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MOCCASIN TRACKS
and OTHER IMPRINTS
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BY
WILLIAM CHRISTIAN DODRILL
("RATTLESNAKE BILL")
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THE SEW YORK
PtTBLTC LIBRARY
gGSOOfciR
ABTOk, LESKL AND
TILDA ?«UNI>AIiOM6
B 1H« L
Copy-right by
W. C. DODRILL
1915.
LOVETT PRINTING CO.^
CHARLESTON.
William Christian Dodrill.
« — — ¥
QNV xon:3T 'SOISV
3H0i ...^A ^«i,
To the memory of my dear mother, Rebecca (Ham-
rickj Dodrill, to whom. I owe so much, this volume is
affectionately dedicated.
By the Author.
r:::^
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Biographical Sketch 8
Introduction 13
Moccasin Tracks 15
English Settlements in America 17
The Indians of West Virginia 35
Exploration and Settlement of West Virginia 43
Geography and Topography of Webster County 55
Miscellaneous Sketches 61
The Hamrick Family 73
An Imaginary Trip in 181:9 77
Superstitions of Pioneer Days 80
Short Sketches 84
Form.ation and Organization of Webster County __ 87
Education 105
The Carpenter Family 119
Murder of the Stroud Family 122
Eeligion in Pioneer Days 125
The Dodrill Family 130
The Killing of the Tunings 134
The Murder of Ferrell 135
The Lone Graye 136
The Gregory Family 137
Geographical Xames 140
The Woods Family 142
The Sawyers Family 143
The McElwain Family 145
The Morton Family 148
Tracklets _• 151
Table of Contents (Continued).
Other Imprints .' 157
The True Grandeur of Nations 159
Echoes 1(35
The Cemetery 170
Chronicles of an Oak 173
Number One 175
Number T\vo 181
Number Three* 188
Influence of the Cliristian Religion on Civilization 194
Government 199
Birds and Flowers 205
The Stork's Visit 212
Semi-Centennial of West Virginia 213
Business and Civit Honesty 219
An Oration Delivered at Eichwood, July 4, 1909__ 230
School Eoom Smiles : 238
Halley's Comet — A Burlesque 242
The Bachelor . 247
From the Williams to Lake Erie 253
Winter Bird Friends 260
The Eagle 281
The Crisis of 1861 2S&
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
William Christian Dodrill, the author, was born on
Birch river in Nicholas county, Virginia, (now West
Virginia). September seventh, 1861. He is the third
son of James Walton and Rebecca Hamrick Dodrill.
At a time when a new state had recently been brought
into being through the heroic surgery of war, he was
receiving his first impressions amid surroundings that
were necessarily forceful in directing the bent of his
mind and shaping his future career.
Nicholas county, then larger than now, lay among the
western spurs of the Alleghanies, where crude condi-
tions of commerce and travel had sadly retarded social
and intellectual intercourse among the people, but the
region claimed unusual advantages in the beauty and
ma.jesty of its mountain scenery and the clean lives
and high ideals of its inhabitants. War had scarcely
disturbed these conditions, although it left not a few
of its scars in close proximity to the author's boyhood
home. The forests were virgin, full of game and res-
onant with the music of a large and varied bird life.
The rivers and creeks held in great abundance the
varieties of fish common to the middle temperate zone.
Then, much more than now, the youth were in very
truth, "children of the outdoors," living in all seasons
very near to the heart of Nature.
Amid surroundings such as these, the boyhood of
William Dodrill was spent, working on the farm as
occasion demanded, but when opportunity afforded,
wandering along the rivers or through the woods, learn-
ing those nature-lessons, for which one may read all
AND Other Impriistts. 9
books in vain, and because of which he acquired the
ability so valuable to him as a teacher and writer in
the after years of his life. Nor did he neglect to read
with avidity and understanding the few books at his
command; and it may be possible that a few good
books, read over and over again, thoroughly assimilated
through long hours of study and contemplation, may
be more valuable than hundreds lightly scanned and
more lightly thrown away.
The author remained at the home of his father and
mother until he reached the age of twenty-one, and
during that time, so meager were the educational ad-
vantages in his community, he was enabled to attend
school less than four months in each year. How well
he overcame this serious and to so many, disastrous,
obstacle, may be judged from the fact that from the
time he began teaching in 1882 at the age of twenty-
one, until the present, his success was immediate and
so marked that his ser^dces were soon in wide demand
in central West Virginia.
Mr. Dodrill taught in his native county of Nicholas
until 1895, and since that date he has resided in Web-
ster county, where he is acknowledged by common con-
sent to be the leader of his profession. He was prin-
cipal of the Camden public schools in 1910 and 1911 ;
principal of the Webster Springs graded school for
three terms, 1912, 1913 and 1914, and a teacher in
the Normal department of the Webster Springs high
school for the spring term of 1915. He has taught
also, and made a specialty of training schools for
teachers. In 1908 he became a member of the Amer-
ican Historical Association and in 1910 he joined the
10 MoccAsix Tracks
Xnigiits of Pytliias and is a loyal member of Camden
Lodge Xo. 137.
While the author justly enjoys this high reputation
as a teacher and instructor and has kept in the van-
guard of the progressive men and women of his profes-
sion, he has rendered services to the people of Nicholas,
Webster and the surrounding counties, indeed to the
whole state, quite as enduring and permanent, in our
judgment, as his valuable work in his chosen profession.
Xot only has he kept up the study of Xature as an
adjunct to his work, but he has pursued that study
with such zeal and success that he is everywhere recog-
nized as a commanding authority on West Virginia
animals, fish and bird life. His knowledge of the fish
that inhabit West Virginia waters is not cursory or
superficial but final and authoritative, acquired through
years of study and contact. He is an expert angler;
no one in the writer's knowledge will excel him. Be-
cause, of these facts we confidently assert that no West
Virginian is more competent as a writer and critic
upon these and kindred subjects.
The pioneer history of the mountain counties of
W'est Virginia has been neglected to such an extent that
it seriously interferes with the preparation of an orderly
and sequential history of the state. The citizens of the
elder counties, reclaimed from the Indians along the
wide valleys of the great rivers and on the contiguous
uplands, do not appreciate the dangers and well-nigh
insurmountable difficulties that confronted those hardy
fathers who builded homes in the narrow and canyon
like valleys of the Elk. Holly and Birch rivers, and on
the precipitous mountain sides surrounding them. In
AND Other Imprints. 11
the ceaseless struggle for existence it was impossible to
preserve history while it was current and many of the
stirring traditions of the early days, if not wholly lost,
have been very iniperfectly,preserved by the only means
possible, the relation of the story by the pioneer to his
immediate descendants.
In the resurrection and preservation of this early
history of Webster county and these splendid traditions,
Mr. Dodrill has spent much of his time during many
years. His close contact with the people as teacher of
the various schools has enabled him to acquire at first
hand from the older citi-zens, many of whom have since
passed away, much valuable information which should
be, and, thanks to his energy and perseverance will be,
made accessible by his book to every student of the his-
tory of his native state. The value of his work in this
direction lies in the fact that soon, very soon, all the
sources from which this history can be gleaned will be
gone. N"o other West Virginian possesses it at first
hand. For several years past he has been writing articles
for the press that have attracted wide attention, in
which he depicts the struggle of the early settlers and
traces the gradual development of this difBcult terri-
tory.
The large families that are descended from the
pioneers and are now widely scattered over the Union,
with interests diversified and numerous, have gratefully
paid him tribute for renewing the recollections of these
heroic men and women. One of the chief criticisms
directed by Europeans against America is the fact that
we have no traditions ; that time, only, can create mighty
memories ; be it so ; but we can meet that criticism
12 Moccasin Tracks
and multiply those mighty memories by appreciating
men like William Dodrill who give years of pains-
taking effort and patient study to the end that none
of our traditions may be Iq^t.
"Moccasin Tracks and Other Imprints/' reflects the
versatility and personality of its author. Mr. Dodrill
is a facile and brilliant writer, an eloquent and force-
ful public speaker. His powers of description can
hardly be excelled, while as a narrator of events he
commands the willing attention of his reader as he con-
ducts him through the orderly, logical succession of
events.
He is a controversialist of superior type, nor does he,
in his writings, make the always fatal mistake of trans-
forming learning into pedantry. He is a master of
that directness of Anglo-Saxon speech which one may
acquire only after long and diversified study of our
language.
We bespeak for this book a gracious reception, not
only by the people of West Virginia, interested as they
are in the traditions of our beloved Commonwealth and
the minutest details of its splendid history, but by the
people ever3rwhere who want to know and to treasure
all that mav be known of the historv and the tradi-
tion? of the Republic.
W. S'. Wysong.
INTRODUCTORY.
Many school boys and school girls decide to write a
book when they become men and women. I was not
accustomed to building literary air castles in Spain
during my school days. My teachers did not require
me to write on any subject. Neither did they require
or encourage original thought. Lessons were assigned
on certain pages of the text, and the pupil who could
recite in the language of the book was commended for
proficiency. These two facts indicate the deplorable
condition of the free schools thirty-five years ago.
The material of which this volume is composed has
been of slow growth. A number of the sketches were
published in the local papers a few years ago under the
pen name of "Rattlesnake Bill." • These waifs have been
revised or entirely rewritten. They have been living
precarious lives in newspaper files, scrap books, and
other out of the way places. It was thought by the
author that these almost nameless, and unowned chil-
dren of his brain, were entitled to more congenial sur-
roundings, and if properly dressed they could appear in
more genteel company.
I have been impressed for years with the fact that the
young people of Webster, Nicholas, Braxton and other
nearby counties know so little of the history of their
immediate ancestors. Boys and girls of sixteen do not
know the names of their great-grandfathers or great-
grandmothers. If this information be delayed much
longer, it will be too late to start an inquiry. "Moccasin
Tracks" was begun to arouse an interest in pioneer
history before all the sources of information have been
14 Moccasin Tracks
closed. Xo attempt has been made to give a consistent,
connected narration of the pioneer history of "Webster
county. Material available at this time is too meager
or too chaotic for such an undertaking.
Some of the "Other Imprints^' contained in this
volume have been written in connection with my school
work or to amuse a friend in an idle moment. Others
are public addresses delivered at divers places and under
various circumstances. Many were written expressly
for this volume and are here published for the first time,
The author places this volume before the public with
some misgivings as to the manner of its reception, but
he hopes that it will be received in the spirit in which
it is given. It is offered as a small contribution to the
great stream of literature flowing from the pen of
American writers, by an author who has neither fame
nor literary merit to commend his work to the public.
W. C. DODEILL.
"Webster .Springs, West Virginia.
June lo, 1915.
Moccasin Tracks
I. ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA.
In order to get a correct understanding qf the early
history of Webster county, it is necessary to take a
hasty view of the first English settlement in North
America as to time and place. Webster, because of its
geographical position and its isolation from navigable
rivers, was one of the last AVest Virginia counties to be
occupied by white men. It will also be necessary to
take a more extended notice of the first settlements in
the state which occurred many years previous to the
occupation of the Elk and the Gauley valleys.
Transportation of necessity was made by pack horses
over rough mountain trails, and this not being a very
desirable mode of travel, greatly retarded the settle-
ment of localities, remote from more populous com--
munities.
The real settlement of Webster county did not begin
until after the close of the Eevolution, although the
territory had been repeatedly visited and some cabins
had been built previous to that time.
Virginia.
In 1G06 James I, King of Great Britain, granted a
patent for territory in America to a corporation of men
known as the London Company, whose main object was
to establish an English colony somewhere between the
thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude.
The company sent out a colony consisting of 105 ad-
venturous gentlemen in three small vessels which em-
barked from London, in December, 1606. AHqt a
18 MoccAsix Tkacks
most tempestuous and dangerous voyage^ they entered
Chesapeake Bay and after some delay sailed up a dis-
tance of fifty miles. Here thev landed on Mav 13,
1607, and began a settlement which they called James-
town in honor of the English sovereign. The site
chosen was low and marshy: it was infested with
mo-r'juitoc8 and malaria: it was not easy for the settlers
to defend themselves against the Indians, who attacked
them within two weeks after their arrival. This border
warfare begun, in 1607, between the ATrginians and
the Indians, lasted for one hundred and eighty-eight
years. The early history of Virginia was a history of
famine, disease, desperation and death : of 630 early
colonists 570 died within the first two and a half vears.
In later years two terrible Indian massacres occurred,
one in 162? and the other in 1641, in which more than
five hundred persons were slain. These English peo-
ple liad left their home and friends, and had braved
the dangers of a long sea voyage to face an unknown
fate in the wilderness that they might establish homes
for themselves and erect a state on the continent of
North America. This is the oldest Eno;lish colonv es-
tal)lished within the present limits of the United States,
although for some time it seemed as if it would prove
a failure like the one begun in the state of Maine in
May, 1607. The colony was saved through the untiring
efforts of Captain John Smith, who procured corn from
the Inrlians. and taugh.t the colonists the necessity of
labor.
These people made the mistake that is ever the case
in all pioneer settlements : they thought that sudden
wealth could bo obtained from mineral product-, niul
AXD Other Imppjxts. ll»
they neglected their gardens and their farms — the only
things they could rely npon for their support, for the
alluring hope, of finding gold. In a few years many
desirahle families came to Virginia. The forest was
cleared by them and they gradually pushed their way
to the foot of the Blue Eidge.
A very notable event occurred in 1(519. This was the
election of twenty-two •'burgesses/' who met in the
church at Jamestown and framed laws to govern the
colony. This was the first free, representative govern-
ment in America, and was far-reaching in its effect
upon the establishment of a republican form of govern-
ment in the Western Hemisphere.
Another event of great moment occurred in the same
year. A Dutch man-of-war exchanged twenty negro
slaves with the planters of Jamestown for provisions.
This was the l)eginning of Xegro slavery in the United
States, which proved a great source of trouble until its
abolition in 1863. Tt made the cultivation of tobacco
a very lucrative employment in Virginia and in a very
short time it became the leading industry of the colony.
Virginia became a royal province in 1624, and the
rights of the people were taken from them. Arbitrary
rule wa'^ substituted. Xavigation laws were passed that
had a direct bearing on the great American Revolution :
the King gave the entire province to two court favorites
for a period of thirty-one years. Governor Berkeley, be-
longing to a company having a very profitable trade
with the Indians, failed to protect the settlers from
these savages ; the colonists had no homes thev could
call their own, and their taxes were burdensome. When
the Indians began ravaging the frontier, in 1676, Gov-
20 Moccasin Tracks
ernor Berkeley refused to send aid to the endangered
colonists. They chose Xathaniel Bacon, a young
planter, for their leader, and marched against the In-
dians and defeated them. Berkeley declared Bacon a
rebel; civil war ensued and Jamestown was 1)urned.
Bacon soon afterwards died of a fever contracted while
camping in the swamps and about twenty of his ad-
herents were executed by order of the governor. One
hundred years after that time, the descendants of these
men met at Williamsburg almost in sight of the ruins
of Jamestown, and declared that Virginia was a free
and independent state, and no longer an integral part
of the British Empire.
THE NEW EISTGLAND COLONIES.
Massachusetts.
The English King, in the same year that the grant
to the London Company was made, gave to the Ply-
mouth Company the territory extending from the Hud-
son river northward to Xewfoundland. This em-
braced the country between the thirty-fourth and thirty-
eighth degrees of north latitude.
As previously mentioned the first attempt at settle-
ment within the limits of North A^irginia was made
in the State of Maine, in May 1607, but proved a fail-
ure and no further attempt to establish a colony was
made for thirteen years.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century relig-
ious toleration was not recognized Ijv the English
Constitution. All classes were required to pay a tax
to support the clergy of the established church. Those
AND Other Imprints. 21
who refused to do this were fined or imprisoned. A
body of i^ersons calling themselves Puritans came into
existence during Queen Elizabeth's reign. Out of this
movement, the Separatists came into existence, who
would not remain in the established Church of England.
Many Puritan ministers were refused the right to hold
religious services. When their congregations were
broken up, about three hundred of these Separatists,
now called Pilgrims, emigrated to Holland.
These God-fearing and industrious people found
themselves exiles in a strange land where they greatly
feared that their children would not adhere to their
religious beliefs, and the manners and customs of their
English ancestors. Acting under the advice of their
pastor, John Eobinson, they decided to seek a place of
settlement in America. They borrowed a large sum of
money from their friends in England, and also secured
a patent to settle on the land of the London Company.
On September 6. 1630, the Mayflower, carrying one
hundred and one of the exiles, left the harbor of Ply-
mouth bound for the Hudson river country. After a
stormy voyage of three months, they landed off Cape
Cod, hundreds of miles north-east of their destination.
This was on land belonging to the Plymouth Company.
Having no patent to settle on that Company's land,
they drew up a compact on board the Mayflower in
which it was agreed to form themselves. into a civil body
politic for the purpose of government, and John Carver
was elected governor. This little band of exiles landed
on December 31, 1630, near a large bowlder, now called
Plymouth Eock. The winter was unusually severe and
the food unwholesome. Before spring one-half the
22 MoccAsix Tracks
number had died. Fortunately for this brave little
Ijand, Indians were few and not very hostile. Miles
Standish, the doughty little captain, defended the
colony from those who were disposed to be troublesome.
The Mayflower pilgrims were men and women who
had known hardships and privation in tlieir native
land, and the hostile climate and the scarcity of food
did not discourage them. Deeply imbued with a relig-
ious feeling, they went to work with a will that pre-
saged success.
''What sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels of the anine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?
They sought a faith's pure shrine.
Ay, call it holy ground.
The soil where first thev trod,
Thev left unstained what there thev found,
Freedom to worship God.*'
Massachusetts Bav Colony was settled at Salem, in
1628, by John Endicott, who was a Puritan of the
strictest kind. He wished to establish a place of refuge
for those of his own faith only.
By the vear 1630 a "Teat tide of emicrration flowed
into the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies.
John Winthrop, a wealthy Puritan, with a fleet of
eleven vessels brought over a colony of seven hundred
persons with horses, cattle and all other things neces-
sary for the establishment of a colony in the wilderness.
This colony was established on a peninsula called by
the Indians Shawmut but the English called it Tri-
mountaiu. This was afterwards called Boston. With-
AND Other Impuints. 23
in the next ten veai's, twenty thonsand emigrants came
to Xew Eno'land. Amono- this number were men of
wealth and education — "the ver}- flower of the English
Puritans."
For the first two years the colony was governed by
a council called the Court of Assistants. In 1634 the
towns sent representatives to the legislature, or General
Court, which made the laws, and the right of suffrage
was restricted to church meml:iers. In a few years the
Puritans became as intolerant as the English Cliurch
had been toward them. Eoger Williams, Mrs. Anne
Hutchinson, and others were banished from the colony.
Education verv earlv in the history of Massachusetts
received the attention of the people. Provisions were
made as early as 1635 for the establishment of a pub-
lic school in Boston. A law was enacted in 1647 which
provided instruction for every white child in the
colony. The colony of Massachusetts laid the founda-
tion for the free school system of the United States.
The first college was established in 1636 and was named
in honor of Pev. John Harvard.
An event occurred in 1643 that was destined to
wield a decided influence on the political history of the
United States. This w^as the union of Massachusetts
Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Connecticut, and iSTew
Haven colonies for mutual defense against the Indians,
the Dutch, and the French. This new England Con-
federacy was maintained for nearly half a century, and
was a presage of the union of the thirteen colonies
against British aggression and tyranny which occurred
about one hundred years after its dissolution. The
colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bav united
24 MoccAsix Tracks
in 1692 and formed the present State of Massachusetts.
Other New England Colonies.
The English government in 1623 granted to Sir
Ferdinand Gorges and Captain John Mason a large
tract of land between the Merrimac and Pisquatiqna
rivers. This region was called Maine, or the Mainland.
The first permanent settlement was made by English
emigrants at Dover about 1627. The land was divided
between the proprietors; Gorges took the country east
of the Pisquatiqna which was organized as a separate
government and admitted into the Union as the State
of Maine in 1820.
Mason 'took that portion of the grant lying west of
the Pisquaticjua which he called Xew Hampshire.
Eeligious exiles from Massachusetts settled at Exeter
in 1638 under the leadership of Eev. John "Wheel-
wriglit. Scotch Irish emigrants settled at Londonderry
and introduced the manufacture of linen. Daniel
Webster, the noted statesman and orator, was a descend-
ent of one of these industrious Scotch settlers.
ISJ'ew Hampshire became subjec't to Massachusetts
upon petition from the people of the first named col-
ony because of its inahility to protect the outposts from
Indian depredations. The colony l)ecame a royal
province in 1679 and remained so until the Eevolution.
Both the Dutch and the English made an attempt to
get possession of the Connecticut Valley. A number of
settlements were made by emigrants from Massachusetts.
Wethersfield and Windsor were founded In' people from
the vicinitv of Boston in 1635. In the same vear a
AND Other Imprints. 25
o
company that had obtained a charter for the territory,
sent out John Winthrop as "Governor of the Elvers of
Connecticut.'^ He built a fort at Saybrook to prevent
the Dutch from ascending the river.
The next year the Eev. Thomas Hooker left Mas-
sachusetts with one hundred men, women, and children
bound for the Connecticut river. They traveled on foot
through an unbroken forest, driving their cattle and
hogs before them. The minister led the way carrying a
hoe on his shoulder to show his people the necessity of
agricultural pursuits. This band finally reached Hart-
ford, where a small settlement of English had previous-
ly been made. A war declared against the Pequot In-
dians in the spring of 1637 resulted in the destruction
of that Indian tribe.
In 1639 the inhabitants of Windsor, Wethersfield, and
Hartford met in convention and drew up the first
written constitution in x\merica. Xo mention was made
either of the King of England or the Company which
held a roA'al o-rant of the land of Connecticut. It was
expressed in this constitution that its object was to
maintain the peace and imion of the colony.
The Xew Haven colony was settled in 1638. Eev.
John Davenport was one of the leading men and the
laws drawn up for the colony were based upon the
teachings of the Bible and they w^re called "Scripture
Laws.""
Connecticut never became a Eoyal colony but con-
tinued to be governed by the charter granted by
Charles I until 1818. x4ndros, the tyrannical royal gov-
ernor of Massachusetts, tried to secure this charter in
26 Moccasin Tilacks
1687 but the friends of popular government liid it in
a hollow oak where it lay until better days.
Ehode Island was settled at Providence under the
leadership of Eoger Williams in 1636. The province of
Rhode Island was founded on the principles of soul
libertv or libertv of conscience. This was a new idea
and was thought to be dangerous doctrine, and it was
freely predicted that it would soon cease to be popular,
but it had a rapid and sure growth until it was written
in our Xational Constitution as a part of the funda-
mental law of the United States.
William Coddington, in company with Mrs. Anne
Hutchinson, bought the island of Rhode Island and
planted the colony of Portsmouth. Newport was
settled by them in 1639. Roger Williams, in 1641:, went
to England and obtained a very liberal charter which
united all three colonies into one province, and gave
them full power to organize a government suitable for
their needs and conditions. With slight modifications
this charter was the fundamental law of Rhode Island
until 184?.
Vermont, formerly a part of Massachusetts, Ixjught
her freedom from that state and was admitted into the
Union in 1791, being the first state to be admitted by an
act of Cono-ress.
Xo section of the United States exerted a greater
influence upon the destiny of the Xation than the six
state? of Xew England. The sturdv sons of these
states have found homes in every portion of the coun-
try, and with them they carried the Xew England
idea of government and religion.
AXD Otpier Imprixts. 27
New York.
The Dutch built Fort Amsterdam and established a
tradiixg post on Manhattan Island in 1614. Xine years
later a settlement was begun at that place, and also at
Fort Orange, where Albany now stands, by the Dutch
West India Company which sent over about thirty
families. Peter Minuet, who became governor in i6";^6,
purchased the island of Manhattan from the Indians.
The Swedes in 1638 had established a colony west of the
Delaware which they called Christina. This region was
claimed by the Dutch, who made a conquest of New
Sweden under Governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1655, and
reduced it to submission. Xew Sweden was annexed
to New Xetherland. But the Dutch triumph was of
short duration. Great Britain claimed the territory
occupied by both the Dutch and the Swedes. The Eng-
lish King, Charles II, granted the Dutch possession to
his brother James, Duke of York. In 1664 an English
fleet was sent against Xew Xetherland which resulted
in its capture. The Dutch province of Xew Xether-
land became the English province of Xew York, named
in honor of the Duke of York.
Maryland.
The English king granted to Lord Baltimore a tract
of land comprising al)out 1200 square miles of territory
north of Virginia called the ''Xorthern Xeck." The
grantee was a Catholic nobleman of excellent character
and ability who wished to establish a colony in the
Xew . World for his oppressed brethren, and for all
others who were persecuted for conscience's sake.
28 MoccASix Tracks
Two vessels, the Ark and the Dove, brought the first
settlers to the province of Maryland in ITol. The col-
onists, numbering two hundred, sailed up the Chesapeake
Bay and landed at a place which they called St. Marj^'s.
From this small beo'inninor the R-reat State of Marv-
COO «-■
land has s^rown. Baltimore citv was besun in 1729 and
had a very rapid growth.
In the course of a few years the Protestants, who
were welcomed by Lord Baltimore, overthrew his gov-
ernment and established the Church of England as the
government church in Maryland. The fourth Lord
Baltimore, who had become a Protestant, was made
proprietor and governor in 1715. He and his descend-
ants continued to govern the province until the be-
ginning of the Eevolution. Maryland was very early in
her historv the home of a li])ertv-lovin2: veomanrv who
did their full share in resisting the injustice that Great
Britain perpetrated upon her American colonies.
The Carolinas.
Charles II Sfranted a laro-e bodv of land south of Yir-
ginia to a company composed of Lord Clarendon and
seven associates. This STant was made in 1663. Settlers
from Virginia, Xew England, and the West Indies had
moved into that territory before the grant was made.
In 1663 these people Avere organized into a settlement
known as the Albermarle colony. The Clarendon colony
was founded in 1670 on the Ashley river. A few years
after, it was moved to the present site of Charleston.
A very elaborate form of government was framed
which was known as the "Grand Model.'*' This orave the
AXD Other I^rRixTS. * 29
common people no rights in the government because it
recognized a kind of feudal system which W3is not suit-
able for a backwoods settlement. This "Fundamental
Constitution" was abandoned after twenty-one years of
failure.
The colony was divided into Xorth and South Caro-
lina in 1712, and each was subject to a governor ap-
pointed by the crown until the Declaration of Inde-
pendence.
The Carolinas earlv eno-aa'ed in the manufacture of
tar^ pitch and turpentine. In 1793 the cultivation of
rice was begun. In later years (1741) indigo was in-
troduced, and proved very profitable. The cultivation
of rice and indigo gave rise to a large foreign commerce
and made Charleston the leadino- commercial citv of the
^ South.
Pennsylvania.
William Penn, a devoted Friend or Quaker, received a
tract of forty-eight thousand square miles of territory
in America, from Charles II, in payment of a large
sum of money which the king owed Penn's father. The
king very generously named the province Pennsylvania,
Avhich means Penn's woods.
• The first colonists were sent over in 1681 under Ed-
ward Markham. Xearly one-third of the number died
from smallpox on the voyage. The good ship. Welcome,
cast anchor where Xew Castle, Delaware, now stands.
