.  His  family 
still  live  in  Kansas. 

J.  W.  Morrison,  Jr. 

J.  W.  Morrison,  Jr.,  son  of  J.  W.  and  Nancy  Grimes  Morrison,  was  born 
January  10,  1843,  grew  ot  manhood  on  his  father's  farm,  and  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Civil  war,  he  left  the  county  until  peace  returned,  and  then  he  be- 
gan fanning  and  stock  raising,  until  1868,  when  he  was  appointed  Deputy 
Sheriff  under  his  father,  an  office  that  he  held  for  four  years.  June  15th,  1871, 
he  married  Martha  T.  McClung,  of  Nicholas  county,  a  daughter  of  Fielding 
McClung,  a  woman  of  exemplary  character.  To  this  union  were  bom  Charles 
H.,  Alpheus,  Edwin,  Mary  E.,  Ernest.  Lucy,  Anna.  In  18....  he  was  elected 
to  the  State  Senate  and  having  served  his  people  faithfully,  was  again  elected 


408  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

to  represent  his  district.  In  10....  he  sustained  an  injury  by  a  fall  from  a  car- 
riage, which,  together  with  the  exposure  incident  to  the  lumber  trade,  in  the 
rigor  of  winter  crossing  swollen  streams,  to  which  he  was  often  exposed, 
brought  on  a  complication  of  diseases  that  after  several  years  of  intense  suffer- 
ing, his  great  energy  and  physical  powers  gave  way,  and  he  died,  having  ac- 
cumulated a  valuable  estate. 

George  H.  Morrison. 

George  H.  Morrison,  son  of  John  and  Polly  (Lough)  Morrison,  was  born 
Oct.  10,  1838.  He  married  Minerva  Berry,  daughter  of  Joel  Berry,  by  whom 
he  reared  a  large  family.  Mr.  Morrison  lived  on  a  farm  until  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Civil  war  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  F,  10th  West  Virginia 
Infantry,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  appointed  by  Judge  Ervin,  Sheriff 
of  Braxton  county.  During  the  term  of  his  sheriffalty,  he  read  law, 'and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  early  70  's  where  he  soon  distinguished  himself  as 
an  able  attorney,  a  true  and  faithful  advocate  and  counsellor.  He  represented 
his  district  in  the  State  Senate,  and  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  country- 
men. He  and  his  wife  died  some  years  since,  and  are  buried  on  the  town  hill 
at  Sutton. 

Wellington  Fletcher  Morrison. 

Wellington  Fletcher  Morrison,  son  of  James  W.  Morrison,  married  Sarah 
E.  Berry  who  was  born  in  Braxton  county,  Dec.  13,  1847.  Their  children  were 
born  as  follows:  Flora  Virginia  (died  young),  Minerva  L.  (died  young), 
Laura  Belle  (married  Edgar  G.  Rider),  Spnrgeon  (died  while  attending  public 
school),  Sarah  May  (died  in  infancy),  James  T.  B.,  Lizzie  Gertrude (  married 
Cary  C.  Hines),  Audrey  (married  Carl  Walker). 

He  was  elected  Township  Clerk  in  1869,  was  Deptuy  Sheriff,  1868-70., 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  1871-72,  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  1873- 
78,  and  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court.  1879-85.  He  was  also  engaged  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  at  Sutton  in  partnership  with  his  brother  for  many  years.  Mr. 
Morrison  served  as  private  in  Co.  F,  10th  West  Virginia  Infantry  during  the 
Civil  war,  was  in  many  engagements!.  He  celebrated  the  58th  anniversary  of 
his  marriage  recently,  since  which  time  his  companion  has  passed  away. 

Luther  Morrtson. 

Luther  Morrison,  son  of  James  W.  and  Nancy  Grimes  Morrison,  and 
grandson  of  Wm.  and  Mariah  Perkins  Morrison,  was  born  November  13,  1851, 
at  Flatwoods,  W.  Va.     He  was  married  June  11,  1874,  to  Mary  L.  Squires. 

Mr.  Morrison  taught  in  the  public  schools  of  Braxton  for  a  while,  after 
which  he  took  to  farming  and  stock  raising  as  an  occupation.  He  was  unusually 
successful  in  his  undertakings,  and  ranked  among  the  foremost  farmers  of  the 
county.    He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  energy  and  resolution.    His  children  are 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  409 

Wilbur  S.,  deceased,  Wm.  D.,  Bstella  M.,  Mavina  L.,  Minnie  Ij.     They  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Earlf,  Morrison. 

Earle  Morrison  was  born  April  11,  1886,  at  Sutton.  His  father  was  J.  W. 
Morrison  of  Braxton  county,  and  his  mother.  Martha  T.  McClung  of  Nicholas- 
county,  W.  Va.  He  Avas  married  Sept.  11,  1913,  to  Delila  Adams,  names  of 
children  being-  Maurice,  Bueford  and  Kathyleen.  'Mr.  Morrison  completed  the 
Commercial  Course  at  Eastman  Business  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  and  is 
now  an  up-to-date  agriculturist,  being  for  some  years  president  of  the  Braxton 
County  Agricultural  Society.     He  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church. 

En  win  Morrison. 

Edwin  Morrison  was  born  May  9,  1875,  at  Flat-woods,  being  of  same  par- 
entage as  previous  sketch.  He  was  married  June  11,  1902,  to  Miss  Evelyn  G. 
Moore  of  Flatwoods,  names  of  their  children  being  Ernestine  Gray,  James 
Wesley,  Virginia  Alice,  Frederich,  Helen  and  Thomas  Dressier. 

Mr.  Morrison  for  several  years  followed  fanning  and  lumbering  in  Brax- 
ton county,  and  a  few  years  since  moved  to  Oregon  where  he  has  acquired 
valuable  farming  lands.  Mr.  Morrison 's  wife  is  an  exemplary  lady,  and  in  start- 
ing up  a  new  branch  of  the  family  in  the  great  northwest,  bids  fair  to  make 
their  mark  amid  the  best  citizens  of  the  land. 

Silas  M.  Morrison. 

Silas  M.  Morrison  was  born  in  Pocahontas  county,  Virginia,  May  3,  1845, 
came  to  Braxton  in  1847,  and  married  T.  J.  Gillespie,  daughter  of  John  and 
Rebecca  Morrison  Gillespie.  June  6,  1866.     They  reared  a  large  family. 

He  enlisted  in  Company  F,  Tenth  West  Virginia  Infantry,  and  served  for 
over  three  years  in  the  Civl  war.  He  was  severely  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Droop  Mountain,  November  6,  1863. 

He  served  the  public  as  postmaster  at  Newville,  this  state,  for  twenty- 
three  years.  He  is  now  livng  at  his  home  in  Newville  where  he  owns  property, 
and  enjoys  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him.    Since  died. 

B.  D.  Mahone. 

B.  D.  Mahone,  son  of  Wm.  C.  and  Nancy  D.  Mahone,  was  born  July  10, 
1849,  in  Cabell  county,  West  Virginia.  His  grandfather  was  James  T.  Car- 
roll, of  Carroll  county,  Virginia. 

Mr.  Mahone  was  married  December  14,  1869,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Jayne.  His 
children  are  Minnie  H.  (now  Mrs.  B.  D.  Lewis),  Lena  Rymer,  Alpheus  V., 
Luther  D.,  Myrtle  A.  Maling,  Wm.   A.  and  J.  K. 


410  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Mr.  Mahone  has  been  for  many  years  a  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  now  lives  at  Flatwoods. 

Dr.  W.  H.  McCattley.' 

Dr.  W.  H.  McCauley,  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born  in  Upshur  county, 
West  Virginia,  September  2nd,  1859.  He  belonged  to  a  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren, reared  on  a  farm,  and  without  any  extensive  means  to  secure  an  educa- 
tion, outside  of  his  own  close  application,  energy  and  frugal  habits.  He  at- 
tended the  neighboring  schools  of  the  county,  and  after  going  through  the  com- 
mon branches,  he  began  to  teach,  as  an  aid  to  a  higher  education.  Belonging 
to  that  McCauley  family  that  was  noted  for  their  medical  talent,  he  bent  his 
energies  in  that  direction,  and  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  in  Sutton,  and 
taking  a  course  at  the  College  of  Physicians  &  Surgeons  at  Baltimore,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  1888.  Since  that  time  he  has  maintained  his  office  in  Sut- 
ton, except  for  a  period  of  four  years,  in  which  time  he  was  Assistant  Surgeon 
in  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  at  Weston.  He  was  married  in  1891,  to  Miss 
Mary  E.  Norris.  This  union  has  been  blessed  with  two  daughters,  of  culture 
and  refinement,  the  pride  and  joy  of  their  parents. 

B.  C.  McNutt. 

B.  C.  McNutt  married  Susan,  the  only  daughter  of  Wm.  and  Anna  Sutton 
Waggy.    To  them  were  born  three  children,  John  D.,  Mamie  and  Anna. 

A  second  marriage  was  with  Effie,  daughter  of  Johnson  and  Susan  Prince 
Squires.  To  them  were  born  five  daughters,  Danube,  Irene,  Lucile,  Hugh  died 
young,  Eva  and  Norma. 

Jf.rem.iah  Mace. 

Jerry  Mace  came  to  Braxton  county  about  the  year  1810,  and  settled  on 
Granny's  creek.  His  children  were  Wm.,  Isaac,  Elihue,  Polly  and  Eliza.  With 
two  of  his  sons,  Isaac  and  Elihue,  he  later  removed  to  Ohio. 

Wm.  Mace  married  Sally  Green,  daughter  of  Thomas  Green.  Their  chil- 
dren were  Marlow,  Rena,  Margaret,  Jeremiah,  Rhoda,  Thomas,  Albert,  Mary, 
Elizabeth,  and  one  died  in  infancy. 

His  second  wife  was  Boggs,  and  their  children  were  J.  W.,  B. 

F.,  A.  C,  Edward,  Mahala,  Nannie  and  Lyde. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  411 


Henry  Mace. 


One  of  the  early  settlers  of  Sutton  was  Henry  Mace;  his  wife's  name  was 
Mary.  Their  son  Andrew  was  born  near  Sutton,  April  15th,  1813 ;  they  had 
a  daughter  named  Anna,  who  lived  to  be  107  years  of  age.  She  lived  in  Ka- 
nawha county.  Andrew  married  a  Miss  Green;  he  spent  the  greater  portion  of 
his  life  in  Roane  county  and  lived  to  be  very  old. 

David  S.  Morton. 

David  S.  Morton,  son  of  David  I.  and  Sarah  J.  Jones  Morton,  was  bom 
Nov.  30,  1849,  and  married  Mary  Skidmore,  Nov.  19,  1874.  Their  children 
were  Margaret  Jane,  Ida  May.  Bertha  Viola,  Daise  Ethel,  Ephrasia  Esther, 
Harry  Gordon.  Pew  men  can  boast  of  having  taught  longer  or  more  success- 
fully in  the  public,  schools  than  Mr.  Morton.  He  commenced  teaching  in  1869, 
and  has  taught  fifty-eight  terms,  and  was  County  Superintendent  of  Schools 
in  1888-89.  He  has  been  in  the  school  work  forty-eight  years.  He  is  a  fanner 
as  well  as  a  teacher,  and  has  been  prominent  and  diligent  in  his  chosen  profes- 
sion. He  was  appointed  to  take  the  census  in  1890,  and  again  in  1910  in  Holly 
district.    Mr.  Morton  lives  on  his  farm  near  Newville. 

Wm.  Newlon. 

Colonel  Wm.  Newlon  of  Taylor  county,  Virginia,  was  born  November  29, 
1808.  He  married  Eliza  Pool  Camden,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  Pool 
Camden,  November  19,  1835.  Their  children  were  Mary  Link,  Jennie,  Sarah, 
Lyde,  Wm.  P.,  Camden,  Newton,  Charles  E.,  Anna  D.  Of  this  family,  all  are 
dead  except  Wm.  P.  and  Anna  D. 

Colonel  Newlon  came  to  Braxton  about  the  time  of  its  formation.  He  was 
a  practicing  physician,  and  was  elected  first  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Braxton, 
holding  the  office  for  many  years.  He  afterward  studied  law,  and  practiced  in 
Braxton  and  adjoining  counties,  at  one  time  being  Prosecuting  Attorney  of 
Braxton  county.  Colonel  Newlon  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability, 
kind,  obliging,  affable  in  his  manner,  and  well  beloved.  He  was  the  son  of  Wm. 
Newlon. 

He  had  three  sisters.  Nancy  married  John  S.  Camden,  and  was  the  moth- 
er of  Johnson  N.  Camden,  the  famous  financier  and  statesman;  Polly  married 
Thomas  Bland  of  Lewis  county ;  and  Matilda  married  Weeden  Huffman. 

Colonel  Newlon  died  at  his  home  in  Sutton,  October  17,  1883.  He  had 
been  a  prominent  man  in  the  official  transactions  of  the  county  for  a  great 
many  years.  His  passing  away  marked  the  close  of  a  long  and  useful  life,  and 
left  a  memory  that  will  long  linger  and  abide  with  those  who  knew  him. 

Wm.  Pitt  Newlon. 
Dr.  Wm.  Pitt  Newlon,  son  of  Colonel  Wm.  Newlon  and  Eliza  Pool  Cam- 


412  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

den,  was  born  in  Sutton,  March  7,  1848,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  at- 
tended the  best  local  schools  of  the  day.  As  a  boy,  he  was  kind  and  considerate, 
and  early  became  a  general  favorite  with  those  of  his  acquaintance. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  Avar,  his  father  removed  to  his  farm  on 
O'Briens  fork,  where  Wm.  P.  put  in  four  or  five  years  of  toil  on  the  farm 
which  developed  him  physically,  and  prepared  him  so  well  to  bear  the  great 
strain  of  labor  and  exposure  to  which  his  lfe  work  called  him.  As  a  boy  on. 
the  farm,  he  did  not  neglect  his  studies,  and  very  early  showed  a  desire  for  his 
chosen  profession.  After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  Dr.  Newlon  attended  the 
best  select  schools  of  the  county  and  prepared  himself  to  enter  the  college  of 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  he  graduated  in  1871.  As  a  physician,  he  became 
noted.  His  practice  was  not  confined  to  Braxton  and  adjoining  counties,  but 
he  was  called  to  treat  patients  as  far  away  as  Parkersburg,  Washington  and 
other  cities.  He  was  physician  to  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  Coal  &  Coke  and  the 
Holly  River  railroads,  was  twice  offered  a  position  in  the  West  Virginia  Hos- 
pital at  Weston  as  Assistant  Physician. 

Dr.  Newlon  in  his  long  practice  never  refused  to  ride  day  or  night  over 
high  mountains,  through  hail  and  storm,  across  swollen  streams  and  rugged 
by-paths  to  relieve  the  suffering.  Such  was  the  nobility  of  his  generous  char- 
acter that  he  never  refused  a  man  because,  he  was  poor  and  unable  to  pay. 

He  compounded  a  medicine  called  Cohosh,  and  other  remedies  that  have 
found  special  favor,  all  of  which  are  said  to  be  valuable  remedies. 

Dr.  Newlon  married  Melissa  Green,  September  21,  1881.  Their  children 
were  Mary  Link  who  married  Eeginald  Benner,  Eliza  Pool  who  married  H.  Roy 
Waugh,  and  one  son  Wm.  P.  who  died  young. 

Dr.  Newlon  was  a  literary  man,  and  wrote  some  rare  and  beautiful  poems, 
selections  from  which  are  hereby  given: 

MY  BOYHOOD'S  HOME. 

I  saw  it-  in  my  dreams  last  night, 

My  early  boyhood's  home — 
The  vine-clad  hills  and  meadows  bright, 

Where  as  a  child  I  roamed. 

We  were  all  here — not  one  away — 
The  hearth-stones  cheery  place — 
I  heard  again  the  mirthful  sound 
Come  from  each  smiling  face. 

We  were  there — not  one  away — 

No  troubled  look — no  sad  refrain — 
Just  as  they  were  in  childhood's  day — 

And  I — 1  was  a  child  again. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  413 

My  dream  is  past — we're  not  all  here — 

On  yonder 's  hill  beyond  the  vale 
I  frequent  view  through  curtained  tear 

A  marble  shaft-  that  tells  the  tale. 


IN  MEMORIUM. 

Could  tears  have  kept  thee,  thou  wouldst  ne'er  have  gone, 
Or  could  they  call  thee  back,  thou  wouldst  be  here. 
For  since  the  moment  death  did  mark  thee  for  his  own, 
Tears  have  burned  my  cheeks  and  left  their  traces  there. 

Yes,  I  have  wept,  and  still  do  weep  for  thee — 
Not  that  I'd  have  thee  back, — but  pent  up  grief 
Is  doubly  hard  to  bear;  and  struggling  to  be  free, 
The  heart  through  tears  doth  find  relief. 

Perchance,  the  sorrow  that  is  mine,  will  soon  be  o'er — 

For  time  will  assuage  grief — and  it  may  be 

Time  will  give  me  fresh  cause  to  mourn 

And  I  will  grieve  again,  as  I  do  now,  for  thee. 

But  from  my  memory  time  cannot  efface, 

Nor  mar  the  last  sad  look  of  thy  sweet  face. 

Adam  O'Brien. 

Adam  O'Brien  came  from  Harrison  county  to  the  Elk  river  and  settled 
on  the  bottom  where  Sutton  now  stands.  Prior  to  this  time  he  had  camped  on 
one  of  the  tributaries  of  Salt  Lick  creek  now  known  as  0  'Briens  f  oi-k.  0  'Brien 
had  made  some  sign,  it  is  said,  by  which  he  could  find  his  way  from  the  settle- 
ment on  the  West  Fork  to  his  chosen  hunting  ground,  and  it  was  by  this  means 
that  the  Indians  trailed  him ;  but  he  was  not  at  his  camp,  and  they  found  their 
way  to  the  Carpenter  settlement  on  the  Holly  and  Elk  rivers.  This  was  in 
the  spring  of  1792,  and  as  the  first  survey  was  made  in  what  is  now  Braxton  in 
1784  it  must  have  been  some  time  between  that  date  and  1790  that  the  Car- 
penters and  0  'Brions  came  to  the  county. 

Timothy,  son  of  Adam  O'Brien,  lulled  a  steer,  it  is  said,  that  was  supposed 
to  have  strayed  from  some  herd  on  the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac  and  gone 
wild.  From  this  occurrence  Steer  creek  is  said  to  have  taken  its  name. 
O'Brien's  fork  of  Steer  creek,  as  well  as  several  other  streams  in  central  West 
Virginia,  was  named  for  the  O'Brien  family.  Just  below  the  mouth  of 
O'Brien's  fork  there  stands  a  knob  known  as  Timothy  Knob.     This  is  pointed 


414  SUTTON'S     HISTOEY. 

i 
i 

out  by  traditional  history  as  the  place  where  Timothy  lulled  the  steer.    Hence, 

the  names  Steer  creek,  O'Brien's  fork  of  Steer  creek  and  Timothy  Knob.    But 

Colonel  Dewels  gives  credit  to  James  "W.  Arnold  for  killing  the  steer  on  a 

branch  now  called  Steer  run  of  Steer 'creek. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  very  early  settlement  of  the  country  a  buffalo  was 
killed  on  Grass  Lick  of  Steer  creek  by  Timothy  O'Brien.  We  are  inclined  to 
the  belief  that  Colonel  Dewels  was  correct  in  his  statement  as  to  the  killing  of 
the  wild  steer  by  Arnold  and  not  by  Timothy  O'Brien. 

Captain  G.  F.  Taylor,  in  a  letter  to  a  local  paper,  says  tradition  informs 
us  that  Adam  O'Brien  was  born  in  Bath  county,  Virginia,  in  1742;  that  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years  he  was  disappoined  in  a  love  affair  with  Miss  Isabel 
Burgoyne,  only  daughter  of  General  Burgoyne,  who  figured  in  the  early  history 
of  the  American  revolution.  Whatever  of  truth  may  be  connected  with  this 
story  of  Captain  Taylor's,  if  what  Baxter  says  in  his  notes  of  Braxton  county 
with  reference  to  O'Brien's  plurality  of  wives,  they  would  amply  make  up  for 
the  loss  of  Miss  Isabel.  We  read  further  from  Captain  Taylor's  letter  that  on 
Skyles  creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Big  Birch  river,  there  is  a  large  camp,  or  over- 
hanging cliff,  twenty  by  thirty  feet  in  width  and  about  eight  feet  high,  and  on 
the  north  side  of  the  room,  about  five  feet  from  the  floor,  are  the  initials  and 
dates  "A.  0.  B.,  April,  1792."  This  being  the  spring  of  the  year  of  the  Car- 
penter massacre,  Adam  O'Brien  must  have  been  at  or  near  this  camp  at  that 
time,  which  doubtless  saved  him  from  sharing  the  fate  of  the  Carpenters. 

In  his  notes  of  Braxton  county,  F.  J.  Baxter  refers  to  the  fact  that  Adam 
O'Brien  assisted  in  making  the  first  survey  in  this  county  in  1784,  and  as  far 
as  was  known  was  the  only  member  of  the  surveying  party  that  returned  to 
the  county  to  reside.  He  lived  in  the  bottom  where  Sutton  now  stands  as  early 
as  1795.  He  came  from  Harrison  county,  bringing  with  him  his  family  except 
his  wife,  who  he  had  abandoned  for  another  woman.  He  subsequently  moved 
to  the  waters  of  the  West  Fork  of  the  Little  Kanawha,  taking  with  him  his 
numerous  family  some  of  whom  were  then  married,  many  of  whose  descendants 
may  now  be  found  in  that  country.  "Adam  O'Brien  was  a  rather  remarkable 
man,"  says  Mr.  Baxter.  "He  was  bold,  adventurous,  cunning  and  hardy. 
Though  he  traveled  over  the  tributaries  of  the  Elk,  from  the  Holly  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Sandy,  and  the  Little  Kanawha  river,  the  Indians,  though 
quite  numerous  at  the  time,  were  unable  to  intercept  him.  On  one  of  these  oc- 
casions it  is  said  that  he  was  hotly  pursued  by  the  exasperated  red  men  down 
the  river  to  a  little  shoal  about  a  half  mile  below  Clay  Courthouse,  where  he 
crossed  the  river  to  the  south  side  and  eluded  his  pursuers  in  the  dense  forest 
of  Pisgah  mountain.  This  shoal  still  bears  the  name  of  O'Briens  ford,  and 
many  other  streams,  mountains,  gaps  and  other  places  of  note  by  their  names 
still  attest  the  early  presence  of  this  adventurous  man.  His  mantel  seemed  to 
fall  on  his  son  John,  who,  though  not  quite  equal  to  his  father  in  all  respects, 
had  the  same  adventurous  spirit,  was  equally  active  and  hardy,  and  had  an 
equal  fondness  for  a  plurality  of  wives." 


sutton's    history.  415 

Thomas  Perkins. 

Thomas  Perkins  came  from  Greenbrier  county  to  the  Elk  river,  and  set- 
tled near  where  the  Morrison  church  now  stands,  in  the  year  1812.  His  chil- 
dren were  David,  Elijah,  John,  Wm.,  Elias,  Marshall,  Charles  and  Mary  A. 
Thomas  Perkins'  wife  was  Polly  Williams. 

Lewis  Perkins. 