Penn himself came over in 1682 and laid out the city
of Philadelphia. Penn's scheme of colonization was the
best of any in America and was attended with marked
30^ Moccasin Tracks
success. By judicious management, he secured the good
will of the Indian? who ever after remained the staunch
friends of William Penn and his people. The colonists
were aiven the liberty to enact their own laws and thev
were protected in their worship of God and no one was
compelled to subscribe to a creed in whicli he did not
believe. Philadelphia had a very rapid growth and it
was the largest and most important city in the colonies
at tbe outbreak of the Eevolution.
Delaware.
The historv of Delaware is closelv allied with that of
Pennsylvania. By reference to the sketch of Xew York,
it will be learned that Delaware was settled by the
fSwedes under the name of New Sweden. This land was
purcliased in 1682 from the Duke of York by AYilliam
Penn. It was called ^'The Territories"' or the "Three
Lower Counties on the Delaware."' It was governed
as a part of Pennsylvania until the Eevolution when it
became independent under the name of Delaware. This
was the first state to ratify tlie National Constitution.
New Jersey.
The territory now embraced in the state of Xew Jer^
eey was claimed by the Dutch, who began a settlement
at Bergen in 1617. After the English had conquered
tbe Xew Xetherlands in 1664. the Duke of York gave
the whole country between the Delaware and the Hud-
son rivers to Lord Berkeley and Sir Georg-e Cartaret.
An Eno'lish colonv was be2:un at Elizabethtown. Lib-
eral terms were 2:iven the colonists and each one was
AxD Other Imprixts. 31
given a share in the government. The province was
divided into West and East Jerseys. West Jersey was
sold ])\ Lord Berkeley in 1674 to some English Quak-
ers, and some time after^ Penn, and others, bouglit
East Jersey from the heirs of Sir George C'artaret.
The two Jerseys were united under the jurisdiction of
New York in 1702. New Jersey became a sej3arate
province in 1-738, and was ruled by a royal governor
until the colony became independent of Great Britain.
Georgia.
Georgia is the youngest of the thirteen original col-
onies and was settled under the leadership of Gen.
James Oglethorpe. '^J'lie object of that colony Avas two-
fold. South Carolina was exposed to attack on the
south by the Spaniards. It was thought necessary to
have a body of men so placed that the commercial in-
terests of Charleston could be protected. The second
object was a very benevolent one, and was designed to
allevrare the sufFerino-s of the debtor class of Encjland.
i\.t the beginning of the eighteenth century the jails were
full of men who could not pay their debts. It was pro-
posed to select the most deserving, pay their debts and
bring them to America, where thev could beoin life
anew under more favorable circumstances.
A charter for a tract of land betw^een the Savannah
and the Altamaha rivers was obtained and a settlement
was besfun on the Savannah river which was called
Savannah. This was in 1733.
Because of certain restrictions in reo^ard to slavery,
rum, religion, the law of descent, and the law-making
32 Moccasin Tracks
power, the progress of Georgia was very slow and vac-
illating. Upon the modification or removal of these
regulations the progress was ver}^ rapid and a flourish-
ing commerce with other English colonies and the
West Indies came into existence.
John and Charles Weslev, the founders of Method-
ism, came to Georgia. John came as a preacher and
Charles as private secretary of Oglethorpe. Rev. George
"Whitefield, "the silver tongued orator,*' came over and
established an orphan asylum near Savannah.
In 1752 Georgia was changed from a proprietary to
a roval colonv. These thirteen Enorlish colonies ex-
tended from the Spanish possession of Florida to the
Bay of Fundy on the north, and extended far into the
western wilderness. In some instances the claim ex-
tended to the far awav Pacific Ocean. Thev were
slowly l3ut surely gaining strength, which was greatly
needed in the impending conflict with the wilderness
and the Indians west of the Appalachian mountains.
The majority of the colonists who sought homes be-
tween t]ie Alleo'hanv mountains and the Ohio river
came from the province of Virginia. The distance from
Jamestown, tJie first place of settlement, to the base of
the Blue Eidge, is about two hundred miles. Xearly
seventy-five years were required to push the outposts
of civilization to that point, and that, too, across a
country comparatively level, and, in the main, but lit-
tle infested with hostile Indians. This advance was at
a yearly rate of less than six miles. In later years the
outposts moved westward at an average yearly rate of
seventeen miles.
This westward n^ovement was almost irresistible when
AXD Other Imprints. 33
it began and it carried the tide of emigration across the
mountains, hills, and valleys of West Virginia to the
Ohio, and still the tide flowed on to the Mississippi
and the Great Plains beyond. A royal proclamation
could not stop the great army of pioneers as it emerged
from the western base of the Alleghanies. It will be
of interest to trace the extent of territory claimed bv
the English colonies to the westward. The boundaries
of the colonies on the west were very indefinite. The
charter granted to the London Company was thought to
have extended the Avestern limits of Virginia to the
Pacific. Four states at the close of the Revolution
claimed the territory bounded by the Ohio, the Missis-
sippi and 'the Great Lakes. These were New York,
A^irginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The other
nine states objected to this exclusive ownership, and
asked for a part interest.
Thomas Paine, in a pamphlet entitled the "Public
Good," in his masterly skill argued that the whole
TTnion should control all ungranted lands^ because this
was the legitimate successor of the British government.
The four states concerned being influenced by this ar-
gument, and a protest from the state of Maryland,
generously yielded their claims to the Congress of the
LTnited States. New York ceded all of her claims west
of her present western boundary in 1781. Virginia
gave up all claims to the Noi'thwest Territory, except
ownership in the Virginia Eeserve Military Bounty
Lands, in 1784. Massachusetts yielded all claims west
of New York in 1783, and in 1786 she gave up to that
state her claim to govern the western part, but retained
ownership in the land. Connecticut ceded her claim to
Congress in 1786, with the exception of a strip of land
34 Moccasin Tkacks
one hundred and twenty miles long south of Lake
Erie just west of Penns^dvania. This exception was
known as tlie AVestern lieserve and was given to the
United States in 1800.
The territory south of the Ohio known as the Soutli-
we-t Territory was harder to adjust than the territory
north of that stream. To Mrginia was left the Dis-
trict of Kentucky, which remained a part of that slate
until it was admitted as a state in IT 9'?. North Caro-
lina claimed Tennessee, inclndinor the Watauga settle-
ment, but in IT 90 this claim was relinquished in favor
of the United States. South Carolina ceded lier claim
to a narrow strip lying between western Xorth Carolina
and Georgia in 1T87. Georgia claimed all the land be-
tween the present state and the Mississippi and did not
consent to her present l)0undaries until 1802.
This vast extent of land lying west of the present
boundaries of the thirteen colonies^ including the states
of Kentucky and West Mrginia. was admitted into the
Union as sovereign states and the inhabitants thereof
enjoyed all the rights, privileges, and immunities as
those of the original states.
The region now emljraced in the states of Ohio, Indi-
ana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that part of Minnesota
east of the Mississipjh, was under the jurisdiction of
Orange countv. A iro-inia. in IT 34. and in l'T38 it be-
came a part of Augusta county. After the conquest
of this territory 1)v Georo-e liosrers Clark, in 1TT8. it
was or2i:anized into the countv of Illinois bv leo^islative
enactment of A^irginia.
The Xorth west Territory was the h"me of the In-
dian tribes tiiat made such disastrous incursions into
northwestern A'irginia for a period of fifty years.
II. THE INDIANS OF WEST VIRGINIA.
In order to fully understand the pioneer history of
West A^irginia it is necessary to know something of the
roving tribes of Indians who hunted and fished in the
territory between the Alleghanies and the Ohio. Be-
sides these occupations they waged a relentless war
against each other and were ever ready to dispute the
right of the white settlers to the country. It will not
be necessary to enter into an extended account of the
Mound Builders. It is evident from the great earth
works, called '"Mounds,'* that a race in manv wavs
superior to the Indians at one time dwelt^in the Ohio
valley. But a correct answer to the question, Who were
they? will probably never be given to the satisfaction
of ethnologists.
That the Indians were here when the continent of
North America was discovered is a fact of history, but"
from wlience they came is still an unsolved mystery.
That they exerted a powerful influence on the history
of every county of West Virginia is unquestioned. From
a geographical standpoint the study of the Indians is
most fascinating'. The sTandest mountains and the
noblest rivers of the state are known by names of In-
dian derivation. Appalachia, as applied to the great
chain of mountains, means "the endless mountains."
AUeghanv, as applied to the greatest range of these
mountains, signifies "^the place of the foot print," be-
cause of the early and late snows in that region. Ohio
means "the river of l)iood," because of the great amount
of Indian blood that flowed in the wars for the reten-
tion of ibis beautiful and mo-t important river. The
36 MoccAsix Tracks
Great Kanawha in the Shawnee language was Kenin-
sheka, meaning "the river of evil spirits'*. The
Shawnees called the Elk Tiskelwah, ''river of fat elk''.
The Delawares called it Pequoni, "'the walnut river".
The Gauley was called by the Delawares, Tokobelloke,
"the falling creek^'. The present name of that stream
is of French derivation. The Shenandoah was "the
river of stars", and the Potomeck has been changed to
Potomac. AVhile the Indians spoke a guttural lan-
guage, yet the names of our mountains and rivers de-
rived from tlieir language are very pleasing to the ear.
The West Virginia counties of Kanawha, Logan, Mingo,
Monongalia, Ohio, Pocahontas and Wyoming have
names of Indian derivation. It is to be re2:retted that
more of these names are not to be found on the 'map
of the state. Xo tribe of Indians really possessed the
soil of West Virginia when the first white man visited
the region. A few scattering wigwams in the best
fishing and hunting grounds belonged to temporary
sojourners, who expected to remain for a short time
only. There was a time when West Virginia was tlie
permanent home of the savages, but they were either
driven out or exterminated. The conquerors were the
Mohawks, a warlike tribe of Indians, whose home was
in Xew York. They carried their conquest into many
regions by means of firearms furnished by the Dutch,
of Xew York, between the years 165G and 1672. A
tribe of Indians, believed to be the Hurons, occupied
the country from the forks of the Ohio southward along
the Monongahela and its tributaries to the Great Kan-
awha and the Kentucky line. According to the ac-
counts of the missionaries who were among them, not
AXD Other Imprixts. 37
a Huron was left in the state. If a remnant escaped,
none returned to occupy the land of their fathers.
The conquerors did not choose to permanently occupy
the subjugated territory. From this time until the final
subjugation of the Indians by the whites, in 1795, many
different tribes resorted to West Viro-inia durino- the
spring, summer and autumn, but they returned to their
homes, with few exceptions, beyond the Ohio, or to the
northward into Pennsylyania or Xew York, upon the ap-
proach of winter, and did not again return until the
following spring. Each tribe had certain indefinite
boundaries, confining them to particular territory.
Bloody battles were often fought when one tribe was
found on the territorv^ of another. This occurred when
game wa,s scarce in one part of the state and more plenti-
ful in another section. Feuds of long standing and
fancied wrongs of other years were settled on the hunt-
ing grounds of West A'irginia. The Cherokees, whose
home was in the southeastern part of the United States,
claimed that part of the state lying south of the Great
Kanawha. The yalleys of the Guyandotte and Big
Coal riyers were hunting grounds that riyaled in excel-
lence those of Kentucky.
The Shawnees occupied the basin of the Great Kan-
awha. This was a fierce, warlike tribe and was re-
sponsible for many of the massacres perpetrated upon
the frontier settlers. This tribe was the most perma-
nently located of all the tribes in the state. They had
towns in both Greenbrier and Mason counties.
The Mingoes, located in the state of Ohio, claimed
the territory between the Little Kanawha and the
present site of Wheeling. These Indians were responsi-
38 MoccAsix Tracks
ble for much of the border warfare. Logan, noted for
his friendship for the whites, was a Mingo chief.
The Delawares occupied the valley of the Mononga-
hela, while the eastern panhandle was considered tlie
home of the Tuscaroras. The last named tribe was
driven out of Xorth Carolina in 1712 by a neighboring
tribe, and migrating to the north, they became the sixth
member of the Five Xations, with whom they claimed
kinship. Thus constituted, the Six Nations, comprising
the Mohawks, Tuscaroras, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas
and Senecas, became the most powerful Indian confed-
eracv in America. As formerlv stated, the Mohawks of
this confederation conquered all the territory now em-
braced in AVest Virginia. All the tribes roaming over
West Virginia acknowledged the supremacy of the Six
Xations in the territory between the Alleghany moun-
tains and the Ohio.
West Virginia w^as a favorite hunting ground for the
Indians. The rivers were full of all kinds of fish : vast
herds of buffalo, elk, and deer were found; the black
bear, wild turkey, and ruffled grouse were in abundance.
It is not at all strange that the Indians resented the
encroachments of the white settlers upon this hunters'
paradise, and that they waged a war of extermination
against them.
Webster county seems to have been a favorite resort
for the Indians. The saline properties of the water of
the "fork lick'' attracted large numbers of ruminating
animals to its vicinity. The savage hunter laid in wait
for his prey along the paths leading to the "lick", or
else concealed himself in the bushes and killed the ani-
mals when thev came to drink.
AXD Other I^^eprixts. 39
Arrow head?;, stone hatchets, lire stones, pipes, broken
potter}^, and many other implements of aboriginal rnanu-
factme have been found in all parts of the country.
Under a large, overhanging rock across the Elk river
from the month of Mill run a great many arrow heads
have been picked up. Seventy-five years ago these
arrow heads were found by the score hidden in the
crevices of the rocks. A spring of cold, sparkling
water flow:s from under this rock, and the Indians
used this as a camping ground and as an arsenal for
storing their surplus supply of implements of the chase
and of war. The materials from which these arrow
heads, or ^'darts'^ as they were locally called, were
brought from the regions of the Kanawha and the
Great Lakes, and the manufacturing was done in the
home while not eng-aged in hunting or fishing. In many
places small chips or spawls of flint strcAv the ground.
Defective or ])roken arrow heads are also found in the
same vicinitv. Masses of flint weiohino- as much as
eight or ten pounds have been found on the Elk, the
Gauley and the Birch rivers. Each shows unmistak-
able sign;? of being chipped by some human agency.
At the mouth of Cooperwood run is a large bottom
that was once the site of an Indian camp or village.
This bottom has been cleared for probably fifty years,
and when recently plowed many implements of Indian
manufacture were found, ihcluding broken pieces of
clay pottery. Some of these pieces had ears on the
sides, indicating that these receptacles were manufac-
tured with some degree of skill. Other relics were
found, including arrow heads, broken pieces of pipes
and stone axes. The darts were parti-colored. Some
40 MoccAsix Tracks
were white and red. while others were dark brown or
black. In a low gap on Point mountain on a divide
between the two Baltimore runs, more arrow head>
are to l)e found than in other localities in the county.
These are especially plentiful in Steps Low gap,
about three miles from the Charles McDodrill farm.
Large quantities of chips and arrow heads can be
picked np at this place. These conditions can be ac-
counted for from the fact that this was the greatest
hunting ground in the country when first visited by
white men. The low gap was a crossing place for the
game that wished to pass from one locality to another,
and the Lidians lav in wait bv the side of the path until
his intended victim came along, and he shot it at
short range with an arrow tipped with flint. There
are but few Indian graves and no mounds in the
country. The Indians did not bury those who died in
battle. The al)sence of graves conclusively proves that
the savages did not permanently occupy the territory
embraced in Webster county.
There were two Indian trails leading through the
countv. The tribes livinsr bevond the Ohio visited
relatives in Greenbrier, Pocahontas and Randolph
counties. A small band of Mingoes lived at Mingo
Plats, in Randolph county, about the time the whites
began to occupy the Greenbrier, the Monongahela and
the Kanawha valleys. This band was frequently vis-
ited by friends from what is now the state of Ohio.
Thev traveled 1)v wav of the Little Kanawha and
reached the Ellc by way of the Flatwoods country. The
trail crossed the Elk at the mouth of Laurel creek
and led up that stream and crossed the divide midway
AND Other Imprints. 41
between Cowen and l^pper Glade. It crossed the
Ganlev at the old Indian Ford near the Jones mill.
From that point it crossed the mountain through the
low gap on the Gallogly place, and continued up the
Williams river to its source. A branch of this path
led up Elk river by way of the fork lick, but it was
not so well marked as the other one. When the first
settlers came to the county these two trails could be
easily traced, and the one passing through the Glade
country can be located at this time, although it has not
been traveled for more than one hundred years.
Another route traveled by the Indians visiting
Webster county was up the Gauley from the Kanawha.
It left the Ganley at the mouth of Little Elk and pro-
ceeded up that stream, crossing through a low gap to
Peters creek and led on by tlie wav of Beaver and
Strouds creeks to the Gauley at AUingdale.
But few Indians visited thip section after 1750.
Had Webster county not been an interior county the
history of Indian depredations would have been very
different. Sava2:e furv fell with the greatest violence
on the settlers who lived nearest the permanent homes
of the Indians.
It is ever with a feeling of sadness that the his-
torian writes of a conquered and vanished people. The
strife and hatred that existed between the Indians, the
unlettered children of the forest, and the white men,
who in many ways were their superiors, were of such a
character that the great-grandchildren of the con-
querors still harbor a. feeling of resentment against the
subjugated people. This is but natural, when it is re-
membered in what a cruel manner the Indians treated
4:2 MoccAsix Tracks
their captives — many of whom were the immediate an-
cestors of the present generation.
The print of the moccasined foot of the Indian is no
longer seen along the hanks of our rivers. The old
pioneer with whom he fought is no longer seen in the
door of his rude cabin on the lookout for the approach
of his mortal foe. The buffalo, the elk, the deer, the
bear, and the wild turkey have been driven from their
accustomed haunts. The hunting ground over which
the contending parties quarreled and fought has been
converted into farms and is now being tilled by the
pale faces. Populous cities, busy with the hum of in-
dustry, occupy the place where once stood the huml)le
dwelling of the Indian. Where he buried his kindred
and covered the grave with stones to prevent the body
from being devoured by wild beasts, the white farmer,
after removing the stones, cultivates his crop unmindful
of any desecration. The whistle of the steamboat is
heard on the streams over which the Indian silently
but simply paddled his birch-bark canoe. The off-
spring of the savages who occupied the territory now
embraced in the state of West Virginia is today living
on western reservations and dress and live like the
white men, who are their neighbors. They have fine
churches and commodious school houses. They are al-
lowed the right of suffrage after they have broken up
their tribal relations, and when they have adopted the
white man's mode of dress.
III. EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
OF WEST VIRGINIA.
It was twenty-five years after the tide of migration
had reached the base of the Alleghany mountains be-
fore any one attem^Jted to cross them. The region
beyond was but little known, and no roads led across
them. Here and there Indian trails and buffalo traces
led across their black summits. Even after explorers
■and other adventurous men had penetrated the vast
reo-ion bevond, the home seeker was slow to follow.
The venturesome explorer was very earlv in the his-
tory of Virginia attracted to the Trans-Alleghany
region, and many hastened into the land of the setting
sun to make discoveries and to explore the country.
As early as 1670 Henry Batts crossed the mountains
and reached the New river valley. The party under his
leiadership was sent out to search for gold and silver.
Batts reported the discovery of a new river four hun-
dred and fifty yards wide flowing due north, and he
expressed the opinion that the white cliffs and towering
mountains beyond this river might contain silver and
gold. In 1671 the governor of Virginia sent out an-
other exploring party to continue the work, and they
passed wdthin the territory of West A^irginia into what
is now Monroe and Mercer counties. The stream these
explorers reached was called the New river, because
it was not located on any of the maps of Virginia.
In 1669 John Lederer, a German, was commis-sioned
by Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, to make explorations
to the westward. On one of his exploring expeditions
he crossed the Blue Eidge near Harper's Ferry and
44 MoccAsix Tracks
continued his journey until he probabh' arrived at the
Cheat river. This was sixty-two years after the settle-
ment of Jamestown. He was probably the first white
man to visit that region, and he made a map of the
country visited. This map is still in existence.
Eobert de La Salle^ the most noted French explorer,
heard of a large river to the west. He started from
Canada and traveled by way of New York^ accompanied
by Indian guides.
He reached the Alleschanv. which he descended to its
junction with the Monongahela. in 1669. He floated
down the Ohio to the falls, where Louisville. Kentucky,
now stands. Here he was deserted by his Indian guides
and wa? compelled to return. This expedition resulted
in the French claim to the Ohio valley.
The most noted of these exploring expeditions was led
in person l)y Alexander Spottswood. governor of Vir-
ginia. In 1716. at the head of a party of thirty
horsemen, he left "Williamsburg, the capital of the
Virginia colony, and entered the western wilderness
for the purpose of crossing the mountains. The Blue
Eidge and the Shenandoah river were crossed, and still
the party pressed forward. In the month of October
the little party, surrounding their leader, stood on
one of the highest peaks of the Appalachian moun-
tains, which was most probably in Pendleton county,
West Virginia, and drank a health to the English
sovereign, Geoge I. On his return to Williamsburg he
instituted the Trans-Montane Order, or Knights of the
Golden Horseshoe, for the purpose of inducing emigra-
tion to the regions beyond the Alleghanies. He pre-
sented each one of the party who accompanied him on
AND Other Imprints. 45
ilie expedition a miniature horseshoe, bearing a Latin
inscription, which meant '^thus he swears to cross the
moiintain'\ These were* given to any one who would
accept them, vrith the understanding that the recipient
would comply with the terms implied in the inscrip-
tion. This induced many persons to cross the mountains,
and when they had beheld the fertile hills and valleys
beyond, each greatly desired to make a home there for
himself and his family.
John Van Mater, a Dutch trader, who had his head-
quarters with the Delaware Indians, in Pennsylvania,
traveled towards the south in 1725 to trade with the
Indian tribes on the Potomac. When he returned to
New York he gave a very glowing account of the land
visited and advised emigration to the South Branch.
This led to the Van Mater patent of forty thousand
acres of land received from Governor Gooch by his
sons, Isaac and John. A portion of this grant was in
Jefferson and Berkeley counties.
The first white settler within the present limits of
West Virginia was Morgan Morgan, who, in 1727,
built a log cabin on Mill creek, in what is now Berkeley
county. He was a native of Wales. Later in life he
became a minister of the gospel and was appointed the
first justice of the peace when civil government was
instituted west of the mountains, in 1743.
In 1728 some Germans from Pennsylvania crossed
the Potomac at the "Old Pack-horse Ford", and estab-
lished the village of New Mecklenberg. The name was
afterwards changed to Shepherdstown, in honor of
Thomas Shepherd. This is the oldest town in West
Virginia.
46 MoccAsix Tracks
The Van Maters, in 1T31, sold a part of their land,
which had been patented in 1730, to Joist Hite. In
173"^ the Joist Hite eolonv, ccJnsistincr of sixteen fam-
ilies, settled near Winchester, now Frederick county,
A'irginia. They came from York, Pennsylvania. While
this eolonv was not within the state of West Yiroinia,
it greatly influenced the settlement of the Eastern
Panhandle.
This western movement along the borders of Penn-
sylvania, Maryland, and A'irginia greatly incensed the
Indians, who made incessant war upon the settl-ers. A
commission was named by the three colonies to treat
with the chiefs of the Six Xations. A treaty was
signed in 1744 at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in which the
region lying between the Alleghanies and the Ohio was
ceded to the English.
During the next decade many events transpired that
had a tendencv to attract attention to the reo:ions of
the west. George Washington, a lad of sixteen, was
employed by Lord Fairfax to survey that portion of his
land Ivino- between the Blue Pidg-e and the Alleo:hanv
mountains. Thi- work was done in 1747 and 174<S.
Heretofore the settlements had been made in the
Potomac and Shenandoah valleys east of the great Alle-
ofhanv ran2:e. but now this orreat barrier was to be
crossed and settlements made beyond it. Between 1748
and 1751 three important companies, the Ohio Com-
pany in 1748. the Loyal Company in 1749, the Green-
brier Company in 1751. were formed and each received
a large land grant in West Virginia. Many of the
most illustrious men in the Virginia colony were mem-
bers of these companies. They were formed for the
Axi) Other Imprixts. 47
purpose of speculation and to induce emigration to
the country west of the Alleo-hani-es. The Ohio Com-
panv was instrumental in preventing the French from
getting possession of the Ohio valley.
The first emigrants followed well defined Indian or
buffalo trails across the mountains. These in many
places were widened by them and logs and other ob-
structions were removed. There were six well marked
paths or trails followed by the settlers who crossed
the Alleghany mountains.
The most northerly of these was the Xemacolin
trail, located by Colonel Thomas Cresap in 17.3(». It
extended from Cumberland to Pittsburgh.' Colonel
Cresap employed an Indian named Xemacolin to mark
out the best route from Cumberland to the Ohio, hence
the name. Four years after, George Washington
widened the path while leading an army which was
sent ao-ainst the French. The next vear General Brad-
dock improved the road and extended it to Braddock'.-
Field. This road influenced the history of West Vir-
o-inia onlv indirect! v. The first trail south of Xemac-
olin's in West Virginia was McCullough's. This path
was followed by a trader by that name, who traveled it
between Shenandoah and the Ohio. It extended from
Moorefield on the South Branch across the Alleghanies,
bv the wav of Mount Storm, into Maryland and con-
tinned into Preston county, where it was known as the
Eastern trail. From there it continued to the Ohio.
General Washington followed that trail in his mem-
orable journey to the Ohio, in 1784.
The Horseshoe trail w^as about twenty miles south-
west of the McCullough trail. It crossed the Cheat
48 Moccasin Tracks
river at a place called the "Horseshoe"'. This path
branched from the McCullough trail near where the
town of Gorman, in Grant county, is now located. It
crossed the dividing ridge not far from the Fairfax
stone. It crossed the Cheat river, passed over Laurel
hill to the Valley river, two miles below Philippi, and
continued to the Ohio.
Thirty miles south of the Fairfax Stone was the
Seneca trail, which was also called the Shawnee trail.
This is the trail followed by that tribe of Indians after
the massacre of the whites at Fort Seybert under Kill-
buck, in 1758. It led from the mottth of Seneca
creek, in Pendleton county, across the Alleghanies to
the Dry Fork of Cheat, and from thence to Tygarts
vallev, where the town of Elkins now stands. It fol-
lowed the Tygarts valley almost to its source, and then
crossed over to the Little Kanawha, and on to the
Ohio.
The Pocahontas, or Dunmore trail, was thirty miles
south of the Seneca. It crossed the Alleghanie- to the
headwaters of Greenbrier river. One branch led into
Iiandolph county, and another one led to the Kanawha.
The Greenbrier trail was south of the Pocahontas
trail. It led from the Greenbrier river across the
Alleghanies into Virginia. It was over these trails that
the first white men entered the region west of the Alle-
ohanv mountains.
The first settlers in Preston county entered that
region by way of McCullough's trail ; following rhe
Horseshoe trail, they found homes in Tucker, Barbour,
Upshur, Lewis, and Harrison counties. Thomas Par-
sons brought the first wagon that crossed the Alle-
AND OTHr.R Imprints. 49
glianies by way of this trail. Randolph county was set-
tled by people who came across the mountains by fol-
lowing the Seneca trail. Soldiers in Dunmore's War
of 1774: followed that trail to their homes in Hamp-
shire county and the Valley of Virginia.
The Pocahontas trail was a thoroughfare for settlers
entering Pocahontas county or for those who wished to
enter the Kanawha valley. Neither of the above men-
tioned trails passed directly through Webster county^
but the people, or their ancestors, who eventually found
homes within its limits, traveled one of these Indian
trails.
The French, the great commercial and territorial
rival of England, was attracted to the rich lands of the
Ohio valley and at once recognized the importance of
occupying the country and fortifying their positions
before they were assailed by their English rivals. This
occupancy of the Upper Ohio valley by the French
threatened to dispossess the English of the fairest por-
tion of North America. The English prepared for war,
and sent an army to America under General Edward
Braddock. He, accompanied by Colonel George Wash-
ington and the Virginia troops, marched against the
French forces stationed at Fort Duquesne by way of the
eastern portion of AVest Virginia. His utter defeat on
the Monongahela, ten miles south of the fort, left the
frontier unprotected from Indian ravages and violence.
Instigated by the French, the savages waged a relent-
less war, and hundreds of the settlers were either killed
or carried away into captivity. Many forts were built
along the frontier and whole settlements sought protec-
tion and safety within their friendly walls. The French
50 MoccAsix Tracks
and Indian war closed bv treat v in 17(53, but the In-
dians, under Pontiac, a powerful Ottawa' chieftain,
continued on the warpath for more than a year.
General Bouquet, in 1764, led a large force of Penn-
sylvanians and Virginians against the Indians and de-
feated them in a bloody battle at Brushy run, Pennsyl-
vania, and with an army of fifteen hundred men
marched beyond the Ohio aiid made a treaty with the
Indians.
By this time the tide of emigration had almost
reached central West \ irginia. The first attempt to
settle the upper Monongahela valley was made in 1754.
David Tygart, in company with a man named Files,
built cabins in the vicinity of Beverly, in Eandolph
county. They found it very difficult to procure provis-
ions for their families and thev decided to move east-
ward. Before this decision could be carried into effect
the Files family was attacked bv Indians and all were
killed, except one small 1)oy, who was some distance
from the house when the attack was made. He hastily
warned the Tygart family, all of whom were saved by
flight.
The Echarly l)rothers, in 1756, settled on Cheat
river in what is now Preston county. Thomas Echarly
was a physician of German ancestry from Pennsyl-
vania. These three lirothers reared their cabins on
Dunkard bottom, not far from Kingwood. After a resi-
dence of about two and a half years, the doctor went
oast for a supply of salt an*d ammuniti6n, which he
obtained in the ?>henandoah valley. On his return to
Cheat he stopped at Fort Pleasant on the South Branch.
When he told about his residence in the far west he was
AXD Other Imprints. 51
not believed. He was thought to be a spy in the service
of the French. A guard was sent with him, and when
the cabins were reached his two brothers were found
murdered and scalped by the Indians.
Thomas Decker and others began a settlement at the
mouth of Decker's creek, a tributary of the Mononga-
hela, in 1756. One winter was spent there, but, on the
coming of spring, the settlement was attacked by the
Indians and nearly all the settlers were murdered.
In 1761 William Childers, John Lindsey, John Prin-
gle, and Samuel Pringle left Fort Pitt and ascending
the Monongahela river passed over to the Youghiogheny.
They spent the winter on that river and in the spring
the Pringle brothers separated from the others, and
journeying eastward reached the Looney creek settle-
ment in Grant county. This was then the most west-
ern settlement in northwestern Virginia. They spent
some time in the glades of Preston county, where they
were employed as hunters in 1764 by John Simpson,
a trapper from the South Branch of the Potomac. A
misunderstanding arose among them and a separation
took place on Cheat river.
Simpson, after crossing the mountains to Tygarts
Valley river, passed on to another stream which he
named Simpson's creek. Further on he found a small
tributary of the Monongahela, which he named Elk
creek, at the mouth of which he built a house in 1764.
This was the first cabin erected on the present site of
Clarksburg.
The Pringles reached the Cheat and ascended it' to
the mouth of the Buckhannon river. They proceeded
up that stream to the mouth of Turkey run, three miles
o2 MoccAsix Tracks
below the town of Bucklianuou, in Upshur county.
Here they lived in a large hollow sycamore tree from
l?6tl: to 1767. John then left his brother and went to
the South Branch for ammunition. On his return he
told his brother that the French and Indian war had
closed nearly five years before. Both then returned to
the South Branch and brought a number of settlers to
the vicinitY of Buckhannon.
The settlement of the Greenbrier valley had a o:reater
influence on the pioneer history of Webster county
than any other settlement in West Virginia. The
Greenbrier river was the gateway to the Kanawha
valley. The path followed by the traders on their way
to the Ohio passed through that county and for that
reason the Greenl)rier vallev was verv well known to the
whites at a very early date. The Greenbrier Company
employed John Lewis to survey their lands in that region
in 1749. The land was very fertile and settlers soon
followed the surveying party. During the French and
Indian war the Indians attacked the settlement and
killed many. Those who escaped crossed the moun-
tains. It is thought that no settlers were found in
that region in 1758.
The first white settlers to reach the upper part of
the valley were Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell. who
settled at Marlin's Bottom, now the seat of justice of
Pocahontas county, in 1749. Sewell, moving farther
west, was killed by the Indians.
A settlement made in Greenbrier county in 1761 was
utterly destroyed by the Indians in 1763. In 1769 a
number of families again settled in Greenbrier county.
John Stewart, w^ho became a noted soldier and Indian
AND Other Imprints. 53
fighter, came with these colonists, being but nineteen
years old. From this time settlers moved in very
rapidly and Donnally's fort, erected ten miles northwest
of Lewisburg, became a refuge for the people during
Indian incursions.
Ebenezer Zane, together with his two brothers, Jona-
than' and Silas, settled on the Ohio, at Wheeling, in
1773. Leonard Morris, in 1749, became the first
permanent settler in the Great Kanawha valley.
He settled near where Brownstown, (now Marmet), in
Kanawha county, is now located.
Virginians who fought in the great French and In-
dian war were given lands in the Ohio and Kanawha
valleys. Many noted men, including George Washiiig-
ton, located lands in these rich valleys. The land on
which the city of Charleston is now located was granted
to Col. Thomas Bullitt, in 1773, for services rendered
in the above mentioned war. This land was afterward
transferred to his brother, Cuthbert, who sold it to
George Clendenin in 1787. The next year George Clen-
denin moved to the mouth of Elk. He was accom-
panied by his father, Charles, his brothers, William,
Eobert and Alexander. They erected a block house,
which afterwards served the purpose of court house and
jail. The block house was later called Fort Lee and
when, in 1794, the forty acres of land owned by George
Clendenin was laid off in city lots, the town was called
Charleston, in honor of the father of the founder.
The battle of Point Pleasant, fought in 1774, between
the Virginians and various Indian tribes, in which the
latter were defeated, further opened up the Trans-
Alleghanv region for settlement, but immunity from
54 MoccAsix Tracks
savage barbarity was not sec-ured until after A\'ayne's
great victory over the Indians at the battle of Fallen
Timbers, in 1795.
The population of the territory now embraced in
wdiat is now West Virginia was, at that time, about
sixty thousand, which was but little in excess of the
number of people living in Kanawha county according
to the census of 1910. This was about six times the
population of Webster county, as ascertained by the
same census. A large majority of these people were
native born and thoroughly American in manners and
customs.
When the tide of migration had reached the Kanawha
and Ohio rivers, an eastern movement beofan. The
trails followed by the pioneers in their westward move-
ment led either north or south of Xicholas, Clay and
Webster counties. It was on this eastward migration
that many settlers found homes in the above named
counties.
IV. GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF
WEBSTER COUNTY.
Webster county lies southeast of the central part of
West Virginia, among the spurs of the Alleghany
moinitains. Webster Springs, the seat of justice, situ-
ated near the center of the county, is thirty-eight de-
grees and fifteen minutes north latitude and three de-
grees and fifteen minutes longitude west from Wash-
ington. It is bounded on the north bv the counties of
Braxton, Lewis and Upshur; on the east by Randolph
and Pocahontas; on the south by Greenbrier and
Xicholas, and on the west by Nicholas and Braxton.
The area of Webster is four hundred and fifty square
miles, which is almost the exact average of the fifty-
five counties of West Virginia. It is ten square mi'les
less in extent than Monroe; ten more than either
Wayne or Wetzel and twenty more than Lincoln.
The surface is broken and uneven ; the smoothest
parts being found in the Glades surrounding Cowen and
in the vicinity of Hacker Valley.
The rivers flow in a westerly direction. Between
the streams extend long parallel ridges varying in
height from five hundred feet to two thousand feet above
the river beds. The elevation above sea level varies
from one thousand feet to four thousand three hundred
feet. The Yew Pine mountains, among the head waters
of the Gaulev, the Elk and the Williams rivers, are the
highest- points in the county. Point mountain, between
the Elk and the Back Fork, is the next highest, and
attains an elevation of four thousand feet. Other
noted mountains of local prominence are Miller moun-
56 MoccAsix Tracks
tain, just north of Webster Springs; Hodam moun-
tain, between Hollev and Hodam creek, and Cranberry
Eidge, between Williams and Cranberry rivers.
The Little Kanawha and the Elk leave the county at
an elevation of one thousand feet. The Ganlev leaves
at an elevation of two thousand feet and the Cranberry
ft.
crosses the southwestern part of the county two thou-
sand two hundred feet above sea level.
Following the boundary obliquely on the west from
north to south the following streams would be crossed :
Little Kanawha river. Left and Eight Forks of HoUv
river, the Elk river. Laurel creek, heads of Little and
Big Birch rivers, Strouds creek, the Gauley river, and
the Cranberry river. The principal tributaries of the
Little Kanawha in the county are the Eidit Fork and
I. * —
Buffalo run : those of the Back Fork of Holly are
Laurel Fork. Hodam creek and Old Lick Eun; those
of the Eight Fork of Holly, are Grassy creek, Desert
Fork, and Laurel Fork.
The chief tributaries of the Elk are Laurel creek,
which rises in the vicinity of Cowen ; Back Fork,
emptying its waters into the main river at Webster
Springs, and Leatherwood and Bergoo creeks, flowing
from the south.
The Gauley river has its origin in the spruce and
hemlock forests of Webster and Pocahontas counties.
Its chief tributary is the Williams river, which affords
more water where it empties into the Gauley than that
str(|am itself. Its mouth is about six mile)?' above
Camden-on-Gauley. Other smaller streams flowing into
the Gauley are Strouds creek and Big Ditch rim, com-
ing from the north : the clear sparkling waters of
AXD Other Imprixts. 57
Turkey and Straight creeks unite with the Gauley
from the south. The Cranberry, which empties into it
in Xichohis county, Hows through a portion of the south-
western part of Webster.
It will be seen from the foregoing enumeration of
streams that Webster county is one among the best
watered counties in West Virginia. All of the rivers
are noted for the transparency of their water. They
are swift-flowing and furnish excellent water power for
turning machinery, but this power has never been
utilized, except for saw and grist mill purposes. The
Elk is the laro-est river and enters the countv at Whit-
taker Falls at an elevation of two thousand five hundred
feet and traverses the countv for a distance of fiftv
miles. It has a vertical fall in this distance of fifteen
hundred feet, which is an average fall of thirty feet to
the mile.
The mountain sides borderino- the streams are verv
precipitous and often high rocks project, making scen-
ery of sublime beautv. The Webster countv hills are
greatly admired by hundreds of visitors who annually
visit the county for the purpose of regaining strength
and vigor or for pleasure and recreation.
The western portion, locally known as "Glades'', is
a plateau-like region and is not so mountainous as
other parts of the county.
The climate is genial, salubrious, and bracing. On
the higher elevations deep snows fall from Xovember
to April and a less amount falls on the hills and in the
valleys. A record of the snowfall kept by Bowers
Rose lat his residence near Bolair for the winter of
1910 and 1911 indicated a fall of seven feet. This
58 Moccasin Tracks
record "«"as kept at an elevation of two thousand six
hundred feet. Where the altitude is four thousand
feet the amount of snowfall would have been about
twelve feet. The winter above mentioned was an aver-
age one of snowfall.
The heat of summer is tempered by the cool moun-
tain breezes and spring and summer are ideal seasons.
The annual rainfall is somewhat above the average for
AVest A'irginia, which is forty-four inches. Doliver
Hamrick, of Webster Springs, kept a record of the rain-
fall at that place for seven years, which showed the
following results : 1904, forty-eight and seventy-three
hundredths inches: 1905, fifty-one and sixty hundredths
inches; 1906, forty-seven and twenty-six hundredths
inches: 1907, iiftv-nine and twentv hundredths inches;
1908, forty-six and thirty -three hundredths inches;
1909, forty-five and fifty-seven hundredths inches;
1910, sixty and seventy hundredths inches. Average
for the seven vears, fiftv-one and thirtv-four hundredths
inches. It will be seen that the greatest rainfall oc-
curred in 1910, with sixty and seventy hundredths
inches, and the least in 1908, with fortv-five and fiftv-
seven hundredths inches.
Eeckoning by months the following was the result in
inches for the year 1909 : January, three and forty-
six hundredths: Februarv, two and thirty-two liun-
dredths; March, four: April, seven and fifty-five hun-
dredths; May, three and eighty hundredths: June,
nine and fifteen hundredths: July, two and thirty-
three hundredths: August, one and seventy- five hun-
dredths; September, three and sixty-five hundredths;
October, one and seventv-nine hundredths; Xovember,
AXD Other Imprints. 59
two and fifty lumdredths ; December, three and twenty-
seven hundredths.
For the year 1910, January, three and forty-six
hundredths; February, two and seventy-two liun-
dredths; March, one and eight hundredths; April, five
and fifty liundredths; May, five and seventy-three hun-
dredths; June, eight and fifty-eiglit hundredths; July,
four and sixty-two hundredths; August, two and
eighty-seven hundredths; September, five and sixty-
seven hundredths; October, four and ninety-two hun-
dredths; November, seven and tliirty-five hundredths,
December, eight and twenty hundredths.
For these two years the least fall was in November
of 1910, with only one and eight hundredths inches,
and the greatest in June of 1909, with a precipitation
of nine and fifteen hundredths inches.
Protracted droughts are not of frequent occurrence,
there being a sufficient rainfall for maturing all kinds
of farm crops.
Webster countv is situated in the Transition life
zone. This zone embraces most of the climatic condi-
tions and products of the New England states. It is
bounded on the north by the Canadian zone. This
county has the characteristic types of animal and vege-
table life of both of these zones. Of the Carolina
types the sassafras, the poplar, and the pawpaw are
typical trees; the opossum, the raccoon, the Virginia
red bird, Carolina wren, and the tufted titmouse are
animal types. The Canadian zone is represented by
the hemlocks and birches, which are found in abund-
ance throughout the county. Its animal life is repre-
sented by the bay lynx, the red squirrel, and the white
60 MoccAsix Tracks
rabbit. The Transition life zone extends north and
east through Upshur, Barbour and Preston counties.
The characteristic crops of this zone are apples, plums,
cherries, potatoes, barley, oats, and buckwheat. The
glade portion of 'the county is peculiarly adapted to the
growing of cranberries. 'No soil better adapted" to truck
farming can be found than in the river valleys of
Webster countv.
Number V.
AYebster county is rich in historical materials, yet
she has given to the world no son who has had the
time or the inclination to weave them into historical
narration.
The moccasin tracks of the old pioneers have long-
since been obliterated by the march of modern civiliza-
tion. Pioneer history never repeats itself, iln this
coimtry it ceased with the subjugation of the hostile
Indians, the partial clearing of the forests, and the
introduction of modern methods in house construction.
It ceased when men and women began to put aside their
home-spun clothes and buy their wearing apparel made
to order. What real tragedies and comedies could be
written from the experiences of the first settlers who
moved into the Elk and the Gauley valleys. They left
their homes and their friends in the east and followed
the course of the setting sun, braving the fury of the
Indians and the many privations and hardships incident
to pioneer life. They have left us a rich heritage, al-
though their life was one of hardship and privation.
They obtained their living chiefly from the forest and
the stream. Game of all kinds was plentiful and the
streams literally swarmed with fish. They obtained
sugar and syrup from the sap of the maple. The
spinning wheel and the loom occupied a prominent
place in every cabin. The women manufactured cloth
from wool and flax. This was made into clothing by
hand, sewed with flax tjiread of their own manufac-
ture. The girls wore linsey-woolsey or tow linen
dresses, colored with bark obtained from the trees of
62 MoccAsix Tracks
the forest. These dresses were not c-ut according to
the latest fashion plates depicted in the Delineator.
The moccasin was made from tanned deer skins and
was worn by men, women and children. It was an
excellent covering for the foot in dry weather. It,
being soft and noiseless, was especially adapted to the
foot of the hnnter. The first white settlers in America
learned how to make the moccasin from the Indians.
The men wore leather breeches and a woolen hunting
shirt. Their caps were made from the skins of the
raccoon and the bav Ivnx, commonly called wild cat.
The Younsf men as late as 1810 were married in home-
made linen suits and deer skin moccasins.
Colonel Isaac Gregory settled on the Gauley just above
the mouth of Beaver run in 1800. On the hill overlook-
ing the Gauley, he erected a two-story log house of
hewed timber thirtv bv thirtv-six feet, with a cellar
underneath, walled with cut stone. A large crowd of
people came from Greenbrier, Bath, and Alleghany
counties to "the hanging of the crane". The first
meeting of Free Masons in Central West Virginia was
lield in the house at that time. After the meeting the
women and children were invited in and all joined in
a rescular "Old Virsfinia hoe-down'\ To the music of
two violins playing such lively tunes as "Leather
Breeches" and "Flat Foot in the Ashes" they danced
until daylight. The Colonel ])ecoming dissatisfied with
his location, moved to Elk river, five miles above Web-
ster Springs. He raised a 'company of soldiers and
went to Xorfolk to fidit the British in 1813. He reared
AND Other Imprints. 63
a large family of children, whose descendants still live
in the community where he settled more than a century
ago. By numerous intermarriages nearly one-half of
the people of the county forty years ago could count
blood-relationship with this grand old pioneer.
William Hamrick, a. son-in-law of Colonel Gregory,
lived on Elk near the mouth of Mill run. He was a
noted hunter and always kept a well-trained pack of
bear dogs, and it was very seldom that bruin could
elude their pursuit. He often killed one hundred deer
and fifty bear in one year. The skins were taken to
Xew Market, beyond the Alleghany mountains, and
sold. This was the nearest market until a trading
post was later established at Lewisburg.
* * *
William Dodrill settled on Birch river, near Boggs,
in 1799. He came from Greenbrier county and was a
tailor by trade. He made buckskin clothing of a very
superior quality. The coats and vests were lined with
silk or satin, trimmed with gold lace, and stitched
with bright colored silk thread. The breeches had a
very fancy silk fringe placed along the outer seam of
the legs. These suits were sent east and were worn by
military men, gentlemen of leisure, judges, county offi-
ceis. and sometimes by Virginia state officials.
♦ ♦ ♦
The last elk seen in Webster county was killed in the
Gauley river above the mouth of Straight creek, more
than one hundred years ago. A man by the name of
Cottle, who lived at Cottle Glade, in Nicholas county,
was returning from a trip to Greenbrier county by the
way of the Elk river. At the Chestnut Bottom ford.
64 MoccAsix Tracks
some distance above the mouth of Bergoo, he saw a
large elk. He immediately returned to the nearest
settlement for men, dogs^ gtins, and pack-horses. The
trail was followed across the headwaters of Bergoo
and Leatherwood to a place on Sign-Board ridge, near
where John E. Baughman now lives. The afternoon
being far spent, the leashes were slipped from the dogs,
and they started in eager pursuit, bringing their quarry
to bay in the C-fauley. The hunters followed as fast as
the rough nature of the country would permit. When
thev arrived at the river their flint-lock rifles would
not fire. They had been loaded and primed in the
morning and had been carried in the rain all day.
Cottle, who always carried a hatchet in his belt, waded
into the water to his armpits, and seizing the elk by
one horn, chopped with such good will that the huge
animal was soon despatched and dragged to the bank,
where those engaged in the chase held a regular Indian
war dance around the fallen monarch of the forest.
The next dav thev had a sylvan barbecue. One of the
hunters became deathly sick from eating too much
marrow, but his life was saved after an application of
the most severe remedies known in backwoods medical
practice. In after years, when Cottle spoke of his ex-
citing and dangerous adventure, he always remarked,
"By the living Lord, I hewed him down".
^ ■ifi ifi
Bufl^aloes were probably the first distinguished vis-
itors to the now famous Webster Springs. They came
here in vast herds to drink of the saline water of the
"Fork Lick." This lick, or spring, is just below the
steel bridge that crosses the Elk. At the time in which
AXD Other Imprints. 65
the buffaloes visited the lick, the entire river flowed over
by the "Golden Shore" and the lick was in the bottom
instead of in the bed of the river, as it is now. The
buffaloes sometimes traveled almost a hundred miles to
drink the water, making deep roads called ''buffalo
traces'^ by the first settlers. The space of more than a
century of time has not entirely obliterated these roads
in the clay soil and shale on the sides of the Elk moun-
tains. AVhen the settlers found out the character of
the water of the lick, they boiled it in iron kettles and
made a very inferior quality of salt, there being con-
siderable quantities of iron and sulphur in the water.
These salt-makers JPound scores of buttaloes quietly
ruminating in the shade of the trees surrounding the
lick. Their meetings were not always peaceable ones.
Battles royal often occurred between the leaders of
herds from different localities. They would remain in
the vicinity of the lick for two or three days before
returning to the rich pasturage from whence they
came. The last buffalo seen in Webster was killed bv
Colonel Isaac Gregory between the Back Fork and the
Elk just before the war of 1812. The place where he
was killed has since been called Buffalo Bull Knob, in
commemoration of the event. Immense numbers of elk
and deer also frequented the lick.
* * *
The liospitality of the early settlers. was unbounded.
Strangers were always welcome, as well as friends and
relations. They were pressed to remain for days and
were feasted on hoecake, venison, bear meat, maple
syrup, hominy, and honey. They were naturally of a
pocial disposition. Log rollings and house raisings were
social events of no little consequence, and a wedding
6(j MoccAsix Tracks
1) rough t together the people for miles around. Every
family received an invitation. After each of these
functions the young people,, and many of the older ones
also, danced all night in moccasins on a puncheon floor.
In the later years, when they had an opportunity to
hear tlie gospel preached, they became deeply imbued
with a religious feeling, and the Methodist circuit rider
received a royal welcome in every home.
The days of the old pioneer have passed away. The
moccasin tracks are gone. The first settlers who dared
tlie dangers of frontier life in the unbroken wilderness
of the Elk, the Gauley, and tlie Holly have crossed the
oreat divide. Their achievements are onlv traditional
history. Xo historian was present to record their
actions in the subjugation of the wilderness. Xo
Withers. Doddridge, or Kerchival has chronicled their
deeds in l)urning words of perpetuity. Their deeds
are living uionuments in the memory of the older per-
sons of the present generation. The younger members
of the present generation know nothing of what the
pioneers did or accomplished except what they have
'been told l)y the children of the actors in the great
drama of the subjugation of the wild.
Tlie buffalo, the deer, and the elk no longer visit the
''Fork Lick.'' The dusky Indian no longer glides noise-
lessly through the forest, nor does his blood-curdling
war-whoop frighten the women and children. Their de-
generate offspring has been removed to the far west,
where tliey have long since discarded the deorskin
moccasin, the tomahawk, and the scalping knife. In
their new home they are learning the vices as well as the
virtues of their pale-faced conquerors.
Number VI.
There has heen much disc-ussion as to who first dis-
covered the Fork Lick. Many persons have been given
this honor, but no positive proof has been adduced to
sustain any of these claims. The notes of a surveyor
recently discovered in the A^irginia Land Ofhce bearing
date of August 30, 1785, conclusively proves the name
of the man who made the discovery. The survey was
for a tract of two hundred and sixteen acres of land
situated on the main fork of the Elk river, in Harrison
county, granted to Samuel Hanaway and Joseph Friend,
and was to include "the Fork Lick discovered by
Abram Meirs". The time of the discovery is left to
conjecture, but it was not long before the date given
above, as an entry would soon follow such a valuable
fiud. even in this country one hundred and thirty years
ago.
i'fi ^ i'fi
One of the most noted lines made bv a surveyor in
West Virginia is what is known as the Greenbrier-
Harrison county line surveyed by Thomas Douglas in
1T.S3. It extended from the top of the Alleghany
mountain's at the corner of Botetourt county to the
Ohio river at the mouth of Pond creek. The general
direction of the line is nortli fifty-fiye defi-rees west.
The surveyor made a corner at the end of each mile.
In after years a large number of surveys began at these
corners and no land lawyer is thought to be well
equipped unless he is well versed in these surveys. All
territory in "Western Virginia north of this line not
embraced in any organized county was Harrison and
68 MoccAsix Tracks
south was to remain Greenbrier as organized in 17? 7.
This line entered Webster near the forks of the Wil-
liams, passing through Ui3per Glade and leaves the
county on the divide between Skyles and Laurel creeks.
The manv difficulties encountered by the men who
established this line cannot easily be imagined. The
Indians were hostile; dee]^, swift rivers had to be
crossed; high mountains offered many obstacles: pack
horses could not be used to advantage, and the food
and camp fixtures had to be carried by the men. Game
and fish were plentiful and could be had in any quan-
tities, but the luxuries of life were few. Plates were
made from large chips and could be duplicated at any
camping place. The only knife used was the hunting
knife carried by every man who went into the woods.
^ H^ H:
Many deeds of heroism could be related of the early
settlers of this country. While wild animals were
neither so large nor ferocious as those of more tropical
countries, vet a hand to hand encounter with a wounded
bear or a seven-pronged buck was no easy victory for
the hunter. Panthers, or mountain lions, as they are
called in the West, were quite numerous, but they would
not attack a man unless thev were mortallv wounded
or in defense of their young. They fed almost ex-
clusively upon venison, and a full grown panther would
kill, on an averao^e, fifty deer annually. The laraest
buck fell an easy prey to this rapacious animal. The
panther lay in wait near a lick or deer path and sprang
unawares upon his victim, burying his formidable claws
deep in the flesh. The jugular vein or the tendons of
the neck were severed with the teeth. The only way
AND Other Imprints. 69
in which the deer could free himself before this could
be done, was to run under some projecting tree or log
and drag the panther from his back. This but seldom
occurred.
H* H^ >;*
William Barnett, a noted hunter, who lived on Birch
river, had many encounters with bears. Among the
manv which I have heard him relate is the followino- :
In the days before the Civil War many bears could
be found on Skyles creek or Poplar run. Mr. Barnett,
early one morning in the month of November, started
on his usual bear hunt, but he did not tell his wife the
direction in which he intended to go. It was a fine
day for a hunt and with a light, spi'ingy step, he
hastened to his favorite hunting grounds on the head
of Poplar which was about five miles from his home.
His faithful dog, his companion on all his hunts, a
small but sagacious animal, followed close at his
master's heels. The hunter perhaps thought of the
many fine trophies he had secured in those woods, but
he little imagined that this was to be the most adven-
turous day in his hunting career of more than a quarter
of a century. Late in the evening, as the shadows be-
gan to creep over the landscape, the dog returned home
with a bloody cloth tied around his neck. Mrs. Barnett
witli quaking heart hastily informed her neighbors, who
at once entered the trackless forest in search of the
missino; hunter.