Lewis  Perkins,  son  of  Elias  Perkins,  married  Susan  H.,  daughter  of  Noah 
Eodgers.  Their  children  were  John  R.,  L.  V.,  Annette,  Willis  T.,  and  Mathew. 
A  latter  wife  was  Diana,  daughter  of  John  L.  Carpenter.  Mr.  Perkins  is  now 
living  at  an  advanced  age  and  two  or  more  of  his  descendants  of  the  5th  gen- 
eration are  living. 

THE  PTERSON  FAMILY. 

John  and  Jonathan  Pierson  migrated  from  England  to  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
some  time  previous  to  the  great  plague  in  that  city  in  the  17th  century.  Some 
of  their  relatives  had  formerly  come  over  with  the  William  Penn  colony,  and 
settled  there.  John  died,  leaving  two  sons  who  moved  to  New  York.  From 
there,  they  went  to  Maryland,  staying  some  time,  but  finally  separated,  John 
saying  he  would  spell  his  name  "Pearson,"  so  that  if  he  saw  the  name  "Pear- 
son, ' '  he  would  understand  that  it  was  of  the  same  family  of  Piersons. 

"  Joseph  was  a  school  teacher  and  settled  in  Virginia.  John  went  farther 
south.  Joseph  married  Charlotte  McKee  of  Monroe  county,  Va.,  and  had  three 
sons  and  eleven  daughters.  The  sons  were  Jonathan,  David  and  Joseph.  He 
moved  to  Whitewater  in  Nicholas  county  in  1802,  from  Monroe. 

Jonathan  Pierson,  the  oldest  son,  settled  at  Twistville  near  Braxton  coun- 
ty, about  the  year  1826,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  reared  five 
sons  and  five  daughters.  The  sons  were  W.  C,  Henry,  G.  W.,  Albert  and  B.  C. 
The  daughters  were  Virginia  Duffield,  Polly  Keener,  Charlotte  Frame,  Eliza- 
beth Hamric  and  E valine  James. 

Henry  Pierson,  second  son  of  Jonathan  Pierson,  was  born  July  5,  1824, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  He  married  Sarah  Jane  Rose,  daugh- 
ter of  Captain  Wm.  Rose,  in  1842.  Their  children  were  Wm.  Rose,  Jasper, 
Jonathan,  Morgan,  Joseph  A.,  Henry  M.  and  J.  Arthur,  Martha  (deceased), 
Sarah  Jane  Dean  and  E.  A.  Shaver. 

Jonathan  Pierson. 

Jonathan  Pierson,  son  of  Henry  and  Sallie  Rose  Pierson,  was  born  Jan. 
27,  1848.  He  was  married  to  Phebe  A.  Tinney,  and  their  children  are  H.  B., 
French,  Ida,  Natta  and  Bessie.  He  is  a  farmer  and  stockman,  and  owns  four 
hundred  and  forty-seven  acres  of  good  farm  land.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat, is  upright  and  a  popular  citizen. 


416  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

William  Pierson. 

William  Pierson,  son  of  Henry  and  Sarah  J.  Pierson,  was  born  Dec.  2, 
1843.  He  married  Barbara  Dickey  on  Feb.  5,  1861,  and  their  children  were 
Sarah  J.,  R.  H.,  M.  A.,  L.  E.,  D.  A.,  W.  L.,  S  .T.,  G.  C,  and  Bessie.  Mr.  Pier- 
son has  been  a  prominent  man  in  Braxton,  and  has  served  the  people  faithfully 
as  a  public  servant  for  a  number  of  years  He  was  appointed  Postmaster  at 
Twistville,  this  state,  Dec.  2,  1S72,  which  was  his  twenty-ninth  birthday,  and 
served  continuously  forty  years  and  six  months.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Braxton  County  Court  nine  years,  eight  years  of  which  it  had  jurisdiction  at 
law  and  chancery,  was  four  years  president  of  said  court,  and  was  a  member 
when  the  present  courthouse  was  built.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1877. 
He  held  the  office  of  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Surveyor  of  Roads  and 
Notary  Public.  Squire  Pierson  is  now  engaged  in  farming  and  lumbering.  He 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Confederate  army. 

Nathan  Prince. 

Nathan  Prince  came  from  London  county,  Va.,  about  1820,  and  settled  at 
Flatwoods  where  he  purchased  about  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  embracing 
the  farm  of  the  late  Dr.  John  L.  Rhea,  and  also  the  land  on  which  the  town 
of  Flatwoods  is  situated.  Mr.  Prince  was  the  son  of  Captain  Prince  of  the 
Revolutionary  army.  He  had  two  sons,  Levi  and  Simon,  and  one  daughter 
who  married  George  High  of  Charleston.  One  or  two  children  died  in  in- 
fancy. Mr.  Prince  was  said  to  be  a  very  devoted  Christian.  His  habit  was  to 
fast  one  day  in  each  week.  Whether  his  father,  Captain  Prince,  came  to  this 
country  or  not,  we  are  not  informed.  Captain  Prince  was  a  Jew,  and  the  old 
Jewish  Bible  owned  by  the  family  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  Webster  county 
where  it  had  fallen  in  the  hands  of  some  distant  member  of  the  family  who 
had  no  conception  of  its  value.  Captain  Prince  was  in  the  artillery  arm  of  the 
service,  and  became  deaf  by  the  concussion  of  the  guns  in  battle. 

Levi  Prince. 

Levi  Prince,  son  of  Nathan  Prince,  and  grandson  of  Captain  Prince  of  the 
Revolutionary  army,  was  born  in  London  county,  Va.,  and  removed  with  his 
father's  family  to  Braxton  comity  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  where  he 
grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm  in  Flatwoods.  Early  in  life,  he  married 
Sallie,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  (Hoskins)  Skidmore.  Their  children 
were  Susan  C,  Jane,  Mary,  Nathan  H,  James,  George,  one  or  two  chil- 
dren dying  in  infancy.  Mr.  Prince  was  a  land  owner  and  farmer.  He  owned 
the  land  where  the  towns  of  Flatwoods  is  located.  He  was  a  man  of  industrious 
frugal  habits,  and  was  noted  for  his  piety  and  leadership  in  the  church.  He 
was  mainly  instrumental  in  building  the  Prince  chapel  at  Flatwoods.  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  the  state  of  Ohio 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  417 

where,  in  187....,  he  died  by  typhoid  fever.  He  was  loved  and  honored  by  all 
who  knew  him.  His  remains  are  resting  in  Ohio  near  where  he  lived  and  died, 
while  those  of  his  saintly  wife  were  laid  to  rest  at  the  Squires  cemetery  on 
Salt  Lick. 

Simon  Prince. 

Simon  Prince,  son  of  Nathan  and  grandson  of  Captain  Prince,  came  from 
Loudon  county,  Va.,  with  his  father's  family  when  a  small  boy,  and  spent  most 
of  the  years  of  his  long  life  in  Braxton  county.  He  married  Margaret  Sisk,- 
in  1836,  and  to  this  union  were  born  Rachel,  Nathan,  Barbara,  Sarah  Ann  and 
Mandy.  Uncle  Simon,  as  he  was  familiarly  known,  was  a  devoted  Christian 
and  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  for  a  great  many  years.  He  died  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  ninety-eight  years,  and  was  buried  at  the  Morrison  church. 

Samuel  Hamilton  Rider. 

Samuel  Hamilton  Rider,  son  of  John  W.  Rider,  was  born  in  December, 
1822,  in  Bath  county,  Va.,  and  moved  to  Harrison  county  in  1828.  He  married 
Rachel  E.  High  of  Harrison  county  in  1841,  and  came  to  Braxton  county  in 
1859,  settling  on  Steer  creek.  Their  children  were  William  W.,  Benjamin  E., 
Martha  J.,  Mary  E.,  Warah  S.,  and  Melvil  B. 

Samuel  Rider  died  in  1898  at  his  old  home,  Mrs.  Rider  having  departed  this 
life  in  1892.  Mr.  Rider  was  a  farmer  and  a  stockman.  He  had  for  many  years 
been  a  zealous  and  valued  member  of  the  M.  E.  church.  Two  of  his  sons  were 
Federal  soldiers,  Wm.  W.  and  Benjamin.    The  latter  is  still  living. 

J.  C.  Remage. 

J.  C.  Remage,  a  native  of  Harrison  county,  "West  Virginia,  grew  up  to 
manhood  in  that  county,  where  he  attended  the  public  schools,  and  qualified 
himself  for  teaching,  but  soon  quit  teaching  and  entered  the  lumber  business. 

He  came  to  Braxton  county  in  1890,  and  married  — ,  daughter  of 

Israel  J.  Friend.  To  them  were  born  three  children,  Russell,  Lanty  and  Eva. 
Mr.  Remage 's  home  is  in  C4assaway,  W.  Va. 

THE  ROSE  FAMILY. 

Isaac  Rose,  father  of  Captain  "Wm.  Rose,  was  born  near  Chambersburg, 
Pa.,  in  the  17th  century,  and  reared  to  manhood  at  same  place.  Later  he  moved 
to  Botetourt  county,  Va.,  and  still  later  to  Nicholas  county,  this  state.  He 
had  four  sons,  William,  James,  Ezekiel  and  Charles,  and  one  daughter,  Milly. 

Captain  William  Rose  married  Martha  Persinger  in  Bottetourt  county, 

Va.,  about  .,  and  moved  to  Long  Glade  in  Webster  county 

about  1818,  and  owned  the  Dr.  Kessler  farm  at  that  point.  From  there,  they 
moved  to  the  Birch  river,  two  miles  from  Twistville  where  they  lived  to  a  ripe 


418  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

old  age.  They  raised  the  following  daughters:  Mrs.  Granville  Given,  mother 
of  W.  H.  Given,  Julia  Keener,  mother  of  Mrs.  E.  D.  Duffield,  Sarah  Jane, 
mother  of  Wm.  R.  Pierson,  Sr.  Captain  Rose  served  in  Ihe  war  of  1812,  and 
acted  as  constable  for  many  years  after  Braxton  county  was  organized. 

Bzekiel  Rose,  brother  of  William,  was  noted  for  his  integrity.  He  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Harman,  and  reared  the  following  sons :  Alexander,  Isaac,  George, 
Marion,  Robert,  Marshall  who  became  a  Baptist  minister,  James  who  was'  a 
Federal  soldier,  Mortimore  was  a  Federal  soldier  and  Fielding  was  a  minister. 
of  the  gospel  and  an  ex-confederate  soldier.  In  the  same  family  were  the  fol- 
lowing daughters:  Amanda,  wife  of  Milton  Frame  (deceased),  Betsy,  wife 
of  Armstrong  Cutlip,  Liza,  wife  of  Perry  Boggs  (deceased),  and  Linda,  wife 
of  Joseph  Harrison. 

Rp;v.  Harvy  0.  Ross. 

Rev.  Harvy  0.  Ross,  son  of  James  A.  and  Mary  S.  Hicks,  was  born  May 
17,  1860.  At  an  early  period  of  his  life,  he  was  converted  and  joined  the  U. 
B.  church,  and  commenced  teaching  and  preaching.  He  was  at  one  time  prin- 
cipal of  the  Sutton  High  School.  He  subsequently  moved  west  where  he  served 
important  charges.  He  married  and  reared  a  family,  and  at  a  time  perhaps 
least  expected,  this  good  and  well  beloved  minister  was  run  over  by  a  railroad, 
train  and  killed.  He  had  many  friends  in  Braxton  county,  and  in  fact  wher- 
ever he  was  known. 

Dr.  John  L.  Rhea. 

Dr.  John  L.  Rhea  was  a  native  of  Maryland.  He  was  born  in  Westminster 
county,  Oct.  11,  1816.  He  was  married  Dec.  3,  1840,  to  Mrs.  E.  M.  Dowell, 
maiden  name,  Elizabeth  M.  Huckstep,  of  Green  county,  Va.  Mrs.  Rhea  was 
born  Jan.  22,  1814,  in  Orange  county,  Va.,  and  died  at  their  home  in  Braxton 
county,  April  26,  1863,  and  on  the  20th  of  April,  1865,  he  married  for  his  sec- 
ond wife,  Elizabeth  C.  Shaver,  daughter  of  Jessie  and  Matilda  Squires  Shaver. 
Mrs.  Rhea  departed  this  life  Aug.  30,  1873.  She  was  born  in  Braxton  county, 
Va.,  May  9,  1842.     By  these  marriages,  he  had  no  children. 

On  Jan.  8,  1874,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sallie  B.  McLaughlin,  daughter 
of  Col.  Addison  McLaughlin.  Sallie  B.  McLaughlin  was  born  in  Lewis  county, 
Va.,  May  9,  1846.  To  this  union  were  born  John  L.,  Stephen  A.,  Howard  R., 
Daniel  J.  and  Clark  Dyer. 

Dr.  Rhea  was  a  travelling  minister  in  the  M.  E.  Church  and  belonged  to 
the  Baltimore  Conference,  and  afterward  studied  medicine.  He  moved  to 
Braxton  county  from  Virginia  early  in  the  fifties,  bought  land  in  Flatwoods 
where  he  established  his  home  and  remained  there  until  his  death.  He  built  up 
a  good  practice,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  best  informed  physicians  in  the 
county. 

Dr.  Rhea  brought  several  slaves  to  this  county  when  he  came,  and  the  most 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  419 

of  his  colored  people  remained  with  him  for  several  years  after  their  freedom, 
and  they  all  have  a  desire  to  be  buried  in  the  cemetrey  by  the  side  of  their  old 
mistress  on  the  old  home  place. 

John  L.  Rhea,  Jr. 

John  L.  Rhea,  Jr.,  was  born  Jan.  7,  1875.  Pie  was  married  July  2,  1902, 
to  Rebecca  Floyd,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wm.  U.  Floyd,  and  she  was  born 
in  Doddridge  county,  Dec.  21,  1880.  To  this  union  were  born  three  children, 
Salla  A.,  Clare  E.  and  Howard  W. 

John  L.  Rhea  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm,  and  soon  after  his  marriage 
commenced  merchandising  at  Flatwoods  Junction  where  he  now  conducts  a 
large  country  stock  of  goods.  In  1914,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature, 
where  he  served  with  credit  and  faithfully  represented  the  interests  of  his  con- 
stituents. 

Jacob  Riffle. 

Jacob  Riffle,  son  of  John  N.  and  Elizabeth  (Corrick)  Riffle,  was  born  Sept. 
9,  1837,  in  Braxton  county.  He  entered  the  Federal  army  in  1862,  and  re- 
ceived an  honorable  discharge  Oct.  24,  1864.  He  was  married  Oct.  24,  1868, 
to  Lucretia,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Eliza  (Lloyd)  Shaver,  and  their  children 
were:  Willie  E.,  Dora  E.,  Luvenia  L.  and  Eliza  E.  He  with  his  brother  "Wil- 
liam served  in  Company  F,  10th  West  Virginia  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  at 
the  battle  of  Droop  Mountain.  Jacob  lost  an  arm.  He  and  his  brother  William 
are  both  dead. 

Jacob  Riffle. 

Jacob  Riffle,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  was  a  son' of  Frank  and 
Eve  (Mace)  Riffle  of  Randolph  county,  Virginia.  He  first  came  to  the  Little 
Kanawha  river,  and  settled  not  far  from  Bulltown.  He  then  moved  to 
O'Brien's  fork  of  Salt  Lick,  and  settled  in  a  hunter's  cabin,  presumably  the 
cabin  once  occupied  by  Adam  O'Brien  which  stood  near  where  the  railroad 
crosses  the  road  leading  to  Cedar  creek  and  Salt  Lick. 

Mr.  Riffle  married  for  his  former  wife  Elizabeth  Williams,  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  (Byrne)  Williams  of  Randolph  county,  and  his  latter  wife's 
name  was  Margaret  Bailey.  Names  of  daughters  by  the  former  wife  were: 
Phebe,  Alary,  Jennie  and  Mandie.  There  was  also  a  latter  family  of  children 
whose  names  we  do  not  have. 

Enoch  Roberts. 

Enoch  Roberts  was  born  near  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac  about  the  year 
1750  or  1755.  His  father  who  was  an  Englishman,  was  a  sailor  on  a  vessel 
that  ran  from  Baltimore  to  Liverpool.     Enoch  came  to  Virginia  and  settled  in 


420  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Richie  county,  and  later  moved  to  Braxton  and  settled  on  Scott's  mountain 
where  he  died  early  in  the  50 's  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-nine  years.  His 
children  were  John,  Enoch,  Benjamin  who  was  a  captain  in  the  Federal  army, 
Jeremiah,  Perry  G.,  and  one  daughter  who  married  a  man  named  Berne  in 
Richie  county,  this  state. 

Patrick  Reed. 

Patrick  Reed  of  Clay  county  came  from  Scotland  in  1730  and  settled  in 
Maine.  The  family  came  to  Virginia  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  in  1843  George  Reed  came  to  Kanawha  county  and  settled  on  the  West 
Fork.  The  first  year,  George  Arbogast  and  G.  W.  Reed  were  summoned  to 
work  a  road  on  the  Beech  fork  of  the  West  fork,  and  One  night  the  Cotterels 
and  the  McCunes  murdered  Nickols,  the  Road  Overseer.  Arbogast  and  Reed 
moved  out  and  then  settled  on  the  Elk  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Otter.  G.  W.  Reed 
was  captured  by  southern  soldiers,  and  died  in  Andersonville.  He  was  in  Cap- 
tain Ramsey's  company  of  Nicholas. 

Solomon  Reed. 

Solomon  Reed,  son  of  above  sketch,  was  born  in  Pendleton  county,  Va., 
and  moved  with  his  father  to  what  is  now  Clay  county  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood and  married  a  Miss  Sarah  Neel.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  county, 
and  was  twice  Sheriff  of  the  county  about  the  70 's.  His  family  consisted  of 
Jeremiah,  Wm.  James,  Hansford,  Margaret  and  Emma. 

James  Reed. 

James  Reed^-son  of  Solomon  Reed,  married  Carrie,  daughter  of  E.  B. 
Wheeler.  Their  children  are  E.  R.,  Bera  G.,  and  one  child  that  died  in  infancy. 
Mr.  Reed  has  been  a  very  successful  business  man,  and  has  been  clerk  of  the 
County  Court  for  fourteen  years.     He  is  now  serving  his  third  term. 

Aunt  Naomi  Rodgees. 

Aunt  Naomi  Rodgers,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  Skidmore,  was 
born  November  29,  1815.    She  married  Elija  Rodgers  in  1833. 

Soon  after  their  marriage,  they  moved  to  Three  Forks  of  Sandy,  now 
Roane  county,  West  Virginia,  where  she  lived  in  one  house  for  sixty  years. 
After  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  lived  with  her  son,  Jackson  Rodgers,  where 
she  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-six  years.  She  lived  for  many  years  a  close  neigh- 
bor to  the  celebrated  Adam  O'Brien,  and  vividly  remembers  that  noted  Indian 
fighter  and  adventurer.  She  describes  him  as  a  man  of  powerful  physique,  a 
keen  piercing  eye,  always  dressed  in  the  full  garb  of  a  hunter  in  buckskin, 
decorated  with  hunter's  tomahawk  and  rifle.  She  often  listened  to  the  primi- 
tive John  0  'Brien,  son  of  Adam,  whom  she  described  as  a  man  with  a  wonderful 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  421 

voice.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  Baptist  faith.  It  was  said  that  he  could  be 
heard  from  mountain  top  to  mountain  top  when  properly  warmed  up  in  his 
discourse. 

The  country  in  which  she  lived,  she  described  as  a  wilderness  in  1833. 
There  were  only  three  or  four  families  living  between  her  girlhood  home  and  her 
later  home  on  Sandy.  Perhaps  the  seventy-eight  years  that  she  lived  on  Sandy 
marked  a  period  and  locality  that  came  nearer  being  in  its  primitive  and  origi- 
nal state  than  any  other  section  of  country  in  central  West  Virginia.  This  sim- 
ple life  was  to  Aunt  Naomi's  liking.  She  was  a  plain  unassuming  woman,  a 
devout  Christian  and  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  She 
is  resting  beside  her  husband  and  many  relatives  and  friends  in  the  Greenhill 
cemetery  near  her  old  home. 

Philip  Rodgers. 

Phillip  Eodgers,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Braxton  county,  came  from 
Rockingham  county,  Va.  He  settled  in  the  upper  Flatwoods,  and  was  a  farmer 
and  blacksmith.  One  of  his  daughters,  Julia  Ann,  became  the  wife  of  John  G. 
Morrison.  She  died  at  the  birth  of  her  first  child.  Margaret,  a  second  daugh- 
ter, never  married.  Phillip,  John  and  William  were  his  sons.  John  is  the  only 
member  of  the  family  living,  he  being  in  his  eighty-fifth  year. 

Ballard  S.  Rogers. 

Ballard  S.  Rogers,  son  of  John  and  Melinda  (Wilson)  Rogers,  was  born 
March  20,  1831,  in  Braxton  county.  He  married  Louisa  McElwain,  in  this  coun- 
ty, Oct.  10,  1854,  and  their  children  were:  Sarah  Virginia,  Thomas  W.,  Je- 
rusha  Susan  (died  young),  Florence  Lee,  Ida  Iowa  and  Elijah  David  who  died 
while  an  infant.  Ballard  S.  Rogers  enlisted  Nov.  10,  1862,  in  Company  I,  17th 
Virginia  Cavalry,  and  served  until  May,  1865.  After  the  war,  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  for  many  years. 

Rev.  Ira  F.  Rickett. 

Rev.  Ira  F.  Rickett  was  born  Jan.  23,  1868,  in  B county,  Va.    His 

father,  W.  H.  Rickett,  and  mother,  Lucy  A.  Rhodenhizer,  were  both  natives  of 
Virginia.  He  was  married  May  28,  1890,  to  Miss  Jenny  Sarver,  and  names  of 
their  children  are,  Bernice,  Lucy,  Willa,  Thelma,  Vida,  Nellie,  Robert  and  Cal- 
lie.  Rev.  Rickett  has  been  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  is  above  the  average  in  ability,  filling  good  stations  in  the  min- 
isterial work.  He  preaches  with  great  earnestness,  and  is  popular  as  a  pastor. 
He  has  had  charge  of  the  Sutton  church  the  past  two  years. 

SUTTON  FAMILY. 

In  addition  to  the  account  given  of  the  Sutton  family  in  Baxter's  Notes, 
it  is  stated  that  John  Sutton  was  the  progenitor  of  that  branch  of  the  family 
in  America,  and  we  presume  that  his  father's  name  was  John,  as  the  name 


422  '  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

John  preceded  his  in  the  bible  records  for  two  or  three  generations  and  as  far 
back  as  1717.  His  mother's  name  was  Ann;  she  died  in  England  between  the 
years  1778  and  1789. 

John  Sutton  visited  America  before  the  Eevolutionary  war  began  but  re- 
turned to  England  and  remained  there  until  after  peace  was  made.  In  1776 
his  youngest  son  was  born,  and  he  said  he  was  so  impressed  with  the  new  world 
that  he  named  him  James  America,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  with  his 
three  sons,  John  D.,  Daniel  I.  and  James  A.,  came  to  America  and  settled  at 
Alexandria,  Virginia,  and  later  John  D.  and  Daniel  I.  went  south,  John  D. 
to  South  Carolina  where  he  married,  and  Daniel  I.  to  Louisiana  and  married 
in  that  state,  where  he  practiced  law  for  several  yeai's.  In  1825  he  was  living 
in  Monroe,  La.,  and  died  in  the  year  1832. 