Mr. Barnett had shot a very large bear and after
reloading his gun, went up to where he was lying. Be-
fore the hunter realized the danger, bruin seized him
in his strong embrace and hunter and bear rolled down
70 MoccAsix Tracks
the liill against a log, where they were soon engaged in
a life and death struggle. Unsheathing a large knife
the gallant hunter struck again and again at the bear,
but on account of his position, he could not reach a
vital place. He struck the bear over the head until the
brain was penetrated, and the decayed log breaking at
this time the bear rolled down the hill, and not having
sufficient strength to climb the ascent, soon expired
while trying to reach the hunter. In the fight Barnett
cut a large gash in his thigh, severing the muscles to the
bone. He was completely disabled. With his hands a
mass of wounds, he bound up the cut with strips of
cloth torn from his shirt. He tied a bloody cloth
around the neck of his" dog, that had done everythiug
he could to assist his master in the fight, and after re-
peated whippings, he started off in the direction of
home. The hunter then crawled to the bear and took
out the entrails. He built a fire, using flint, steel and
tinder for the purpose. He was not found until about
three o'clock the next morning. He had called for help
until he had become so hoarse that he could call :ao
longer. He attracted the attention of his rescuers by
waving a firebrand. He was almost frozen and the
o-reat loss of blood had made him almost delirious from
thirst. The man who found him carried him water
in his boot. He often said that this was the most
delicious water he ever drank. He was carried home
on a litter, and after Ivinsf in bed for many weeks, he
recovered, but he was always somewhat lame afterwards.
Many a bear in after years fell before his unerring aim,
or felt the keen point of his hunting knife.
William Barnett, the hunter, was a man among men.
AND Other Imprints. 71
The world was made better because of his having lived
in it. He was an exemplary citizen and merited tlie
respect of all wdio knew him. He had a rich fund of
anecdotes of the chase which being told in his droll,
humorous way, made him a prime favorite with the
boys. He was a gunsmith and a Barnett rifle Avas
highly prized by all sportsmen. The name was a guar-
antee for honest workmanship. He died full of years,
honored and respected by all of his neighbors.
George Mollohan and Joshua Stephenson w^ere dev-
otees of the chase when the great portion of Web-
ster and Braxton counties were a part of Nicholas.
Mast very seldom failed and game of all kinds was
plentiful and in prime condition. These two men were
brothers-in-law and spent much of their time together
in the woods. Mollohan was a man devoid of fear. AVhen
he was a young man, he attacked a full-grown Ijear
with a "seng" hoe and would have killed him had he
not stepped on a slick pole and his moccasins l)eing wet,
he slipped and fell. The bear taking advantage of this
mishap, made good his escape. On another occasion he
found a yearling bear in a persimmon tree. Climbing
the tree, he caught the bear and after choking it into
insensibilitv, he tied its mouth with his suspenders
and carried it home in triumph.
Stephenson was not renowned for his bravery, but he
was a verv S'ood hunter. These two men in the month
of Xovember went to the head of Little Birch to hunt.
They had not hunted very long until a large he bear
wa< wounded. They thought they would make him
furnish his own transportation up a very steep moun-
72 ^MoccAsix Tracks
tain. By throwing stones and barking like a dog^ they
drove him before them. When he showed fight, they
let him rest for a while. In this wav thev reached the
top of the mountain. Their surprise and chagrin can
scarcely l)e imagined when the bear suddenly vanished
from their sight as if by magic. On investigation it
was found that the bear had entered a cave, or den.
where bears had been in the habit of hibernating dur-
ing the winter. Mollohan at once began preparation
to follow bruin into the subterranean cavern. He made
a pine torch and told Stephenson to shoot the bear when
he drove him out. There was a short turn about twenty-
five feet from the entrance to the cave and in turning
the angle the hunter was greeted with an angry growl.
Before he could shoot, the bear was upon him, and the
torch was extinguished. There was not sufficient room
for the bear to pass, and before Mollohan could reach
the outer world, he was almost killed. There was
scarcely a square inch of sound skin on his entire
body. The flow of blood down his forehead almost
blinded him. His clothing was torn to shreds. When
Stephenson heard the fight begin, he became so
frightened that he ran some distance and climbed a
tall tree. It is needless to say that the bear made his
escape. Mollohan was carried home by sympathizing
neighbors and lay in bed for a year. He went into the
cave the following autumn and got his hunting rifle.
He afterwards moved to Braxton county and cleared a
large farm, becoming one of the best farmers in the
communitv in which he lived.
VII. THE HAMRICK FAMILY.
Patrick Hamrick settled in the Mar^dand Colony in
the days prior to the American Eevohition. He was the
father of twelve sons, who moved with him and settled
in Prince William county, Virginia. Some of these
sons removed as far south as Georgia; some went to
Kentucky. Benjamin and Joel settled in Greenhrier
county, now West Virginia. Benjamin married a Mc-
Million and removed to Cherry Tree Bottom, where
the town of Eichwood is located. From there he went
to the Williams river, where he was informed of an
intended Indian massacre. Hastily gathering together
a few liousehold articles and taking his family, he fled
to Donnally's fort, situate in Greenbrier county, ten
miles northeast of Lewisburg. One of his children, a
boy only a week old, was carried by one of the men in
the back of his hunting shirt one entire day without
sustenance.
It was not known whether the child was living or
dead until it was taken out at the fort late in the
■evening. It soon revived, but its collar bone had been
"broken. After the Indian danger had passed, he moved
to the mouth of Big Birch and began an improvement
at a place called Big Elk. He was the father of four
sons, AVilliam. Benjamin, David and Peter. The last
named remained in Braxton count}^ and the other
three settled in the Elk valley above Webster Springs.
William and Benjamin married Jane and Xancy,
daughters of Colonel Is'aac Gregory, and David married
a Miller. William, the hunter, had four sons, Isaac,
Adam, Benjamin and William G. The last named was,
74 Moccasin Tracks
one of the Aaliaut sons of Webster county, who
responded to Lincoln's call for volunteers. He wa§
wounded at the battle of AVinchester, while acting as
color-bearer, but he was with Grant at Appomattox and
was the proud possessor of a heart-shaped piece of the
apple tree under which the surrender was negotiated.
The sons of Benjamin were Allen, Addison, AVilliam,
James and Christopher. David's sons were James, Peter,
John, David, Benjamin, George, Levi, and William.
Interesting sketches could be written of each of these
seventeen great gTandsons of Patrick Hamrick. They
lived active, industrious lives and left sons to perpet-
uate their names.
:;; ^ ^
The three brothers above mentioned were the
ancestors of the very numerous family of Hamricks now-
living in Webster county. It will be seen from the fore-
going, that they are of prolific stock and the meeting-
so many stalwart Hamricks between Webster Springs
and Whittaker Falls need not create surprise. This is
by far the most numerous family in the county, there
being about four hundred representatives in Fork Lick
district. The descendants of P'atrick Hamrick can be
found in nearlv every state west of the Allea"hanies
and in almost every county of West Virginia. The
name is spelled in various ways in different localities.
"Hamrick," "Hamric," and "Hambrick," are the three
forms most generally used.
^ ♦ H«
James Dyer. Senior, came from Pendleton county
about 1810, and located above Fork Lick. His son
James married a Sawyers and settled on the Gauley^
AXD Other Imprints.
where he built a commodious house on a hill
looking the river, at the mouth of Beaver run
brought the first wagon to what is now Webster c
in 1837, from Alleghany county ;, A'irginia. 11
the first Superintendent of Free Schools of A\
county, and made a most excellent official. Jo
Dyer, now (1915) Clerk of the Circuit Court, is a
grandson of James Dyer, Senior, the pioneer,
grandsons, Harvey, George, and Cyrus, are proi
citizens of Webster countv.
John R. Cogar came from Braxton county in
He was a son of Jacob Cogar, who was a member
company of soldiers, that went to Norfolk in 1<
fight the British. He was one of the last surviv
the Second War of Independence, having lived
extreme age of one hundred and four years. Jc
married Mary Gregory and settled on the divii
tween the Elk and the Gaulev, in his twentv-firsi
He cleared 'a large farm, which he kept in a fin(
of cultivation. As an orchardist he was unsur
and his apples would have brought a fancy price
market. He was one of the best bee hunters
county, and after he had passed the allotted thre(
and ten, he still went into the woods in seai
wild bees. He was also very successful in the i
of bears, deer and panthers. He killed a greater n
of the last named animal than any other of, the p
hunters. He was the father of a large number o
who still live in the county which their father
to establish.
H* ^ 'I*
'^6 MoccAsix Tracks
David Baughman settled on the Gauley one mile
above Turkey creek in the latter part of the thirties.
He was a farmer, a cooper, a millwright, a carpenter,
and a blacksmith. He possessed real mechanical talents,
and had he received a technical education, he would
have become a master workman. He was very peculiar
in many ways but his honesty and his veracity were
never questioned. He. too, was an orchardist and his
fine orchard still standino^ is a monument to his in-
diistry and perseverance. When he first moved to the
Gauley brook trout were very plentiful and could be
caught in large numbers. In the spring, they would
congregate below his mill dam in large schools, wait-
ing for a tide to enable them to pass up stream. Some
larcfe trout mav vet be caught at the Bauohman mill.
Number VIII. '
My readers are invited to accompany me on an
imaginary trip from Skyles creek, the western limit of
Webster county, to Mill run, five miles above Webster
Sprii'igs, in the autumn of 1849. The distance is thirty-
six miles and can be traveled in one day, if an early
start be "made, and the entire trip will be in Nicholas
county, formed in 1818. Each one of the party must
be accustomed to hurse-hack riding, as the roads are not
suitable for carriages of any kind. The road is very
narrow and it will be necessary for us to ride "Indian
iile.^' While there are no deep ruts in the road made
by wagons, see that your saddle girths are well cinched,
because some of the hills over which the road is made,
are very rough and steep.
Christopher Baughman, a man of German ancestry,
lives near the starting place. He has lived here for
several years and has cleared a small farm. His son
John, who married Susan Dyer but recently, lives a
mile above on the south bank of Birch river. He is the
owner of a small grist mill and has just begun cutting
down the timber for the purpose of farming, but by in-
dustry he will soon have a good farm. One mile above
lives William Barnett, the noted hunter, who recently
came from over in Braxton county. We will not call at
his home for it is most likely that he is in the woods
in pursuit of game, for it is in the midst of the hunting
season.
When passing this way again, we will stop and par-
take of his bear meat and venison which his wife
Charlotte knows so well how to cook. Above here
ryo
8 MoccAsix Tracks
lives Henry Cutljp, who came from Greenbrier county.
These are the only persons living on Birch river at the
time of our trip. We pass through the Welch Glade
country but find no one living there, but in that part
of tlie county is destined to be located one of. the
busiest and most prosperous little towns in Webster.
Austin Hollister, a typical Connecticut Yankee, lives
three miles above Welch Glade. He married Margaret
Given and selected a very pretty location for his home
on a small eminence. He is a farmer and his sur-
roiuidings show the true Xew England thrift.
Samuel Given lives at Upper Glade and his son John
lives in the same vicinity. ^Ir. Given moved from
Bath countv, Yiro^inia. He served as county clerk of
Xicholas county for seven years. It is now noon and
we will have dinner with this excellent family renowned
for hospitality. Our host entertains us to the entire
satisfaction of each member of the crowd. Venison,
bear meat, buckwheat cakes, and some excellent wild
honey are greatly relished after the fifteen mile ride
in tlie bracinof November air. Samson Sawyer lives
at Sand run. He is one of the best farmers in
Xicliolas. His fields are well tilled and barn and
granary are filled almost to l)ursting with the products
of lii^ farm. There is a neat and substantial gate in
tlie entrance of each field.
Aflonijah Harris lives at the top of the mountain
at what is now known as the ]\IcGuire farm. He is a
blacksmith and a fine mechanic. He is a class leader
in ilie ^Fethodist church and is respected and loved by
all who know liim. We have arrived at Fork Lick, but
we find no visitors or health-seekers. But one family.
AXD Other Imprints. . 79
Mrs. Polly Arthur and her children, live here. Her
linsliand. who died just previous to our visits was the
first person huried at Webster Springs. Thomas
Cog-ar lives above Mrs. Arthur's and William Given
lives at the Given ford. These were two of the old time
settlers, and each left a numerous family whose de-
scendants still live in Webster countv. Adam Greo-orv
lives on the old Gregory farm. The evening is far
spent, and in the gloaming we reach our destination.
William Hamrick lives on the north side of the Elk
nearly opposite the mouth of Mill run. He is one of
the old pioneers, having settled here in 1812. He is a
noted hunter and always keeps a pack of well trained
bear dogs. He has a large fund of anecdotes of the
chase with which he will entertain us after supper.
He will also tell us the sad story of a Mrs. Smith, who
was murdered by the Indians at Miller bottom a short
distance from where he lives. She and a Mrs. Drennan
and a little son had been captured by the Indians near
where Ed ray, in Pocahontas county, is now located and
was being taken beyond the Ohio by way of the trail
that led past the Fork Lick. Mrs. Smith was not able
to kee]) u]) with the party and she w^as tomahawked and
scalped, and her body thrown into the river. We have
traveled all day, and we have seen but fourteen dwelling
houses, and we have passed bnt few people on the road.
Should we take this trip today, we would scarcely, if
ever, be out of sight of a farm house. We would pass
seven post offices and two thriving towns, not to men-
tion the numerous saw mills surrounded by dwelling
liouses. Teams of all kinds would be met haulino- Inm-
her to the railroads or merchandise for the stores. A
80 MoccAsix Tract^s
sanitarium with all the modern equipment is located
at Cowen, while in 1849 there was not a physician in
the vast territory embraced in Xicholas county. There
were neither mail routes nor post offices, and if a news-
paper by chance was obtained by any one, it was passed
from hand to hand until its contents had been read
by the entire neighborhood. There were not more than
three schools taught within the present limits of Web-
ster in 1849 and 1850. Today there are two hig-h
schools, and more than a hundred primary and araded
schools, being taught, and every boy and girl has an
equ'al opportunity to get an education.
Hi sjs H*
The people of this county eighty 3Tars ago were very
supersititious. They believed in witches, omens, spells,
magic charms, and incantations. This is not at all sur-
prising, when it is remembered that among the most
enlightened people of Europe less than two hundred
and fifty years ago witches were publicly burned at the
stake. In Massachusetts the most cultured and devout
persons believed in witch-craft as late as 1692. Even
today many persons, after three centuries of education
and enlightenment, believe in the old-time supersti-
tions. In pioneer times, if a person was stricken with
some malignant disease, the cause was at once traced
to some one in the vicinity who exerted an evil in-
fluence over him, but now some of the modern religious
sects attribute the cause of all diseases to the works of
the devil.
"Witch balls'' were often found. These were small
balls made from the hair of a cow, or other short-haired
animal, and could be neither made nor unraveled except
.AND Other I:\iprints. 81
by a witch or someone in league with his Satanic
Majesty. The fact is that these balls can be made by
any one who has the patience to work long enough. A
guest, who balanced a chair on one of its legs and
rapidly revolved it, was regarded as an enemy of the
family, and was alt once ordered off the premises.
The pioneers believed most implicitly in lucky and
unlucky days. Xo good housewife could be per-
suaded to begin the making of any article of dress
on Saturday. The person for whom it was intended
would never live to wear it when finished. It was
thought to be a family misfortune for a child to be born
on Friday, the thirteenth of any month. If the child
lived, which was extremely doubtful, it would bring
shame and disgrace to its parents. If a hoe was carried
through a dwelling house, a death in the family would
soon occur, unless it was immediatelv carried back with,
the handle pointed towards sunrise. This reminds
one of the devout Jew and the Mussulmaii who faced
Jerusalem and Mecca when praying. Tlie rising sun
to the old pioneer indicated the homes l)eyond the
mountains where kindred and friends dwelt.
Sassafras wood was never burned in the fireplaces of
many cabin homes. The person who did this invited
certain destruction of his entire household either by
fire or flood. Dogs were often laid under a spell by a
witch or some other person of evil nature. This was
evinced by their taking the "back" track in a chase or
running in tlie opposite direction Avhen called. When
a dog was so afflicted the Lord's prayer was written on
a ]3iece of bear pkin, and after being baked in a corn
pone, was fed to the dog. The roasted fore-foot of a
82 MoccAsix Ti^ACKs
raccoon eaten \)\ the dog would start him on the right
end of a trail. Cows were bewitched and save bloody
niilk, Or bntter could not be made from it. The remedy
for tliese conditions was to steal the suspected witch's
dish rag and massage the cow's udder with it nine times
when the moon was full. AVhen a profuse hemorrhage
occurred from a deep cut or other wound^ a certain verse
in the Bible was quoted to stop the flow of blood. This
was thous'ht to be a most excellent remedy for both man
and beast. It was considered very unlucky for any one
who started on a journey to return to the home for
any jjurpose. and the hunter who counted his bullets
returned empty-handed from the chase.
Misfortune followed in the footsteps of those who
sa^v the silver crescent of the new moon for the first
tiuK' through the treetops. It was equally unlucky for
one to see the r.ew moon in looking over the left
shoulder. Tt was considered a crime to allow a baby
under a year old to see its reflection in a mirror. Tt
was thought that many a pioneer youngster was hurried
into an untimely grave by this pernicious practice.
In the olden time a prosperous farmer put six hogs
in a ])en. and he made preparations to butcher them
the next d-ay. AVhen he \yent to the pen next morning.
lie foniid them dead. The blood was splashed against
the sides of the ]ien. hut a thorough examination showed
the skin unbroken. This was thought to he the work
of an eccentric old lady who was accused by her neigh-
bors of being a witch. This was the current belief for
years by the ]ieople of the entire neighborhood. The
mystery was solved by the old lady's son. who upon his
AMD Other Imprixts. 83
death bed confessed that his mother had liired him to
kill tlie hogs with a heavy club.
Two elderly pioneers were talking of witches. One
of them said that he did not believe they coukl bewitch
a person. The other one thought that it could be done,
and mentioned an instance in which a gun had been
"spelt.'' "Oh, yes," said his companion, with fine scorn,
"such a little frivolous thing as a gun can be brought
under their control, but with a person it is quite dif-
ferent. It can't be done.'' Guns were often spoiled for
present use, by a rival hunter, or marksman, putting a
suuill pellet of resin in the barrel. This prevented ac-
curacv in shootino-, but could be easilv removed bv a
gunsmith. A horseshoe was often nailed on the doorstep,
or hung just over the door to keep witches from entering
the house. Thev then could not enter and live.
Number IX.
The Glade country attracted the settlers very early
in pioneer days. In (many places there were open
spaces covered with native grasses which afforded ex-
cellent pasturage for stock. The land was not so
heavily timbered as the Elk^ the Gauley, the Holly
and the Williams river valleys. Game was more plenti-
ful in that region than in any locality, except in the
vicinity of the Fork Lick. The oak forests supplied an
abundance of food for fattening hogs. During the
autumn and winter hundreds of deer fed upon the
acorns. They came from long distances to that feed-
ing ground. x\long the bluffs of the Gauley and the
Williams bears could be found in large numbers. The
Indians, as late as 1772, hunted in that region, and one
of their principal trails in central West Virginia passed
through this hunter's paradise.
Game continued to be plentiful until after the Civil
9
War, and in 1868 two hunters killed more than two
hundred deer.
The majority of the early settlers in the Glades came
from Greenbrier county, following the Indian and buf-
falo trails across the mountains. The McClures, the
Duefields, the Dillys, and the Greens were among the
first settlers. Later came David Hanna, John Woods,
the Eaders and the Mortons. Descendants of these
families are numbered among the most progressive citi-
zens of Webster and Nicholas counties.
* ♦ ♦
Samuel Given sold his farm in Pocahontas county in
1835, and brought his wife and five children across the
AND Other Imprints. 85
Yew mountains by way of the Williams river. He
camped the first night at the mouth of Tea creek. The
scream of the panther and the howl of the wolf made
the night hideous, especially for the children. The
journey was continued the next day by way of Straight
creek and the Gauley. The second night was spent
with John Miller, who had settled a few years before
near the mouth of Miller Mill run. This night was
spent in better cheer than the previous one. They had
the best of backwoods fare, and the soft skins of wild
animals made them excellent beds.
Mr. Miller was a good hunter and especially success-
ful in a bear chase, as he always kept a number of the
very best dogs. He was a good farmer and he owned
one bottom containing one hundred acres. He broke
the ground with an old-fashioned, wooden mold-board
turning plow, much used at that time. On the third
day the Given family landed at the farm purchased of
the McClures. This land had been patented in 1786
and lay south of the Harrison-Greenbrier county line.
Upper Glade postoffice is located on a part of the Given
farm. Given was a man of great industry and soon
had his farm in a fine state of cultivation. He became
one of the largest individual land owners in Nicholas
county, but his land was situated in what is now Web-
ster county. At the beginning of the Civil War he
went to Augusta, his native county, where he died and
was buried near the Mossy Creek Church, in which he
worshiped when a young man. He was the father of
eight children, four boys and four girls, all of whom
s:rew to manhood and womanhood.
♦ ♦ sj:
S6 Moccasin Tracks
Austin HoUister, of Washington, Connecticut, mar-
ried Margaret, a daughter of Samuel Given. He first
settled in Pocahontas county in 18^1:0. While there he
purchased the Price land, being a part of a thousand
acre tract patented by Arbuckle in 1786. The old
Hollister farm, between Cowen and Upper Glade, is a
noted landmark of the county. By purchase and patent
he obtained thousands of acres of wild land. He was
Chief Justice of Xicholas county for three years. He
was survived l^y five sons, whose names, from the simi-
larity of sound, when used in pairs, have often proved
])erplexing to strangers. His eldest son, Walter, held
many positions of trust in the county of Webster, and
was recognized as being a surveyor of marked ability.
X. FORMATION AND ORGANIZATION
OF WEBSTER COUNTY.
The early settlers of the Elk valley were far removed
from a seat of justice. It was forty or fifty miles to
the county seat of Eandolph county and almost as far to
that of Braxton county. A great many citizens were
practically disfranchised, as it was twenty-five miles to
the nearest voting place. In 1841 a petition signed by
Benjamin Hamrick, James Hamrick, William G. Greg-
ory, William Hamrick, Isaac G. Dodrill, William F.
Hamrick, Isaac Hamrick, and Joseph Gregory, was
sent to the A'irginia Assembly, praying for specified
changes in the lines of Braxton and Randolph counties
so 'as to make the petitioners subject to Nicholas,
county. While this change did not bring them in close
proximity to a eourt house, it gave them a better road
over which to travel and obviated the necessity of ford-
ing the Elk so man} times, which was very (.hxngerous
during a flood.
The movement for the formation of a new county
out of parts of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph Ijcgan
in 1<S48. 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 tlie intention
of the citizens to a?k 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. It is not known who ])osted
the notice in Randolph, but an affidavit made by
Christopher Hamrick stated that he saw the notice
posted in October, 1848. Polls w^re opened at the
various voting precincts in Braxton in the autumn of
88 MoccAsix Tracks
1851. The election returns of but one voting place in
Nicholas is available at this time. This election was
held at the home of Mrs. Mary Arthur at Fork Lick
on December 8. 1851. There were nineteen votes polled
and each voter cast his vote in favor of the new county.
The following is a list of the voters : Benjamin Ham-
rick, John Lynch, Isaac Hamrick, Robert Gregory,
Mathew Given. George Cogar, Peter L. Cogar, Archi-
bald Cogar, Thomas Cogar, John C. Paign (Payne),
Joel Dobbins, Levi C. Hall, Thomas M. Eenals
(Reynolds), Adonijah Harris, William Given, Addison
M. Hamrick, Robert E. Given, John C. Hall, and A.
]\I. Whitman. John Lynch, Adonijah Harris and
William Given acted as commissioners of election.
Addison M. Hamrick, clerk, and A. M. Whitman,
sheriff. This was the first election ever held in Webster
Springs.
In 185? a i)etition sio-ned bv John Lvnch. Jr., and
about two hundred others was presented to the General
Assembly, but it was rejected. Another effort for a
new county was made in 1859. A few interested men
took the responsibility of arranging the preliminaries.
Such men as Adam G. Lynch, Wilson Arthur and
Richard A. Arthur led the movement. Adam G.
LAmch. at his own expense, posted the proper notices
in Nicholas. Braxton and Pocahontas counties. This
was no small undertaking in that day. The following
petition was presented to the General Assembly in De-
cember, 1859 :
"To the General Assembly of Virginia, Assembled:
''We,, the citizens of parts of the counties of Ran-
(l()l]»h. Nicholas and Braxton Liveing from forty to
AND Other Imprints. 89
fifty miles from our Court Houses having mountains
and Iiivers very difficult to contend with^, we ask your
Honorable body to Grant us a new county out of parts
of the counties of Eandolph, Nicholas and Braxton and
the Boundary to be as follows towit.
Beginning at the forks of Little Kanawha thence a
Straight line to the corner of Upshur Eanclolph and
Braxton Counties, thence a straight line to the turkey
Bone Knob thence a straight line to the Whiitaker
Eoek on Elk Eiver thence a straight Line By the way
of the three forks of Gauley Eiver to the Pocahontas
line and withe said line to a point opposite the mouth
of Stroud's Creek thence a straight line bv the mouth
of Stroud's Creek to the mouth of Skiles creek on
Birch Eiver thence a straight line to the Halfway
point on Holly Eiver, thence a straight line to the
Beginning. The county seat of said new county to be
at Fork Lick on Elk Eiver Between Elk Eiver and the
Back fork of Elk.
Wilson Arthur, Adam G. Lynch. Sr., John Lynch,
Jr., John Lynch, S'r., Isaac G. Lynch, Eichard Arthur,
Alfred E. Miller, Eobert P. Miller, George W. Payne,
Wm. Cogar, John W. Arthur, Zackariah Woods, Cur-
rence Gregory, Wm. P. King, John C. Payne, Thomas
J. Miller, Addison M. Hamrick, John Phares,
Christopher Shrader, Samuel Tharp. Jeremiah Brown,
Cornelius G. Cool, Benjamin Cogar, L. B. Cool, Chris-
tain B. Ware, John B. McCourt, Thos. Belknap, I. W.
Cool, Elijah Skidmore, Thomas Cogar, John McGuire,
H. C. Moore, C. Hamrick, Benj. Hamrick, John E.
Cogar, G. W. Miller, M. W. Howell, A. Cogar, James
M. Hamrick, A. C. Hamrick, E. S. Cline, F. M. Payne,
90 Moccasin Teacks
Adam Gregory, Jolm Grannen, Thomas J. Cogar,
George Dodrill, Suthermore, Solomon Grigsby,
Xathaniel Arters (Arthur), Thomas M. Arthurs, Johu
C. Gool. Sihis Cogar, Wm. K. Arters (Arthur), George
Lyiich, John L. Arthurs, Wm. E. Lynch, Perry Greg-
ory, John Skidmore, Allen Hamrick, Marshall Ham-
rick, James Pritt, AVesley Pritt, I. Y. Gregory, \V. G.
Hamrick, Fielding McClung, D. M. McLaughlin, A.
G. J. Burns, Daniel H. Perdue, Samuel C. Miller, A.
F. Fisher, Andrew Woods, J. E. Hall, Tobias Size-
more, Franklin Pritt, Walter Cool, William W. Clif-
ton, James Salisbury, Wm. Given, Archibald Cogar,
George Cogar, Peter Cogar, Tobias Cogar, Jesse Payne,
Isaac Mynes, Adam G. Hamrick, Arthur M. Bickel,
Samuel Brady, John AY. Arthur, C. M. Dodrill, AVm. T.
M. Chapman, Adam G. Gregory, Benjamin Hamrick,
Wm. Griffin, James Harris, Adonijah Harris, Taylor
Sutton.
It will be seen by a careful examination of the peti-
tion that the pioneers were somewhat short on ortliog-
raphy, capitalization and punctuation, but they knew
what they wanted, and they took the proper steps to
get it. Xo vote was taken in the counties interested
in the formation in 1859, because consent had been
o'iven in the election of 1851.
The following is Chapter 47 of the Acts of the
Viroinia General Assembly of the session of 1859-60:
An Act for forming a New County out of parts of
Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph.
Passed January 10, I860.
1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that so
much of the counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Ran-
AXD Other Imprints. 91
dolpli as is contained within the following boundary
line, to-wit :
Beginning at the main forks of the Little KanawJia
river, above Haymond's mills; thence north with the
right hand fork of said river, being the original line
of Lewis and Braxton counties, and now the line be-
tween Upshur and Braxton counties, at the head of
said right hand fork of Kanawha; thence a straight
line to the eastern corner of the lands of Abraham
Buokhannon ; thence a straight line to the Whittaker
rock on Elk river ; thence a straight line, by the way
of the Three forks of Gauley river, to the Pocahontas
line, and with said line to a point opposite the mouth
of Stroud's creek, thence a straight line by the mouth
of Stroud's creek, to the mouth of Skiles' creek on
Big Birch river ;. thence a straight line to the half way
point on Holly river; thence a straight line to the
beginning — 1)e and the same is hereby established as a
new county ; which shall be known by the name of
Wel:)ster.
2. The court house or seat of justice of said county
of Webster shall be located on the farm of Addison
McLaughlin at the Fork Lick on Elk river, between
the said river and the Back fork of same ; which said
seat of justice shall be known by the name of Addison.
3. The following persons, to-wit, Samuel Given,
Thomas Cogar, William Given, and Thomas Eeynolds
shall be and are hereby appointed commissioners, a
majority of whom may act, for the purpose of select-
ing a site for a court house, jail and other public
buildings for said county of Webster, wdio are hereby
required to meet at Fort Lick on the first day of March,
93 Moccasin Tracks
eighteen hundred and sixty, or within thirty days from
and after that day, and within ten days after their
meeting ascertain and determine at what point or place
on the farm aforesaid in the said conntv it is most
suitable and proper to erect a court house and such
other buildings and fixtures as the convenience of the
county requires, under the existing laws, for holding
courts and conducting business incident thereto, and
lay off, in the most convenient form, a lot or lots of
land for that purpose, not exceeding in quantity -two
acres, and shall ascertain the value thereof; where-
upon, the said commissioners, or a majority of them
acting in this behalf, shall make their report in writ-
ino^ to the countv court of Webster countv, when organ-
ized, the manner in which they have executed their
duties required of them by this 'act, and their proceed-
ings in relation thereto, designating the point or place
agreed upon, the value of the lot or lots of land, and
the name or names of the owners thereof : and the place
so ascertained and determined upon by said commis-
sioners, or a majority of them, shall be deemed and
taken as the permanent place for holding the court of
Webster, now required by law to be holden for the
several counties of this commonwealth, and the court of
the county of Webster shall thereupon provide for the
payment of the valuation of the lot or lots of land so
ascertained, in the manner now required by law, where
lands shall not be already provided and apportioned for
that purpose.
The commissioners aforesaid shall also lay off the
said county of Webster into three magisterial districts,
select points at which elections shall be holden in each
AND Other Imprints. 93
district, and appoint a conductor and five commis-
sioners (any three of wliom may act) to superintend
tlie elections to be liolden for tlie said county of Web-
ster, on the fourth Thursday of May next.
5. It shall be the duty of all persons residing within
the limits of said county of Webster, who are now en-
titled to vote for members of the general assembly, to
attend at the respective election precincts so selected
bv the said commissioners, on the fourth Thursdav in
Mav, eiditeen hundred and sixtv, and elect a sheriff, a
clerk of the county court, a clerk of the circuit court,
a commissioner of the revenue, surveyor and Common-
wealth's attorney for the county of Webster; and the
voters residing in each magisterial district shall elect
for that district four justices of the peace, one con-
stable, and one overseer of the poor. The election of
justices of the peace shall be certified to the governor
of the commonwealth by the several commissioners and
conductors superintending and conducting said election,
who, after they shall be commissioned and qualified
according to law, shall meet at the house of Thomas
Cogar on the fourth Monday in the next month after
that in which they shall be so commissioned, and a
majority of them being present, shall fix upon a place
in said county of Webster for holding the courts of sai'd
county until the necessary buildings shall be con-
structed on the site designated by the commissioners.
• 6. The said justices shall, at the first term of the
county court of said county, choose one of their own
body, who shall be presiding justice of the county
court, and whose duty it shall be to attend each term
of said court.
94 MoccAsix Tracks
T. The commissioners and conductors of the elec-
tions aforesaid shall certify to the said coiintv court of
Webster, at its first term, or at some subsequent term,
as soon as practicable, the election of the said clerks of
the countA' and circuit courts, commonwealth's attorney,
surveyor, and commissioner of the revenue, who shall,
after giving bonds and security, and being qualified
according to law, enter upon the discharge of the duties
of their offices, respectively.
S. The voters of the said county shall also, on the
fourth Thursday in May next, vote for a I'udo'e of the
judicial circuit to which the county of Webster belongs:
and the commissioners and conductors of the elections
aforesaid shall superintend and conduct the election
for iudo'e and deliver to the officers conductino; the
election at or nearest the county seat of said county,
within three days after said election, a certified state-
ment of the result of said election for judge of said
county, as required by the thirty-third section of an
act providing for the general elections, etc., passed
^laic-h the thirteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-
eight. And the said conductors shall meet with the
officers whose duty it is to ascertain and declare who
i'^ elected jndge of said judicial circuit, the time and
iHace required by law. and perform such other duties
as the law prescribes for an officer conducting said
election at the court house of the county.
D. The commissioners hereinbefore appointed to laV
off' the county of Webster into magisterial districts.
shall be allowed each a compensation of two dollar?
yiQV day for their services aforesaid.
10. The term of office of the -commissioner of the
AXD Other Imprixts. 95
revenue of the said county of Webster shall commence
on the first day of February, eighteen hundred and
sixtv-one ; and the commissioners of the revenue of
the counties of Xicholas, Braxton and Randolph are
•liereljy required to discharge the duties of their re-
spective offices in that part of the limits of the said
new county, that was taken from the said counties of
Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph, respectively, for the
present year; and they are hereby to keep the list
taken by them in the said county of Webster, separate
and distinct from the list of said counties of Nicholas,
Braxton and Randolph, and return of the same in the
manner now prescribed by l^w, in the same manner as
if appointed commissioner of the revenue for the said
county of Webster.
11. The treasurers of the school commissioners in
the counties of Xicholas. Braxton and Randolph, re-
spectively, shall be and are hereby required to pay to the
treasurer of the school commissioners of the new county
of Webster, upon the order of the commissioiiers last
mentioned, out of the fixed and surplus quotas of the
school funds of the said counties of Xicholas, Braxton
and Randolph for the present year, such sum as shall
seem to them to be in due proportion to the popula-
tion of the said new county of AVebster, taken from
the said counties of Xicholas, Braxton and Randolph,
respectively, including any balance now remaining un-
expended, as also of tlie ])roportion as aforesaid accru-
ing from said quotas, to which Xicholas, Braxton and
Randolph countie-^ are or may be entitled to for any
former year. And it shall be the dutv of tlie second
^auditor to reapportion the tixed and surplus school
96 ^ MoccAsix Tracks
quotas of the counties of Xicholas, Braxton and Kan-
dolpli for the next fiscal year and subsequent years,
between the said counties of Nicholas, Braxton^ Ean-
dolph and the new county of Webster, agreeable to their
respective numbers of white tithables which may be
returned therein by the commissioners of the revenue
for the present year eighteen hundred and sixty.
12. It shall be lawful for the sheriffs of the counties
of Xicholas, Braxton and Eandolph to collect and make
distress for any public dues or officers' fees which may
remain impaid by the inhabitants of the said new
county of Webster, in such parts of the said new county
as were taken from said cDunties of Nicholas. Braxton
and Eandolph, respectively, at the time when this act
shall commence and be in force, and shall be account-
able for the same in like manner as if this act had
never been passed.
13. The courts of the counties of Xicholas. Braxton
aud Eandolph, respectively, shall retain jurisdiction of
all actions and suits pending before them on the first
dav of Julv next, and shall trv and determine the same,
and award execution thereon, except cases wherein both
parties reside in the new county; which, together with
the papers, shall after that day be removed to the court
of the county of Webster, and there be tried and de-
termined.
14. The said county of Webster shall be in and at-
tached to the fifteenth judicial circuit, and the circuit
court thereof shall be holden on the twenty-third day
of May and the twenty-third day of October of every
vear, and ])e witli the same brigade district with the
countv of Xicholas.
AND Other Imprints. 'j7
10. Tlie said coimty of Webster shall belong to the
same senatorial districts as that part taken from Nich-
olas and Braxton voting with the senatorial district to
which Nicholas and Braxton belong — and that part
taken from liandolph voting with the senatorial dis-
trict to which the county of Eandolph belongs, and
shall belong to the eleventh congressional district, and
the same electoral district for the purpose of choosing
a president and vice-president of the United States, as
the county of Nicholas; and the voters of said new
county shall vote as they have heretofore voted for
members of the house of delegates.
16. The county courts of said new countv shall be
holden on the fourth Tuesday in each month, and the
quarterly sessions of said county shall be holden in the
months of March, June, August, and November of each
year.
17. The surveyor hereafter elected for Webster
county, in the mode prescribed by law, together with
the surveyors of the counties of Nicholas, Braxton and
Eandolph, shall run and mark the boundaries of said
county of Webster, agreeably and in conformity to the
provisions of the seventh section of the forty-seve*ith
chapter of the Code of Virginia.
18. The first county court for said county of Web-
ster shall be holden on the fourth Tuesday in July
next.
19. This act shall be in force from its passage.
Bernard Mollohan, who was elected surveyor of
Webster county on the twenty-fourth day of May, 1860,
proceeded to survey the county lines in conformity
with the act passed January 10, 1860, providing for the
98 MoccAsix Tracks
new count}' of Webster. He was assisted in the work
by Milton Hart^ surveyor of Eandolph county, Chauncey
Hooker, deputy surveyor of Xicholas county, and
William Hutchinson, survevor of Braxton countv.
Work was begun on October 2, 1860, and completed
on Xovember 27 of the same year.
Because of certain peculiar conditions existing in the
line dividing Greenbrier and Nicholas counties, the
line of the new county could not be made to conform
with the act of 1860 without annexing a part of Green-
brier county, which the act forming Webster county
did not authorize. This defect was cured by an act of
the West Virginia legislature in 1882 by annexing
al)our thirty square miles of territory under the juris-
diction of Greenbrier and Xicholas counties to Webster
countv. 'This line, surveyed by Bernard Mollohan, as-
sisted by James Woodzell and Isaac W. Cool, began at
the mouth of Stroud's creek and extending to near the
head of Bannock Shoal run, on the divide between the
Gauley and the Williams rivers. At the time of the
passage of this act Webster county was represented in
the legislature by Charles McDodrill, who was instru-
mental in securino- its enactment.
The commissioners, Samuel Given, Thomas Cogar,
William Arthur. Thomas Reynolds and William Given,
who were named in the act providing for the formation
of Webster' county to select a site for a court house,
jail and other pul)lic buildings, and to divide the county
into three magisterial districts, proceeded to the dis-
charge of the duties imposed upon them. Addison
McLaughlin had transferred his farm at the Fork Lick
to his son, Duncan, in the meantime. The commis-
AND Other Imprints. 99
sioners selected and staked a lot two hundred and ten
feet square on the hill above the Salt Sulphur spring
as a site for the court house and jail. This lot is now
the public square of Webster county. Henry C. Moore
surveyed the lot after its selection by the commission-
ers. The town of Addison was also surveyed and
divided into lots by him at about the same time.
The commissioners divided the county into Fork
Lick, Glade and Holly magisterial districts at their
meeting in the dwelling house of Thomas Cogar in
1860. Hacker Valley did not become a district until
1877, at Avhich time Hollv district was divided bv the
county court.
The followinor count v officers were elected on the
fourth Thursdav in Mav, 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; commissioner of revenue, Thomas
Cogar, of Fork Lick district ; surveyor of lands, Bernard
Mollohan, of Fork Lick district, and attorney for the
Commonwealth, David Lilly, of Randolph county. The
following justices of the peace were also elected : Fork
Lick district, William G. Gregory, Adam G. Hamrick,
Ezra B. Clifton and David Baughman ; Glade district,
Edward Morton, Arthur Hickman, Thomas M. Revnolds
and Enos Weese; Holly district, William 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.
Not having suitable buildings on the newly selected
lot in which to hold court and for the transaction of
100 Moccasin Tracks
other public business, the justices held their first term
of court at Thomas Cogar's, near where James AVood-
zell now resides. A dwelling house in the process of
erection owned by Elijah Skidmore was selected by the
justices in which to hold court. This buildino- stood
near the residence of the late C. P. Dorr. In 1866.
after Webster county owed allegiance to the State of
West Virginia instead of the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia, the board of supervisors entered into a contract
with Bernard Mollohan for the sum of seventeen hun-
dred dollars, providing for the erection of a frame
building on the public square to serve as a court house.
That building continued to be used for such purposes
until it was destroved bv fire on the seventeenth dav of
June, 1888. The board of supervisors employed Patrick
Carr to build a jail.
In 1863 the leo-islature of the state of West Viro'inia
passed an act providing for the divisions of the several
counties into townships and named three men iii each
county to perform the work. William G. Hamrick,
Isaac H. Griflfin and William G. Gregory were ap-'
pointed for AVebster county. The two first named were
soldiers in the Federal army at that time and no meet-
ing of the committee was ever held.
The number and boundary of the townships remained
the same as that of the magisterial districts, under the
Viro^inia laws, formed bv the four commissioners in
1860.
The constitution of 18?'2 again changed the ?iame
of the local unit to magisterial district.
The T'ivil War begfan soon after the new countv was
surveved and it wa- not fullv oro-anized until after its
AND Other Imprints. 101
close. At the time of its formation there was not a
ver}' numerous population, but there were a brave and
hardy set of men who had known and had braved
hardships and privations. They were, for the most
part, the first and the second generation^ born in the
territory settled by the old pioneers. The moccasin
and the hunting shirt had been discarded by many,
and they did not rely wholly upon the loom and the
spinning wheel for their clothing. It was at this time
that Webster county received the sobriquet of "Inde-
pendent State", an appellation often used by political
speakers of today. It was said that Webster county had
a full complement of state officers, with George M.
Sawyers at the head with the title of governor. Mr.
Sawyers was addressed as "Governor" until his death,
which occurred on the Williams river about fifteen
years ago. This is a very pretty story, but there is not
a scintilla of evidence upon which to base the asser-
tion. It is true that all governmental functions were
suspended during the four years of the Civil War.
Neither taxes were collected nor courts held.
While it is true that Webster county was an integral
part of both the Eeorganized Government of Virginia,
with its capital at Wheeling, and the Confederate State
Government at Eichmond, the functions of government
of neither invaded her precincts. A law enacted by the
West Virginia legislature in 1863 provided for the
transfer of all suits of law and equity from Webster to
Lewis county.
But one election was held in Webster county during
the Civil War period, and but one officer was elected.
Moreover, polls were opened at but one precinct. Wil-
102 MoccAsix Teacks
liam Gregory, at that time., lived at the nioutli of
Leatherwoocl^ and the election was held in his residence
in 1863.
At this election Benoni Grifhn was elected a member
of the house" of delegates for the fourth delegate dis-
trict;, composed of the counties of AVehster and Poca-
hontas. 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 : Wilfiam G. Hamrick, AYilliam Mc-
Avoy, Addison Fisher, James Green, James M. Cogar,
Addison Dodrill, Benjamin Hamrick, William G. Greg-
ory and James Woodzell.
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 : Eecorder, Joseph
Dodrill ; Assessor, Arthur Hamrick : Clerk of Circuit
Court, Isaac Mynes. Lilly and Mynes could not prove
their lovaltv to the Pinion from 1861 to 1865, there-
fore they were ineligible. Eobert Irwine, Judge of the
Circuit Court, appointed Eobert G. Putman to fill the
place of Lilly and Adam Gregory that of M3aies.
The following were elected as Supervisor for each
of the three townships: Fork Lick, James Hamrick;
Glade, Thomas Eevnolds: Hollv, John E. Hall. Eey-
nolds was elected president of the Board of Super-
visors at their first meeting.
The human mind can scarcely depict the chaotic
condition existinsf in Webster countv at the close of the
AND Other Impeixts. 103
Civil War. The firing on Fort Sumter in 18G1 stirred
the hearts of the people among tlie mountains of Web-
ster no less than in more populous communities, either
^orth or South. An overwhelming majority of the
people was in sympath}' with the South and scores of
the best citizens hastened away to join the armies of
the Southern Confederacy. Many deeds of heroism
were performed by these "border boys", as they were
called by their comrades in arms from tlie Southern
states. Many gladly gave their lives for the cause they
so dearly loved. A very few, not more tlian twenty,
volunteered under the Stars and Stripes, and the boys
who wore the Blue distinguished themselves no less than
their neighbors who wore the Gray. Xo battles were
fought in the county, but many shooting alfrays occurred
between irregular bands of partisans, which were not
always bloodless. Many refugee outlaws from other
counties found a safe retreat in the mountains and ter-
rorized the citizens with deeds of lawlessness. Many
innocertt men were taken from their homes and shot
for no other reason than giving aid to the cause which
they believed to be just and right. Houses were plun-
dered and burned and women and children left to
shiver in the cold. Fences and farm buildings were
destro5^ed. The farms became overgrown with briers
and bushes. Eefugees, soldiers, and camp folloAvers
from the counties adjacent to the Ohio river went to
the land of Dixie by way of the Gauley and Straight
creek. This old war trail is yet visible where it was
cut to a depth of two or three feet by the many horses
that were taken across the mountain. 'General William
Jackson ("Mndwall'O transported a small cannon (a
104 Moccasin Tracks
two pounder) on horseback by this route when he ad-
vanced against Bulltown, in Braxton county.
But the spring of 1865 brought a sigh of relief to
the people of Webster county, as well as to other war-
oppressed communities. I^ow, that the dove of peace
had spread her wings over a devastated and wasted
land, men began the work of regeneration and recon-
struction.
XI. EDUCATION.
. The material for writing the early history of edu-
cation in the territory now embraced within the limits
of Webster county is very meager. The master who
ruled with the ferule and the rod left no journal of his
successes or his failures. This lack of written infor-
mation must be supplied from the memory of the
oldest inhabitants. But, most unfortunately, the col-
lection of this data has been so long delayed that but
few persons are now living who know anything about
the first schools organized. It is not known that an}'
schools were taught in this county before 1835. The
first school house, of which I have any knowledge, was
erected by two brothers, AVilliam and Benjamin Ham-
rick, and James Dodrill, on the Elk nearly opposite
ihe mouth of AVolf Pen run, six miles above Webster
Springs. These three men employed William Griffin
to teach three months, for which he was to receive
thirty dollars and board. Spelling, reading, writing
and arithmetic were the branches taught. The Bible
was the text used in the reading classes. The older
pupils had been taught spelling and reading by their
parents. In arithmetic, if the single rule of three
(now called simple proportion), was understood, it was
thought that the person possessing the knowledge was
competent to teacli school. Frank Duffy taught the
second school in the Hamrick school house. He was
born and educated in Ireland. He was considered
a most excellent teacher. His presence in a community
opened up a new world to the people who listened to
his wonderful stories about the sea and the European
106 MoccAsix Tracks
countries. He was well versed in ancient history, and
entertained his auditors with Grecian and Tioman
mvtholoo-ical leo-ends and historical stories.
The school huilding was of the most primitive kind.
The walls, which were about eight feet high, were made
of round logs and the building was covered with clap-
hoards held in place with heav}' poles. Although tim-
ber was plentiful, it Avas thought unnecessary to build
it larger than twelve by fourteen feet, and no floor
other than nature had provided was put in it. The
spaces between the logs were chinked with pieces of
split timber and daubed with mud. The door, a heavy
affair, was constructed out of boards and hung on
v,'Ooden hinges. The seats were made by splitting a
small log and putting legs in auger holes on the rounded
sides. The chimney was a huge affair, built of split
logs, and the inside walled up with stones and clay.
A log cut out and the space covered with greased paper
served for a window. A wide slab resting on wooden
pins inserted in the wall in a sloping direction answered
the purpose of a writing desk. Goose quill pens were
used, made by the teacher.
In this building fourteen pupils were taught the
first term. This was the only schooling some of them
ever received, but they made such good use of that op-
portunity that they made very good readers, and they
could spell especially well. In the early days the
discipline was most rigid, and the offender was flogged
most unmercifully for the least infraction of the writ-
ten rules, read by the teacher on the first morning of
school. The teacher acted in harmony with the views
AND Other Imprints. > 107
of Solomon, that by sparing the rod there is danger
of spoiling the child.
Schools were soon opened in other neighborhoods
and among the pioneer teachers may be mentioned the
following: William Kain, William and Samuel Given,
Israel Clifton, Jonathan Griffin, Joseph Woods and
Timothy Holcomb. One of the peculiar features of
the schools in this county in the days of the moccasin
and the hunting shirt was that the teacher sometimes
allowed the pupils to vote on the question of an ^*'open^^
or "closed" school. If the majority voted for an open
school, each pupil must spell and read aloud while
studying his lesson. This practice was kept up by
some old-time teachers as late as 1869. These subscrip-
tion schools taught by the old-time masters paved the
way for better ones, but progress was made slowly.
^ No money was drawn from the Literary Fund, for
the children of indigent parents, established by the
General Assembly of Virginia in 1809. Nicholas
county, of which a portion of AVebster county was a
part, had, in 1833, eighteen primary schools, in which
ninety-nine poor children received instruction at a cost
of one hundred and eighty dollars. Even in neighbor-
hoods where benefits were obtainable from this fund
many poor children were denied the privilege because
their parents did not wish them to bear the opprobrium
of being educated at public expense. No schools were
organized under the act of 1846, which practically gave
to Virginia her first. system of free schools.
During the decade between 1846 and 1856 many per-
sons who had received a very good education beyond
the mountains, and in Greenbrier courity, moved into
108 . MoccAsix Tracks
the Elk valley and the Glade coiiutry. They greatly
aided in the establishment of schools in neighborhoods
in which they settled. The old-time teachers were
usually deficient in educational qualifications, yet they
did a noble work and prepared the way for the intro-
duction of the free school system of the state of West
Yirsinia. TheA' and the Methodist circuit riders were
the advance aaents of civilization that was to be in-
troduced amono- the hills and vallevs of AVebster countv.
The boys and the girls who were disciplined and taught
in those primitive schools became the first teachers
under the new system. Other men educated in that
class of schools became justices of the peace, county
officials, legislators and ministers of the gospel.
On account of the disoro-anized condition of the
county, brought about by the Civil War. the free school
system was not carried into effect until 1867. James
Dyer was the first county superintendent of free schools
for the county. The acts of 1863 provided for the
election of a Township Board of Education, to have
full charge of all school matters pertaining to the town-
ship. Legislative acts of 1866 provided for the election
of three trustees in each sub-district by the patrons
thereof. The auditor's report of 1867 shows that the
levy for school buildings in Webster county was $294.91.
The report of William Eyland White, State Superin-
tendent of Free Schools, for the same year showed
that the county had 11 school districts: four log school
houses and received from the state four hundred and
seventy-five dollars : salary of county superintendent,
fifty dollars : children of school age. males, three hun-
dred and fortV-four. and females, two hundred and
AXD Other Imprints. 109
ninety-six. The auditor's report for 1868 shows that
the county received from the state seven hundred and
sixty-six dollars and ten cents; paid in teachers' sal-
aries, one hundred and sixin'-five dollars; levy for
buildings, five hundred and eighty-six dollars and
eighty-two cents.
The following are extracts taken from the report of
the State Superintendent in 1868 : Entire expenses
for school houses and school purposes, three hundred
and forty-eight dollars and eighty cents; cost of edu-
cation for each pupil for school year, four hundred and
sixty dollars : number of school districts, eleven ; log
Imildings, three ; number of houses built that year,
three ; number of youths between six and twenty-one,
males, three hundred thirty-one; females, three hun-
dred and three; total, six hundred and thirty-four;
number of pupils attending school, males, forty-four;
females, seventeen; total, sixty-one; daily attendance,
miale, twenty-four; female, five; tbtal, twenty-nine;
number of teachers employed, male, three ; female, one ;
total, four; average monthly salary, twenty-seven dol-
lars; average number of months taught, three; number
of visits by county superintendent, four; number of
applications for certificates, six; number of certificates
granted, two.
County Superintendent's Report of 1869:
"1 did hope when I made my report twelve months
since, that 1 would have a much more favorable report
than it is possible for me to make at this time.
When the commissioners and trustees believed that
they were to receive pay for their services they were
110 Moccasin Tracks
somewhat interested, but when they learned that they
were to receive nothing, their zeal, if they ever had any,
abated to a fearful and distressing extent.
I have traveled all over the county, and have gone to
nearly every house, and I have talked a great deal and
tried to impress on the minds of the people the great
importance of a liberal education. I have made an
effort to get the officers to go to work in good earnest,
but they have failed to do their duty, except very few.
It is a lamentable fact that there is not the interest
taken and felt on this momentous subject that should be.
Townships.
This county is divided into three townships, Fork
Lick, Glades and Hollv. Each has a Board of Educa-
tion, but Trustees are needed in some districts. Eork
Lick is divided into four districts, and has two free
schools and three subscription schools. District num-
ber two has a free school. I visited it four times. I
did not find it all that I desired, and I did all that I
could to correct what I believed to be wrong, and the
school was respectable. District Xo. 3 has one free
school. I visited it twice and found it doino- well.
The teacher is well qualified for his occupation, and
was industrious and very attentive. The scholars were
very studious and made proficiency. There is prospect
of a free school in District Xo. 4 shortly.
Glades township is divided into four school districts
and the Board of Education has made a levy of twenty
cents on the one hundred dollars valuation for the
support of free schools. There will no doubt be one
free school commencins^ in a short time, and there is a
AND Other Imprints. Ill
probability of other schools in this township. There are
four subscription schools.
Holly has been divided into four school districts and
a levy of ten cents for the schools. The Board say
they will have public schools in a short time. Two
subscription schools have been taught in the township.
There is a general complaint in the county of high taxes
and hard times. Well, it is true that many people in
this county are in a distressing condition, and can with
difficulty pay their taxes, but notwithstanding all this,
if the Boards of Education and the Trustees will do
their duty, something could be done for the education
of the rising generation. I have, it seems to me, done
almost every thing that I could do, to get up free
schools all over the county, but have accomplished but
little 'as yet. All that I can promise is to do the best
I can in the future".
James Dyer,
County Superintendent.