In  the  year  1910  John  D.  Sutton  settled  where  the  town  of  Sutton  now 
stands  and  where  he  resided  until  Ms  death  which  occurred  in  1839.  His  father 
came  here  and  lived  with  his  son  John  D.  until  his  death  in  the  year  1825. 
They  are  buried  in  the  Skidmore  cemetery.  James  A.  Sutton  lived  in  Alexan- 
dria, Virginia ;  was  a  banker  by  occupation,  and  died  about  the  year  1806. 

Felix  Sutton. 

Felix  Sutton,  of  whom  mention  is  made  in  the  sketch  of  Braxton's  Notes, 
was  born  in  Alexandria,  Va.,  January  25,  1802.  He  was  the  son  of  James 
and  Caroline  Steptoe  Sutton.  He  had  one  sister,  Anna  C,  who  married  W.  D. 
Baxter. 

Felix  Sutton  married  Susan  Skidmore,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret 
Skidmore,  Jan.  1,  1829.  They  had  five  children,  four  daughters  and  one  son, 
the  author  of  these  sketches.  The  daughters  were  Anna  who  married  Wm. 
Waggy,  Margaret  who  married  B.  F.  Fisher,  Sallie  who  married  Bailey  Stump, 
and  Naomi  who  married  John  G.  Young. 

Felix  Sutton  was  left  a  widower  in  1846  in  which  state  he  remained  until 
his  death  which  occurred  in  May,  1884.  He  died  full  of  years,  loved  and  re- 
spected by  all.  Of  his  noble  character  and  ability,  too  much  cannot  be  said. 
If  there  is  a  single  attribute  in  our  life  or  character  which  is  worthy  of  com- 
mendation, it  is  attributable  directly  to  the  life,  character  and  training  of  this 
sweet,  amiable  and  noble  man.  The  influence  of  his  life,  like  the  pollen  of  the 
flowers,  was  swept  out  and  impregnated  the  lives  and  characters  of  those  with 
whom  it  came  in  contact. 

John  D.  Sutton. 

John  D.  Sutton,  son  of  Felix  and  Susan  Skidmore  Sutton,  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1844;  married  Mariah  Virginia  Morrison  October  23,  1866,  she  was 
born  September  4,  1847 ;  occupation,  farmer  and  stockman.  Their  children 
were  Alexander  Clark,  bom  July  12,  1867 ;  married  Lucy  Squires ;  occupa- 
tion, farmer  and  stockman;  Susan  Margaret  ,bom  December  9,  1868,  died  Jan- 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  423 

uary  27,  1877;  Bertha  Ann,  born  January  4,  1871,  died  October  27.  1877; 
Nancy  Gertrude,  born  September  25,  1872,  died  October  25,  1877;  John  Davi- 
son, born  February  4,  1875,  died  November  3,  1877;  Oley  Ord,  born  December 

17,  1879,  married  India  D.  Williams,  daughter  of  Rev.  G.  H.  Williams,  August 

18,  1903,  profession,  lawyer;  Felix  Oren.  bom  January  29,  1881,  married  Bes- 
sie C.  Sager  Sept.  loth,  1907,  who  died  Oct.  11th,  1915;  he  married  Anna  L. 
Rexroad  June  25th,  1917;  profession,  lawyer;  Jessie  Leah,  born  November  9, 
1882,  died  June  29,  1909;  Mary  Elizabeth,  born  January  31,  1885,  married 
John  H.  Watkins,  June  20,  1904,  occupation,  farmer;  James  Wesley  and 
Mariah  Virginia,  twins,  bora  March  24,  18S7 ;  James  W.  died  April  15,  1887, 
and  Mariah  V.  died  April  27,  1893. 

James  Sutton. 

James  Sutton,  son  of  John  D.  and  Sally  (Darley)  Sutton,  was  born  about 
1810.  He  lived  with  his  parents  and  followed  farming  until  his  marriage  to 
Polly,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  Skidmore  Nov.  3rd,  1829.  After  his 
marriage,  he  settled  on  the  upper  end  of  the  Buckeye  bottom,  and  continued 
farming  for  many  years.  He  was  made  Constable  and  Crier  of  the  Court.  He 
subsequently  learned  the  stone  cutter's  trade,  a  business  that  he  followed  as 
long  as  he  was  able  to  labor.  His  children  were:  Matilda,  Taylor,  Felix  J., 
Sylvester,  Sarah,  Adam  and  Susan.  His  children  are  all  dead,  but  there  are 
several  grandchildren  and  great  grandchildren  living.  Mr.  Sutton,  his  wife 
and  several  of  his  children  are  buried  in  the  cemetery  on  the  Asa  Long  farm. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  M.  P.  Church. 

F.  J.  Sutton. 

F.  J.  Sutton,  son  of  James  and  Polly  (Skidmore)  Sutton,  was  born  in 
Braxton  county,  Oct.  19,  1841.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  entered  the  Southern 
army,  enlisting  in  June,  18G1,  in  Company  ....,  25th  Virginia  Regiment.  He 
was  in  the  engagements  of  Carricks  Ford  and  McDowell,  and  then  a  participant 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  campaign,  at  Winchester  and  Cross  Keys.  He  was 
in  the  seven  days'  fight  before  Richmond,  and  in  the  battles  of  Gordonsville, 
Harpers  Ferry,  Gettysburg,  Fredericksburg,  Antietam,  second  Bull  Run,  Cedar 
Creek,  along  the  Potomac  capes  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness  where  he  was 
captured  May  5,  1864,  and  sent  to  Fort  Delaware,  remaining  a  prisoner  there 
until  the  war  closed. 

The  wife  of  F.  J.  Sutton  was  Mary  A.,  daughter  of  James  and  Savina 
(Pack)  McLaughlin,  of  Greenbrier  county.  Their  children  are  as  follows: 
Okey  S.,  Rush,  Susan,  Mack,  Frank,  Mary  S.,  Julia,  and  unnamed  baby  in 
'83.  Mr.  Sutton  later  moved  to  Cowen,  and  served  a  term  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace.     He  died  at  Cowen  in  1914. 

/ 


424  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

THE   SUTTON  FAMILY  BIBLE. 

This  old  book  was  brought  from  England  to  America  by  John  Sutton  prob- 
ably in  1785.  It  has  been  kept  in  private  homes,  mansions  and  cabins,  and  for 
several  years  in  a  bank  vault  at  Martinsburg  and  private  safe  at  Clarksburg 
and  bank  vault  at  Sutton  until  the  present.  The  Bible  is  now  296  years  old 
and  has  been  in  the  family  for  201  years.  It  contains  a  general  family  tree 
from  Adam  to  Christ  and  the  songs  and  prayers  of  the  church  that  the  King 
forced  upon  the  church  of  Scotland  which  led  to  bloodshed  and  war. 

This  old  Bible  has  survived  the  war  of  1812,  that  of  Mexico  in  1S44  and 
the  Civil  war  of  the  60 's.  Its  probable  cost  was  greater  than  that  of  a  thou- 
sand ordinary  family  bibles  of  the  present  day.  It  was  said  that  it  required 
the  wages  of  an  ordinary  laborer  for  thirteen  years  to  purchase  a  single  vol- 
ume at  the  time  of  its  publication. 

This  book  has  passed  through  six  generations,  and  as  far  as  the  records  show 
they  all  bore  the  name  of  John  except  one.  The  first  name  recorded  was  John 
Sutton,  1717,  he  kept  the  book  fifteen  years.  It  then  went  into  the  possession 
of  another  John  Sutton,  who  kept  it  twenty  years.  It  then  descended  to  an- 
other who  kept  it  fifty-eight  years.  Later  it  became  the  property  of  my  great 
grandfather,  John,  and  his  son,  John  D.  Sutton,  for  thirty  years.  It  then  went 
to  my  father,  Felix  Sutton,  who  kept  it  for  forty-two  years,  and  about  two 
years  before  his  death  in  1884,  he  gave  it  to  the  present  owner,  and  Ave  have 
kept  it  thirty-five  years.  This  priceless  old  Bible  has  been  in  the  family  over 
two  hundred  years  and  was  ninety-five  years  old  when  the  first  record  was 
made.  How  long  it  had  been  in  the  family  or  how  many  generations  it  had 
passed  through  before  1717,  we  have  no  knowledge,  but  we  presume  to  think  it 
was  bought  by  the  family  at  the  time  of  its  publication,  and  has  been  miracu- 
lously preserved  through  fire  and  flood  all  these  years.  In  the  recent  great 
flood  in  the  Elk  river  valley,  March  13,  1918,  we  discovered  the  water  running 
in  the  lower  floor  of  the  bank  building  and  fearing  the  destruction  of  the  Bible 
we  went  into  the  building  through  a  window  and  rescued  the  Bible  which 
would  soon  have  been  submerged  and  destroyed. 

FAMILY  HISTORY. 

James  M.  Stewart. 

James  M.  Stewart,  son  of  Francis  B.  and  Bhoda  J.  (Dove)  Stewart,  was 
born  in  Braxton  county,  July  1,  1843.  He  was  married  June  14,  1S66,  to  Eliza 
J.,  daughter  of  William  A.  and  Hannah  (Steele)  Davis.  She  was  born  Aug. 
10,  1S46.  Their  children  were  William  Francis,  Ulysses  Curtiss,  Marietta, 
Lydia  Jane  and  Sarah  Edna.  James' M.  Stewart  enlisted  Sept.  1,  1862,  at  Sut- 
ton, in  Company  F,  10th  West  Va.  Infantry,  and  served  throughout  the  war 
until  he  was  honorably  discharged  May  15,  1865. 


UTTON'S     HISTORY.  425 


Uzzif.l  W.  Stalnaker. 


Uzziel  W.  Salnaker,  son  of  P]li  Stalnaker,  was  born  in  Randolph  county, 
Virginia,  January  31st,  1827;  he  was  married  to  Martha  J.  Bush  November 
1st,  1858.  He  spent  the  most  of  his  married  life  in  Gilmer  chanty,  but  is  now 
a  citizen  of  Sutton,  having  come  to  Braxton  and  settled  on  Wolf  creek  some 
years  ago.  Mr.  Stalnaker  and  his  aged  wife  are  enjoying  good  health,  having 
lived  together  for  over  61  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  Their 
children  are  Mary  E.,  Alfred  S.,  William  W.,  Rue  D.,  French  D. 

Shuttleworth. 

In  1876  Thomas  Shuttleworth,.  an  Englishman,  came  to  Sutton  and  built 
a  foundry,  the  first  to  be  built  in  the  county.  He  was  a  skilled  workman  and 
made  many  articles  useful  to  the  farmer  and  the  other  industries  that  used 
castings.  He  died  in  1883  and  the  foundry  has  since  been  enlarged  and  carried 
on  by  his  son,  John  H.  Shuttleworth,  who  in  addition  to  the  foundry  runs  a 
machine  shop,  being  a  mechanic  of  superior  skill.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
the  late  Benjamin  T.  Canfield;  his  home  is  in  Sutton. 

Me.  and  Mes.  Daniel  Stout. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Stout  were  two  of  the  oldest  persons  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. They  had  dwelt  together  for  fifty-nine  years,  and  had  spent  the  greater 
portion  of  their  days  in  Flatwoods.  The  first  to  be  taken  was  the  husband, 
who,  on  the  6th  day  of  January,  1911,  in  his  ninety-second  year,  died  at  his 
home  in  Flatwoods.  He  was  followed  by.  his  wife,  whose  death  occurred  Dec. 
14,  1916,  in  her  eighty-fourth  year.  They  were  married  Oct.  18,  1852.  To 
them  were  born  ten  children,  four  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Six  lived  to  adult 
age,  Mary  E.,  Sarah  E.,  D.  Amanda,  Fletcher  H,  Addie  L.  and  R.  Lina.  No 
family  in  this  neighborhood  ever  lived  a  life  of  greater  tranquility  than  that 
of  Daniel  J.  Stout.  He  and  his  f arn.il y  had  long  been  members  of  the  Baptist 
church.  Aunt  Katy,  as  she  familiarly  called,  was  a  faithful  nurse  and  at- 
tendant upon  the  sick.  In  the  death  of  these  two  persons,  is  the  passing  away 
of  those  whose  places  may  not  be  easily  filled. 

Adam  Shields. 

Adam  Shields,  the  progenitor  of  the  Shields  famity  of  Braxton,  came  to 
this  country  as  a  British  soldier.  In  time  of  the  Revolution,  he  was  captured 
and  joined  the  Continental  army.  He  settled  on  Kanawha,  and  later  his  family 
located  on  Salt  Lick. 

Edwaed  D.  Speigg. 

Edward  D.  Sprigg  was  born  early  in  the  19th  century  in  Maryland,  and 
in  1831  married  Martha  J.  Smith  of  Lewis  county,  who  was  a  native  of  Mary- 
land.    Their  children  were,  John  S.,  Sarah  Ann,  Amanda  E.,  James  D.,  Mary 


426  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

E.,  William,  Debora  J.,  Morgan  D.,  Frederick  P.,  Anna  and  Martha  J.  and 
one  child  not  named.  Not  long  after  the  formation  of  Braxton  county,  Mr. 
Sprigg  came  to  the  county  and  settled  on  the  Elk  river  near  Sutton,  and  for 
many  years  there  he  owned  and  operated  the  Dyer  mill,  afterward  called  the 
Sprigg  mill.  The  mill  was  washed  away  in  the  flood  of  1861.  The  latter  years 
of  his  life  he  spent  on  his  farm  near  Boiling  Green,  where  his  son,  Morgan  D. 
Sprigg,  now  lives.  Mr.  Sprigg  and  his  wife  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  were 
buried  in  the  Skidmore  cemetery,  where  rest  several  of  their  descendants. 

Michael  Stump. 

Michael  Stump  who  introduced  the  Stump  family  into  the  Steer  creek 
valley,  was  the  son  of  Colonel  Michael  Stump  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
army.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Hughes,  sister  to  the  great  Indian  fighter.  Colonel 
Stump  lived  on  the  South  branch  of  the  Potomac.  Young  Michael  when  he  was 
a  boy  of  eighteen,  left  home  and  came  to  the"  forts  on  the  "West  Fork,  now 
Lewis  county,  and  is  said  to  have  been  with  his  Uncle  Jesse  Hughes  when  they 
overtook  and  killed  an  Indian  near  Eavenswood,  W.  Va.  He  afterwards  re- 
turned to  the  South  branch  and  married  a  Miss  Richardson,  and  came  back  to 
the  West  Fork  and  bought  land  and  settled  on  Hacker's  creek  where  Jane  Lew 
now  stands  on  land  afterward  owned  by  Isaac  Jackson. 

He  was  born  on  the  South  Branch,  Feb.  4,  1766,  and  died  March  27,  1834, 
at  his  home  on  Steer  creek.  A  few  years  before  his  death,  he  became  partially 
insane,  and  had  to  be  confined.  His  sons  built  a  cage  or  small  room  of  strong 
pieces  of  timber  in  which  they  kept  him.  Bailey  Stump,  his  grandson,  has 
in  his  possession  the  stool,  a  wooden  seat  with  four  legs,  upon  which  he  sat, 
and  Fletcher  Stout  has  the  old  saw  that  belonged  to  Mr.  Stump  which  was  used 
in  the  construction  of  this  primitive  asylum,  perhaps  the  first  one  built  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

Mr.  Stump  came  to  the  Steer  creek  valley  in  1804,  and  was  the  first  white 
settler  in  that  region  of  country.  He  was  an  honest,  rugged  pioneer,  fond  of 
hunting  and  enjoyed  the  rural  life  of  a  woodsman.  When  he  settled  in  the 
Steer  creek  valley,  it  was  a  wilderness,  the  streams  abounded  in  fish,  and  the 
forest  in  game.  He  was  the  progenitor  of  a.  family  that  has  become  very  nu- 
merous, spreading  out  over  many  states. 

His  immediate  family  was  Michael,  Jacob,  Absolum,  John,  George  and 
Jesse,  and  daughters  Sarah,  Mary  Magdalene,  Elizabeth,  Temperance  and 
Jemima.  These  girls  all  married  and  reared  large  families.  The  descendants 
of  Michael  Stump  are  scattered  all  over  the  Steer  creek  valley  and  its  tribu- 
taries. 

The  selection  that  the  old  pioneer  made  for  a  home  for  himself  and  family 
was  a  wise  one.  His  son  Michael  was  a  surveyor,  and  was  quite  a  prominent 
man,  living  to  be  nearly  a  hundred  years  old.  He  was  bitten  twice  by  rattle- 
snakes and  nine  times  by  copperheads. 


.     SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  427 

Michael  Stump,  the  progenitor  of  the  family,  is  buried  near  his  old  home 
on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  Steer  creek  valley  not  far  from  Stumptown. 
A  few  years  ago,  his  descendants  placed  at  the  grave  a  monument  made  in  shape 
to  represent  the  stump  of  a  tree,  with  the  design  of  a  gun  and  ax  cut  in  the 
monument,  representing  the  pioneer  and  the  hunter. 

The  Stump  family  are  industrious,  sober  people,  frugal  in  their  habits, 
and  almost  universally  adhere  to  the  Baptist  faith.  Some  of  them  became  min- 
isters of  the  gospel  and  attained  prominence. 

Bailey  Stump. 

Bailey,  son  of  Jacob  and  Jane  Boggs  Stump,  was  born  in  Gilmer  county 
(then  Lewis  county,  Va.),  Dec.  22,  1839.  He  married  Sally,  daughter  of  Felix 
and,  Susan  SMdmore  Sutton,  Jan.  1,  1861.  Their  children  are  John  S.,  Susan, 
Draper,  Laura  and  Molly.  Mr.  Stump  owns  >a  valuable  farm  on  Steer  creek 
at  the  mouth  of  Crooked  fork,  also  other  valuable  lands,  and  is  one  of  the  suc- 
cessful farmers  and  business  men  of  his  county.  He  is  a  grandson  of  Michael. 
Stump,  the  old  pioneer  and  Indian  fighter,  and  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Steer 
creek. 

John  G.  Young. 

John  G.,  son  of  James  and  Becky  Stephenson  Young,  was  born  in  Nicholas 
county,  Va.,  and  married  Naomi  S.,  daughter  of  Felix  and  Susan  Skidmore 
Sutton,  Nov.  9,  1864.  Mr.  Young  was  a  successful  teacher  and  farmer.  He 
served  in  the  W.  Va.  State  Guards  in  Captain  Stephenson's  company  as  Orderly 
Sergeant.  After  the  war  he  moved  to  Braxton  county,  and  followed  farming 
and  teaching  until  his  death  which  occurred  in  1893.  Mr.  Young  was  upright 
in  character  and  just  in  all  his  dealings. 

John  Sutton  Stump. 

John  Sutton  Stump  was  born  Dec.  4,  1861,  in  Gilmer  county,  this  state. 
His  father,  Bailey  Stump,  was  born  in  Lewis  county,  an  dhis  mother  Sally 
(Sutton)  Stump,  was  bom  at  Flatwoods,  this  county.  His  grandfather,  Jacob 
Stump,  was  bom  in  Hardy  county,  and  his  grandmother,  Jane  (Boggs)  Stump, 
was  born  in  Nicholas  county.  On  March  2,  1892,  he  married  Miss  Lily  Eagland 
Budwell,  and  their  children's  names  are  Felix  Budwell,  Josephine  Ragland  and 
John  Sutton,  Jr. 

Rev.  Stump  graduated  from  Crozer  Theological  Seminary  in  1890 ;  or- 
dained in  May,  1891 ;  missionary  in  Parkersburg,  1890-91 ;  pastor  in  Buckhan- 
non,  1891-92;  organized  the  West  Virginia  Baptist  Educational  Society  1890- 
91,  and  was  its  corresponding  secretary  until  1895 ;  superintendent  of  State 
Missions,  1896-1901 ;  district  secretary  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society, 
1901,  and  joint  secretary  of  the  same  with  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mis- 


428  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

sion  Society  from  1908  to  the  present  time.  The  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  conferred  by  Dennison  University  in  1911.  Rev.  Stump  now  resides 
in  Parkersburg. 

THE  SKIDMORE  FAMILY. 

According  to  Bardley's  dictionary  of  English  and  Welsh  surnames,  the 
Skidmore  family  is  of  English  origin,  but  traditional  history  claims  that  the 
Skidmore  family  is  of  German  descent,  possibly  coming  down  through  Hol- 
land, thence  to  America.  The  record  of  the  family  dates  back  to  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  name  was  originally  Scudimore,  but  was  at  an  early  date  changed 
to  Skidmore.  The  family  comes  from  the  southwestern  part  of  England.  Wilts, 
a  parish  record,  shows  a  baptism  of  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Skidmore,  in 
1657.  An  old  census  report  from  Virginia  shows  an  enumeration  having  been 
taken  in  the  years  1782  and  1785.  It  is  entitled,  "A  census  of  the  heads  of 
families, ' '  and  the  name  of  Skidmore  is  found  as  follows :  Prom  Fairfax  eoun- 
.ty,  the  census  for  1782  gives  the  names  of  Edward  Skidmore,  Elizabeth  Skid- 
more, Ann  Skidmore  and  Malinda  Skidmore.  From  Rockingham  county,  the 
enumeration  which  was  taken  in  1784,  contains  the  names  of  John  Skidmore, 
Joseph  Skidmore  and  Thomas  Skidmore,  John  and  Thomas  presumably  being 
the  sons  of  Joseph. 

Of  the  early  ancestry  of  the  Skidmores,  we  have  but  little  knowledge. 
That  five  generations  or  more  ago,  they  took  an  active  part  in  the  Indian  wars 
and  the  struggle  for  independence,  is  well  established.  As  a  family,  they  have 
become  very  numerous,  spreading  over  many  states  of  the  union,  and  number- 
ing in  their  kindred  ties  many  thousands.  Some  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
Skidmore  family  have  been  prominent  in  every  generation.  They  are  domestic 
in  their  habits,  frugal  and  industrious,  while  large  families  is  the  rule  and  not 
the  exception. 

The  old  records  show  that  the  early  or  first  generations  of  the  Skidmores 
owned  a  great  deal  of  valuable  lands.  As  a  rule,  they  were  farmers,  and  sought 
the  best  farming  lands.  In  an  early  day,  those  coming  to  the  Tygarts  Valley 
river,  the  Elk  and  Holly,  sought  out  the  finest  bottom  lands,  and  for  a  hundred 
years  or  more  much  of  this  land  remained  in  the  possession  of  their  descend- 
ants. They  are  tenacious  and  unyielding  in  what  they  conceive  to  be  right. 
Their  florid  expression  and  auburn  hair  characterizes  every  generation,  and  is 
an  inheritance  that  has  never  faded  away.  It  is  most  probable  that  the  Skid- 
mores were  originally  of  Scotch  origin  and  emigrated  from  that  country,  set- 
tling in  Holland  before  coming  to  the  states.  Whether  Joseph  Skidmore  was 
born  in  this  country  or  across  the  water,  we  know  not,  or  whether  he  came 
alone  to  America,  we  are  not  informed. 