The following comment upon the above report is from
Honorable William Ryland White, State Superintendent:
"During my visits to this county, I could see the deso-
lation that the recent war had made. Maraudino'
parties, claiming to belong to either side as circum-
stances suggested, plundered the inhabitants, and drove
off their stock and burned their houses. The resources
for renewing what was lost are few, and it will take a
longer time for the people to get back to their former
condition, than is required in less isolated sections.
Yet the diffusion of knowledge is just what they need.
113 MoccAsix Tracks
Their many hills would become the pasture grounds of
immense herds, so well adopted is the soil for grass, and
their giant trees, sooner or later, must supply the in-
creasing demand for lumber. Educated labor must de-
velop AYebster county, for nothing else will'*.
General Superintendent.
It will be seen by Superintendent Dyer's report that
he had made a former report; no trace of it, however,
can be found. It possibly consisted of a mere letter,
as no free schools were in operation in 1867.
Webster County Statistics.
From State Superintendent's Report of 1869.
Money received from state, six hundred twenty-one
dollars and thirty-two cents; salaries of teachers, five
hundred and seventeen dollars; salary of county super-
intendent, fifty dollars; money levied for buildings,
eighty-three dollars and seventy-three cents ; expended
for buildings, one hundred and twenty-five dollars: log
school houses built, one : houses under construction,
five ; value of school houses, two hundred and fifty
dolkrs; number of youths, male, two hundred and
seventv-six, females, two hundred and sixtv-six : en-
rollment, males, two hundred and fifty-nine, females,
one hundred eighty ; average attendance, males, one
hundred fifty, females, sixty-nine : number of school
districts, ten ; number of common schools, thirteen ;
number of second grade teachers, three; third ,2Tade,
four ; fourth grade, one ; fifth grade, two ; numl)er of
applications for certificates, fifteen; number of certifi-
AXD Other Imprints. 113
cates granted, ten; nnniber of teachers, ten, all men;
number of months taught, twenty-three and one-half;
number of pupils studying orthography, one hundred
and eight3^-one; reading, one hundred and eighty-one;
writing, sixty-nine; arithmetic, thirty-two; geography,
one; English grammar, six; algebra, one; other
branches, eleven; salaries of teachers, twenty-two dol-
lars; clerks, three; commissioners, nine; trustees,
thirty-three ; levy for building purposes, forty cents ;
for teachers' fund, twenty cents: amount collected for
teachers' fund, one hundred and eighty-seven dollars
and ninety-four cents.
County Superintendent's Report,
of 1869.
'^Hon. H. A. G. Zeigler,
State kSuperintendent of Free Schools :
Dear Sir :^ — I have found great difficulty in procuring
reports from the various townships, in consequence of
the imperfections in the blanks for teachers. I have
labored very assiduously to correct this deficiency. The
blanks for teachers should have, 1st Date of Entrance;
2nd Daily Attendance ; 3d Age ; 4th A column to record
the branches taught. This would enable the county
superintendent to present to you a correct idea of the
progress of education and intellectual development.
You could then measure development with expenditure,
and see how much is returned to parents and guardians
in the form of education.
The Boards of Education of this county are deficient
in duty ; the trustees in many cases are no better ; there-
fore this report is very meager and unsatisfactory. I
ll-t MuCCASIX TlIACKS
indulge the hope, however, that Webster will in a short
time, strive to realize the full measure of the benefits
of our school system.
From observation and experience. 1 would recommend
the abolition of the county board of education, retain
}our county superintendent, and have a board of three
trustees for each school district. This would, with im-
proved blanks for teachers, simplify the work and give
a full statistical report. The board of education fail-
ing to report the various branches taught renders it
impossiljle for me to give you the number in the county.
School Houses.
In Fork Lick Township, we are building six school
houses, one of them, logs, finished, another will be fm-
ished this month : the balance will be completed the
ensuing winter : two of these houses are framed, and
there are others that will be let out soon.
In Glade Township no levy for building. Xone in
either of the othei* townships of this county. We have
obtained sites in Fork Lick township gratuitously
throughout. James Dyer,
County 8uperintendent, Webster County.''
"P. S. Tlie Fork Lick township is deficient nearly
one-half of its levy, growing out of the large tracts of
land owned bv non-residents of the county, but returns
have been made for this township. The other town-
ships have made no returns.
James Dyer.^'
Xames of applicants and grades of certificates:
Second grade. James Woodzell. Thomas P. Coulter
AND Other Imprints. 115
and B. C. Conrad. Third grade, Wm. P. Morton, J.
H. Hardway, Francis G. Morton and W. M. Hayman.
Fourth grade, A. W. Miller. Fifth grade, E. Brooks
and E. Clifton.
From these reports and statistics, it will be learned
that free school prospects were iiot very flattering in
Webster county in 1868 and 1869. There was a deep-
seated opposition to the organization of the system by
some very good citizens. The cause is not hard to dis-
cover. People were slow to endorse any innovation, and
more especially, if it cost money. The late war had
impoverished the i^eople, and money or its equivalent
was not readily obtained. If men of today vote against
the free school levy, it is little wonder that men were
against it fifty years ago. The county was sparsely
settled. Isolated families could not attend school and
the district did not have funds sufficient to build addi-
tional houses. It would be but natural for such persons
to oppose being taxed to educate other children and
their own grow up in ignorance. The teachers were
not well equipped for their work, and they did not re-
ceive sufficient wages to arouse much enthusiasm. In
some of the districts abandoned dwelling houses were
used for school purposes, or a part of a house was used
while the family occupied the other.
But a better day dawned about 1880. The log houses
were replaced by frame buildings, and painted school
houses were seen in many localities. Opposition passed
away when these better conditions appeared. Higher
salaries and prompt payment attracted better equipped
teachers. School terms lengthened from two and three
months to four and five months in the various districts.
116 MoccAsix Tracks
The inevitable result followed — a 'great .educational
awakening and a larger number of puj^ils enrolled in
the schools.
Even as late as 1880, Webster county was isolated
both commercially and educationally from her sister
counties. Dry goods, groceries and hardware were
transported by wagon from Weston and Gauley Bridge,
a distance of more than sixty miles. No one talked
much about education to persons living outside of the
'county, except for a week each year, when the teachers'
institute for the county was in session at Webster
Springs.
When a Webster boy Decame of marriageable age, he
did not select a wife because of her educational attain-
ments, or because she was a good cook, or a neat and tidy
housekeeper, but because she was a good "sanger''. A
young man living in one of the j^rominent valleys of
the county, took unto himself a better half. The next
dav a neighbor met the father and said, **Jnlin. i heard
Sam was married yesterday'\ "Yes," said the father,
"Sam is married^'. "Did he get a good wife ?'' queried
the neighbor. "Well, I should say'', replied the father,
"Polly is the best Sanger that ever 'sot' a foot in the
woods.''
But in 1889 a history making event occurred. The
whistle of a railroad locomotive was heard in Webster
countv. Its reverberations anions^ the hills sounded the
death knell of the sang digger and the log school house.
Webster county was now bound by bands of steel to her
progressive sister counties of the northern part of the
state. Men came from these counties and brought their
educational ideas with them. The school term length-
AND Other Imprints. 117
ened from five months to six months. Scliools were
graded and two-room huildings were erected at Erbacon,
Camden-on-Gaulev, Wainville, and Cowen. Gaulev
Mills later joined the ranks of the five towns in erecting
a two-room building. Higher education was scarcely
thought of twenty years ago. If the boys and girls
were kept in the primary schools until sixteen years old,
much was thought to have been accomplished. N'ow,
there are High Schools at Cowen and Webster Springs.
Both schools are receiving a liberal patronage. Today
the schools of the county are in good working order
and the prospects for even better conditions are very
flattering. Wel)ster Springs employs five teachers in
the grades, and Cowen three.
•The following items are taken from Superintendent
George R. Morton's report of 1914: Number of school
houses, one hundred and one; number of teachers em-
ployed, males, sixty-two, feimales, sixty, total, one hun-
dred and twenty- two ; number of youths of school age,
three thousand six hundred and thirty-seven; number
of pupils enrolled, males, one thousand four hundred
and forty-four ; females, one thousand three hundred and
fifty, total, two thousand seven hundred and ninety-
four ; average daily attendance, two thousand one hun- .
dred and twelve; average salary of teachers in rural
schools, thirty-six dollars and thirty-three cents; total
expended for school purposes, thirty-eight thousand five
hundred and fifty-five dollars and twenty-four cents;
total value of school property, one hundred and seven
thousand two hundred and fifty-four dollars. Number
of books in libraries, three thousand six hundred and
twentv-five, valued at one thousand five hundred and
118 MoccAsix Tracks
fifty dollars; cost of education per capita based on
enumeration; ten dollars and twenty-seven cents; based
on enrollment; eleven dollars and twenty-six cents;
based on attendance, twentv dollars and one cent.
A comparison of Dyer's last report with Mr. Mor-
ton's report will show the great educational advance-
ment that has been made since the establishment of the
free school svstem in AYebster countv.
XII. THE CARPENTER FAMILY.
Jerry and Benjamin Carpenter settled on the Elk in
the vicinity of the month of Holly early in the history
of the valley. They were brothers and it is thongbt
that they came from the Greenbrier valley. Jerry had
been carried into the region beyond the Obioi by the
Indians when a small boy. He remained with them
nntil man orpown before retnrnino- to civilized life. He
settled on what was afterwards known as the John P.
Hosey farm and Benjamin, his brother, erected a cabin
at the place now occupied by the little town of Palmer.
A man by the name of O'Brien blazed a trail from
the Ohio by way of the Trace fork of Steer creek to
the month of Holly. It is not now known at what
point he settled, but he marked the way because he did
not know woodcraft well enongh to travel without
some other guide besides what nature had provided.
The Carpenters having spent most of their lives in the
w'oods could travel for days in any given direction
without either compass or marks made on trees with an
axe or hunting-knife. When they could not see the
sun, they traveled in the proper direction by frequent
examinations of the moss on the tree trunks near the
ground. White men learned from the Indians that
the moss grew in the greatest profusion on the side
facing the north. It appears that the Indians did not
know of the Elk settlement until they found the O'Brien
trail and folloAved it eastward. They came to the house
of Benjamin Carpenter and finding his wife and small
child at home both were tomahawked and scalped.
The husband was down under the bank of the river
^2C) MoccAsix Tracks
graining a deer skin. He was soon found and shot at
by one of the four Indians in the marauding party,
but the bullet flew wide of its intended mark. Car-
penter ran to the house for his gun. He reached the
door and was in the act of getting his rifle from its
rack above the door when he was killed by one of the
party concealed in the house by a iDullet from his own
gun^ which the Indian had obtained when the cabin
was entered. Xancy, a sister of the brothers, was taken
prisoner and the party soon began their homeward
journey after the cabin had been set on fire.
Some days before the Indians made their appearance
Jerry went to Fork Lick for the purpose of hunting
buffaloes. He killed one and jerked a quantity of the
meat. Building a rude boat, using the skin for the
purpose, he arrived at the mouth of Holly a short time
after the redskins had left. The cabin was still burn-
ing and he was horrified to see his sister-in-law. who
had been scalped and left for dead, walking in the yard
in front of the burning cabin. She was tenderly taken
in his strong arms and carried to the boat, but she died
before the opposite bank was reached. Carpenter pre-
pared to follow the Indians and rescue his sister. He
was joined in the pursuit by a man by the name of
Hughes, a noted frontier warrior, and another man
whose name is unknown. They had no difficulty in
taking up the trail and ]3ursuing at a rapid pace. The
Indians traveled with leisure because they probably
thought that they would not be followed. They were
overtaken on Steer creek and completely surprised by a
well ])lanned method of attack. Carpenter had told his
AXD Other Impeixts. 121
companions that the first act of the savages, when they
were attacked, would be to kill their prisoner. The at-
tack was stealthily made and three of the Indians fell
before the unerring aim of the frontier riflemen. The
fourth Indian before the reverberations of the rifle re-
ports had died away threw a tomahawk at the captive
woman. ])ut she dodged the well-directed blow. Snatch-
ing up another tomahawk he started in pursuit of the
fleeing woman, but Hughes like an infuriated wild beast
sprang after him and buried his hatchet in his head
before he got in striking distance. The Indians were
not scalped, but Carpenter cut a strip of skin about
tiiree inches wide and two feet long from the back of
one of them, beginning at the base of the skull and in-
cluding a tuft of hair. This strip was afterwards
tanned and used by him for a razor-strop. It became
an heir-loom in the Carpenter family. It was in the
possession of John L. Carpenter at the time of the
Civil War. William Perrine carried it off, and, when
he was captured by Federal soldiers that gruesome relic
of the days of barbarity and savagery was taken away
from him, but what disposition w^as made of it is not
known.
When Carpenter returned home, he was informed that
another party of Indians were still on the east side of
the Ohio. He took his wife and a scanty supply of
necessary articles with him and went up Laurel creek
to the mouth of a small run. Here he found a safe
retreat under a large, projecting rock. His oldest son,
Solomon, was born the first night spent in that strange
habitation. This "was most probably the first white
122 MoccAsix Tracks
child born in what is now Webster county. The stream
was called Camp run and still bears that name. It is
not known when the Carpenter family was murdered
but it was some years before Dunmore"s war. which
occurred in 1774.
They settled in the Elk valley soon after the treaty
of Fort Stanwix in western Xew York in 1768, which
opened up the region west of the mountains to settle-
ment.
John L.. a son of Sol Carpenter^ married Xancy
Perrine. They settled at the mouth of Missouri run
where the town of Erbacon is now situated. He be-
came the father of the following children: Dianah^
Joseph, Agnes Jane, William Hamilton, Amos, Mary
Catherine and Estelline. John L. was an herb doctor
of splendid ability. He compounded his own medicine
from plants and roots obtained by himself in the woods.
He had a good farm and was an exemplary man. a
model farmer, and a law-abiding citizen.
MURDER OF THE STROUD FAMILY.
Adam Stroud, a German, lived on Stroud's creek
about one mile from its junction with the Gaulcy at
Allingdale. He settled there soon after the treaty with
the Indians in 1768. One day in the month of June,.
1772. when lie was awa}'* from home, a party of Indians
of the Shawnee tribe murdered his entire family con-
sisting of his wife and seven children. They also
plundered his house and drove off his cattle.
Captain Bull, a Delaware chief, and some other In-
dians resided at Bulltown in what is now Braxton
AND Other Imprints. 123
county. His original home was on the Unadilla river,
an eastern affluent of the Susquehanna river in ]Sew
York. He was accused of plotting against the whites in
Pontiac's conspiracy in 1763. He and five families of
his relations came to the Little Kanawha after their
New York homes had been burned by the whites and
lived in a little village located near a salt spring.
Although it was known that Bull and his people were
inoffensive, and very friendly to the whites, and kept
up an intercourse with the settlers on Hacker's creek
and the Buckhannon river, suspicion at once fell on
these Indians because the trail led in the direction of
Bulltown, as the whites called the Indian village. A
party of five men consisting of William White, William
Hacker, Jesse Hughes, John Outright, and possibly
Adam Stroud, determined to proceed to Bulltown and
avenge the murder of the woman and children. It was
not known for many years just what occurred when they
reached the Indian village. When they returned, they
denied having seen an Indian in their absence. John
Outright died in 1852, when he had reached the age
of one hundred and five years. On his death-bed, he
told of the killing of all the Indians found in the
village. Their bodies were thrown into the river. The
massacre was as atrocious and revolting as any that had
preceded or followed it in border warfare. The real
• perpetrators of the Stroud murder escaped to their
homes beyond the Ohio without detection. These two
acts on the part of the Indians and the whites had a
direct bearing on Dunmore's war, which began in 1774,
and resulted in a decisive defeat of the Indians by the
Virginians in the autumn of that year.
l'?4 MoccAsix Tracks
Jesse Hughes was most probably the man who brained
the Indian with his hatchet at the rescue of IS^ancy
Carpenter on Steer creek a few years previous to the
murder of the Stroud family. "'He was a noted
border scout, but a man of fierce, nnbridled passionS;,
and so confirmed an Indian hater that no tribesman,
however peaceful his record, was safe in his presence,"
says E. G. Thwaites, a western historian. Some of the
most cruel acts on the frontier are Ijy tradition at-
tributed to him. He died in Jackson county at an ex-
treme age.
The murder of the Stroud family occurred on the last
Indian incursion ever made into the limits of Web-
ster county. Some Indians passed through, but they
usually avoided the settlements, because they feared the
whites almost as much as the whites feared them. They
saw the chances of escape diminish as the number of
settlers increased. It was a long road that led from
Webster county to safety in the wilderness beyond the
Ohio river.
XIII. RELIGION IN PIONEER DAYS.
The fact that^ persons who spend a large portion of
their time in the forest are more devout and more
deeply imbued with a religious feeling than those who
spend their time in towns or more populous com-
munities, is undeniable. They have daily ocular proof
of the supreme power of the Creator as manifested in
nature. The trees, the birds, the wild flowers, the
seasons, and the babbling brooks teach them practical
lessons in theology. This is particularly true of the
early settlers in Webster county. Many of their
ancestors had left the Old AYorld because of religious
persecution and amidst the profound solitude of the
x\merican Avilderness fervent prayers and heart-felt
thanksgivings were offered for the freedom of religious
worship in a country where their actions were not
spied upon by the minions of a bigoted hierarchy. This
feeling was accentuated in the descendants and a more
religious people did not exist than were to be found
among the Webster hills.
The Methodist circuit riders were the first ministers
who preached within the bounds of the county. It
was often many years after an immigrant arrived in his
new home before he had an opportunity to hear a ser-
mon preached by a regular minister. Soon after a
settlement had been established the circuit rider ap-
peared upon the scene and made arrangements for relig-
ious services. The neighbors w^ere gathered into the most
commodious cabin and services were held once a quarter,
as the Methodists would say, and sometimes oftener,
depending upon the size of a circuit. A circuit em-
126 MoccAsix Tkacks
braced as much territory as is now contained in tliree
or four eonnties, and often much more. While these
men did not measure up to the height of a Simpson or
a McCabe. thev were men of spiritual power. What they
lacked in culture and education was amply compensated
in zeal and religious fervor. Armed with a pair of
saddlebags containing a change of linen, a Bible, and
a hvmnbook, they went forth preaching where a few
families conld be gathered together. Their saddlebags
also contained religious tracts which were distributed.
These were eagerly read and passed from one family to
another until read by the entire neighborhood. The
circuit riders also acted as colporteurs. Such books as
Baxter's Saints^ Eest, Life of John kelson, Fletcher's
Sermons, Life of Hester Ann Rogers, Finley's Prison
Life and John Wesley's Sermons were sold to the peo-
ple living remote from book stores. This class of books
exerted a powerful . religious influence on the old
pioneer families. They, in a large measure, molded
their lives and characters.
A class was organized at each preaching place and a
leader appointed. Exhorters and local preachers were
licensed at the quarterly conference. The leader some-
times walked five miles to meet his class. What a
spirit of devotion was manifested in these pioneer class
leaders I They talked to the class of an experimental
religion, and of an upright daily walk with Christ.
The women did not dress in the latest fashion but went
to meeting, as they called religious services, in home-
spun dresses usually fastened with leather buttons of
their own manufacture. The men were not dressed in
tailor made suits and linen cuffs and collars, but wore
AND Other Imprints. 127
liiuitiiig shirts and moccasins. If they did not have a
hunting-shirt they donned a linsey or tow linen shirt
and wore wide woolen "gallowses" woven or knit by the
women. These plain, unpretentious garments did not
in anyway interfere with their religious duties, and
what mighty shouts of triumphant victory went up
from the religious gatherings of the old-time pioneer !
From a religious standpoint men and women of
eighty years ago took a very lugubrious view of life.
Their minds dwelt more on death, the grave, the resur-
rection of the dead, and the judgment day than upon
life and its achievements. The minister usuallv acted
upon the principle that the fear of eternal punishment
is a greater incentive to right living than the hope of
everlasting life, or the conscious pleasure of doing one's
bounden duty. They often forgot the influence of an
all-powerful love, one of the basic principles of the
Christian religion. They sang doleful hymns written
in the minor key, which is appropriate for grave themes.
This was a mild form of asceticism practiced by the
Carmelite friars of the Middle Ages.
The discipline of the Methodists in those early pioneer
days was very strict. One who was not a professor of
religion was allowed to remain in the class room at but
two meetings, and, if at the third meeting no disposi-
tion of a desire to turn from the error of his ways was
made, he was turned out and the door was closed against
him. This was a very drastic measure but it often had
a verv salutarv effect. A son or a daughter remained
while the father and the mother waited on the outside
until the close of the meeting. One or both of the
parents took part in the meeting and the grown up
128 MoccAsix Tracks
children were excluded. A separation of husband and
wife often occurred. It was pathetic to hear an almost
heart-broken wife beg the indulgence of the leader, and
allow her impenitent husband to remain just one more
time. This practice was an object lesson of the separa-
tion that would occur beyond the realms of this life, if
the impenitent did not change his way of living.
The time and place of the first sermon preached
within the present limits of Webster county is unknovrn,
but Addison Hite was the first minister to preach in
the vicinity of Webster Springs. He preached his first
sermon in 1833 in a barn owned by Benjamin Hamrick,
who lived on tiie Elk five miles above the beforemen-
tioned town. This was three years after the original
organization of the Methodist Protestant Church, and
eleven years before that of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. His circuit embraced what is now a
part of Webster, Braxton, Lewis, and Upshur counties.
The many hardships which he and his successors en-
dured can be inferred from the state of the country at
that time. Roads in the greater portion of his cir-
cuit were but blazed trails : deep, swift, bridgeless
streams were forded amidst floating ice, and, when
benighted and far from the hospitable roof of a settler's-
cabin, he was under the necessity of passing the night
under the sheltering branches of a tree. These old-
time knights of the saddlebags deserve great respect
and praise for their courageous and heroic efforts to
plant the standard of Christianity among a wilderness
people.
A class was organized by Addison Hite at the Ham-
rick barn, the first ^lethodist organization in Webster
AXD Other Imprints. 12\)
coimty. William Gregory was appointed leader and
Adonijali Harris assistant leader. Mr. Harris lived at
the McGuire Low Gap near Webster Springs, yet he
walked the five miles each Sunday to meet his class and
his presence was made known by the zeal manifested in
his work.
The Eev. Mr. Cassett in 1834 preached at the Fork
Lick, now Webster Springs, in the dwelling house of
Mrs. Mary Arthur, who was a widow and the only resi-
dent at that time. The rite of baptism was admin-
istered. The author's mother, then a little girl oT
seven years, was one of the children baptized on that
day.
Samuel Black and Elijah A. Bing were the preachers
in charge in 1835. Black afterwards joined the South-
ern Methodists and became one of the best known
preachers and church writers in that denomination in
the Western Virginia Conference. The quarterly meet-
ings at the Hamrick barn attracted large crowds of
people. They came from places as remote as Sum-
mersville and Flatwoods. These meetings were pro-
tracted for a week and resulted in many conversions.
The hospitality of the people on these occasions was un-
bounded. Many members of this class attended the
Methodist camp meetings held annually on Peter's
creek in Nicholas county.
The first Southern Methodist minister to preach in
the limits of Webster county was a man by the name
of Protsman. He preached in the Hamrick barn soon
after the division of the Methodist church in 1844. No
class of that church was organized in the county until
manv vears after that event. From these small be-
130 MoccASTx Tracks
ginniiigs the two leading Methodist churches of the
United States have grown nntil they have neat, sub-
stantial church buildings in each town and populous
community in Webster county.
The Baptist church was a later organization. Wil-
liam Dobbins was a resident minister of that denomina-
tion. He lived at Webster Springs in the years suc-
ceeding the Civil War, and is remembered for many
Christian virtues. The first Baptist church was or-
ganized at Webster Springs in 1872.
THE DODRILL FAMILY.
William E. Dodrill, known as "English Bill/' mar-
ried Rel)ecca Douo-hertv in Greenbrier county in 1784,
and moved to the mouth of the Kanawha. The Indians
beino- hostile, he almost o'ave away his larsje tract of
land and joined in the eastern movement spoken of- in
a former sketch. He settled on Peter's creek, where he
remained four or five years. In 1799 he again changed
his residence to the Birch river vallev, settlino: at Boofors
in Webster county. The original name was Uoddridafe.
but a change was made in the orthography before he
left Greenbrier county. The name, Dodrill, has been
adopted by all of his descendants.
"English Bill" was the father of eight children —
four sons and four daughters. His sons were James,
John, George and William. The daughters were
Martha, Mary. Xancy, and Eebecca. James, the eldest
son. married Elizabeth Greo-orv and located twelve
miles above the Fork Lick on the Elk. He was the
father of six sons: Isaac, George, William, Eobert,
AND Other Imprints. 131
Charles^ and Joseph. George married Levicy Given
and settled about one mile below the month of Leather-
wood. He was an exemplary man and left a reputation
for honesty and integrity that should be more highly
prized by his two sons than an inheritance of silver, and
gold. Isaac married Maria Conrad, but left no sons
to perpetuate his name. William married Levicy Mil-
ler and afterwards Mary Hamrick. Eobert married
Jane Hamrick. Eobert was known to the older citizens
of the county as the distiller of a fine quality of apple
brandy. Charles married Margaret Given. At the
time of his death, he was the best known man in Web-
ster county. He had acceptably filled many important
offices. His firm stand against the granting of whiskey
license when he was a member of the county court
made him very popular with the temperance people.
His fourth of July orations for many years before his
death were prominent features in celebrations at Wel)-
ster Springs. If he had had the advantages of an edu-
cation, he would have succeeded in any profession.
But this was denied him in his youth. Bv industrv and
frugality he succeeded in winning quite a good living
from his mountain farm, and each of his four sons was
left by his will, or was given them before his decease,
a sufficiency to start them well on the road to prosperity.
John, the second son, married Margaret Lewis, of
Greenbrier county, and resided on Birch river in
Nicholas county. He, also, was the father of six sons :
William, James Walton, Franklin, Martin, Arthur and
x\ddison. William, James and Martin married Sarah,
Eebecca and Isabel, daughters of William Hamrick, the
132 MoccAsix Tracks
noted hunter. Franklin and Arthur married Maria
and Jane, daughters of Peter Hamrick, of Braxton
county. Addison married Alniira Gregory, a daughter
of William Gregory, the class leader. William im-
migrated to the west at the close of the Civil War and
died in the State of Nebraska. Addison moved to Web-
ster county and located at the mouth of Bergoo. The
other four lived near neighbors to each other on Birch
river, in Xicholas county, until their deaths. Each
left a large family of boys and girls. They were hard
working farmers, having moved into the woods and each
cleared out a large farm.
When a young man, George, the third son, went west
to seek his fortune, and located in Pickaway count}^
Ohio. William, the fourth son. died in his twentv-first
year.
Of the daughters it was often said that none were
fairer, or better dispositioned in the county. Each was
renowned for her Christian virtues and each made an
excellent wife. Martha married James Mollohan, of
Braxton countv. Her son Charles was a Methodist
preacher of much ability. He took an active part in
the great controversy in regard to slavery in the church,
which resulted in the division of 1844. It was mainly
through his leadership that many of the classes in Web-
ster and Braxton counties were held intact. Wesley
Mollohan, who was the best known, and one of the most
successful lawyers in West Virginia, was his son.