Mrs.  Delila  Coger  says  her  great-grandfather,  Joseph  Skidmore,  lived  in 
Pendleton  county  on  a  small  run,  and  that  the  Indians  came  to  his  house  and 
took  a  hog  that  was  dressed  and  hanging  up  in  the  house,  taking  it  up  the  run. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  429 

Her  great-grandmother  was  the  only  person  at  home,  and  the  Indians  ran 
around  the  house  and  looked  in  through  the  cracks  of  the  wall  and  laughed 
at  her  while  she  sat  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  and  cried.  She  described  her 
as  a  large  spare  built  woman.  On  what  a  slender  thread  hung  the  destiny  of 
a  great  family.  She  said  that  Captain  John  Skidmore's  wife's  name  was  Betsy; 
that  she  outlived  her  husband  several  years,  and  was  blind  for  a  few  years  be- 
fore her  death.  She  lived  with  her  son  John,  and  requested  to  be  buried  under 
an  apple  tree. 

Josephh  Skidmore  and  his  wife,  liachael,  moved  from  near  Norfolk,  Va., 
before  the  Revolution,  and  settled  either  in  Bath  or  Pendleton  counties.  Their 
son  John,  it  was  said,  was  the  eldest  of  the  seventeen  children,  and  his  brother 
Andrew  was  the  youngest.  John  was  married  and  had  children  older  than 
his  brother  Andrew.  Of  the  other  members  of  this  numerous  family,  we  have 
been  able  to  secure  only  a  part  of  the  names.  In  addition  to  John  and  Andrew, 
we  have  the  names  of  Thomas,  Benjamin,  Samuel,  Joseph,  James;  one  of  the 
daughters  married  a  man  named  Taylor,  one  married  Jos.  Friend,  one  married 
Lawrence,  one,  a  Coger,  one,  Jesse  Cunningham,  one,  a  Stonestreet  and  one 
married  Robinson.  It  ,is  of  John  and  Andrew,  his  brother,  that  we  wish  more 
particularly  to  speak.  John  was  born  in  1725,  and  Andrew  in  November,  1750. 
John  was  a  captain,  and  commanded  the  Greenbrier  militia  at  the  memorable 
battle  at  Point  Pleasant,  being  badly  wounded  in  the  hip.  Andrew  belonged 
to  the  same  company,  and  lost  a  finger  in  the  same  battle. 

Captain  Skidmore  married  Polly  Hinkle  and  reared  a  large  family.  Many 
of  the  descendants  of  the  Skidmore  family  settled  in  Pendleton,  Randolph,  Bar- 
bour, Braxton  and  what  is  now  Webster  county.  Captain  Skidmore  was  said 
to  be  a  man  of  deep  piety.  He  was  buried  near  Franklin,  Pendleton  county. 
Thomas  Skidmore,  a  great-grandson,  told  us  a  short  time  before  his  death,  when 
he  was  in  his  88th  year,  that  he  remembered  seeing  Capt.  Skidmore's  widow 
in  Pendleton  county  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  he  gave  from  memory  the  names 
of  the  children  of  his  great-grandfather,  John  Skidmore. 

They  were  John  who  died  on  the  Holly  river,  Braxton  county.  He  was  a 
Baptist  preacher,  and  was  granted  license  by  the  Nicholas  County  Court  to 
celebrate  marriages.  His  wife  was  Nancy  Tingler.  (Their  daughter  Sallie 
married  Dr.  Cozad,  Edie  married  a  Canfield,  Polly  married  ,  George  Bickle, 
Mahala  married  Edward  Robinson  and  one  son  died.  Prof.  R.  A.  Arthur  was 
related  to  the  Skidmore  family,  through  Joseph  Friend  whose  wife  was  Jos. 
Skidmore's  daughter.  James  died  in  Pendleton  cormty,  Eliza  of  whom  he 
gave  no  further  account.)  Another  son's  name  was  Andrew  who  lived  in  Pen- 
dleton, two  of  the  sons  were  slave  owners,  Polly  married  Adam  Lough.  Phebe 
married  Alexander  Taylor,  Edith  married  Robert  Chenoweth,  Susan  married 
a  Harper,  Mary  married  a  Rodgers,  Rachel  never  married,  Levi  lived  near 
Union  Mills  on  the  Elk,  and  many  of  his  descendants  are  living  in  Braxton 
and  "Webster.  Isaac  was  drowned  in  Pendleton  county,  and  one  daughter's 
name  was  not  remembered. 


430  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Samuel  Skidmore's  wife  was  named  Betsy  Parson.  He  was  a  son  of 
James,  son  of  Captain  John.  He  settled  on  the  Elk  river  and  owned  the  Union 
Mills.  He  was  the  father  of  Thomas,  John,  James,  Isaac,  Jesse,  Raehael  and 
Mary,  splendid  upright  citizens,  and  all  reared  large  families.  Jas.  Skidmore 
was  a  commissioned  officer  in  the  Virginia  militia ;  he  was  one  of  nature 's  noble- 
men. The  author  was  shown  a  copy  of  his  father's  will,  James  Skidmore, 
dated  Pendleton,  Va.,  August,  1827,  in  which  he  willed  quite  an  amount  of 
property  to  his  children.  He  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  Samuel,  John, 
Jesse,  Mary  Belle,  Phebe  and  Sarah.  Samuel  and  John  were  soldiers  in  the 
war  of  1812.  John  died  while  in  the  service  at  Norfolk;  Samuel  said  that  he 
was  on  picket  duty  the  night  his  brother  lay  a  corpse,  and  that  the  night  was 
to  him  the  most  distressed  and  horrible  that  he  ever  experienced.  He  died  in 
Pendleton  county.  "Kiser"  Sam  was  a  son  of  Andrew  and  grandson  of  Cap- 
tain John,  and  owned  the  large  and  valuable  bottoms  on  the  Holly.  He  sold 
his  land  and  moved  West;  his  wife's  name  was  Kiser,  hence  his  nickname. 
There  were  two  Joseph  Skidmores,  one  being  a  son  of  Andrew,  and  one  a  cap- 
tain in  the  militia  service,  but  whether  he  was  a  son  of  Joseph,  founder  of  the 
family  or  grandson,  we  have  no  definite  knowledge.  Henry  Robinson  who  lived 
near  the  forks  of  the  Holly,  married  a  daughter  of  John  Skidmore. 

Of  Andrew  Skidmore,  youngest  son  of  Joseph,  and  his  descendants,  we 
have  a  more  general  knowledge.  He  was  twenty-four  years  old  at  the  time  of 
the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  and  was  a  private  in  his  brother's  company.  That 
he  was  a  daring,  reckless  soldier  and  Indian  fighter,  is  an  unquestioned  fact. 
His  hostility  to  the  Indians  did  not  cease  after  peace  had  been  declared.  It  is 
related  that  he  and  two  others  named  Judy  and  Cowen  were  imprisoned  in 
Pendleton  county  for  killing  Indians,  but  the  sympathy  of  the  citizens  caused 
their  release  without  the  form  of  law.  After  a  man  named  Stroud  had  been 
killed  in  what  is  known  as  Strouds  Glade  by  the  Indians  in  1792,  "Wm.  Hacker, 
a  Mr.  Kettle,  Wm.  White  and  others  murdered  Captain  Bull  and  his  little  tribe 
said  to  be  composed  of  five  families,  a  remnant  of  friendly  Indians  who  had 
sought  shelter  from  their  northern  enemies,  and  built  a  fort  on  the  banks  of  the 
Little  Kanawha  river.  Andrew  Skidmore  said  that  after  they  had  killed  the 
Indians  they  stepped  in  a  trough  of  bear's  oil  to  grease  their  moccasins,  and 
went  on.  Whether  he  had  participated  in  that  unjustifiable  slaughter  or  had 
the  account  given  him  by  the  lips  of  the  other  parties,  we  know  not,  but  the 
inference  is  that  he  was  along.  His  grand  daughter,  Aunt  Nellie  Rodgers  who 
lived  in  Roane  county,  W.  Va.,  told  the  writer  when  she  was  ninety-eight,  that 
"  Granddaddy, "  as  she  expressed  it,  had  done  several  bad  things  after  peace 
was  made.  It  is  the  history  of  all  nations  that  when  civilization  is  at  war  with 
barbarous  or  uncivilized  people,  that  they  become  barbarous  through  retalia- 
tion or  demoralization,  and  often  become  more  cruel  than  the  savage  himself. 
It  was  true  in  our  Indian  wars ;  it  was  true  in  our  subjugation  of  the  helpless 
Filipino ;  and  it  will  always  be  true. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  431 

But  this  sturdy  old  soldier  and  pioneer,  after  the  struggles  for  indepen- 
dence and  a  long  and  hazardous  warfare  with  the  Indians,  blazing  the  way  for 
civilization  in  the  western  world,  married  Margaret  Johnson  of  Randolph  coun- 
ty, and  settled  on  Tygarts  Valley  river,  near  where  the  town  of  Elkins  now 
stands,  where  he  owned  four  hundred  acres  of  valuable  land  entered  on  the 
24th  day  of  November,  1777.  Joseph,  his  brother,  entered  on  the  same  date, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  adjoining.  Andrew  undertook  to  dig  a  ditch  to 
carry  the  water  across  a  bottom  at  a  long  horseshoe  bend  to  secure  water  power 
for  a  grist  mill.  This  enterprise  was  never  completed,  but  the  ditch  can  yet  be 
seen.  The  old  soldier  showed  a  spirit  of  enterprise  in  trying  to  harness  the 
waters  of  the  Valley  river  and  make  it  useful  to  man. 

Margaret  Johnson  was  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Johnson.  She  had  six  broth- 
ers— John,  Charles,  Robert,  Oliver,  Jacob  and  Levi.  Jacob  went  to  Raleigh, 
N.  C,  and  married  a  Miss  McDonald  where  he  died  in  1812,  leaving  one  child 
about  four  years  old,  named  Andrew  who  afterward  became  President  of  the 
United  States.  Margaret  Johnson  Skidmore  is  buried  near  Elkins  in  what  is 
now  the  Odd  Fellows'  cemetery.  Her  grave  is  marked  by  a  stone  cut  by  her 
son  Andrew.  Her  husband  died  in  Braxton  county  and  is  buried  in  the  Skid- 
more  cemetery  at  Sutton.  Their  children  were  James,  born  August,  1784.  (He 
married  Sarah  Kettle,  daughter  of  Jacob  Kettle.  Their  children  were  William, 
Hickman,  Edwin,  Edith  who  married  James  Madison  Corley  and  is  buried  at 
the  Corley  place  in  Flatwoods,  Mary  who  married  John  Daly.  Elizabeth  who 
married  Isaac  Harris,  Margaret  who  died  in  infancy,  Rachael  who  married  John 
K.  Scott  and  was  the  mother  of  the  celebrated  large  Scott  family,  Sarah  who 
married  Wm.  F.  Corley,  father  of  Attorney  A .  W.  Corley  of  Sutton. )  Andrew, 
born  March  20,  1780;  Nancy,  born  December  25,  1787,  (she  married  Thomas 
Scott)  ;  Mary,  bora  February  14,  1789,  married  Chenoweth ;  Sarah,  born  April 
28,  1792,  married  Coberly;  Joseph  G.,  bom  June  17,  1794;  Jesse,  born  April 
6,  1796;  Eleanor,  born  March  15,  1798;  John,  born  August  15,  1S00;  Benjamin, 
born  October  20,  1802;  Margaret,  born  February  10,  1804,  married  Crites;  Re- 
becca, bom  May  7,  1807,  married  Jesse  Jackson. 

Some  of  the  descendants  of  Captain  John  Skidmore  settled  on  the  Elk 
and  Holly  river's,  and  many  of  their  kindred  are  in  that  vicinity  yet,  while 
some  of  the  descendants  of  Andrew  Skidmore  settled  on  the  Elk  at  or  below 
Sutton.  Benjamin  Skidmore.  a  most  exemplary  citizen,  owned  what  is  known 
as  the  Skidmore  bottom  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  town  of  Sutton.  Benjamin 
Skidmore 's  wife  was  Mary  Gordon,  and  their  children  were  Hilliard,  Washing- 
ton, John  Newhouse,  Franklin,  Jennings,  Salina  who  married  J.  A.  Baughman, 
Sabina  who  married  B.  T.  Canfield,  Caroline  who  married  J.  M.  Mace,  Mary 
Ann  who  mari'ied  William  S.  Gillespie  and  Rebecca  who  married  Thomas  Daly. 
Two  sons  and  two  daughters  are  all  of  this  family  who  are  living.  He  and  his 
wife,  and  several  of  his  children,  are  buried  at  Sutton  in  the  Skidmore  ceme- 
tery. 

Andrew,  an  older  brother  of  Benjamin,  settled  three  miles  below  Sutton  on 


432  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  splendid  land  bought  of  John  D. 
Sutton,  paid  for  principally  "by  labor  in  building  a  post  and  rail  fence  on  the 
bottom  where  the  town  of  Sutton  stands.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  strength 
and  endurance.  My  father  related  to  me  that  he  killed  a  yearling  bear  on  Wolf 
creek  and  carried  it  home,  together  with  his  gun,  shot  pouch  and  knapsack,  lay- 
ing this  bulky  and  excessive  load  down  but  twice  to  rest  though  the  distance 
was  seven  miles  to  his  home.  Andrew  Skidmore  married  Margaret  Hudkins. 
Their  children  were  Felix,  Allen,  James,  Naomi  who  married  Levi  Rodgers, 
Polly  who  married  James  Sutton,  Sally  who  married  Levi  Prince,  David  and 
Eliza  who  died  in  infancy,  Susan  who  married  Felix  Sutton  and  Nellie  who 
married  Elija  Rodgers.  He  and  his  wife  and  several  of  their  children  are 
buried  at  Bealls  Mill.  The  old  hewn  log  house  that  Andrew  Skidmore  built  a 
century  ago  is  still  standing  and  is  occupied  by  the  family  of  his  son  James, 
a  home  in  which  he  reared  his  children,  and  from  the  shelter  of  which  they 
married  and  went  out  into  the  world.  How  sacred  the  relic  and  spot  where 
father  and  mother  were  united  in  marriage.  In  tracing  the  genealogy  of  the 
family  we  find  a  similarity  of  names  running  through  every  family,  namely: 
Polly,  Rachael,  Edith,  Betsy,  Phebe,  Andrew,  James,  Thomas.  The  name  Olivr 
appears  in  the  Scott  family,  taken  from  the  Johnsons,  as  well  as  the  name  of 
Jacob,  Andrew,  Robert  and  Levi. 

The  Skidmores  in  an  early  day  intermarried  with  the  Chenoweths,  the 
Johnsons,  the  Coberlys,  Kettles,  Corleys,  Scotts,  Hinkles  and  numerous  other 
families.  As  a  rule,  they  are  exemplary  citizens,  and  have  been  loyal  to  the 
government,  having  been  represented  in  every  war  from  that  of  1774  to  the 
present.  Their  course  has  been  westward  from  the  day  of  their  ascent  of  the 
James  river  to  the  wilds  of  the  western  world.  They  have  never  aspired  to  office 
or  eminent  positions.  Few  of  (hem  have  chosen  the  legal  or  professional  life, 
but  they  have  penetrated  the  forests  and  assisted  in  driving  back  the  savage 
and  exterminating  the  panther  and  the  bear.  They  have  felled  the  forests  ano 
builded  churches  and  schools,  and  transformed  the  wilderness  into  a  land  de- 
sirable for  human  habitation.  The  daring  revolutionary  soldiers  and  adven- 
turous citizens,  like  swampers  in  the  forest,  blazed  the  footpaths,  and  opened 
up  the  way  for  the  generations  who  were  to  follow.  They  followed  in  the  very 
presence  of  the  Indian  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife  that  lurked  in  every  ra- 
vine, that  crouched  behind  every  bush  and  boulder.  When  we  think  of  it,  it  is 
simply  marvelous — their  endurance  in  penetrating  an  unbroken  wilderness,  in 
facing  the  storms  that  have  no  limit  to  their  fantastics  while  sweeping  the  peaks 
of  the  Alleghenies.  Who  pauses  to  think  while  passing  the  mounds  that  con- 
tain the  sacred  dust  of  their  fathers,  who  it  was  that  drove  the  savage  from 
ocean  to  ocean  and  conquered  a  mighty  empire.  Not  the  citizen  of  wealth,  not 
the  men  in  authority,  not  the  gentlemen  of  leisure,  not  society  cultured  and 
sparkling  in  gems,  all  beneficiaries  of  a  generation  unsurpassed  and  immortal. 
Every  grave  should  have  a  monument;  every  county  should  have  a  little  his- 
torical society  and  map  out  and  make  note  of  the  name  and  place  of  every 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  433 

silent  and  long-neglected  grave;  the  state  of  West  Virginia,  with  her  limitless 
treasure,  might  in  justice  make  provision  to  seek  out  and  memorialize  her  wor- 
thy pioneer  dead. 

Recently,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mrs.  Delila  Coger  who  with  David 
Chenoweth,  aged  eighty-eight,  are  the  only  living  grandchildren  of  Captain 
John  Skidmore.  Mrs.  Coger  was  next  to  the  youngest  of  Levi  Skidmore's  fam- 
ily, and  is  one  of  twelve  children.  Levi  was  the  youngest  child  of  Captain  John 
Skidmore's  family  and  was  also  one  of  twelve  children.  Mrs.  Coger  is  in  her 
92nd  year,  and  is  keeping  house  with  part  of  her  children.  Ordinarily  she  does 
her  own  housework,  and  is  remarkably  well  preserved  for  one  of  her  years. 
She  is  a  woman  of  striking  intelligence  and  force  of  character.  She  related 
many  incidents  of  pioneer  life,  and  spoke  of  many  topics  of  importance  relat- 
ing to  the  present.  She  emphasized  the  fact  that  there  ought  to  be  more  strin- 
gent laws  in  reference  to  marriage.  She  advocates  that  there  should  be  prop- 
erty qualifications;  that  a  man  entering  the  matrimonial  state  should  have  at 
least  something  to  begin  life  with,  and  that  he  should  be  sufficiently  intelligent 
to  manage  his  property;  that  he  should  be  free  from  deformity  or  hereditary 
disease.  This,  she  said,  would  lessen  divorce  and  insure  a  stronger  and  more 
energetic  race. 

If  the  descendants  of  Joseph  and  Rachael  Skidmore  could  be  numbered 
down  through  all  the  five  or  six  generations  to  the  present,  with  all  the  kindred 
blood,  the  number  would  be  as  great  as  the  army  that  followed  Grant  through 
the  wilderness.  If  anyone  doiibts  this,  and  he  be  a  statistician,  let  him  exer- 
cise his  powers  of  enumeration,  and  he  will  begin  to  see  great  armies  rising  up 
before  him. 

We  said  in  the  beginning  that  large  families  was  the  rule  and  not  the  ex- 
ception. We  had  seventeen  to  begin  with  in  the  year  1745  or  1750.  Captain 
John  had  twelve  children,  Andrew  had  twelve,  Levi  had  twelve,  and  of  the 
grandchildren,  Andrew  had  ten,  and  lived  to  see  his  fifth  generation,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Rev.  J.  Y.  Gillespie ;  Benjamin  had  twelve,  James  had  twelve,  John 
had  twelve,  Allen  had  fifteen,  Jennings  Skidmore  was  father  of  seventeen,  the 
same  number  as  Joseph,  his  great-grandfather,  Mrs.  Naomi  Skidmore  Rodgers 
had  nineteen,  Mrs.  Nellie  Rodgers  had  thirteen,  Mrs.  Canfield  had  thirteen,  and 
we  visited  the  home  of  one  of  the  fourth  generation  who  had  twenty  children, 
and  the  father  yet  living;  David  Skidmore  Jackson  was  father  of  sixteen  chil- 
dren, including  one  set  or  triplets.  Politically,  the  early  Skidmores  with  few 
exceptions  were  Democrats,  and  if  the.  old  party  of  Jefferson  shall  ever  be  want- 
ing in  numerical  strength,  it  will  be  because  the  Skidmore  family  has  disobeyed 
the  scriptural  injunction.  We  know  of  three  children  who  are  of  the  eighth 
generation  from  Joseph  Skidmore,  and  of  the  fifth  generation  from  their  great- 
grandfather, Simon  Prince  who  died  in  his  98th  year.  At  one  time,  we  saw  one 
of  these  children,  Spurgeon  Hefner,  sitting  in  his  lap,  a  sight  rarely  wit- 
nessed in  this  life.  The  above  list  contains  only  a  few  of  the  hundreds  that 
might  be  named  measuring  up  to  the  patriarchal  number. 


434  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  late  Attorney  A.  W.  Corley  of  Sutton  for  quite  a 
number  of  names  and  dates  of  this  article.  We  have  made  no  attempt  at  bring- 
ing out  the  various  branches  of  the  Skidmore  family  or  of  placing  them  in  their 
genealogical  order.  Such  an  effort  would  be  very  laborious  and  would  Mil 
a  volume,  for  we  believe  the  Skidmore  family  to  be  the  largest  in  the  United 
States,  taking  the  first  six  generations.  We  have  only  attempted  to  gather  a 
few  facts  in  order  that  any  of  the  kindred  wishing  to  trace  up  their  family  con- 
nection might  take  the  information  which  we  have  tried  to  impart  as  a  guide, 
and  if  any  should  be  benefitted  by  the  same,  we  will  have  been  amply  paid. 
That  this  great  family  is  one  of  honor,  Christian  virtue  and  integrity  none  can 
deny,  and  since  Andrew,  the  old  Indian  fighter,  who  helped  to  drive  the  red- 
skins from  the  Alleghenies  across  the  Ohio  river  and  was  put  in  prison  for  kill- 
ing Indians  after  peace  had  been  declared,  no  one  of  the  name  in  six  genera- 
tions has  ever  been  tried  for  crime  nor  looked  through  a  prison  bar. 

We  cannot  close  this  imperfect  sketch  without  adding  a  line  to  the  memory 
of  Allen  Skidmore.  He  was  a  son  of  Andrew  Skidmore,  and  was  a  man  of  ex- 
emplary Christian  character,  touched  with  the  divine  spirit  of  grace.  We  vivid- 
ly recall  many  pleasant  evenings  spent  with  him  and  his  faithful  and  devoted 
wife.  He  exemplified  in  his  moral  life  more  of  the  characteristics  of  a  frontiers- 
man than  is  usually  found  in  a  well  settled  country.  His  aspirations  were  only 
to  do  good,  and  he  seemed  best  contented  in  a  humble  cabin  home  where  he 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life;  a  home  stronger  and  more  impregnable  than 
the  fortress  or  palace  of  a  king.  It  was  here  that  he  established  his  altar,  for 
God  was  with  him. 

Isaac  Skidmore. 

Isaac  Skidmore,  son  of  Levi  Skidmore,  was  bom  near  Union  Mills,  Sept. 
18,  1811,  and  married  Lucinda  Coger  Sept.  25,  1846.  Their  children  were 
Francena,  Samuel  K.,  Mary,  Margaret,  Jonathan,  Theodore,  Felix  B.,  Phebe 
J.,  Luther  C,  and  Pierson  B.  Mr.  Skidmore  owned  valuable  land  and  property 
on  the  Elk  river,  and  was  a  prosperous  farmer. 

Felix  Skidmore. 