Marv married Georo^e Mollohan. It was he who en-
tered the bear cave on the head of Little Birch. His'
brother-in-law, Joshua Stevenson, who married Xancy,
AXD Other Imprints. 133
was with him on that hunt. Eebecca married Adam
Greo:orv, of AVebster coiintv, and lived in the vicinity
of Mill rnn.
Addison Dodrill is the only living grandson of Wil-
liam Dodrill, the old pioneer at this time (1915). By
what a slender thread this generation is bound to the
past. He is seventy-six and in a few fleeting years at
most the last of these grand old characters will have
crossed over to the world bevond.
XIV. THE KILLING OF THE TUNINGS.
The Tuniug boys, Al, Fred, and Jack, spent much
time in Webster county during the first years of the
Civil war. They were Southern sympathizers but they
did not belong to any regular military organization.
They killed several Union men in Webster and adjoin-
ing counties. They were pursued by Federal soldiers
but always made their escape. The people who' believed
in the sacredness of the cause for which the South was
contending did not approve of their conduct but they
were helpless and the Tunings often stayed for days
in the homes of this class of citizens, who dared not
refuse them lodgement and entertainment.
About the first of March, 1864, Al and Fred went to
the home of James Dyer on the G-auley. The Federal
soldiers who were in the county at that time were ap-
prised of the fact and made preparations to capture
them. The troops camped at the mouth of Sand run,
about one and one-half miles below, on the night of the
third day of March. A company of about thirty men
was sent very early next morning to the Dyer home.
The family and the two Tunings were at breakfast when
it was discovered that the house was surrounded by
hostile soldiers. In an attempt to escape Al was shot
in a lot near the house. Fred swam the Beaver run
and was running up the hill on the other side when hit
by a ball that had cut off a small sumac.
Al lived about two hours after being shot. Fred lived
from Saturdav mornino^ until Mondav nio^ht. Thev
were buried near the place where they were killed. Jack
escaped all attempts made to kill or capture him. After
AND Other Imprints. 135
the war he went to Ohio where he gained the affection
of a rich widow whom he married. She and her money
soon parted company and Tuning did time at the state
prison at Columbus.
THE MURDER OF TERRELL.
One of the most atrocious deeds perpetrated in the
county during the Civil war w^as the murder of a man
named Terrell at the mouth of Straight creek by Dr.
Hardsock. Mr. Eerrell had taken a drove of cattle
through the mountains within the southern lines and
had sold them, receiving a large portion of the selling
price in gold. On his way back, he met with Hardsock,
who proposed that they travel through the mountains
together. They arrived at the Gauley late in the even-
ing of the first day's travel and camped on the bank of
the river. Sometime in the night while Ferrell was
wrapped in slumber Hardsock cut his throat with a
hatchet. Hardsock continued the journey very early
next morning. AVhen he arrived at the first settler's
cabin, he said that he and a comrade had been attacked
in the night by the "Yankees" and that he and his
companion had become separated in the darkness of the
nio-ht. He asked that some one be sent in search of the
missing man. He seemed to be much agitated and rery
anxious to proceed on his w^ay. But haste was useless
because his gTiilty conscience would pursue him to the
uttermost parts of the earth. The possession of the
dead man's gold but augmented its excruciating pangs.
The body was buried near the place where the murder
was committed.
136 MoccAsix Tracks
Harclsock was apprehended by the Confederates and
was kept under the strictest surveillance. By an order
from the general in command of the troops whose duty
it was to guard him^ he was put under the hottest fire
of musketry in every battle in which they engaged. His
companions fell around him but he escaped unharmed.
He sickened and died of a fever before he could be tried
by civil authority. Some rude rock slabs and a small
spruce tree planted by loving hands mark the place
where Mr.' Ferrell was buried. He was most truly a
victim of greed and avarice.
>;; :*: >;;
On the divide between the Gaulev and the "Williams,
near the head of the Miller Mill run. far from human
habitation, is a soldier's grave. Elias Grimes, a mem-
ber of the Ninth Eegiment of Alabama, in company
with a man named Cutlip, went to Lewis county where
each "captured'' a horse. In crossing the mountain
on their way to Dixie, Grimes dismounted to adjust his
saddle. After mounting his horse, he caught his musket
by the muzzle, and the hammer catching against the
side of the log against which it was leaning, it was dis-
charged, killing him instantly. The untimely death
of Grimes so wrought upon the conscience of Cutlip
that he immediately returned to Lewis and restored the
liorses to their owners. The ])ody of Grimes was buried
by the citizens where the accident occurred. It is
probable tliat liis xVIabama friends never learned his
sad fate.
These graves of Ferrell and Grimes are forceful re-
minders of the stirring days of civil strife and devastat-
ing rebellion of fifty-four years ago. The hatred and
AND Other Imprints. 137
strife engendered by the war did not cease until very
recently. Except in a heated political contest there is no
ill feeling manifested between the parties formed along
the lines which divided the people a half century ago.
The wide gulf that separated the people and threatened
the stability of the nation has been bridged by the
process of time.
THE GREGORY FAMILY.
The Gregory family has always occupied a very prom-
inent place in the history and development of the Elk
valley. This family was founded by Colonel Isaac
Gregor}', who, as stated in a former sketch, settled on the
Gaulev in 1800. He married Sarah Given, in Bath
county, Virginia. The Gregorys are of fine physique,
the usual height of the men being six feet in their
stockings. The Hamricks get their stature by marriages
in the Gregory family. The Gregorys- married into
nearly all of the old pioneer families, therefore a re-
petition of tracing the family is unavoidable. The Col-
onel was the father of nine children — four boys and five
girls. The boys were William, Eobert, Joseph, and
Adam. The girls were Mary, Isabel, Nancy, Elizabeth
and Jeanette (Jennie). Adam married Eebecca Dodrill
and, William, the class leader, Eebecca Sands. He was
known as being a very devout man, and always lived
according to the rules of the Methodist church. His
son 'Adam was a Methodist preacher and represented
Webster county in the legislature of the Eeorganized
Government of Virginia in 1863. He went west soon
after the expiration of his term of office. Joseph mar-
13S MoccAsix Tracks
ried Mary Miller and moved to Braxton county where
he died of smalljDox in 1863. Eobert married Elizabeth
Xottingham. He resided in Webster county, but left
no son.
Of the daughters, Mary married George Lynch, who
moved to the Little Kanawha valley. She was the
mother of twelve sons w^ho settled in Gilmer, Harrison
and adjoining counties. Isabel married John Lynch
and lived on the Elk some miles below the Fork Lick.
The Colonel was very much opposed to this wedding,
but love lauoiis at bolted doors and ano-rv fathers,
SO the lovers had their way and were married. She
was the proud mother of five sons. Xancy and Jeanette
(Jennie) married Benjamin and William Hamrick,
mention of which has been made in the sketch of the
Hamrick family. Elizabeth married James Dodrill and
lived below the mouth of Leatherwood.
Colonel Gregory was possessed of considerable prop-
erty when he came to this country. He built a large,
hewed-log house with a cellar under it walled with cut
stone. He became dissatisfied and moved away before
the building was fully completed. He spent more than
five hundred dollars in this venture. The nails used
were made in a blacksmith shop in Bath county, Vir-
ginia, and carried across the mountains on horseback.
He also did his milling over there for several years. His
house logs and cellar walls were used by James Dyer
in building a saw and grist mill near the mouth of
Beaver run. Colonel Gregory died in 1852, and was
buried in the Gregory cemetery on the Elk fi^•e miles
above Webster Springs. During the fifty-two years in
which he resided within the limits of Webster county,
AND Other Imprints. 139
he saw many farms cleared in the forest and the
moccasin discarded fdr the cow-hide shoe or boot aiil
the hunting shirt for the modern coat and vest. He
w^as the first distiller of apple brandy in the county.
XV. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.
The derivation and the meaning of geographical
names of a country are very interesting to the student
of history, and more especially if the names refer to
local places of pioneer times. The Elk was named
from the abundance of elk found on that stream bv the
Indians. The Gauley was probably named by the
French, who claimed the territory drained by it, but
the meanins: of the word is unknown. Birch and Hollv
were named from species of trees found near their
banks when first visited by white men. The origin
of some of the names of places found in Webster
county is of quaint derivation.
Metcalf's Bank, just below the mouth of Leather-
wood, is well known to the older inhabitants. Metcalf
was a noted j^ioneer Methodist preacher sixty-five years
ago. He was a very graceful rider, and the accom-
plishment was greatly admired by William Gregory, the
class leader. Mr. Gregory always rode a very fine horse,
On a Sunday morning, he and his wife started to meet-
ing at the Hamrick barn. Getting in front of his
wife, he rode very fast and in his best style. "Ee-
becca,'* said he to his wife, "of whom do I remind you ?"
His wife replied that she did not remember any one
who rode just like he did. "Xow, Eebecca, watch me,
and see if I don't ride like Brother Metcalf." He rode
up the bank, and under the inspiration, he most un-
doubtedly gave a very good imitation of the preacher's
horsemanship. The good wife, in order to please her
husband's harmless vanity, said, "Well, Billy, since you
mentioned it, you do remind me very much of Brother
AND Other Impkixts. 141
Metcalf." This was thought by neighbors to be a very
good joke, and so they called the place Metcalf s Bank.
Baltimore run, opposite the place where James Miller
now^ resides, was named early in pioneer days. One of
the residents of the upper Elk valley did not take a
very optimistic view of his environments, and declared
his intention of moving to Baltimore. He disposed of
his property and started down the valley. He built a
small cabin at the mouth of the run and moved into it.
His neighbors saw the joke and called the place Balti-
more. The name was afterwards applied to the run.
Bo] air had its origin early in pioneer history. There
was a good spring of water on the hill a short distance
from the present location of Bolair post office. The
spring is still there, but the water is scarcely fit to
drink. Travelers and wagoners stopped at the spring
to get a drink and to rest. The drink referred to was
taken from a bottle or a jug as well as from the spring.
In the good old times, a man could take a, drink of
•brandy or whisky and still be thought a gentleman, but
this was before the days of excessive potations. James
Dyer, senior, who came from Pendleton county, was a
good singer. He met several men at the spring, and
after each had taken a dram, he was called upon for
a song. He sang a song called ^'Beau Laire'' that was
one of his favorites. The spring and the hill were af-
terwards called Beau Laire. Manv vears after this,
when a post office was established at the fo'ot of the
hill, it- was named Bolair. The sound instead of the
correct spelling was followed.
The first store in Webster county was at the McGuire
142 MoccAsix Tracks
Low Gap on the mountaiu near Fork Lick. It be-
loneed to Byrne. Dulfv and Company. This firm also
had stores at Sutton, Summersyille and other places.
Groceries, calico, dye stuffs, hand cards for combing
wool, and a yer}' coarse quality of cotton yarn were
exchanged for beeswax, ginseng and peltries. Money
at that time was scarce and it was spent yery sparingly.
The place was called "Pluck-'em-in'' by persons who
thought they did not get good bargains at the store.
This was a1>out 1840.
;|j * Hs
Stephen "Woods settled in Virginia before the Eeyolu-
tion. Two of his sons, Stephen and Isaac, were killed
in the Second War of Independence. Stephen, junior,
at the time of his enlistment liyed in Augusta county.
His son John, in company with four of his neighbors,
came to A^'ebster county (then Kanawha county) to dig
o-inseno;. They went as far north as Holly. Woods
was much pleased with the country and moyed to this
county in 1815, settlinsf on Beayer creek, in what is-
now Xicholas county. In 1819 he married Eebecca
Hannah. His son. William J., was born in 1825. and
married Jane McElwain in 1851. Two other sons,
Samuel and Chaney, liyed in Webster county in the yi-
cinity of Cowen. William J. settled in the Glade coun-
try and was a farmer from choice. He cleared out a
large farm in the yirgin forest, and was the father of a
larsre family of children.
THE SAWYERS FAMILY.
George M. Sawyers, late in life, came from Alle-
ghany county, Virginia, in 1831, and settled near Upper
Glade. His wife, who was Mary E. Reese before mar-
riage, died soon after coming to this county and was the
second person buried in the Samuel Given cemetery.
George's son Samson married Elizabeth Dyer, daulig-
ter of James Dyer, senior, and located on the Gauley
near the mouth of Sand run. He was a farmer and a
merchant and died childless in 1866.
Margaret, a daughter of George Sawyers, married
James Dyer, the first county superintendent of free
schools of Webster countv, and lived on the Gaulev at
the mouth of Beaver run.
John E., eldest son of the pioneer Sawyers, born in
1790, married Nancy Johnson in 18,20, and came from
Alleghany in 1833, and settled on the Williams river.
He was one of the pioneer school teachers. He was a
shoemaker and was often called upon to make the wed-
ding shoes for pioneer brides. The last pair made for
such an occasion was worn by Mary (Polly) Hamrick,
who married AVilliam Dodrill.
He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was the
fifer of his company. His fife used on that occasion is
now a treasured relic in the possession of one of his
lineal descendants. He was the father of Isaac J.,
George M., Elvira, Sarah, Isabella, Margaret, Eachel
and Jeremiah M.
Isaac was sent to Camp Chase by the Federal author-
ities. While there he had the measles, and being dis-
charged before fully recovered started home. He
144 • MoccAsix Tracks
camped out several nights, sleeping on the damp
gromid. He died soon after arriving home.
Geor^-e M.. born in 18.22, married Letitia Walker, of
Xicholas county, and settled on the AVilliams, where
he gained the distinction of being one of the best
hunters in the county. He was elected county clerk of
Webster county in 1877 for a term of six years. ^'Tlie
Governor,'' as he was familiarly called by his many
friends, was one of the noted characters of Webster
count V thirty years a^o.
Jeremiah M. was one of the "boys in blue,'* and saw
some desperate fighting as a member of the Tenth West
Virginia Infantry. He now lives at Horner, Lewis
county, and is the only one of the family still living.
XVI. THE McELWAIN FAMILY.
Tunice Muckelwain (McElwaiii), born in 1773,
came to the Elk valley from Pendleton county about
1810, and settled on Holly. He had married Catharine
Propst before coming to the county and was the father
of ten children. Catharine was born, in 1792; George
in 1793; Barbary in 1795; Mary in 1798; Thomas in
1800; Dorothea in 1806; Catharine (named after her
deceased sister) in 1808; Jacob in 1810; Elizabeth in
1813, :and Nancy in 1815. It can be seen that no
charge of race suicide can be alleged against this Ger-
man-American • citizen. George married Elizaheth
Perrine, born in 1798. This marriage occurred in
1813, and the young couple, full of pluck and vim,
•settled at the mouth of Laurel creek, where they re-
mained until 1832. They then moved to what is now
Wainville, and remained there until Mr. McElwain's
death, which occurred in 185-1. He was a good farmer
and left each of his three sons a fine farm adjoining
each other. He was a noted hunter, but he did not let
that diversion interfere with his farm work. He be-
longed to that class of pioneers that did things. They
subdued the wilderness and fought the Indians and
the British. They did their full share in the work of
laying the foundation of sovereign states. George Mc-
Elwain was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was the
father of ten children — Xancy, Catharine, Dianah, An-
drew, Jane, Eachel, Lewis, Elizaheth, George and Je-
rusha. They married and settled in what is now Web-
ster county. Nancy married Isaac Weese and moved
to the right-hand fork of Lost run. She was the mother
14:6 MoccASix Tracks
of four children — Martlia, Audrew, Addison and Ange-
line. She died in 1852.
Catharine married Enos Weese and lived on the left
hand fork of Lost run. She was the mother of George,
Lewis, Mack. AVeslev, Eeuben, Elizabeth. Yiroinia, Di-
anah and Catharine. Mrs. AVeese died in 1858 and was
buried in the McElwain cemetery near Wainville.
Dianah married Abraham Golf and settled on Laurel
creek one mile above Wainville. She became the mother
of eight children. Their names were Thomas, Mary,
John, Louisa, George, Albert, Benjamin and Isaac. She
died in 1884.
Andrew, born in 1826. married Maro'aret Sawyers
in 1850, and moved to the Gaulev in 1873. He was
the father of Thomas S., William D., George S., Lewis
J., Enos AY., Preston M., Kate and Eobert. -He was a
justice of the peace and served as assessor for twelve
years. He died in 1888 and was laid to rest in the old
Wainville cemetery. His wife died in 1891.
As stated in a former sketch Jane married William
Woods and settled on the head of Birch river. She was
the mother of eight children and lived until 1908. and
her husband died in 1914.
Eachel, born in 1828, marriotl John Given about
1846, and settled at Upper Glade. They lived there
until 1863, where Mr. Given was killed by Federal
soldiers. She was the mother of three children : Eliz-
abeth, Fannie and Samuel Kyle. She married Major'
Marshall Triplett in 1865 and raised one son. Hedge-
man. She is the only one of the family now (1915)
living. Major Triplett died in 1898.
Lewis, born in 1832, married Matilda Hickman in
AND Other Imprints. 147
1854, and began housekeeping in the old McElwain
homestead near Wainville, then Nicholas county. He
was the father of eight children — seven daughters and
one son. They were named Ehoda, Martha, Tunice,
Catharine, Mary, Jerusha and Ida. The second daugh-
ter (name unknown) died at the age of five years. He
took a very active part in the affairs of Webster county.
He was one of the supervisors in 1871 and 1872. He
was elected a justice of the peace in 1876 and served a
full term of four years. He was elected a member of
the County Court in 1880. He was president of that
body for four years in a term of six years. He died in
1911 and his wife in 1913.
Elizabeth, who was born in 1833, married George Ad-
kinson and moved to Pocahontas county in 1861. Her
husband joined the Confederate army and marched to
the front, but she never knew what became of him.
She afterwards married Jackson Eeynolds and was the
mother of eight children. She died in the state of
Washington in 1912.
George, born in 1834, married Sarah Newman, of
Bedford county, Virginia, in 1868. He lived on a part
of the McElwain farm a near neighbor of his brother
Lewis. He was the father of two children and he died
in 1899.
Jerusha, born in 1835, married William Hoover in
1867, and settled on the head of Birch. She was the
mother of eleven children. She died in 1909. Her
husband died in 1890 and both were buried on the
home farm.
The people in Webster county w^ho can count blood
relationship with Tunice McElwain forms a good per-
lis MoccAsix Tkacks
centage of the population of the county, but his grand-
children, with the one exception noted above, have
j)assed away. A few years hence people will be won-
dering as to the kind of men who cleared the forests
and built the log cabins on the frontier. Men like
Lewis and George McElwain, who wore the red or
brown ''wamas,^' with the fringe around the sleeves and
the bottom will not be seen. Store clothes of an up-to-
date fit and style are worn by the successors of these
men. What the people of to-day have gained in edu-
cational 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 re-
mote period, when Webster county is peopled with a
heterogeneous population, and, when their great, great
grandchildren have arrived at distinction, there will be
a movement started, and carried to a successful termi-
nation, to erect tablets and monuments to the memory
of the first settlers. The first centennial of the first
settlement has come and arone and nothing has as vet
been done to mark the graves of the men who wore the
moccasin and the hunting shirt.
• THE MORTON FAMILY.
Edward Morton was born in Pennsylvania in 1762.
At the age of fourteen he became a Eevolutionary sol-
dier. He served until the close of the war and was
with Washington when he captured Cornwallis at
Yorktown in 1781. After the war he settled on the
Cowpasture river in Virginia, where he reared a large
AXD Other Imprints. 149
family of children. He and liis son Thomas, who was
a soldier in the War of 1812, moved to Stroud's creek
in 1850. They purchased five thousand acres of land
and at once began to prepare it for cultivation.
Thomas married an Irish girl by the name of Elander
Leach. He was the father of the' following children :
Edward, Robert, John, George, Thomas, Jr., Margaret,
Elizabeth, and Sarah. Thomas was the founder of the
Morton family in Webster and Nicholas counties.
Edward married Mary Ann Bodkins and became the
father of Porterfield, Felix, Catharine and Louisa.
Both girls died in childhood.
Eobert married Mary Jane Campbell. His children
were George, Francis, Charles, Margaret, Rebecca,
Mar}', Eachel, and Hettie.
John married Mary Ann Devereux and became the
father of Garland, Clark, William, Jimison, Samuel,
Elizabeth and Caroline.
George married Hannah C. Kyer and reared the fol-
lowing children: Emerson, Eskridge H., Catharine,
Drusilla,, Annie, and Sarah.
Thomas married Sarah Rader and his children were
Floyd, Eliza, and Elizabeth. These five brothers lived
near neighbors on Stroud's creek. They were most ex-
cellent farmers and stock men. They were among the
very best citizens of Webster county. Of the daughters,
Margaret married John Dodge, Elizabeth married
Adam Rader, and Sarah married Charles Kyer.
Felix, the second son of Edward Morton, married
Elizabeth Collison in 1867. One son, William E., and
one daughter, Annie R., was born unto this union.
His wife dving in 1872, Mr. Morton married Nannie
150 Moccasin Tracks
Bobbitt, of Nicholas county, in 1879. George E., the
present (1915) superintendent of the free schools of
Webster county, is the eldest of six children.
The Morton famil}- has always been prominent in the
development of Webster county. Many have tilled
places of public trust and have rendered efficient ser-
vices. Meml^ers of the family have been prominent in
educational advancement and have been successful
school teachers.
TRACKLETS.
Samuel Given^ senior^ took the first census of Web-
ster county in 1860. The second census was taken by
Isaac H. Griffin in 1870.
•fi -'fi -fi
The Honorable Joseph A. Alderson represented the
counties of Xicholas, Braxton and Clay in the House of
delegates of the General Assembly of A^irginia in its
session of 1859-1860. Mr. Alderson was a great ad-
mirer of Daniel Webster, who died in 1852, and he
selected Webster as the name for the new county pro-
vided for at that session of the Assembly.
He was the father of the late Honorable John D. Al-
derson, of Nicholas county.
'fi 'fi 'i* ^
The first AYebster county court house, together with
all the records, with the -exception of one book not in
tbe. building at the time, was burned on the night of
June 17, 1888. The origin is not definitely known,
but it was probably burned to destroy some records in-
volved in a land suit.
^ i'fi ^
The election of 1865 was a very exciting one. The
folloAving men were candidates for assessor: Addison
Hamrick, of Gauley; Andrew McElwain, Arthur Ham-
rick, Adam G. Cogar. Franklin Hamrick, William
Hamrick, Adam Gregory, William Given, and Joel Dob-
bins. This race wonld indicate that men were no less
willing to be sacrificed for the good of the public, fifty
years ago, than they are to-day.
152 MoccAsix Tracks
lu 1850, Robert Gregory built a school house near the
present site of the St. Mary's school house, and Wil-
liam Given was employed as teacher for three months.
William G. Hamrick, Benjamin Hamrick, Isabel Ham-
rick, Eebecca Gregory, Isaac Gregory, Thomas Gregory,
AVilliam Gregory, Xoody Gregory, Samuel Giyen,
Betsey Given, James Dobbins, Xancy Dobbins, and Cur-
rence Gregory were his i)upils.
H* ^ H*
The following men went from the Elk valley and
yicinity to Xorfolk, Virginia, in the War of 1812, to
fight the British: Colonel Isaac Gregory, William
Hamrick, Benjamin Hamrick, John Kyer, Jacob Co-
gar, Daniel Matheny, Thomas Cogar, George McEl-
wain, and James Miller. They joined a regiment at
Lewisburfi: and immediately marched across the Alle-
gha'ny mountains to the Atlantic. The camp site at
Norfolk was low and swampy. Many fell victims to
malarial and typhoid fevers. The men were given
picks and shovels and set to work l)uilding fortifica-
tions. When these were completed, they were told to
throw the earth back to its original place. In this way,
the men were given exercise. They did not have a
chance to fight the enemy because the British did not
make any attempt to land troops at that place. But
they did see the British flag displayed from the mast
head of a British-man-^of-war far out at sea.
^ ^ ^
William Hamrick, the hunter, was born in 1789. He
was four years old when he was carried from the Wil-
liams river to Donnally's fort by Jack McMillion, Jen-
nie Gregory, who became his wife, was four years old
AND Other Imprints. 153
when her father, Colonel Isaac Gregory, moved to the
Gaule}' in 1800. She remembered seeing her mother
fall from her horse in the Greenbrier river on that
memorable journey into the wilderness. William Ham^
rick settled in the Elk valley in 1812. His two nearest
neighbors w^ere Bonner, living at the mouth of Balti-
more run, and Wright, living at the Given ford.
* * *
Isaac Duefield and his wife Isabel lived near the
mouth of Miller Mill run on the Gauley in 1803. Due-
field and Colonel Greo-orv were brothers-in-law and
both came from Bath county.
Hs H- ^5
Colonel Isaac Gregory was one of the first justices of
the peace of Nicholas county and became a member of
the county court at Kessler's Cross Lanes in 1818. C.
W. Cottle, who killed the elk above the mouth of
Straight creek, was also one of the first justices and
was elected the first member of the General Assembly
from Xicholas county.
Hs H^ sj!
The following is a copy of one of the very first, if
not the fi.rst, teachers' certificates granted in Webster
county.
Webster County, West Va., December 4, 1868.
This is to certify that I have this day examined
James Woodzell and finding him qualified to teach a
Primary School in this county do hereby give him a
No. 2 certificate In Duplicate.
Jas. Dyer
Co. Supt. of Free Schools.
.V }> :>
154: MoccAsix Tracks
Mr. Woodzell taught at AYebster Springs for a term
of three months on the above certificate. This was the
first free school taught at the Springs. Doctt)r C. W.
Benediim followed Owen Thornton in 1871, Peter Li.
J. Cogar, James Woodzell, George Wolverton and Pat-
rick F. Dufi'y were the only residents of the town at
that time.
* ♦ ♦
List of Union soldiers from Webster county during
the Civil War.
Weslev Collins, Co. A. 10th W. Va. Vol. Inft.
Pilev Collins,
Archibald Collins,
Wilson Howell,
Zachariah E. Howell,
James Green^
George W. Wolverton,
William McAvoy,
Owen Brenigar,
Addison McFisher,
Abner Cogar,
William G. Hamrick,
Eobert Pritt,
Shannon Cline,
Isaac H. Griffin,
Geo. Griffin,
Jeremiah Sawyers,
Adam Gregor}^ Artillery.
The boys of the Tenth West A'irginia did some hard
fighting during the time in which they were in the
service.
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AND Other Imprints. 155
The following is a correct list of the engagements
that William G. Hamrick took part in when a member
of the Tenth: Buckhannon, Virginia, August 29,
1862; Beverly, West Yirginia, July 3, 1863; Droop
Mountain, West Virginia, November 6, 1863; Leetown,
Virginia, July 3, 1863; Maryland Heights, Maryland,
July 6, 7, 1864; Snicker's Ferry, Virginia July 17,
18, 1864; Winchester, Virginia, July 24, 1864; Mar-
tinsburg. West Virginia, July 25, 1864; Berryville,
Virginia, September 3, 1864; near Winchester, Vir-
ginia, September 19, 1864; Fisher's Hill, Virginia,
September 22, 1864; Cedar Creek, Virginia, October
19, 1864; Hatcher's Eun, Virginia, November 30,
1864; Petersburg, Virginia, April 2, 1865; Eice's
Station, Virginia, April 7, 1865; Appomattox, Vir-
ginia, April 9, 1865,
I certifv on honor this is a true statement of the
within mentioned engagements.