Felix  Skidmore,  son  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  (Hudkins)  Skidmore,  was 
born  April  18,  1823,  in  Braxton  county.  He  married  on  Sept.  28,  1843,  Cyn- 
thia Frame,  daughter  of  David  and  Sarah  (Harris)  Frame.  Their  children 
were  eight  n  number:  Sarah,  Margaret  (deceased),  David,  Andrew  (died  at  age 
of  five),  Homer,  Franklin,  Harriet  and  Henry  F. 

Felix  Skidmore  lived  with  his  father  until  he  was  seventeen  years  old  when 
he  began  to  ride  as  Deputy  Sheriff  which  he  followed  for  over  two  years.  The 
other  county  offices  which  he  filled  were  Commissioner  in  Chancery,  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  and  a  second  term  of  Deputy  Sheriff.  He  was  also  Captain  in  the 
State  militia  from  1845  to  1850.    In  1859,  he  entered  into  a  mercantile  business 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  435 

at  Sutton,  and  was  prospering  when  the  war  came,  and  his  business  was  ruined. 
In  1863,  he  again  started  a  store  in  Harrison  county,  and  later  returned  to  the 
same  business  in  Sutton.  In  1S72,  he  built  a  saw  and  grist  mill  in  Birch  dis- 
trict, which  he  followed  for  a  great  many  years. 

Allen  Skidmoke. 

Allen  Skidmore,  son  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  Skidmore,  was  born  Jan.  27, 
1821,  and  died  Nov.  5,  1883.  He  married  Sarah  Shaver,  daughter  of  Isaac  and 
Mary  Shaver,  March  4,  1841.  She  was  born  Jan.  7,  1824,  and  died  May  29, 
1851.     Their  children  were  Salathial,  Anna,  Mary,  Eleanor  and  Margaret. 

He  married  for  his  second  wife,  Malinda  Lyons,  granddaughter  of  John 
0 'Bryan,  one  of  the  first  pioneers  of  central  "West  Virginia.  They  were  mar- 
ried Nov.  27,  1851.  Their  children  were  Lavina,  Alfred,  Sarah,  Andrew,  Sam- 
uel, Archibald  T.,  Eliza  E.,  Susan  and  Wilbert. 

George  W.  Skidmore. 

George  W.  Skidmore  was  born  Sept.  28,  1868,  in  this  county.  His  father, 
Benjamin  F.  Skidmore,  was  also  a  native  of  this  county,  while  the  mother, 
Tamar  K.  Johnston,  was  born  in  Upshur  county.  His  paternal  grandparents 
were  Benjamin  P.  Skidmore  and  Mary  Gordon,  and  the  maternal  grandparents, 
John  Johnston  and  Margaret  Miller.  He  was  married  Sept.  21,  1904,  to  M. 
Elizabeth  Fisch,  and  names  of  their  children  are  Holly,  Franklin  and  Henry 
Cecil.  Mr.  Skidmore  is  a  travelling  salesman,  and  now  resides  at  Lexington, 
Ky.    His  grandfather,  John  Johnston,  died  in  prison  in  the  late  Civil  war. 

Malinda  Skidmore. 

Malinda  Skidmore,  wife  of  the  late  Allen  Skidmore,  recently  died  in  her 
eighty-fourth  year.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Lyons,  and  her  mother 
was  Margaret  O'Brien,  daughter  of  Adam  O'Brien,  the  great  woodsman. 
"Aunt  Linda,"  as  she  was  familiarly  known,  was  a  woman  of  noble  Christian 
character;  her  acts  of  kindness  covering  a  period  of  so  many  years,  has  en- 
deared her  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

Jennings  Skidmore. 

Jennings  Skidmore  was  a  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  Skidmore,  and  was 
born  in  March,  1848.  He  was  formerly  one  of  Sutton's  most  prosperous  citi- 
zens, but  met  with  financial  reverses  in  the  90 's,  and  left  Sutton  twelve  years 
ago,  moving  first  to  Centralia  and  then  to  Clarksburg,  at  both  of  which  places 
he  conducted  a  boarding  house.  He  was  an  honest,  industrious  and  well-liked 
citizen,  and  his  friends  here  were  shocked  and  grieved  when  they  learned  of 
his  sudden  death. 

He  was  married  first  in  1870,  to  Margaret  Skidmore  and  the  following 


436  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

{ 

named  children  of  this  union  survive:  Johnson,  of  Huntington;  Edward, 
Charles  and  Jack,  of  Beaumont,  Texas ;  Jennings,  of  Weston ;  Amos  and  Harry, 
of  Clarksburg;  Mrs.  Rena  Davis,  of  Harrison  county,  and  Mrs.  Sallie  Rogers, 
of  near  Buckhannon.  His  latter  wife  was  Miss  Kate  Davis  of  West  Milford, 
Harrison  county,  and  four  children  by  this  marriage — Esther,  Anna  Lee,  Na- 
dine  and  Gordon — are  living.  He  was  a  brother  of  Franklin  Skidmore  of 
Menlo,  Ga.,  and  Mrs.  T.  M.  Daly  of  Webster  Springs,  the  only  members  of  his 
immediate  family  now  living.  He  was  one  among  the  last  survivors  of  the 
grandchildren  of  Andrew  Skidmore  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution.  His 
widow  now  has  the  old  Skidmore  Bible. 

James  Skidmore. 

James  Skidmore,  son  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  Hoskins  Skidmore,  was 
born  and  reared  on  the  old  Skidmore  farm,  three  miles  below  Sutton  on  the 
Elk  river.  He  married  Caroline,  daughter  of  George  Duffield.  They  raised  a 
family  of  twelve  children.  Mr.  Skidmore  owned  the  old  farm  where  he  was 
born.  It  is  now  owned  by  his  son  Henderson.  Mr.  Skidmore  and  his  wife  have 
been  dead  several  years.  They  were  buried  at  the  Bell  cemetery,  two  miles 
above  Gassaway  on  the  Elk  river. 

Isaac  Shaver. 

Isaac  Shaver  and  Mary  (Hyer)  Shaver  came  from  Rockbridge  county,  Va., 
to  Braxton  county  and  bought  land  on  the  head  of  Salt  Lick  near  the  present 
town  that  bears  his  name.  He  and  his  brothei'-in-law,  Christian  Hyer,  brought 
all  their  household  effects  in  one  wagon,  and  settled  on  adjoining  lands.  They 
arrived  at  their  new  home  in  the  wilderness  comitry  in  Sept.,  1816.  Mr. 
Shaver's  family  consisted  of  Abraham,  Paulson,  Jacob,  Jesse,  Sallie  and  another 
girl.  He  died  at  his  home  about  18....,  and  his  widow  lived  for  many  years  af- 
terward with  her  son  Jesse  at  the  old  homestead.  The  Shavers  are  a  hardy, 
industrious  people,  and  as  a  rule  have  large  families.  They  are  of  German  de> 
scent. 

Isaac  Lloyd  Shaver. 

Isaac  Lloyd  Shaver,  son  of  Jacob  and  Eliza  H.  (Lloyd)  Shaver,  was  born 
at  Flatwoods,  June  19,  1836.  On  Oct.  28,  1859,  he  married  Cynthia  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Adam  and  Nancy  (Morrison)  Gillespie.  Their  children  were: 
Salathiel  L.,  Lemuel  H.,  Belmina  Ann,  John  M.,  George  W.,  James  W.,  and 
Jacob  A.  who  died  in  infancy. 

t 

Jacob  Shaver. 

Jacob  Shaver,  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary  (Hyer)  Shaver,  was  born  in  Rock- 
ingham county,  Va.,  and  came  to  Braxton  county  with  his  parents  when  a 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  437 

small  boy.  Born  Feb.  28,  1810.  He  married  Julia  Loyd,  June  1,  1834,  and 
settled  on  Shavers  fork  of  Cedar  creek,  where  he  cleared  a  farm,  and  reared 
a  large  family,  conssting  of  eleven  boys  and  five  girls.  They  all  lived  to  be 
grown  men  and  women.  The  first  death  that  occurred  in  the  family  was  Miner- 
va who  died  with  diphtheria  when  she  was  in  her  sixteenth  year.  The  others 
all  lived  to  bring  up  families.  His  boys  were  Isaac,  Harvila,  Willis,  Harvey 
F.,  Franklin,  Morgan  D.,  Addison,  Wesley,  Johnson,  Allen  and  Dexter.  The 
girls  were  Julia  Ann,  Gueretia  Minerva,  Mary,  Indiana.  In  addition  to  that 
necessary  for  the  support  of  his  large  family.  Mr.  Shaver  always  had  a  surplus 
from  his  farm  to  sell.  Mrs.  Shaver  did  her  cooking  over  an  open  fire  as  cook 
stoves  in  her  day  were  not  common.  She  told  Felix  Sutton  that  in  the  rearing  of 
her  family,  she  had  never  upset  a  vessel  on  the  fire,  and  none  of  her  children 
were  ever  burned  or  scalded. 

Three  of  their  sons,  Willis  P.,  Harvey  F.,  and  Morgan  D.  served  through 
the  war  in  the  Union  army. 

Jesse  Shaver. 

Jesse  Shaver,  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary  (Hyer)  Shaver,  was  bom  in  Rock- 
ingham  county,  Va.,  At  an  early  age,  he  moved  with  his  par- 
ents to  this  county,  and  settled  on  the  head  of  Salt  Lick  where  he  made  his 
future  home.  He  married  Matilda  Squires,  daughter  of  Col.  Asa  Squires. 
Their  children  were  Sarah,  Lucy,  Mariah  C,  Stephen,  Asa  Lee,  Isaac  Ransom, 
and  Elizabeth  S.  Mr.  Shaver  was  a  prosperous  farmer  and  stock  raiser.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  leading  member  of  great  influence  in  the  M.  E.  church, 
South.  He  was  a  citizen  of  sterling  character.  He  died  at  the  age  of  85  years, 
and  his  remains  rest  beside  those  of  his  wife  and  several  children  in  the  Flat- 
woods  cemetery. 

Asa  Lee  Shaver. 

Asa  Lee  Shaver  was  born  in  this  county,  Oct.  16,  1849,  a  son  of  Jesse 
Shaver.  He  married  Amanda  Waybright,  Feb.  14,  1878.  His  wife  was  the 
daughter  of  Levi  and  Mary  Jane  Waybright  of  this  county,  and  date  of  her 
birth  was  May  22,  1S60.  Names  of  their  children  are :  Burr  who  is  a  me- 
chanic and  lives  in  Sutton,  Russell  who  is  Deputy  Postmaster  at  Flatwoods, 
and  Lucy  the  wife  of  Charles  Orahood  the  capable  agent  of  the  B.  &  0.  rail- 
road at  Flatwoods. 

Jacob  Shock. 

Jacob  Shock,  son  of  Henry  Shock,  was  born  near  White  Sulphur  Springs, 
Greenbrier  county,  September  4,  1789,  and  about  1807,  he  with  his  father  came 
to  the  place  now  known  as  Twistville  in  Braxton  county  where  his  father  died 
soon  after. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  joined  a  hunting  and  trapping  party,  and  came 
to  the  woods  at  Steer  creek  where  they  camped,  hunted  and  trapped  for  a  con- 


438  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

siderable  length  of  time.  While  there,  he  discovered  that  the  land  was  very 
rich  and  fertile,  and  always  after  that  he  had  a  strong  desire  to  make  a  home 
in  the  Steer  creek  valley. 

In  the  year  1810,  he  married  Mary  Green,  and  soon  afterwards,  he  pre- 
vailed upon  his  brother-in-law,  John  Green,  to  go  with  him  and  make  a  home 
there.  In  the  month  of  September,  1815,  they  came  to  the  place  where  Eose- 
dale  is  now  situated  at  which  place  they  took  possession  of  a  boundary  of  land, 
and  each  of  them  built  a  house.  Green  did  not  stay  long.  He  went  back  to  the 
Elk  valley  after  selling  his  improvements  to  Shock  who  built  a  home  in  the 
land  of  wilderness,  the  land  of  his  adoption. 

In  speaking  of  the  fertility  of  the  land  in  after  life,  Mr.  Shock  said  that 
he  had  cultivated  the  land  where  Iiosedale  now  stands,  and  raised  forty  con- 
secutive crops  of  corn  on  the  bottom  near  where  the  Elk  and  Little  Kanawha 
depot  is  now  located.  The  same  land  has  been  cultivated  many  years  since 
the  death  of  Mr.  Shock.  Here  was  the  average  bottom  land  of  the  Steer  creek 
valley. 

Jacob  Shock  never  became  wealthy,  but  was  an  independent  liver.  He  had 
twelve  children,  and  gave  them  all  a  comfortable  start  in  life.  His  wife  died  on 
August  4,  1854.  He  lived  twenty-two  years  a  widower,  and  died  at  the  home 
of  his  youngest  daughter,  Tabitha  Bourn,  on  May  7,  1876,  being  nearly  eighty- 
seven  years  of  age.  He  was  an -honored  and  respected  citizen,  and  was  for 
many  years  of  his  latter  life,  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

John  P.  Singleton. 

John  F.  Singleton  and  his  wife,  Lucinda  Byrne,  came  from  Farquar  coun- 
ty, Virginia,  about  the  year  1807,  and  settled  on  Salt  Lick  near  Salt  Lick  bridge, 
where  they  owned  valuable  land.  Mrs.  Singleton  was  a  daughter  of  Uriah 
Byrne  who  was  a  captain  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  Mrs.  Singleton  lived 
many  years  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-eight.  She  was  noted  for  her  congenial  nature,  and  her  hospitality,  a 
characteristic  that  is  handed  down  to  her  descendants. 

The  children  of  John  F.  Singleton  were  Samuel,  Uriah,  Wm.  K.,  Asa  B., 
French  F.,  Charles  E.,  John  S.,  Elizabeth,  Mary  Jane,  Anna,  Eliza  and  Susan. 

Mr.  Singleton  was  one  of  the  early  school  teachers  of  Braxton.  The 
Singleton  family  were  all  farmers  and  stock  raisers,  and  noted  for  their  in- 
dustry and  enterprise. 

Charles  E.  Singleton. 

Charles  E.  Singleton,  son  of  John  F.  and  Lucinda  (Byrne)  Singleton,  was 
born  and  reared  near  Salt  Lick  bridge  where  he  afterward  owned  valuable 
land,  followed  farming  and  stock  raising,  and  for  several  years  was  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  business.  Mr.  Singleton  married  Margaret  Gibson,  and  reared 
a  large  family.     He  was  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Braxton  county  when 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  439 

the  Civil  war  began.    Their  children  were  Newton  G.;  Flora,  Mary  B.,  Minta, 
Charles,  Laura  M.,  Anna  and  Geoi'ge. 

THE  SQUIRES  FAMILY. 

Elizabeth  was  born  March  30,  174G.  Asa  Squires,  son  of  Elizabeth  Squires. 
was  born  May  12,  1785.  Sarah  Cartright  Eastip  was  born  Oct.  6,  1785.  Asa 
Squires  and  Sarah  C.  Eastip  were  married  in  Frederictown,  Md.,  June  27, 
1803.  They  were  natives  of  Farquar  county,  Va.  They  came  to  what  is  now 
Braxton  county,  and  settled  on  Salt,  Lick,  May  20,  1807.  Their  children  were 
Eliza  Eastip,  Mary  Taylor,  Elvira  Sophia,  Mariah  Biggs,  Lucinda  Ann,  Cath- 
erine Letchworth,  Matilda  Cartright,  Thomas  Hanson,  Sarah  Jane,  Wm.  Gran- 
ville, Daniel  Stephen. 

Elizabeth  Squires,  the  mother  of  Asa  and  Eliza  Squires,  rode  horseback 
from  Farquar  county,  Va.,  to  Salt  Lick,  arriving  at  Asa  Squires'  on  Dec.  14, 
1822.  She  was  nineteen  days  on  the  road,  being  in  her  seventy-seventh  year. 
She  died  March  8,  1840,  and  was  buried  in  the  old  Squires  cemetery  on  Salt 
Lick. 

Etjjah  Squirep. 

Eligah  Squires,  son  of  Sarah  Squires  of  Farquar  county,  Va.,  and  brother 
of  Col.  Asa  Squires,  was  born  in  Farquar  county  in  1787,  and  came  to  Braxton 
county,  Va.,  about  the  year  1807-8.  He  married  a  Miss  Ertin  of  Farquar.  By 
this  marriage,  he  had  three  children,  Tajdor,  Asa  and  William.  He  settled  in 
Flatwoods  on  the  land  now  owned  by  Wm.  Hutchison  where  he  remained  until 
his  death.  He  married  for  his  second  wife,  Elizabeth  Gibson,  daughter  of 
Nicholas  Gibson.  She  was  born  in  1803,  and  died  in  1896.  To  this  union  were 
born  eleven  children,  as  follows :  Eliza,  Susan,  Mary,  James,  Edgar,  Sarah, 
Eligah  H.,  Margaret,  Lydia,  Frank  F.,  and  Betty.  Eligah  Squires  was  said 
to  be  a  noble  Christian  man  whose  influence  still  lives.  He  owned  slaves,  but 
set  them  free.  He  was  a  member  of  the  M.  P.  church,  and  mainly  through 
his  influence  and  by  his  means,  the  Stone  run  church  was  erected  and  a  church 
society  built  up. 

Thomas  H.  Squires. 

Thomas  H.  Squires,  son  of  Col.  Asa  Squires,  born  Nov.  4,  1820.  He  mar- 
ried Sarah  Bush  of  Gilmer  county,  and  died  Aug.  22,  1890.  He  left  no  chil- 
dren.   He  is  buried  at  the  old  Squires  cemetery. 

Daniel  S.  Squires. 

Daniel  S.  Squires,  son  of  Colonel  Asa  Squires,  was  bom  June  15,  1827. 
His  former  wife  was  Amelia  Burr  of  Upshur  county;  she  died  leaving  one 
son,  Olin  B.  Squires.  He  married  for  his  latter  wife,  Elizabeth  McLaughlin, 
daughter  of  Col.  Addison  McLaughlin.  He  had  by  this  marriage  six  children, 
Otis,  Addison,  Asa,  Sarah,  Byrd  and  Minnie. 


440  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Mr.  Squires  owned  a  large  and  valuable  plantation  on  Salt  Lick  creek. 
He  represented  his  county  in  the  legislature  in  1875;  he  was  Braxton  county's 
first  superintendent  of  free  schools,  after  the  organization  of  West  Virginia, 
and  was  also  a  member  and  president  of  the  county  court,     He  died  in  1905. 

Wm.  G-.  Squires. 

Wm.  Q.  Squires,  son  of  Asa  and  Sarah  Estep  Squires,  was  born  May  25, 
1825,  at  Salt  Lick,  and  was  married  August  20,  1845,  to  Marie  Jane  Morrison. 
His  children  are  John,  Amelia,  Susan,  Elizabeth,  Jane,  Asa,  Margaret,  Lucy, 
Mary  and  Amanda.  Mr.  Squires  was  a  successful  farmer,  owning  one  of  the 
best  farms  near  Salt  Lick  Bridge,  where  he  settled  when  he  was  married,  and 
where  he  lived  until  his  death,  which  occurred  March  24,  1901, 

The  family  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

Asa  Squires. 

Asa  Squires  was  bom  in  Farquar  county,  Va.,  April  22,  1812,  and  with 
his  father,  Elijah  Squires,  came  to  what  is  now  Braxton  county,  then  Lewis, 
in  1824  or  5.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  for  many  years.  He 
died  of  organic  heart  disease.  His  wife  was  Catherine  Gibson,  born  in  Brax- 
ton county,  May  12,  1815.  Their  children  were  Clarisa,  Norman  B.,  Johnson, 
Elizabeth,  Newlon,  Ellis  W.  Permelia  and  Calvin. 

Mr.  Squires  was  a  farmer  and  teacher.  He  filled  several  offices  of  trust  in 
the  county. 

Norman  B.  Squires. 

Norman  B.,  son  of  Asa  and  Catharine  Gibson  Squires,  was  born  in  Braxton 
county,  Virginia,  March  28,  1835.  He  acquired  the  best  education  that  the 
schools  of  the  county  afforded,  and  at  an  early  age,  married  Ruhama,  daughter 
of  Charles  Mollohan,  widow  of  Jesse  Skidmore. 

Mr.  Squires  followed  farming  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war,  when 
he  enlisted  in  Co.  F,  10th  W.  Va.  Lift,  and  after  the  death  of  Orderly  John  D. 
Baxter,  served  in  that  capacity  until  he  was  severely  wounded  at  the  Sinks,  in 
Pendleton  county.  He  was  shot  by  Lieut,  liegar,  of  the  Confedrate  army,  a 
wound  that  caused  him  great  pain,  and  from  which  he  never  recovered,  but 
died  from  its  effects,  in  April,  1881. 

After  the  war,  Mr.  Squires  kept  hotel  in  Sutton.  W.  Va.,  and  was  elected 
Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Braxton  for  two  or  three  terms.  He  studied  law, 
and  practiced  at  the  Bar,  after  his  term  of  office  expired,  until  his  health  failed 
him,  when  he  retired  to  his  farm  on  Salt  Lick,  where  he,  after  great  suffering, 
passed  away.  He  was  a  man  of  splendid  attainments,  kind  and  affable.  He 
died  loved  and  respected  by  all.  who  knew  him.  His  body  lies  in  the  family 
cemetery,  near  his  old  home.  His  children  were  Mary  M.,  Francis  C,  Elizabeth 
M.,  Hffie  J.  and  Henry. 


sutton's    history.  441 

Johnson  Squires. 

Johnson  Squires,  son  of  Asa  and  Catharine  Gibson  Squires,  was  born  in 
Braxton  county  in  1830.  He  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm,  and  attended  such 
schools  as  the  neighborhood  afforded  and  in  1859,  he  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Susan  C.  Prince,  daughter  of  Levi  and  Sallie  Skidmore  Prince.  To  this 
union  were  bom  Sarah  C,  Effie  J.,  Charles  W.,  Levi  P.,  and  Wilbur  N. 

A  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  war,  Mr.  Squires  volunteered  in  the  11th 
"W.  Va.  Inft.  and  participated  in  many  battles.  He  held  the  rank  of  Orderly 
Sergeant  of  his  company.  After  the  return  of  peace,  he  returned  to  his  native 
county,  and  followed  farming  and  for  many  years  kept  the  Squires  Hotel,  in 
Sutton.  He  was  a  man  of  energy  and  industry.  His  wife  died  of  heart  failure, 
in  1896,  and  a  short  time  afterward,  Mr.  Squires  became  afflicted  with  cancer 
of  the  liver,  and  died,  March,  1896.  He,  with  his  wife,  and  some  of  their  chil- 
dren, are  buried  at  the  Squires  cemetery,  on  Salt  Lick.  They  were  both  mem- 
bers of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  lived  exemplary  Christian  lives. 

Newlon  Squires 

Newlon  Squires,  son  of  Asa  and  Catharin  Gibson  Squires,  was  born  March 
2,  1841.  He  married  Catharin  J.,  daughter  of  Levi  and  Sally  Skidmore 
Prince,  April  7.  1861.  To  them  were  born  Minter,  Ertin,  Cary,  Warder, 
Lucy  Nettie  and  Ida.  His  wife  having  died  in  1886,  ■  he  in  1892,  mar- 
ried for  his  second  wife  Ettie  Haymond,  daughter  of  Eugenus  Haymond.  By 
this  marriage,  he  had  four  children,  Herbert,  Esther,  Newlon  and  Henry.  He 
was  a  farmer,  and  owned  the  farm  on  Salt  Lick  where  his  widow  and  children 
now  reside.  When  the  war  between  the  States  began,  he  volunteered  in  Com- 
pany F,  10th  W.  Va.  Vol.  Inft.  and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  shoulder,  at  the  battle  of  Droop  Mountain.  He  was  made  a 
prisoner  in  a  raid  made  by  Capt.  Baldwell,  of  the  Confederate  Service,  sent  to 
Libby  Prison,  at  Richmond,  Va.,  but  was  afterwards  exchanged,  and  partici- 
pated in  many  of  the  battles  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  in  front  of  Rich- 
mond, Petersburg  and  Appomattox,  Va.  Mr.  Squires  was  a  man  well  beloved, 
a  noble  citizen,  a  true  friend.  He  died  of  Cholera  Morbus,  in  1906,  and  was 
buried  at  the  Squires  cemetery,  by  the  side  of  mamr  of  his  loved  ones. 

Calvin  G.  Squires. 

Calvin  G.  Squires,  son  of  Asa  and  Catharin  Gibson  Squires,  was  the 
youngest  of  the  family.  He  married  Susan,  daughter  of  David  and Har- 
per Bright.  They  reared  a  family  of  four  boys  and  one  girl — Albert,  Scott, 
William  and  Asa,  and  Rosa.  Mr.  Squires  owned  and  lived  on  his  father's  old 
farm,  on  Salt  Lick.  He  was  early  in  life  killed  by  lightning,  while  he  was 
going  from  his  home  on  Salt  Lick  to  Flatwoods.  He  and  his  wife  are  buried 
at  the  Squires  cemetery  on  Salt  Lick. 


442  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Ellis  W.  Squires. 

Ellis  W.  Squires  was  born  June  20,  1843,  on  the  Elk  river,  five  miles  above 
Sutton.  His  father,  Asa  Squires,  was  born  in  Farquar  county,  Va.,  and  his 
mother,  Catharine  Gibson,  was  bom  at  Salt  Lick,  this  county.  His  grandpar- 
ents, Elijah  Squires  and  Elizabeth  Ertin,  were  natives  of  Louden  county,  Va. 
He  was  married  June  20,  1865,  to  Mariah  C.  Shaver,  and  their  children  are 
Louvena  L.,  Melvin  B.,  Jesse  L.,  'Moody  H.  Mr.  Squires  is  interested  in  farm- 
ing and  the  mercantile  business.  He  has  been  a  Notary  Public  forty  years; 
was  Clerk  of  Supervisors'  Court  for  eight  years,  Secretary  Board  of  Educa- 
tion for  thirty  years,  and  President  of  Board  of  Education  for  four  years.  He 
also  served  as  U.  S.  Deputy  Marshall  seven  years,  and  was  Postmaster  of  Plat- 
woods  for  five  years  and  is  mayor  of  Platwoods.  He  enlisted  in  the  U.  S..  Army, 
May  1,  1862,  at  Sutton,  and  was  honorably  discharged  May  3,  1865,  at  Wheel- 
ing. 

S.  Wise  Stalnakeb. 

S.  Wise  Stalnaker  was  born  Feb.  7,  1860,  in  Gilmer  county.  His  father, 
S.  G.  Stalnaker,  was  born  in  what  is  now  Randolph  county,  and  his  mother, 
Elizabeth  Wiant,  in  Gilmer  county,  this  state.  His  grandparents,  Wm.  Stal- 
naker and  Elizabeth  Goff,  were  also  born  in  Randolph  county.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Dora  Pickens  on  July  9,  1885,  and  their  children  are  Edna  B., 
Elva  R.,  Bonnie  0.,  Aubrey  L.,  Gaylord  W.,  Elizabeth  R.,  and  S.  Goffe.  Hon. 
S.  Wise  Stalnaker  has  always  held  a  position  as  a  citizen  of  high  attainments, 
active  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  betterment  of  society.  He  is  a  Democrat 
of  the  old  school,  and  his  party  elected  him  as  a  representative  to  the  W.  Va. 
Legislature  from  this  county,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  credit. 

Alexander  Taylor. 

Alexander  Taylor  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  Jan.  6,  1762,  and  died 
at  Champaign,  Ohio,  Sept.  5,  1834.  His  wife  was  Phebe  Skidmore,  daughter  of 
Captain  John  Skidmore,  and  she  was  born  in  Virginia,  Oct.  22,  1765.  Her 
death  occurred  in  Ohio  in  September,  1824.  Their  children  were  Nancy,  Mar- 
garet, Archibald,  Florence,  Rachel,  Phebe,  Susannah  and  John  S. 

Archibald  Taylor. 

Archibald  Taylor,  son  of  Alexander  Taylor,  was  born  in  Ohio,  Oct.  27, 
1795,  and  died  at  his  home  near  Sutton,  May  4,  1889.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Friend,  daughter  of  Thomas  Friend.  She  Avas  born  in  Pendleton  county,  Va., 
Nov.  5,  1800,  and  died  in  Braxton  county,  Feb.  9,  1866.  They  were  married 
Sept.  15,  1824,  and  their  children  were:  Rachel,  Douglas  L.,  Gustavus  F., 
Susannah,  John  S.  and  Alexander  T. 

In  1812,  Archibald  Taylor  belonged  to  a  Rifle  Company  that  assembled 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  443 

at  Warm  Springs,  Va.,  but  peace  being  shortly  declared,  the  company  saw  no 
active  service. 

After  his  marriage,  he  never  left  the  beautiful  hills  of  West  Virginia  as 
the  streams  and  mountains  seemed  to  have  an  enchantment  that  abided  with 
him  to  the  last.  In  1834,  he  purchased  a  thousand-acre  tract,  of  land,  three 
miles  below  Sutton  on  which  he  made  his  home.  This  valuable  tract  of  land 
now  belongs  to  his  descendants.  His  youngest  child,  Alexander  T.  Taylor,  is 
the  only  one  of  the  family  now  living. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  other  members  of  his  family  are  buried  on  a 
beautiful  eminence  overlooking  the  Taylor  farm  and  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Elk. 

Captain  Gustavus  Friend  Taylor. 

Captain  Gustavus  Friend  Taylor  was  born  June  27,  1834,  and  was  the  son 
of  Archibald  and  Elizabeth  Friend  Taylor.  His  father  was  a  grandson  of 
Captain  John  Skidmore,  and  his  mother,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  who  was  a 
son  of  Jacob  Friend.  Late  in  the  60  's,  he  married  Nannie  Dunn  Levy  of  Wheel- 
ing, and  to  this  union  were  born  five  children:  Elizabeth,  Edgar  D.,  Archibald 
A.,  Ida  and  N.  Mendal. 

Captain  Taylor  lived  amid  the  storm  center  of  our  national  history;  saw 
the  gathering  clouds  and  heard  the  mutterings  of  an  angry  nation.  Descend- 
ing from  a  distinguished  Revolutionary  ancestry,  he  played  a  noble  part  in  the 
country's  political  convulsions  that  shook  the  nation  to  its  center,  and  its  deep 
trouble  gave  birth  to  a  new  state,  and  freedom  to  a  race.  He  was  educated  in 
the  best  schools  of  the  county,  also  went  to  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  College.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-six,  he  was  elected  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  which  sat 
in  Wheeling  in  1861  and  1862,  and  was  recalled  in  1863  to  perfect  the  draft 
of  the  Constitution  before  its  adoption.  He  was  next  to  the  youngest  member 
of  that  memorable  body,  and  so  far  as  we  know,  he  was  its  last  survivor.  He 
was  also  associated  in  the  formation  of  this  Constitution  with  such  men  as  John 
J.  Brown  of  Preston,  Lewis  Ruffner  of  Kanwha,  Peter  G.  Vanwinkle  of  Ohio, 
Waitman  T.  Wiley  of  Monongalia,  and  many  other  men  of  splendid  attain- 
ments. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  he  was  made  Captain  of  the  Brax- 
ton company  of  state  troops,  and  served  in  this  capacity  until  the  close  of  the 
Civil  war.  He  was  the  first  Recorder  of  Braxton  county  after  the  Civil  war,  and 
in  1870  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  county.  In  the  70  's,  he  owned . 
and  edited  the  Mountaineer,  Braxton  county's  first  newspaper.  He  had  no 
fondness  for  the  law,  but  was  a  literary  man  of  learning  and  research,  his  facile 
pen  having  no  superior  in  central  West  Virginia.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  his 
history  of  the  Aboriginals  of  America,  a  work  on  which  he  bestowed  much  labor 
and  research,  was  unfinished  by  reason  of  age  and  infirmity. 

He  died  Oct.  5,  1915,  and  is  buried  at  the  Taylor  cemetery,  three  miles  be- 
low Sutton. 


444  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

John  S.  Taylor. 

John  S.  Taylor  was  the  third  son  of  Archibald  and  Elizabeth  Taylor,  both 
deceased.  On  Dec.  24,  1865,  he  married  Elizabeth  C,  youngest  daughter  of  the 
late  Thomas  and  Catharine  Lawrence,  and  to  this  union  were  born  four  chil- 
dren. His  widow  and  all  the  children  survive  him.  He  participated  in  the 
Civil  war  as  Adjutant  of  the  Militia. 

Joseph  H.  Taylor. 

Joseph  H.  Taylor,  son  of  Amandrus  and  Analiza  Thomas  Taylor,  born  July 
22,  1844,  married  Cassa  Shields.  Their  children  numbered  ten.  Mr:  Taylor 
volunteered  in  the  U.  S.  Navy  in  1864.  The  name  of  his  vessel  was  the  Arctic. 
He  was  in  Port  Fisher  battle,  Cape  Pear  river  battle  and  helped  to  take  Wil- 
mington, North  Carolina. 

Wm.  Crawford  was  a  sailor  On  the  same  vessel.  Crawford  died  in  Sutton 
some  years  after  the  war. 

These  were  the  only  two  men  who  belonged  to  the  Navy  from  Braxton 
county. 

Jacob  C.  Tonkins. 

A  remarkable  history — from  wealth  in  infancy  to  extreme  poverty  in  later 
life — from  a  devoted  life  of  usefulness  to  a  cruel,  tragic  death. 

Jacob  C.  Tonkin's  father  came  from  England  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. With  quite  a  number  of  others,  he  deserted  at  Redbank  and  joined  the 
American  forces.  After  the  war,  he  was  rewarded  by  the  gift  of  a  tract  of  land 
on  the  Delaware  river. 

He  married  and  reared  a  family  of  sixteen  boys,  Jacob  C.  being  the  youngest. 
At  one  time  in  the  history  of  this  family,  there  were  seventy-two  boys  of  the 
genration,  and  only  one  girl. 

Jacob  C,  was  born  and  reared  at  or  near  Philadelphia,  and  learned  the 
stone-cutter's  trade.  He  married  Ann  Guess,  a  Welch  lady  of  education  and 
refinement.  Mr.  Tonkins  failed  in  business,  and  his  effects  were  sold  to  pay  his 
debts.  With  what  little  they  could  carry,  he  removed  his  family  in  a  wheelbar- 
row. He  and  his  wife,  with  three  sons,  Wm.,  Edward  and  Ambrose,  started  on 
a  long  march  toward  the  western  wilds  of  West  Virginia,  and  settled  at  Jane 
Lew  in  about  1845.  Two  years  later,  he  removed  to  Braxton  county,  and  set- 
tled on  Salt  Lick  where  he  made  his  future  home.  Besides  the  above-named 
sons,  his  family  consisted  of  Francis  Asbury,  John  I.,  and  a  daughter  who  was 
drowned  in  infancy  by  falling  in  a  tub  of  water,  thus  leaving  the  generation  of 
seventy-two  boys. 

Of  the  family  of  sixteen  boys,  have  come  men  of  prominence,  Congressmen, 
Judges,  Ministers.  Jacob  C.  Tonkins  was  one  of  the  early  ministers  of  the  M. 
P.  Church,  and  his  tragic  death  is  noted  on  another  page. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  445 


Makcellus  Troxell. 


Marcellus  Troxell,  son  of  Philip  and  Lavina  Troxell,  died  in  Denver,  Colo., 
April,  1915.  No  other  boy  who  ever  went  out  from  Braxton  county  had  a 
greater  or  more  varied  experience  than  Marcellus  Troxell.  He  left  his  home  in 
Sutton  in  1868  when  oly  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  wandered  through  the 
wilds  of  the  West,  and  visited  many  strange  lands.  He  served  five  years  in 
the  U.  S.  army,  and  fought  Indians  on  the  western  frontier.  Later  he  served 
in  the  U.  S.  Navy,  made  several  trips  around  the  world,  and  was  in  two  or 
three  shipwrecks.  After  leaving  the  navy,  he  worked  in  the  steel  mills  at  Steu- 
benville,  Ohio,  farmed  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  mined  and  prospected  in  Col- 
orado, Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  California,  Montana,  Alaska  and  Mexico. 
He  was  in  San  Francisco  at  the  time  of  the  big  earthquake  which  occurred  in 
1906,  nd  later  worked  on  the  Panama  canal.  While  employed  on  the  canal,  he 
received  injuries  which  necessitated  the  amputation  of  one  leg  for  which  the 
government  paid  him  $2500.  After  recovering  from  this  injury  he  came  home 
and  remained  several  months,  going  from  here  to  Nevada  and  then  to  Denver, 
where  he  resided  for  several  years  until  his  death.  He  was  a  man  of  genial 
disposition  and  extraordinary  intellect,  and  but  for  his  too  intimate  relations 
with  old  John  Barleycorn  would  have  been  a  success  in  any  line  of  endeavor. 
He  was  never  married.    His  body  was  interred  in  Denver. 

Ledrew  Morris  AVade. 

Ledrew  Morris  Wade  was  born  in  Monongalia  county,  Feb.  14,  1854,  a  son 
of  Josephus  and  Elizabeth  (Morris)  Wade.  He  married  Sarah  J.,  daughter  of 
Alpheus  D.  Hagans,  June  23,  1880,  at  Brandonville,  Preston  county.  Hugh 
Roscoe,  Josephus  Harper  and  Edna  Irene  are  their  children. 

Mr.  Wade  is  a  graduate  of  Fairmont  Normal  School,  having  taught  a  short 
time  at  Brandonville.  Soon  afterwards,  he  commenced  reading  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1880.  Mr.  Wade  still  resides  in  Sutton,  having  moved 
here  in  1882. 

Joseph  B.  Westfall. 

Joseph  $3.  Westfall,  a  son  of  Jacob  W.  and  Margaret  (Brown)  Westfall, 
was  born  Aug.  2,  1841.  He  enlisted  in  Company  F,  10th  West  Va.  Infantry, 
Jan.  15,  1862,  and  was  discharged  with  rank  of  first  sergeant,  May  3,  1865. 
He  married  Nancy  E.,  daughter  of  Leonard  W.  and  Margaret  (McPherson) 
Hyer,  Oct.  25,  1865.  Their  children  were  Lenora  Alice,  Emma  M.  and  Columbus 
Simpson. 

Rev.  Clemmer  Warman. 

Rev.  Clemmer  Warman  was  born  in  Monongalia  county,  Oct.  17,  1844.  His 
parents,  James  D.  Warman  and  Mary  Dunn,  and  the  grandparents,  Thomas 


446  SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 

Warman  and  Mary  Kirkpatriek,  were  all  natives  of  the  same  county.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  May  7,  1873,  to  Miss  Martha  Ellen  Wells  of 
Morgantown,  and  their  children  are  Minnie,  Hofman  H.,  W.  Clay,  Ernest, 
Worth  and  White.  Rev.  Warman  is  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  for  several  years  served  the  Sutton  charge. 

Rev.  Warman  ranks  as  one  of  the  strong  men  of  the  conference — a  worker, 
a  student,  a  thinker,  a  safe  shepherd,  a  sweet  counselor,  a  noble  pastor,  and  with 
a  strength  and  vigor  of  body  that  should  give  him  several  more  years  of  active 
work  in  the  ministry.  Standing  nearly  six  feet,  with  broad  shoulders  and  mus- 
cular frame,  with  hair  slightly  tinged  with  gray,  the  picture  of  health  and 
manhood,  backed  by  the  years  of  experience  in  sowing  the  good  seed  and  wit- 
nessing under  his  own  ministry  the  building  of  many  churches  and  the  conver- 
sion of  scores  of  men  and  women,  the  gathering  of  the  gospel  harvest  has  surely 
been  to  him  a  theme  of  delight  and  joyous  satisfaction.  What  greater  sacrifice 
could  be  given  to  the  church'?  What  firmer  monument  could  stand  upon  the 
walls  of  Zion  to  proclaim  its  truths  than  a  personage  like  Rev.  Warman. 

William  Waggy. 

William  Waggy,  a  native  of  Pendleton  county,  was  born  in  the  year  1820, 

and  died  at  his  home  in  Flatwoods  in  1884 Mr.  Waggy  was  for 

several  years  a  citizen  of  Clay  county,  this  state,  where  he  accumulated  con- 
siderable wealth  in  the  lumber  business,  principally  building  flatboats  on  the 
Elk  river.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  industry,  and  in  ability  was  far 
above  the  average.  He  represented  the  county  of  Clay  in  the  West  Virginia 
Legislature,  was  a  magistrate  also  of  that  county,  and  was  held  in  very  high 
esteem  by  the  people  who  knew  Mm. 

He  married  Anna,  the  daughter  of  Felix  and  Susan  Sutton.  To  them 
were  born  two  children,  Henry  and  Susan,  the  latter  becoming  the  wife  of  B.  C. 
McNutt.  Mrs.  McNutt  died  quite  early  in  married  life,  leaving  three  children, 
while  her  noble  and  saintly  mother  lived  for  several  years  until  death  relieved 
her  of  the  suffering  and  afflictions  which  she  had  so  patiently  borne.  They  are 
all  buried  on  the  hill  overlooking  the  old  home. 

Anna  Waggy. 

9 

Anna  Sutton,  daughter  of  Felix  and  Susan  Skidmore  Sutton,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  William  Waggy,  was  the  eldest  of  five  children  and  was  thir- 
teen years  of  age  when  her  mother  died.  She  then  assumed  the  management 
and  care  of  the  family,  and  grew  to  be  a  fine  house  keeper,  and  as  a  cook  she 
had  no  superior  in  the  country.  She  had  two  children,  Henry  and  Susan. 
This  noble  and  indulgent  sister  who  cared  for  me  in  my  youth  and  encouraged 
me  in  everything  that  was  right,  passed  to  her  reward  June  17,  1899.  She 
was  noted  for  her  kindness  to  the  poor,  and  on  her  monument  is  inscribed: 
"A  mother  to  the  motherless,  and  a  friend  to  the  friendless." 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  447 


T.  S.  Wade. 


One  of  the  old  time  gospel  ministers  of  "West  Virginia,  a  man  who  labored 
long  and  faithfully  in  Southern  Methodism.  Rev.  Wade  was  earnest  and  elo- 
quent in  his  presentation  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  did  more  than  any- 
other  minister  to  build  up  the  interests  of  his  church  in  West  Virginia ;  a  man 
of  spotless  character,  one  whose  memory  will  long  abide  with  the  people  of  his. 
native  state. 

George  B.  Waggoner. 

■  George  B.  Waggoner,  formerly  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  and 
the  Home  National  Bank  of  Sutton,  was  a  resident  of  Braxton  county  from 
1906  to  1911  inclusive.  He  is  a  native  of  Harrison  county,  now  being  cashier 
of  a  bank  at  Jane  Lew.  He  was  born  November  9,  1881,  and  in  June,  1910, 
married  Vida  Goodwin  of  Harrison  county.  They  have  three  interesting  chil- 
dren. 

Mr.  Waggoner  was  a  son  of  George  S.  and  Eliza  Waggoner  and  grandson 
of  Elijah  and  Mary  Waggoner.     (M.  E.  Church.) 

F.  M.  Ware. 

F.  M.  Ware  married  Mary  V.  Wesfall,  daughter  of  Wm.  Westfall.  His 
mother's  name  was  Elizabeth  A.  Ware,  and  lived  to  be  ninety-nine  years  of 
age.  F.  M.  Ware  is  the  father  of  eight  children  two  of  whom  are  blind,  San- 
ford  C.  and  Louisa  R.  They  were  educated  at  Romney,  this  state.  Sanford 
manufactures  brooms,  and  his  blind  sister  assists  her  mother  in  the  house.  She 
can  sew,  and  is  able  to  thread  her  needle.  They  read  the  Christian  Record,  a 
monthly  magazine  published  at  College  View,  N.  Y.,  using  type  which  the  blind 
can  read.    They  own  a  small  farm  on  the  Little  Kanawha  river. 

Jacob  Westfall. 

Jacob  Westfall  settled  on  Cedar  creek  in  1811.  It  is  said  he  was  the  first 
white  man  to  locate  on  the  head  waters  of  that  stream.  His  house  for  many 
years  was  a  regular  meeting  place  for  the  Methodists.  He  lived  a  long  and  ex- 
emplary life,  and  his  descendents  were  many.  His  old  land  and  estate  is  now 
known  as  the  Campbell  farm  at  the  mouth  of  the  Westfall  fork  of  Cedar 
creek. 

John  Wyatt. 

John  Wyatt  came  from  Greenbrier  county,  W.  Va.,  in  an  early  day.  He 
was  commonly  called  Major  Wyatt.  His  wife  was  a  Miss  Ludington  of  Green- 
brier. Their  sons  were  John  W.,  Andrew,  Samuel,  Joseph,  Charles  and  Balard. 
The  daughters  are  as  follows:    Betsy  who  married  Taylor  Squires,  Nancy  and 


448 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Liza.    Several  of  Mr.  Wyatt's  children  moved  to  Illinois  in  the  early  settlement 
of  that  state. 

Eev.  George  H.  Williams. 

Eev.  George  H.  Williams,  one  of  the  pioneer  ministers  of  the  West  Virginia 
M.  E.  Conference,  was  bom  in  Giles  comity,  Virginia,  August  19.  1844.  He 
began  preaching  in  the  year  1S72,  and  traveled  over  more  rough  and  rugged 
territory  embraced  in  the  Conference  than  perhaps  any  other  minister  of  his 
day.  He  has  just  recently  completed  the  manuscript  of  an  interesting  book 
entitled  Building  Sunward,  which  gives  a  graphic  description  of  the  trials  of 
the  ministry  and  the  triumphs  of  the  gospel,  covering  a  period  of  over  forty 
years  throughout  southern  West  Virginia.  He  Avas  married  in  1866  to  Mary 
Elizabeth  Scott,  and  they  had  six  children,  Fernando  D.,  Sallie  B.,  Charles  W., 
Willie,  who  died  in  infancy,  India  D.,  and  Ivra  E.  His  wife  died  July  8,  1918, 
they  having  lived  together  for  52  years.  For  fifteen  years  or  more  they  had 
made  their  home  in  Sutton,  W.  Va'. 

Thomas  J.  Rexroad, 

Thomas  J.  Rexroad,  son  of  Hezekiah  and  Nancy  Helmick  Rexroad,  was 
born  in  Wood  county,  W.  Va.,  April  15,  1S66.  He  married  Josephine  Simmons 
in  May,  1891,  and  moved  to  Braxton  county  and  settled  at  Flatwoods.  Their 
children  are,  William,  George,  Mary,  Mabel,  and  Russell,  who  died  in  infancy. 
Mr.  Rexroad  is  a  house  carpenter  by  trade  •  bis  son  George  is  a  soldier  in 
France. 


Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fisher  and  her  grandson,  Felix  R.  Fisher. 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


449 


OFFICERS  AND  SOLDIERS. 

List  of  names  of  commissioned  officers  and  soldiers  who  served  in  the  World 
War  from  Braxton  county: 


Captain  Justus  Stalnaker 
Captain  Curtis  P.  Miller 
Captain  John  Edwin  Grose 
Lieut.  Okey  B.  Ellison 
Lieut.  Dan  G.  Simmons. 
Lieut.  Clyde  Heater 
Lieut.  Raymond  Hawkins 
Lieut.  Earl  F.   Fox 
Lieut.  William  B.  Morrison 
Lieut.  George  Garrett  Davis 

Joseph  Forest  Bennett 

Virgil  A.  Long 

Early  G.  Riffle 

Ralph  Boggs 

A.  B.  Nichols 

William  Longwell 

Roy  Sergeant 

Charles  Rawson 

G.  E.  Paisley 

Walter  Saunders 

Ovis  E.  Tinney 

Charles  0.  Grose 

Sprague  Chapman 

Charles  B.  Pierson 

Levi   H.   Humphreys 

Criss  Eli  Juergens 

Harry  B.  Criss 

H.  F.  Davis 

E.  I.  Squires 

Claude  Stalnaker 

George  Coble  Byrne 

Clinton  Ward 

Caz.  Mullins 

Charley  McElwaine 

William  Herbert  Crawford 

Dwight  L.  James 

Charles  S.  Adams 

Rhea  Lamb 

Ralph  White 


Lieut.  Joseph  M.  Lorentz 
Lieut.  Wat   Stewart 
Lieut.  Hugh  E.  McMorrow 
Lieut.  Albert  K.  Walker 
Lieut.  Thornton  A.  Berry    , 
Lieut.  Lewis  Jordan 
Lieut.  Marvin  Luther  Golden 
Lieut.  Earl  Rollyson 
Lieut.  Charles   Knicley 
Lieut.  James  Clyde  McNeill 

Dewey  McPherson 
Draco  Doddrill 
Hugh  Kitts 
Luther  H.  Green 
Robert  G.  Kelly 
Harry  Fleming 
George  Dent 
Orville  Hayhurst 
Norris  Hamric 
James  C.  Gillespie 
Wm.  Earl  Gillespie 
William  McCoy 
Harry  J.  Hyer 
Alda   Stines 
William  Kidd 
Mathew  Kidd 
Wesley  Fidler    ^ 
Ervin  Hamric  S 
Beverly  Crites 
Wilber  Gillespie 
Harry  Carper 
Floyd  Short 
Em.  Jamison 
Roy  H.  Canneld 
Cecil  Canfield 
B.  L.  Hall 
George  Lloyd 
Denzil  Rhea 
0.  T.  Knicley 


450 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Carl  McCune 
Dewey  Fleming 
Ephriam  Jones 
Emory  Ware 
Felix  Loyd  James 
Eli  Kester  Siers 
Alonzo  Carr 

William  McCauley  Pierson 
Albert  Groves 
Lanta  Thruman  Perkins 
Russell  J.  Knight 
Lora  William  Blake 
Criss  Carr 

Saint  George  Duffield 
Edward  H.  Garber 
Hansford  Earl  Frame 
Robert  Ellis  Perkins 
Roy   Herbert   Johnson 
William  Hazel  Dickey 
Charley  Leon  Underwood 
Russell  A.  Bosley 
Francis  Arleigh  Watkins 
Harold  Hulme 
John  Camden  Barnett 
Lemon  Letcher  Hosey 
Tiuiis   Floyd   Greene 
Marshall  White 
Gus.  Geo.  Karakas 
Worthy  Burkhammer 
James  Addison  Duffield 
Sammy  James  Brohard 
Samnel  Brown,  colored 
Robert  Gray 
John  Wesley  Gillespie 
Brantie  Cart 
Emory  Roy  Cauger 
Gen.  Nathan  Goff  Tolley 
Lewis  Andrew  Friend 
Darius  Martin  Mealy 
Thomas  R.  Stump 
Patrick  Murry  Cauger 
Willis  S.  Singleton 
Guy  Hosey 
Oscar  Greenlief 
Lester  Goff  Ramsey ' 
Thomas  Henry  Cutlip 
William  Raymond  Pierson 
Diar  Francis  Sergent 
Danie  Richard  Moran 
Clyde  Emert  Skinner 
Jasper  Ernest  Coffindaffer 
Lonnie  Orr  Gerwig 
French  John   Barnett 


Francis  D.  Carr 
Thomas  Perkins 
William  Harry  Long 
Oley  Marple  Long 
Lawrence  Elliott  Bowen 
Milton  Henry  Humphreys 
John  Conley 
Luke  White 
Rocco   Roccisano 
Frank  Morris  Fagan 
Alva   Curtis  Jenkins 
Jesse  Francis  Moore 
Harper  Carpenter 
Clarence  Robinson 
Earl  Herbert  Sponaugle 
Frederick  Estell  Floyd 
Chaney  Chapman 
Erria  Harper 
Charles  Ashby  Bussey 
Oliver  Greene 
Charles  Homer  Ball 
Lytle  Evans 
Luther  Wyatt 
Eddie  Van  Debar 
Thomas  J.  Wayne,  Jr. 
Aaron  Harrison  Gum 
Emory  James  Propst 
Earl  Barnett 
Edward  Keener 
Alpheus  Tiong 
Grover  Reip 
Israel  Allen  Brown 
Grodon  McCumbers 
Orville  Dov  Jackson 
Charles  E.' Jack 
Adam  Herman  Carder 
George  Dulaney 
Charley  Smarr 
Thomas  P.  Boggs 
Murry  Goad  Keener 
Guy  Ellison 

Samuel  James  Mury,  colored 
John   Tilbert   Taylor 
Joseph  Perry  Elmer  Strickland 
Oscar  Lee  Henline 
Jarret  0.  Singleton 
Ormand  Jerome  Bourn 
Cecil  Hiding  Gillespie 
'  Robert  Scott,  colored 
Garrett  Beecher  Knicely 
Edwin  L.  Dulin 
Herbert  Pulliam 
Alpheus  Johnson  Greathouse 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


451 


Ivan  Herbert  McElwain 

Lewis  Barker 

Loyd  W.  Frame 

Charles  Everett  Howell 

Walter  Cleveland  Kuhn 

Aubrey  Lane  Stalnaker 

Warder  William  Tingler 

Burr  Sarber  Skinner 

John  Fountaine  Thomas 

Asa  Posey 

Harvey  Perkins 

Luther  Cutlip 

Opha  Byrne  Friend 

Alva  Freeman  Woods 

Francis  Marion  Straley 

Edwin  Myers 

Worthy  Lee  Wilson 

Samuel  Amos  Rollyson 

Howard  Ellison 

Benjamin  Harrison  Eagle 

John  P.  Price 

James  Pay  Keith 

Newton  Marcellus  Wilson 

James  Porter  Hoard 

Demi  R.  Petry 

Oily  Williams 

Oscar  I) wight  Young 

James  Marshall  Hosey 

George  Thurman  Perrine 

Troy  Francis  Hall 

Van  Buren  Given 

Orval  Lee  McQuain 

Ira  G.  Dean 

Eugene  Victor  Debs  Singleton 

James  Berna  Jordan 

Bennie  Carter 

Joseph  Knicely 

Pat  Gillespie 

Earl  Hines 

Luther  Franklin  Knight 

Elmer  Lewis  Prince 

Fleming  Wvant 

Worthv  Hill 

G.  Roy  Holland 

Guy  Harley  Criss 

Leslie  Herman  Strader 

Guy  Stanley  Hamric 

John  Earl  Krafft  ^ 

Thurman  Allen  Salisbury 

Flov  Easton  Westfall 

Horas  R.  Westfall 

Ward  Jarvis 

Elbert  Singleton 


Frank  Tracy  Cutlip 
James  Ernest  Brady 
French  McCumbers 
Ernest  Ross 
Obid  Davis 
William  Bruce  Loyd 
Charles  Ellis  Boggs 
Okey  Chapman 
Lee  Hampton  Dent 
Duffie  Ray  Ball 
Thurston  Johnson 
Charles   Gibson  Bird 
Howard  Nottingham 
Everit  Wade  Barnett 
Fane  Henry  Cosner 
George  Cemer  Friend 
Henry  D.  Stump 
Eustice  Ray  Bennett 
Yeager  Dulaney 
Darius  Roy  Townsend 
Thurman  Henry  Crouser 
Clarence  Hobart  Boggs 
Ortho  Joel  Bush 
Charles  Everett  Perkins 
Marvin.  Houghton 
Bernard  Snodgrass 
Burke  Perkins 
Willie  Junie  James 
Gilbert  Sanders 
Thomas  Emery  Dean 
Carl  Knight 
Jesse  Lee  Jones 
Archie  George  Steele 
Frank  Fiscionere 
Herman  V.  Fox 
Charles  V.  Morrison 
Joseph  Adam  Brady 
Homer  Cunningham 
Fred  Singleton 
Ivan  Byrne  Stewart 
Oley  Oren  Eubank 
J.  Condy  Bright 
William  Alva  Cart 
Melvin  Humphreys 
Spurgeon  Cook 
Okey  Nottingham 
Custer  Dobbins 
Abel  Carr 
Percy  C.  Stout 
Ezra  Nicholas 
Charles  Posey 
Lata  Barnett 
Charles    Smith 


452 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Chester  Arthur  Morrison 
Ed  Bird  Bodkins 
Ira  William  Hyer 
Burley  Adam  Brown 
William  George  Whytsell 
Oscar  Loyd  Williams 
Edgar  Slaughter 
Ophie  Loyd  Williams 
Edgar  Slaughter 
Ophie  Hamilton  Keith 
Harrison  Mollohan  Ware 
Ernie  Cook 
.  Spurgeon  Skidmore 
Jack  Ratcliff 
John  Horner 
Maynard  Dillon 
Levi  Julius  McQueen 
Ivan  L.  Petry 
William  Emery  Heaton 
James  Boyce  Skidmore 
Albert  Harris 
Amos  Peter  Cauger 
Pleasant  Burton  Jenkins 
Odbert  Asa  Mollohan 
Archie  Columbus  Williams 
William  Frymire 
Freeman  Lee  Rollyson 
D.  M.  Canter 
Charles  Lee  Miller 
Robert  Howard  Dent 
George  Russell  Nesselrotte 
Charley  Townsend 
Harry  Lee  Crutehfield 
Luther  Bailey  Perrine 
Joseph  Ernest  James 
Albert  James  Morrison 
Criss  Carr 

Charles  Lacy,  colored 
Everett  S.  Rogers 
William  Price  Vaughn 
Patrick  Conley 
James  Belknap 
Guy  Lockart 
Roy  Lee  Bennett 
John  Morgan  Skidmore 
Virgil   Franklin   Rhea,   colored 
Homer  David  Ancell 
Eustice  Valentine  Beamer 
Aubrey  Harris 
Francis  Harley  Heater 
Ur  Okey  Shock 
Oscar  A.  Strader 
Melvin  Thavcr 


Hugh  Hall 

Walter  Malcomb 

Albert  Peyton  Dobbins 

Solomon  H.  Brown 

Noah  Davis 

Ira  Meyers 

Ross  Randolph  Funk 

Thomas  Nichols 

Charles  Hudson  Rawson 

Alva  Matheny 

James  Oran  Johnson 

Raymond  Wirt  Gibson 

Raymond  Chamberlain 

Oley  Lake 

Russell  Frederick  Young 

Emery  Booker  Mullins 

John  Patrick  Conley 

Samuel  Isaac  Stockwell 

Oscar  James  Rohrbough 

Roy  Payne 

Okey  Bright 

George  Prince  Fisher 

Allan  Granberry  Thurman  Harris 

Leslie  Horner 

Oscar  Exline 

Seward  Guy  Knicely 

Floyd  L.  Douglas 

James  Watson  Walker 

William  W.  Bullion 

Arry  Pierson  Perrine 

Charles  P.  Bodkin 

Letcher  See 

Russell  Claypool 

Howard  Queen 

Johnnie  Hefner 

Daniel  Boone  Friend 

John  Byrne  Given 

Edward  Lee  Gibson 

Russell   Garland  Rhea,   colored 

Walter  Eustace  Duvall 

Robert  Lee  Boggs 

Ezekiel  Marple  Ware 

Stanley  F.  Dobbins 

James  Morrison  Hosey 

Lee  Vincent  Scott 

Arthur  Byrne  Long 

Coy  Ezra  Stout 

Isaac  0.  Perkins 

Lester  Clyde  Young 

David  Everett  Rollyson 

Upton  Matthews 

James  Elmer  Hall 

Harry  G.  Perkins 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


453 


Harvey  Howard  Riffle 

James  W.  Foley 

Emil  Smarr 

Albert  Gordon  Carter 

Ernest  Hanse  Johnson 

Golden  Patrick  Woods 

Alfred  Morrison  Eider 

Frank  Greene 

Abram  Ward  Exeline 

Ezekial  Curtis  Belknap 

Oliver  Esau  King 

S.  Williams  Taylor 

Charles  H.  Gibson 

Letcher  Carr 

Osborne  White 

Herbert  Camden  Mollohan 

David  Clowser 

Clarence  Cogar 

J.  Don  Rusmisell 

Willis   Cogar 

Warder  Martin  Stout 

Spurgeon  White 

Ira  R.  Carder 

Stark  W.  Louden 

S.  R.  Brady 

Truman  Barnett 

Arch  Hamric 

Everett  Ernest  Wyatt 

James  Mathew  Rogers 

Basil   Knight 

Thomas  Buckner 

Tom  Conrad 

Luther  Carl  Duffield 

Theodore  Haymond  Knight 

Lee  Wei  don  Shaffer 

Oris  Walter  Barnett 

Wayne  Bob  Stanley 

Arch  Moffatt 

Howard  Barnes 

Marshall  Fletcher  Putnam 

Emery  Jackson  Murphy 

William  Benton  Young 

Arthur  E.  Lockard 

Bernard  Edward  Bennett 

Delbert  Lee  Luzader 

John  Chapman 

French  Young 

Charles  Nester  Robinson 

Scott  Boggs 

Russell  Warrick  Harper 

Ray  David  Conley 

Lanta  James 

Aubrey  Messenger 


George  Earl  Barrett 

Worthy  Dwight  Meadows 

Roy  Earl  Foster 

Virgil  E.  Carroll 

Frank  Riffle 

Elmer   Cart 

Roscoe  C.  Kitts 

Charles  Lee  Fineham 

Okey  W.  Loyd 

Everett  Lawrence  Williams 

Herbert  Basil  Frame 

Coy  Kerns 

Nathan  Goff  Carr 

Esker  Ray  Powers 

Henry  Leodavid  Cottrill 

Benjamin  Butler,  colored 

Jesse  Franklin  Boyles 

Amos  Allen  Brady 

Emery  Lewis  Leaseburg 

Goff  Frymire 

Scott  Belknap 

Emery   Workman 

George  Edward  Crutchneld 

Nobie  Tonkin 

James  Marvin  Young 

Okey  Ancell  Tingler 

Newton  F.   Ballengee 

Golden  Clyde  Sands 

Herbert  Johnson,  colored 

Ernie  Ray  Kuhl 

Luther  Oliver  Wimer 

Lawrence  Dow  Douglass 

Charley  H.  Singleton 

John  N.  Perkins 

Fay  Ludwig   Rogers 

William  Lee  Juergens 

Roy  Hamric 

Vassay  A.  Mitchell  . 

Homer  Elliott   Crutchneld 

James  Arnold,   colored 

Charles   Alexander   Barnett 

Henry  L.   Cutlip 

Gaylord  Wiant  Stalnaker 

R.  B.  Jackson 

Elot  Cerello 

Hoy  Jason  Kesling 

Otto  W.  Prince 

Russell  Hosey 

Fletcher  Carr 

Benjamin  Harrison  Barnhouse 

Clyde  Teter 

Wilber  Coy  HudMns 

Oliver  D.  McPherson 


454 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Charles  Henry  Waggy 

Lester  M.  Prince 

Camden  Luster  Fulks 

Alvin  Layton  Furby 

Bartlett  Brown 

Trumiscre  Guvbelnio 

Eth  E.  Knight 

William  Robert  Carter 

Mertie  J.  Hinkle 

"William  Newlon  McWaine 

William  Wesley  Bodkins 

William  Ernest  Crutchfield 

Walter  Edward  Posey 

Clarence  William  Heater 

Thomas  Ignatius  Feeney 

Charles  R.  Brady 

Oscar  I.  Shaver 

John  Earl  Pierson 

Alonzo  Byrne  Thayer 

Guy  Carr 

Samuel  Miller 

Cecil  Morrison 

Earl  Jordan 

James  Coulter 

Edgar  Hyer  Boggs 

John  Howard  Dent 

James  Blaine  Perkins 

Wilfred  Wilbert  Johnson,  colored 

George  Perkins 

Victor  Hines 

Russell  Bragg 

Frank  Hamric 

Charles  Otto  Juergens 

Oley  Waitman  Rollyson 

Burton  Claypool 

Linsey  Earl  Strader 

Theodore  Cogar 

Isaac  Garber 

Lewis  S.  Heck 

Everet  Smith  Facemire 

William  Curtis  James 

Minor  Carpenter 

Lonnie  B.  Riffle 

James  Edwards,  colored 

John  Westfall 

Charles  Kenna   Carroll 

William  Thomas  Cartright 

Edward  Frame 

Ward  B.  Perrine 

Roy  L.  Sergent 

Lanta  Roscoe  Brown 

James  Martin  Harris 

Robert  Lee  Damron 


Ernest  Noah  Meadows 

Russell  Carr 

Arden  David  Swick 

Frank  Clymer  Rowe 

Coleman  Conley 

Hezzie  Holden  Gregory 

Bert  Malcomb 

Earl  Bland  Timiey 

Ray  Heater 

Howard  Cunningham 

Ott  French  Mick 

Frank   Barrett 

Bert  Cogar 

Worthy  Perrine 

Thomas  Brown 

Nay  Trough 

Perry  R.  Sponaugle 

Ira  Edward  Clifton 

Charley  Santy 

Wardie  Gillespie 

Luther  Earl  Boggs 

Emery  McCauley  Wyatt 

John  Earl  King 

Bert  Prunty 

Charles  F.  Beamer 

Price  Snyder 

Lester  R.  Knicely 

Charles  B.  Squires 

Harry  Cameron  Baxter 

Emmett  Jackson 

John  Preston  Harper 

James  McCauley 

Senate  Mason  Cottrill 

Earse  Elihu  Skinner 

Harmon  Franklin  Gregory 

George  Beamer 

Lanta  Dickey 

Clarence  Don  Thomason 

William  French  White 

Ashby  W.  Shaver 

Joseph  Stranger  Posey 

Charles  Edward  Humphreys 

Scott  Barker 

Austin  Johnson 

William  Edward  Canfield 

Johnie  Tharp 

Henry  G.  Eubank 

Charlie  L.  Hamilton 

Edward  Murphy 

C.  Russell  Gillespie 

Arthur  James  Looman 

Loyd  Martin 

Thurlow  Shock 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


455 


Oran  Wyatt 
E.  Russell  Skidmore 
Roy  Shaver 
Robert  Buckner 
Isaac  0.  Gregory 
Byrne  Carr 
Roy  Martin 
James  F.  Lockard 
Oley  H.  Gillespie 
Jesse  L.  Gregory 
Loyd  Morris  Knicely 
George  Bailey  Rexroad 
Jacob  Stephen  Smalley 
Albert  Long- 
Joseph  Lawrence  McCray 
Willie  J.  Duvall 
Hugh  Byrne 
Arthur  W.  Gregory 
William  James  Coleman,  colored 
Charles  Dorsey  Miller 
Dana   Tonkin 
Charley  Newton  Meadows 
Ernest  Houstin  Harris 
William  Arthur  Murphy 
Bruce  William  Heck 
Benjamin  Harrison  Brady 
Clarence  Lee  Perrine 
Osborne  Brooks  Roby 
Jack  Patterson,  colored 
Oley  Morrison 
Cicero  Miller,  colored 
Archie  Lee  Ocheltree 
Earl  Albert  Smith 
John  Robert  Dennison 
Charles  Frederick  Hawkins 
John  Gordon  Goff 
James  Fletcher  Simmons 
Leland  Douglas 
Albert  Benjamin  Marks 
French  Stalnaker 
Vance  Mollohan 
Tom  Tancredi 
William  Fred  Carr 
Lanty  Herbert  Jones 
Earle  Burton  Stout 
Anise  Berlin  Dulaney 
Charles  Everett  King 
Cecil  D.  Kuhl 
Dane  Williams 
Virgil  Wyatt  Knight 
Okey  Bird  Keener 
William  Cain  Rose 
John  Andrew  Absher 


George  Calvin  Rogers 
John  Redmond  Barrett 
Burton   Steel 
Ira  Virgil  Knighton 
Jesse  Conrad 
Russell  C.  Currence 
Luther  Harrison  Cochran 
Burnie  Allen 
Perry  Earl  Hardman 
Audrie  Ray  Skinner 
Albert  Bernard  Shock 
Arnett  Hove  Hacker 
Kenna  Bryan  Hefner 
Norman  Marshall  Frame 
George  Clarence  Linger 
Carl  Earl  Postalwait 
William  Lee  Carr 
Pete  E.  Blake 
Alonzo  Singleton 
Edward  Oscar  Brown 
William  Marshall  Mick 
Russell  James  Holt 
Walter  Jack  Davis 
Frank  Lipps 
Toy  Heater 

Clarence  Everett  Simmons 
Clell  Ilamric 
John  0.  Herndon 
William  Orn  Heard 
James  Harvey  Singleton 
Ernest  Queen 
Dennis  Howard  Cutlip 
George  Everett  Perrine 
Earl  Winfield  Green 
Harvev  Lester  Howell 
Cecil  Russell  Miller 
Jesse  H.  Berry 
McKinley  Kelley 
Thomas  Benjamin  Snyder 
Clarence  Lee  Hawkins 
Earl  Basil  Skidmore 
Benson  Earl  Helmick 
Charles  Jesse  Coulter 
Wilbert  Roy  Grose 
Harel  Payne 
Cecil  Guy  Hudkins 
Raymond  Beamer 
Evert  Payne 

Nahtan  Mayberry  Ocheltree 
Samuel  Jennings  Butcher 
Perry  R.  Rexroad 
Arthur  Azotus  Prince 
Orval  Dow  White 


456 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Hurley  Oriel  Thompson 
Nathan  Slaughter 
John  MeQuain 
Luther  Barnett 
Peach  Arlington  Campbell 
Hobart  Carter 
Clay  Cole 
Stennie  Brady 
Earl  Losh 
Berkley  Douglass 
Harry  Edward  Wilson 
Roscoe  Hurley  Grimm 
Wilbert  Frame 
Carson  Dobbins 
Monte  Squires 
Joseph  Oliver  Bleigh 
Gordon  Clay  Frame 
Walter  Franklin  Gum 
Cecil  Clay  Cogar 
Burley  K.  Kesling 
Earl  McCune 
Lawrence  Fleming  Long 
William  H.  Harper 
Okey  Belknap 
George  Orville  Canfield 
Elton  M.  Stump 
Russell  H.  Holland 
Jesse  Arhtur  Gillespie 
George  Berry  Vassal" 
Arthur  Edgar  Dean 
Doy  Francis  James 
Clarence   Byrne 
Claudie  Otto  Cutlip 
Will  am  Newlon  Davis 


Ernest  Gerald  Hoover 
Ira  William   Barnett 
John  Wesley  Knight 
Emery  Lee  Crites 
Charles  Blaine  Moore 
Charles  Hayden  Boggs 
Raymond  Byrne  Berry 
William  Spurgeon  Berry 
Raymond  Franklin  Lewis 
Willis  Raymond  Skidmore 
William  Henry  Johnson 
Howard  Smarr 
Russell  Parish  Moore 
Karl  Frederick  Sommer 
Ray  Ira  Frame 
Percy  Wade  Bright 
Kenneth  Echols  Hines 
William  Hal  Boggs 
Thomas  Justin  Morrison 
Lane  Paul  Lovett 
Elmer  Leroy  Juergens 
Grover  Butler  Stonestreet 
Mvrl  Rudolph  White 
Van  Fitchew  Hall 
Ernest  Gilbert  Rollyson 
Opha  John  Gerwig 
Benjamin  Franklin  Loyd 
William  Glenn  Fisher 
Frank  Corbett  Fisher 
Joseph  Virgil  Canfield 
Paul  Moore  McNeill 
Charles  Olen  Gerwig 
Richard  McCoy  Brewster 
Willie  Juergens 


BRAXTON  COUNTY  CASUALTIES. 


Fred  Singleton,  Dutch 
Roy  B.  Martin,  Sutton 
John  P.  Conley,  Dutch 


Killed  in  Action. 


Luther  H.  Green-,  Sutton 
Solomon  Brown,  Burnsville 
Ira  Singleton,  Gem 


Arch  Hamric,  Braxton 


Died  of  Wounds. 
John  E.  Craft,  Frametown  R.  F.  D.       Jesse  Fisher,  Marpleton 


Luke  White,  Dingy 
William  Knight,  Marpleton 


Ophie  Keith,  Gem 
Leslie  Homer,  Davison 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY.  457 

Died  of  Accident  and  Other  Causes. 

Clarence  H.  Boggs,  Gassaway  Edwin  L.  Dulin,  Sutton 

Oscar  Exline,  Strange  Creek  Newton  Wilson,  Flatwoods 

William  I.  Outlip,  Holly  William  C.  Eobinson,  Vernon 

Died  of  Disease. 

James  M.  Young,  Herold  Guy  Harley  Criss,  Little  Birch 

James  W.  Foley,  Heaters 

Died  in  U.  S.  Camps. 

Willis  R.  Skidmore,  Sutton  John  J.  McQuain,  Caress 

Nobie  Tonldn,  Heaters  Thomas  Dobbins,  Rosedale 

Harmon  Gregory,  Caress  Tom  Buckner,  Gassaway 

Harvey  L.  Howell,  Copen  William  S.  Taylor,  Newville 

Ola  Loyd,  Exchange  David  Clowser,  Knapp 

Clarence  Eobinson,  Progress  Willie  Hacker,  Bonnie 

Missing  in  Action. 
Raymond  A.  Woods,  Jennings 

Wounded  Severely. 

Lester  C.  Ramsey,  Sleith  Ola  B.  Friend,  Gassaway 

Steve  Jones,  Bower  Charles  A.  Bussey,  Sutton 

Homer  E.  Hewitt,  Rosedale  Carl  Bean,  Gassaway 

Claude  H.  Helmick,  Hettie  Willard  B.  Hickman,  Strange  Creek 

Hugh  Kitts,  Sutton  Gordon  McCumbers,  Rosedale 

Claude  Snyder,  Sutton  Archie  G.  Steel,  Copen 

Everett  B.  Wyatt,  Sutton  Warrick  M.  Knicely,  Vernon 

Wounded — Degree  Undetermined. 

Alpheus  Greathouse,  Sutton  Walter  Malcomb,  Holly 

James  B.  Blake,  Orlando  Luther  .Cutlip,  Little  Birch 

Thomas  Stump,  Exchange  Orvill  Doyle  Jackson,   Sutton 

Harold  Taylor,  Burnsville  Freeman  L.  Rollyson,  Little  Otter 

Slightly  Wounded. 

Joseph  A.  Brady,  Gassaway  James  Given,  Strange  Creek 

James  A.  Dumeld,  Sutton  Okey  E.  Bright,  Newville 

Levi  J.  McQueen,  Flatwoods  Worthy  Burkhammer,  Riffle 

Garrett  Beecher  Knicely,  Milroy  George  Russell  Nesselrotte,  Sutton 

Noah  C.  Beall,  Gassaway  John  Conley,  Orlando 


458 


SUTTON'S     HISTORY. 


Prisoners — Returned  to  France. 
Joseph  F.  Knight,  Centralia 

Crazed  by  Shell  Shock. 
Oi'ville  Jackson,  Little  Birch 


'To  argue  and  refute, 
Wise  counselors  abound, 
But  those  to  execute 
Are  harder  to  be  found." 


THE  END. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 
Frontispiece,  John  D.  Sutton. 

Hon.    Felix    Sutton 13 

James  H.  Faeemire 23 

Mrs.   Delila   Cogar 36 

William    D.    Baxter 48 

School    House,    erected    before    the    Civil 

War   53 

John  P.  Byrne 103 

Dr.  J.  W.  Kidd 108 

Main  Street,  Gassaway. _ 110 

Simon  Prince  and  his   great,  great  grand 
son  121 

William  Craig  123 

Bryan,  Lincoln  and  Ingall 159 

John   D.   Baxter „ 178 


Page 
John  Brown  207 

Andrew    Skidmore    225 

Rev.  C.  Warman 228 

Rev.  Daniel  H.  Davis 234 

Rev.   T.  S.  Wade 240 

Brown   Residence   245 

Scene  on  the  Elk  River 247 

Large    Fish   256 

Store  House  in  Nicholas 273 

Evans  Family  Milking  Cows 295 

Burning  of  Riverview  Hotel 300 

The  Felix  Sutton  Cemetery 329 

Kennedy    Family   343 

William  Carpenter 360 

Mrs.    Elizabeth    Fisher 448 


INDEX 


A 

Pages 

Averell,  General,  Salem  Raid 168-169 

Ansel,  Col.  Amos,  Raid  to  Sutton 191 

Article  in  relation  to  floods 2J7-219 

Animals,  power  to  reason 259-260 

Anecdotes  312-325 

I 
B 

Bison   Range  IS 

Braxton   County   - 36 

Braxton  and  Adjoining  Counties 42 

Braxton    County    Resources 42 

Braxton  County  Schools  48 

Braxton   County  Court   Records 60 

Braxton  County  Commissioned  Officers 187 

Braxton   County  Militia 188 

Braxton  Central  248 

Braxton  Democrat  248 

Braxton  County's  First  Fair 299 

Basin   Rocks    46 

Birth  Place   of   Man 72 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad 97 

Board   of    Supervisors-  Election 139 

Burnsville,    Town   of 108 

Birch  River,  Town  of 114 

Bulltown,  Town  of 116 

Battle   of   Bulltown 172-174 

Battle  of  Point  Pleasant 164-167 

Battle  of   Droop   Mountain. 190 

Battle,  near  Three  Forts  of  Cedar  Creek 191 

Battle,   at   Milton  Frame's 192 

Battle,   at   Andrew  Ware's ,. 193 

Bear,  last  killed  in  county. _ 249 

Buffalo,  last  killed  in  comity. 250 

Baptist,   Church   237-239 

Byrne,  W.  E.  R _ 105 

Bryan,  W.  J 159-160 

Boone,    Daniel    282-2S3 

Brown,  Col.  John 312-319 

Boggs,  Francis  C,  Sheriff 62 

Boggs,  James  A.,  mill  owner 215 

Baxter,     Wm,     D.,     License     to     celebrate 

marriages   61 

Baxter,   John  D _ 251 

Baxter,  Felix  J.,  Prosecuting  Attorney 138 

Baxter,     H.      A.      Elected     Commissioner 

Revenue    138 


Page 
Barnett,   William 251 

Barnett,  Nathan  D.,  Death 190-191 

Berry,  P.  B 292 

Berry,   A.   S.,   Resignation 129 

Berry,  Capt.  James  M 184 

C 

Coal  Lands,  Northern  part  of  State 17i 

Convention  of  Virginia  24 

Constitution   26 

Counties  of   West  Virginia 32 

County  of   Braxton  36 

Caverns,  Head  of  the  Elk  River 46 

Congress   54 

Congressional  Districts  58-  60 

Cliff  Dwellers 73 

Central  West   Virginia  83 

County:    Clay   83 

CaDioun    84-  85 

Gilmer  86 

Webster    88 

Nicholas    90 

Lewis    92 

Upshur    92 

Roane    _ .' 116 

Citizens   of   Sutton,  at  beginning  of  Civil 

War  106 

County   Court   121-139 

County    History    150 

Cowen,   Town   of   112 

Centralia,  Town  of   113 

Caniield,   Town  of   117 

Corley,  Town  of  117 

Constitution   of    West   Virginia 28 

Confederate  Soldiers  179-180 

Cold  New  Year's  1863 193 

Courts,  respected   during  Civil  War 191 

Commerce,  Early   207-208 

Central  West  Virginia,  grazing  section..211-212 

Church,  Methodist    Episcopal 22S-231 

Churches,     231-233 

Methodist   Protestant   .....233-237 

Baptist   237-239 

Methodist  Episcopal,  South....239-243 

Presbyterian    243-245 

Capitals,    National 167-268 

Crow   Roost 253-255 

Cabin  at  Hominy  Falls  272 


INDEX 


Page 

Catching   Wild  Turkeys   276 

Cato,  colored  278-279 

Cane    Raising    287 

Cattle  Raising  297-298 

Cattle,   Hornless   - 298 

Civil  War  Incidents   ----- 189 

Civility    331 

Casualties,  Braxton  County  456-458 

Camden,    Judge    Draper 319 

Camden,  L.  D.,  null  owner 214 

Carpenter,  Jeremiah,  killed  panther 250 

Carpenter,   Solomon   252 

Cottrils   - 275 

Cunningham,  E.  H 172-174 

Currenee,   Capr.   Conrad 181-183 

Cutlip,  Perry,  Shot  189 

Cutlip,  William,  mill  owner 216 

Cutlip,   Dr.   Samuel   216 

D 

Dedication    5 

Dentists,   Resident   Sutton 106 

Days  of  Reconstruction  205-206 

Deer  Hunt  on  Beaver  ...'. 279 

Drainage  Basins,  Central  West  Virginia....    45 

Doddrill,  William  90 

Dunn,  Major,  Raid  172 

Dyer,  Morgan,  mill  owner 215 

Davis,   Henry   G 332 

Duncan,  Judge  Edward  S 319 

E 

Eighteenth  Century  22 

Early  Settlers  in  Central  West  Virginia....    25 

Elevation   of  West  Virginia 31 

Early  Settlers,  Braxton  County 42 

Elk  River,  The  43 

Elk  River  Fish  256-257 

Early   Settlement   73 

Election  Held   85 

Election    139 

Explorers   and   Roads   95-  96 

Erbacon,  Town  of  120 

Early  Commerce  207-208 

Emancipation  Paper, 

Emigrants  to  Illinois  and  Kansas 270 

Early  and  Late  Marriages 281-282 


First  Constitution  of  West  Virginia 28 

Formation  of  Braxton  County 36 

Flint,  Ledge   of   47 

Forts  65-  67 


Page 

First   County   Road   98 

First  Grand  Jury  123 

Flatwoods,   Town  of   107 

Frametown,  Town  of Ill 

Federal  Soldiers  178-179 

Flax  Raising  210-211 

Fish  of  the  Elk  River 256-257 

Fence  Rail  Period  326-32S 

Families,   Large  339-340 

Five   Generations   341-342 

Frame,   David,   License   to   celebrate   mar- 
riage     61 

Frame,    Wellington  L.,  mill   owner 216 

Frame,  Milton,  Battle  192 

Frame,  James,  mill  owner _ 216 

Friend,  A.  P 215-217 

Friend,   Joseph   252 

Friend,   I.   J.   ..._ 139 

Friend,    Israel    A 209 

Fox,   Samuel,  mill  owner  216 

G 

Governors   20-  31 

Gauley  River  44 

Glenville   Normal   School 88 

Grand   Jury   123-128-134 

Gassaway,    Town   of   110 

Gillespie,  Town  of  113 

Gilmer  County,  Federal   Soldiers   186-187 

Confederate   Soldiers   ..187-188 

Grand   Army  of   the   Republic 189 

Garnett,    General,   Last   dispatch. 190 

Ginseng  Industry   211-214 

Great  Floods  217 

Goose,  Wild  255-256 

Generals  of  the  Army 268 

Going  to  Mill  272 

Golden  Weddings  338 

Generations,    Five    341-342 

Gregory,   Isaac   89 

Gibson,  Dr.  Nicholas  191 

Gillespie,  Adam,  mill  owner 215 

Gillespie,   Griffin  215 

Gillespie,    Jeremiah    252 

H 

History  of  County  - 150 

Home  Guards,  1861  _ 175-177 

History  of  the  Tunnings  195 

Hog    Stealing   .' 208-209 

Hoop    Skirts    280 

High  Prices  344-345 


INDEX 


Page 

Hornless  Cattle  298 

Hyer,  Town  of  113 

Heater,  Town  of   ..._ 117 

Hamric,   William   90 

Hall,  Granville  D.  • 170-171 

Hews,  Col.  David  J '. 138 

Haymond,   Luther    271-272 

Hayniond,  Col.  John,  mill  owner 215 

Haymond,   John   -  216 

Haymond,  William,  mill  owner  216 

Huffman,  Benjamin,  mill  owner 215 

Hyer,  Adam  J 127 

Hyer,  Capt.  N.  M 195-201 

Hefner,   Miss  Phoebe   192 

I 

Indian   Troubles   73 

Indians   77-  82 

Incidents,  Civil  War  189 

Irvine,  Judge  Robert  61 

Ingall,  Senator  John  J 159-160 

J 

Judges    61 

Jackson,  John,  mill  owner   215 

Jackson,  Robert,  mill  owner  216 

Jackson,  David  M.,  mill  owner  216 

Johnson,  Jasper   191-192 

Johnson,   Milton   216 

K 

Kanawha   Turnpike   9S 

Kantner,  Capt.  Wm.  H.  captures  Wm.  L. 

Wilson    201-202 

Kelly,  Harrison,  letter  94 

Knieely,  John  191 

L 

List  of  Drainage  Basins,  Central  West  Va.    45 

Ledge  of  Flint  47 

Legislature  54 

License  to  Celebrate  Marriages 61 

Lawyers  of   Sutton,   Resident 106 

Lawyers   and   Historian   278 

Locust,  Seventeen  Year 271 

Large  Families  339-340 

Logan  and   Tecumseh   279 

Little  Birch,  Town  of  115 

Lincoln,   A 159-160. 

Li7icolns  of  Rockingham  .' 283 

Lincoln,  Short  Letter  of  Acceptance 285-286 

Lincoln's  letter  to  Mrs.  Bixby 286 


Page 

M 

"Moccasin   Tracks"   22 

Members  First  West  Va.  Legislature 29 

Members  Congress  and  Legislature 54 

Mound  Builders  64-65-67-72 

Massacres   76 

Mad  Ann  76 

Monument  to  Morris  Children 90 

Morgan 's  Raid  170-171 

Mail   Delivery  101 

Marriage  License  151-157 

Military  Men  of  West  Va 188 

Militia,   Braxton    County   188 

Military    Tragedies    202-205 

Ministers,  Native  231 

Mountaineer,  The  246-248 

Meteorology  263-267 

Monroe   Doctrine,   The   270 

Marksmen    277 

Majestic   Child   332-335 

Mollohon,  Elliott,  mill  owner 216 

Mollohon,   Capt.  William   184 

Morrison,  Morgan  H.,  Sheriff. 61-  62 

Morrison,  John,  crier  of  court 137 

Morrison,  John  G.,  guard  139 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  228-231 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 239-243 

Methodist   Protestant  Church   233-237 

Mc. 

McAnany   Family   Robbery   274 

McAnany,  Peter,  bear  killed 251 

McCoy,  William,  owner  of  mill 215 

McCunes   275-276 

McLaughlin,  Col.  Addison  312 

N 

Names  of  smaller  streams  of  county 40 

North  Western  Turnpike  96 

National  and  Stage  Roads  101-102 

Napier,   Town  of   117 

Newville,   Town   of   114 

Needmore.  Town  of  120 

Negroes,   Confederate    187 

Native    Ministers    = 231 

Newlon,  William  

O 

Officers  Braxton  County  62-126-127-148-187 

Old  Mills  214-217 

Officers  of  World  War 249 


INDEX 


Page 
P 

Preface   H 

Powell's  Mountain  91 

Postal  Development  in  West  Va 100 

Physicians,  Resident  of   Sutton 106 

Prominent  Military  Men  of  West  Va 188 

Prominent    Men    220-221 

Palmer,  Town  of  118 

Panther,  last  killed  in  county 349 

Pigeons,   wild    252-253 

Pisgah 's    Top    335-337 

Progressive   Family  281 

Presidents,  Died  in  Office 268-269 

Presidents,   Where   Buried 269-270 

Persons  100  years  of  age 337-338 

Presbyterian  Church  , 243-245 

Perkins,    Charles    279 

Q 

Quakers    226-227 

R 

Rich  Lands,  South  Branch  Valley 17 

River,  The  Elk  44 

The  Gauley  44 

Representatives   of   Braxton   County 54-  56 

Recorders  of  Braxton  County 61-  62 

Roads    94-  99 

Roads,  National  and  Stage  101 

Road  Reviewers   127-128 

Roads  West  of  Mountains  95 

Railroad,  Baltimore  &  Ohio  97 

Railroad  in  Central  West  Virginia 102 

Rural  Mail  Delivery  101 

Rollyson,  Town  of  117 

Rosedale,  Town  of  119 

Revolutionary   War   161-162 

Rock  Oil  290-291 

Rules  of  Etiquette  330-331 

Robbery,    McAnany   Family   274 

Rose,  Wm.,  License  to  celebrate  marriage.—    61 

Rhea,   John   L 139 

Riker,  Rev.  A.  B . 335 


Schools,  Braxton  County  4S 

School   Commissioners   128-  51 

School    House    _ 53 

School,  Glenville  Normal   S8 

Sheriff,    Braxton    county    150-  52 

Surveyor   Appointed   150-128 

Senatorial   Districts   56-  5S 

Salt  Lick  Bridge,  Town  of 118 

Servia,  Town  of  116 


Page 
Strange  Creek,  Town  of  115 

Sutton,   Town  of  103-105 

Soldiers,  War  of   1S12  162-163 

Braxton  County  Federal  178-179 

Braxton  County  Confederate.,179-180 

Webster    County    Confederate 184 

Gilmer  County  Federal 186-187 

Gilmer  County   Confederate.- .187-188 

Soidiers   of  World  War 449-456 

Spanish-American    War    188-189 

Sutton  in  the  Civil  War 194-195 

Sutton  Burned,  1864  194, 

Stories  of  personal  strength. 221-226 

Snake,   Petrified  258-259 

Settlement  on  Ware  Mountain,  First 273 

Shrewdness  of  Pioneers  274 

Slave  Holders  282 

Sugar    Making    287-288 

Silk   Factory   291 

Salt.   Industry   292-993 

Stock  Raising  gar 

Sllos    296-297 

Seventeen  Year  Locust  271 

Small  Streams  of  Braxton  county  40 

SmaU  Child "aso-ssi 

Small    People    281 

Sutton,  John  D.,  diary  _ _    43 

Sutton,  Mrs.  Bessie,  tribute 329-330 

Squires,  E.  W.,  Clerk  139 

Squires,   Asa   191-215 

Sprigg,  Capt.  John   S 181 

Sprigg,  Edward,  mill  owner  215 

Short,  Andrew,  Battle  Droop  Mountain 190 

Sprinkle,   John   276 

Sargeant.  John,  mill  owner  215 

Skidmore,  Joseph,  mill  owner  214 

Skidmore,   Samuel,  mill  owner 215 

Skidmore,   Felix,  mill  owner 216 

T 

The  West  Virginia  Hills  35 

Teahcers  before  Civil  War 50 

Townships     53 

Town  of  Sutton  103-105 

Flawoods   107 

Burnsville    108-109 

Gassawaj'    _ 110-111 

Frametown    111-112 

Cowen   112-113 

Centralia    : 113 

Hyer    (Gillespie)    113-114 

Tesla   114 


INDEX 


Page 

Newville   114 

Bireh  River  114 

Little    Bireh 115 

Strange  Creek  , 115 

Servia   116 

Bulltown    116 

Canfield    117 

Corley   117 

Napier    117 

Rollyson    - 117 

Heater    117-118 

Salt  Lick  Bridge 118 

Palmer    118-119 

Rosedale    119-120 

Erbacon    120 

Needmore    120 

Turkey   Buzzards   257 

Trees,  Large  and  Wonderful  261-263 

Tanneries  and  Shoe  Makers  293-295 

Tragedies   300-312 

Timber  and  Oil  Districts 289 

Tribute  to  Mrs.  Bessie  Sutton 329-330 

The  Tunnings,  history  184-195 

Taylor,  G.  P.,  Recorder  61 

Triplett,   Sennett   277-278 


Page 
V 
Virginia    15 

Virginia   and   Revolutionary  War 161-162 

W 

West  Virginia  Governors  31 

West  Virginia  Counties  32 

West  Virginia  Hills,  The  35 

West  Virginia  and  Civil  War 174-175 

War,  Virginia  and  Revolutionary 161-162 

War,  West  Virginia  and  Revolutionary..l63-164 

War  of  1812  162-163 

War  Spanish-American  188-189 

War,  Fifth  Foreign _ 344 

World  War  Casualties,  Braxton  county..456-458 

Weston  and  Gauley  Bridge  Turnpike 95 

Wild   Goose   255-256 

Ware,  Andrew,   Battle   193 

Washington,   George,  Courtship   284-285 


Young,  Henry  91 

Young,  Henry,  killed  201-202 


BIOGRAPHY 


Pages  345-448 


FAMILY  HISTORY. 


A  begins  with  John   Adams   345 

B  begins  with  Solomon   Baker   347 

C  begins  with  Samuel  J.  Clawson 355 

T>  begins  with  Morgan    Dyer    370 

E  begins  with  Charles   D.    Elliott 372 

F  begins  with  James   H.   Facemire 374 

G  begins  with  John  A.  Grose 379 

H  begins  with  Homer  A.  Holt 3S4 

J  begins  with  John    Jackson    395 

K  begins  with  John   Mae   II.   Kelly 398 


L  begins  with  Albert  A.   Lewis 400 

M  begins  with  Mary   MeAnany   403 

N  begins  with  Henry  Naee  411 

O  begins  with  Adam   O'Brien    413 

I'  begins  with  Thomas   Perkins   415 

R  begins  with  Samuel   H.   Eider 417 

S  begins  with    Felix    Sutton 422 

T  begins  with  Alexander   Taylor  442 

W  begins  with  LudrcW   M.    Wade 445 


i 


.-*..   i*-4f