Sergt. Eoswell A. Shepherdson,
Co. E. 10th Eeo-t. W. Va. Vol. Inft.
George Griffin was killed at the battle of Eocky Gap,
called by the Confederates Dr}^ Creek, in 1863. James
Green died on his wav home after his discharo^e in
Upshur county. Abner Cogar died in a hospital tent at
Winchester. Isaac H. Griffin was wounded at Steven's
Depot, and W. G. Hamrick received a slight wound at
Winchester. * Addison McFisher received a severe wound
at Snicker's Gap. L. M. Marsh was captain of Com-
pany E.
156 MoccAsix Tracks
Henr}' C. Moore Avas born in Clinton, Maine, in
1817. He married Margaret Hamrick in 1853. At
one time he was one of the hirgest land owners in Web-
ster county. At the beginning of the Civil War he
went to Clarksburg, where he joined the Federal army
and acted as pilot for General George B. McClellan in
his Western Virginia campaign. Mr. Moore repre-
sented AA'ebster county in the First Wheelinsr Conven-
tion in 1861, for one week. In 1863 he went west.
He spent a large portion of his later years in trying to
solve the problem of aerial navigation. He died but
recently in the state of Iowa.
^ H^ ^
The Act by the Virginia General Assembly creating
Webster county located the seat of justice on land
owned by Addison McLaughlin, at the junction of the
Elk and the Back Fork rivers, and declared that it
should be called Addison. The place had been known
as Fork Lick for many years. When the town was sur-
veyed it was called by the latter name and it continued
to be so until an Act was iDassed by the Legislature of
West Virginia in 1873 declaring that the town there-
after should be known as Addison. The name was
changed in 1903 to Webster Springs by legislative en-
actment. A very euphonious name has been erased
from the map of West Virginia by American commer-
cialism, and a great injustice has been done to the
memory of a public spirited man who gave to the peo-
ple of Webster count}" their public square.
Other Imprints
THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS.
Ancient nations had their rise, continuance, decline,
and fall, and each in its own way taught to succeeding
nations a lesson for good or for evil. Modern nations
have had their rise and continuance, and many have
somewhat declined in power and influence during the
last two hundred and fifty years. When we take a
retrospective view of the historic nations the question:
"What constitutes the True Grandeur of Nations?"
naturally arises. It does not consist of an extensive
empire built up at the expense of weaker nations and
governed by a Caligula, a Nero, or a George III; it does
not consist of a splendid and a well equipped army that
might at the bidding of a tyyant crush a weaker nation
struggling for political freedom; it does not consist of
a powerful navy whose vessels carry the ensign of power
into foreign seas; it does not consist of high walls like
the Athenians built in Attica or the Babylonians built
at Babylon ; neither does it consist of fine military roads
like the Appian Way, built by the Romans in southern
Italy, over which their army marched to victory under
the imperial eagle. But it does consist of the prin-
ciples promulgated in the American Declaration of In-
dependence, that all men are created equal and are en-
titled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It
also consists of the individual Avorth and the intellectual
development of the people composing the nation.
Abraham Lincoln, the great Commoner and American
statesman, recognized the first of these in his great ora-
tion on the Gettysburg battle field when he spoke of a
government being of the people, for the people, and by
160 MoccASix Tracks
the people. Xapoleon Bonaparte, perhaps tlie greatest
military genius the world has ever produced, recognized
the second of these when he spoke of men as being
nothing, but a man as everything. Though a nation
may be composed of individuals as innumerable as the
sands of the seashore, if they do not possess a high
perception of right ; if they fail to promote the universal
brotherhood of mankind both at home and abroad; if
they are unwilling to assist the weak, the oppressed
and the helpless, that nation will fail to contribute any-
thing of material worth to the advancement of civiliza-
tion, or to the moral and religious elevation of man-
kind. AMiere these principles have been recognized
and Avhere thev have been carried into effect, we find the
nation has made the greatest progress in all things that
make a people great, contented, prosperous and happy.
The great Medo-Persian Empire, occupying the fair-
est portion of Eurasia, and possessing many advantages
in soil and climate, failed to exert an influence for
good either at home or abroad because the rulers acted
from the false premise that might makes right. While
it is true that King Darius and his illustrious son and
successor Xerxes could muster and equip millions of
men and could carry on a war of conquest in Europe,
in Asia, and in Africa, yet they utterly failed to wield
an influence for good among the nations of the earth.
Militarv o-lorv and achievement stimulate individual
action, but in the end it causes decay by impoverishing
nations as well as individuals. War should only be
resorted to when a nation fails to secure justice by in-
ternational law or arbitration.
The people inhabiting the little country of Phoenicia,
AND Other Imprints. 1(5]
hemmed in ou the east bv the Lebanon mountains, whose
only outlet on the west was by way of the Mediterranean
sea, did not go forth to conquer the world by military
tactics but by planting colonies in distant countries,
fostered trade and navigation and disseminated learning
and civilization to the uttermost parts of the known
world. They aided most of the great enterprises of
antiquity. They introduced the alphabet into Europe;
they furnished naval armaments for the Pharaoh? of
Egypt; they assisted Solomon in building the magnif-
icent temple at Jerusalem; they built the Hellespontine
bridge for Xerxes* a Phoenician vessel served as a
model for the first Eoman war galley. Modern civiliza-
tion owes more to the little country of Phoenicia than
v
it does to the great Persian Empire.
Switzerland, situated in the Alpine regions of south-
ern Europe, has never been conquered by a foreign foe.
Her policy has been one of peace and she has never at-
tempted to conquer or oppose any nation or people.
Each individual has been given a just share in the
government and they have always been entitled to the
fruits of their labor. The battlefields of Morgarten,
Sempach and Naefles, where the Swiss peasants met
the Austrian tyrants, will always be revered by liberty-
loving people of all nations. They did not wage war
for glory or for conquest, but for political existence.
Individual worth is the true philosopher's stone that
has ever given a golden hue tO' national existence. It
is the key that has unlocked the storehouse of material
creation, and has harnessed the mighty forces of nature.
Greece is a good example of the higher aims of a
people. As long as her people were ruled wisely she
162 MoccAsix Tracks
flourislied and produced such great characters as Homer;
Solon, Aristides and Lycurgiis. . AYhen she departed
from the principles of the golden rule, rivalry, jealousy
and hatred was engendered and the great Pelopone-
sian War was the result. This soon caused the down-
fall and the enslavement of Greece. Xations can no
less afford to be dishonest with each other than in-
dividuals. Greece bore her best fruit during the days
of peace and colonization and before military glory was
her object.
Eome, the Eternal City, the Mistress of the World,
built upon her seven hills, shows the • misery and degra-
dation caused bv war. It was durino- her earlier his-
tory that she produced her greatest and her best men.
The great contest between the plebeians and patricians
was settled by giving each faction a just share in the
government. There were many devotees of literature,-
painting, and sculpture. The city grew in numbers and
in wealth. But it was not long until a spirit of con-
quest was developed. Many nations were conquered,
and formed into Roman provinces, and imperial Eome
became a great universal empire. The love of display
and power fostered jealousy, hatred, and rivalry. The
civil wars ensued which finally resulted in the downfall
of Eome. Modern nations would do well to heed these
great historic truths that come to them so forcibly from
the past ages.
Our own country, the land of the free and the home
of the brave, has had one hundred and thirty-seven years
of national existence, and there is but little in its his-
tory for which any American citizen need be ashamed.
WJiile it is true that in the beginning, a part of the
AND Other Imprints. 163
people were held in bondage, and a different construc-
tion was placed upon the Constitution by the people of
the north and the south, yet after an armed conflict
lasting four years in which the lives of 600,000 of our
citizen-soldiers had been sacrificed upon the altar of the
god of war, the nation emerged from the smoke of the con-
flict a reunited .people without the loss of a single star
from the flag. The assertion in the Declaration of In-
dependence that all men are created equal was now an
actual fact and not as a sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal. It could now be said by all persons born or
naturalized in the United States from the pine-clad
hills of Maine to the Golden Gates of California; from
the placid waters of the Great Lakes to the orange
groves of Florida, that they owed allegiance to no
master save the God who created them.
The United States has always espoused the cause of
the weak and the oppressed. The Monroe Doctrine has
been enforced in favor of her sister republics of the
South. By an armed intervention Cuba, the Queen of
the Antilles, was freed from the tyranny of Spain. When
anv orreat calamitv has occurred, and a call for aid has
been issued, the purse strings of the American people
have been loosened, and very liberal ' donations have
been made. The people have always shown the same
liberality in aiding the victims of an Italian earthquake,
a famine in Eussia, China, or India as in relieving the
victims of a California earthquake, a Mississippi flood,
or a Baltimore fire. These are objects worthy the best
efforts of anv nation.
It has been said that the voice of the people is the
^oice of God. May the voice of the American people bq
164 Moccasin Tracks
in consonance with that Scriptural injunction which
should be the oritiamme of nations as well as indi-
viduals that, "All things whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you do ye even so to them.'^ May our
people kno^A' the right and dare to do the right at
whatever sacrifices they may be called upon to make.
May right always prevail. May justice, moderation,
and wisdom be the watchwords of the' American peo-
ple. If we follow the principles I have laid down as
indicating the true grandeur of nations our decline and
fall is very remote.
ECHOES.
The life of an individual is but an echo of the past.
Some agency for good or for evil has either directly or
indirectly influenced the life of every one.
In Grecian mythology Echo was one of the numerous
families of nymphs inhabiting the forests. She was the
daughter of the Air and the Earth. Juno, the queen
of heaven, became enraged at her because of her lo-
quacity, and poor Echo was compelled to wait in silence
until others had spoken and then to repeat their last
words onlv.
One day she saw and loved a youth named Narcissus,
who came into the woods, searching for his companions
of the chase. "Come hither," he called, and Echo,
cried "Hither.^' Narcissus replied. "Here I am — come."
"I come," said Echo, and appeared before him.
Narcissus stood as one transfixed at the sudden ap-
pearance of a maiden of such dazzling beauty, but he
was so much angered at tier mimicry that he turned
and hastened away without even speaking to her. Poor
Echo Avas so chagrined at this rebuff that from that
chance meeting she faded to a voice and remains silent
to this day. unless she is called. Narcissus did not meet
with a kindlier fate. He afterwards became so en-
amored of his own image as seen in a fountain that he
was changed into the flower that bears his name. This
beautiful little flower, that belongs to the daffodil
family, is used in European countries for Christmas
decorations.
Unlike the unfortunate wood nymph, we should
speak fearlessly on all questions affecting the general
166 MoccAsix Tracks
welfare of the public. AVe should not wait to be called
forth to defend the right and to censure the wrong.
Ever}' human action or endeavor, whether for good, or
for evil purposes, has an influence proportionate to its
intensity. Its effects will be felt in after years. It
will act like an echo in its repetition and its influence
will be felt by generations yet unborn. The life of an
individual sets in motion a powerful agency that is re-
turned in after years to bless or curse mankind.
It has been said that our good deeds are written in
water: our evil ones in brass. If the latter are so
much more enduring, how careful one should be in his
or her actions. No one can undo or entirelv counter-
act evil influences once set in motion. Like an echo
they are cast back upon the world and are encountered
at every turn in the highway of life to entangle and en-
snare the unwary. An unkind word said in the heat of
passion leaves a wounded heart that long refuses to be
comforted. An evil or an unkind thought leaves its im-
print on the character of the person who harbors it.
"Each deed we do. each word we sav,
Though trivial they often seem.
May hurt or help somebody else
In ways of which we never dream.-"
Deeds and words are like sound waves. Some great
thinkers have said that when vibrations in the air are
once started, they go on forever, although they may be
inaudible to the human ear. The fact that the evil that
men do lives after them has never been questioned;
neither has the good that is done by them.
It can never be known in this world to what extent
1G7
an act of ours may influence the life of another. It
mav be more far-reachino- than the human mind can
fathom as it is re-echoed in the life of future genera-
tions. Which shall it be, for good or evil?
It must be remembered that a physical echo exactly
corresponds to the sound reproduced. If we speak kindly
and gently, the returned words will be of a like char-
acter. Harsh, grating words will be of a similar kind.
How true and how applicable is this to one's every day
life. That like produces like is as old as material
creation. It holds good in the moral and the religious
world as well.
Christmas is a very appropriate time to refresh one's
memory as to the character of the influence set in mo-
tion during the past twelve months. The obscene story
told in jest to amuse a friend; the profane words used
in the presence of small boys; the lack of sympathy
manifested towards sc^ne one in distress, and numerous
other acts most trivial in themselves, and almost unno-
ticed at the time, will go on and on, gaining new and
added force each time they are repeated or echoed ])y
others.
Every individual sometimes unconsciously sets ex-
amples that are most explicitly followed by others. Some
years ago a farmer started to the barn to feed his
stock. A little five vear old son asked if he mia'ht sro
along. He was told that he could not w^alk through
the deep snow. "But papa," said the child, "T can
step in the tracks that you make." It can be most
readily imagined what a train of thought this little in-
cident awakened in the mind of the father. He most
108 MoccAsix Tracks
assuredly came to the conclusion that his son would im-
itate his daily conduct.
"He is a chip of the old block," is a trite saying
often quoted when describing the peculiarities of the
father rejjroduced by the son. This is but an echo of
the past life of the father, and will be present through-
out the life of the offspring. It will be reechoed in the
grandson.
One of the greatest factors in the popularity of the
gospel promulgated by the Great Teacher was His
meekness and His humility: His desire to do good and
to better man's condition in this world and in the next.
His spotless life and His devotion to His work attracted
and held the attention of countless millions of the hu-
man race during the past nineteen hundred years.
The human side of His life has been a guide for all
men with good intentions. The benign influence of
His life has echoed through the-vages of the Christian
era, and will continue until time shall be no more.
The heralds of the nativity of Christ proclaimed
peace on earth and good will to all men. What a trav-
esty on this beautiful sentiment were the conditions
in Europe on Christmas Day, 1914. The ringing of
the heretofore merry Christmas bells sounded like a
tocsin of war or the death knell of a soldier whose life
had been extinguished in an attempt to exploit modern
commercialism, or to enlarge the domain of some un-
scrupulous ruler. But the ways of Providence are past
human comprehension. Xations, as well as individu-
als, are the instruments through which God works to
accomplish His purposes.
As the roar of the cannon from the lowlands of Bel-
AND Other Imprints. 169
gium and the mountains of Alsace echo through the
long corridors of time, some great and unexpected good
to mankind will result from the stupendous loss of life
and the intense suffering of the noncombatants. Pres-
ent conditions in Europe would indicate that man is
not yet ready to convert his weapons of warfare into
implements of husbandry. This does not mean that
the teachings of Cihrist have lost their efficiency. It is
but an echo from man when he was in a state border-
ing on savagery, when brut^ force was recognized and
considered a far greater asset than moral or intellectual
development, and when the life of a human l3eing was
of little worth when it was in opposition to the accom-
plishment of some cherished plan.
This should not be the condition in the first quarter
of the twentieth century. War should have been left
centuries behind so that nothing but its echo could be
heard in this day of enlightenment.
THE CEMETERY.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the great American
writer, who is often referred to as the poet of Home,
Hope and Heaven, has said that he liked the epithet
''God's Acre'^ that the Saxons applied to their burial
ground. His high mental organism and his great S3'm-
pathetic heart at once saw the beautiful meaning ex-
pressed in the appellation.
The uncanny and super^itious awe in which a grave-
yard is regarded by many persons is greatly diminished
when we think of our last earthly resting place as being
consecrated to God. To us our dear friends but sleep
in God^s loving care until He awakens them from
their slumbers. This is not only a very comforting,
but a very pleasing thought. This thought robs the
grave of its seeming harshness and terror.
To the Christian, who believes in the final resurrec-
tion of the body, the grave is but a temporary abode
from which it will be called to enter upon a higher and
perhaps a more useful career. Sorrow for the departed
is the onlv o-rief from which the human heart refuses
to be separated. This is a very striking characteristic
of the human familv. The remembrance of our friends
becomes dearer to us as the tide of years roll onward
•
in their ceasless course. The place where they lie at
rest becomes dearer and we would not have them back
again even if we could have it so. It is useless to re-
pine over our loss. We should rather rejoice that their
life's work is completed and that they have but crossed
over to await our coming. They are yet living in the
noble work which they accomplished during life's fit-
AXD Other Imprixts. 171
ful career, and above all this, they live in the hearts
and the att'ections ot their friends who are yet on this
side of the line that divides time from eternity.
It seems passing strange what little attention is be-
stowed upon country cemeteries. They are overgrown
with weeds and briars, and if fenced at all its unsightly
appearance is such that it would be better to have dis-
pensed with it altogether. But, says someone, the beau-
tifying of the cemeteries does not benefit the deceased.
We must readily admit the truthfulnss of this asser-
tion. The good is intended for the living, and not for
the dead. Xo one for a moment thinks that decorating
the graves with flowers is of any use whatever to the
occupant of the grave, but who among us would abolish
this most beautiful custom?
By associating with persons, whom we love, we are
elevated to a higher plane of thought and self and all
selfish feelings are kept in abeyance. It is because of
this tendency that the attention and care given to the
cemeterv has an ennoblino- effect.
A few years since a crowded railroad train stopped
on a siding near one of the most popular and well kept
cemeteries in central West Virginia. The day was
blustery and stormy, it being midwinter. Snow lightly
covered the ground, which blended harmoniously with
the tombstones and more pretentious monuments which
covered a large area of space. The passengers sitting
on the side of the cars facing the cemetery for sometime
listlessly watched the snowflakes chasing one another
past the windows in rapid succession. Presently their
attention was attracted to a man of perhaps seventy
172 MoccAsix Tracks
years and a little girl of about five standing beside a
grave over in what seemed to be a neglected part of the
burial ground. Xo high shafts of marble or granite
adorn'ed the vicinity in which they stood.
Judging from their dress it was plainly indicated
that they belonged to the humbler walks of life. The
old gentleman wore neither overcoat nor gloves, and the
child was clad in a faded gingham frock. The little
girl carried a small basket on her arm containing a
few flowers. With these thev decorated the grrave in
the midst of the blinding storm. While this was
being done one could easily imagine the childish prat-
tle of the little girl. Perhaps, she was saying that
dear old grandma had loved the flowers. Perchance,
it was in memory of a kind, loving mother, that this
was being done. The conversation could not be heard
but the deed could not be minconstrued.
As the train left that hallowed scene there was not
a person who witnessed this act of devoted love who
had not a warm spot in his heart for the old man and
the little girl. Other cemeteries many miles distant
was brought vividly to mind where a snow-covered
moimd contained all that was mortal of some loved one.
It is such a homely scene as this that makes the
world aware of the universal brotherhood of mankind.
There is, indeed, a touch of nature that makes the
world akin. A greater tribute of respect was paid to
the memory of the one who lay buried beneath the snow
than the erection of a costlv monument.
Chronicles of an Oak
Number I.
A lone and pensive angler near the close of a hot
day in July sat himself down beneath the ample foliage
of the "Skyles Oak." The day had been spent in fish-
ing for bass in Birch river. The gentle breezes from
the west as they played among the branches of the
tree may have lulled him to repose, or it may have
been the listlessness that comes over one in solitude
that soothes tired muscles as well as a tired brain. At
any rate the angler felt conscious of a small voice that
came from the branches of the tree, and it seemed to
be addressing the angler :
♦ ♦ ♦
"x\nd you would like to hear something of my life
history ? Well, well ! Many, many years ago, perhaps
two hundred, I was a small acorn snuggled closely in
my little cradle. My mamma stood on that high bhiff
just beyond the cliff you can see yonder. One autumn
day a little bird took me out of my cradle and carried
me down here by the side of the brook. It told me
that I would soon change my form and that I would
become very beautiful. I went to sleep and slept for
a long, long time. One morning in April the south
wind woke me and it told me that I was to be a tree.
The sun, rain and dew nourished me, and my leaves
began to unfold.
^ ^ ^
One of the first things I can remember, besides the
bright sunshine and what the little bird and the south
wind told me, was a pretty, graceful doe that led her
two spotted fawns down to drink of the sparkling
176 - MoccAsix Tracks
water that flowed beneath my tiny branches. This was
niany^ many years before the white hunter had invaded
this country. The deer had neither heard the report
of his ];itie nor the bark of his dog. They were always
very shy, timid animals, but they were not afraid to
come into the open spaces in their forest home.
Jj! ^ H=
■'When I was a very small sapling, some Indians that
had come from the Shawnee town on the Scioto, in
Ohio, passed by on their way to yisit their kin at the
Mingo Flats. They went up Birch by way of the Toll
Gate and crossed the Gauley at the Old Indian Ford
south-west of tapper Glade. Oh, my, how scared I
was when I saw their painted faces and their toma-
hawks ! Xo white settlers lived in this valley at that
time for them to make war upon.
sj^ H! *
"When I had grown to a good-sized tree, a man with
an axe came here and he cut down many smaller trees
and built a rude log cabin, near where I stand. He
then went away and was gone for many days. When
he returned he brought with him a woman and the
cutest little blue-eved baby vou have ever seen. He
brought them from Bath County beyond the mountains.
Since that time many generations of Dodrills, Baugh-
mans and Barnetts have walked the foot bridge across'
Skyles creek beneath my friendly branches.
•If. ■iji ■^
"There used to be a sign-board nailed to my trunk,
which told many a weary traveler that it was thirty-
one miles to Addison where the now famous Salt Sul-
AXD Other Imprixts. 17
ly
phur springs are located. Invalids often pass here on
horseback and in carriages on their way to drink of
their life-giving water.
H( ^ ^
""I well remember when a small freckled faced, bare-
foot boy passed by on his way to Barnett's Mill, in
my own way I spoke to him, bnt he passed on without
giving me but little thought or attention. It may be
that he thought that it was only the breezes sighing
among my branches, or a ghost that would catch him
before he again saw his dear mamma. He is now a
man and is better versed in woodcraft than he was at
that time.
^ ^ ^
"Do you remember anything that occurred in tliis
and adjoining' counties during the Civil War? You
were too young to remember much about the war, eh !
Well, I remember many things that occurred during
that late unpleasantness. In the first year of the war
a party of horsemen from the vicinity of Upper Glade
passed by here. While their horses drank at the ford,
I heard a part of their conversation. One gentleman
in particular, who seemed to be very loquacious, said
that if there were any Yankees at the Pike he would
like to see them. They continued on their way and in
the late afternoon they came back in a great luirry,
and the gentleman who wanted to see the Yankees was
so frightened that he did not know whether it was him-
self or his horse that had been wounded. It was after-
wards ascertained that the horse was mortally wounded
and the rider was unscathed. William McKinley^
178 MoccAsiK Tracks
«
Eutherford B. Havs aud Whitelaw Eeid were with the
Yankees at the Pike at that time.
♦ ^ >I5
"Some weeks after this little episode a company of
soldiers stopped here and a blue-eyed, fair-haired drum-
mer boy looked at me aud said, 'Why, here is a tree
just like the one in our yard at home on the Picka-
way Plains, in Ohio.' His lips trembled and the tears
trickled down his fair cheeks as he thought of the
loved ones at home. After they had gone a short time
the rattle of musketry was heard, and I have often
wondered if the little drummer l>oy ever again saw the
oak tree in his father's yard. Was he with Sherman on
his 'March to the Sea,' or with Grant at Appomattox ?
Did he fill an unmarked grave on the banks of the
beautiful Shenandoah ?
''One night many years after the war a number of
persohs passed here wearing masks. They stopped and
held a whispered conversation. I could not hear much
of what was said but I suspected that they were on
their way to rob Uncle John Baughman, an aged but
inoffensive man, who lived a short distance above here.
Some time after midnight they returned, Init they were
in such a hurry that I could not hear what either of
them said. There was a woman in the crowd, but she
could walk as fast as the men. It was scarcely a week
after this that two officers of the law crossed the ford
with the woman and two men handcuffed. I heard one
of the officers say something aboitt a place 'called
Moundsville, and judging by what he said it is not a
AND Other Imprints. 179
desirable place to be sent, especially for a woman. It was
two or three years before I saw the woman again and
I am sorry to say that her trip to Moundsville did not
bring- about a reformation in her way of living.
^ ^ ^
"A civil engineer passed by here not long since. He
encircled my waist with a tape line and said that I was
one hundred and forty-four inches in circumference.
He also spoke of how many railroad cross-ties could be
sawed from my trunk. Now, I hope they will not cut
me down and haul me to Cowen^ as I have seen them
do with so many other fine trees.
^c ^ ^
^"One evening while the Skyles Training school was
in session, a young man and a very beautiful girl came
down here. They sat on the end of the foot-bridge and
talked and talked, but it was in such subdued tones
that I could scarcely hear what they said. I did hear
them say something about next June, the month of
roses, and as thev went awav the moon stole out from
behind a cloud and as the girl looked up into the
strong, handome face of her companion, they both
looked very happy. But the oak and the moon do not
tell the secrets of lovers. Manv love affairs are told
us in great confidence, which are never repeated.
Hs 5jj H^
"What 'have you in your basket? Bass, caught out
of Birch, did you say? The bass came up from Birch
into Skyles before you anglers came here. They raised
myriads of little black babies each spring. When these
were ten or twelve inches long they went down in-
180 MoccASix Tracks
to the deep pools and did uot return ag^in except to
spawn in the spring.
H* H» 'i^
"The angler at this time was aroused to conscious-
ness and he took his way down the river in the direc-
tion of his home, thinking of what he had heard and
wondering if all trees did not have an interesting
history to relate if one could but put himself in the
proper attitude to understand them/^
Number II.
On a recent visit to his old home on Birch river
the angler of last July took up his gun, where it had
lain for many a year, and wended his way to the woods
in quest of the gray squirrel. The sun was just rising
above the eastern horizon and his beams soon dissipated
the autumnal fog that hung like a pall over the peace-
ful valley. The day was an ideal one for an outing in
the forest. A gentle breeze from the east scarcely
moved the leaves that had now begun to put on their
tints of yellow, red, and orange as if the trees were be-
ing dressed for a holiday. The blue jays were scolding
from the tops of the beech and chestnut trees, in seem-
ing impatience of the lateness of the frost king that
was to open to their inquisitive gaze the juicy treasures
contained in their burrs. The woodchuck, now grown
sleek, fat, and lazy from his too frequent visits to the
clover patch, stood erect on his hind legs and eyed
the hunter askance as if to say, "And you have again
returned to disturb the quietness of the little denizens
of fields and woods."
The notes of the yellow breasted chat, the clown and
the ventriloquist of the deep, tangled thickets, no
longer vibrated upon the air. He took his departure
early in the month of July to more favored regions to
spend the time in peace and quiet during the molting
season. The sharp cry of the robin and the thrush
indicated their early departure for the sunny south,
where thev can renew their former loves in a more
congenial clime. The numerous family of flycatchers
are no longer seen on the wing, the first blasts of
182 MoccASix Tracks
Boreas ihaving sent the insects, their chief food supply,
to their inscrntahle winter lionies. Squirrels were
plentiful, feeding on the nuts of the beech, the hickory
and the chestnut trees. The loud and frequent report
of the Stevens echoed from hill to hill. Many innocent
animals were killed that morning that had never in
anv manner harmed the hunter. When his thirst for
blood had been satisfied, he realized that he was once
more in the midst of the familiar scenes of his bovhood
days. What man that has reached the meridian of life
does not w^ish for the return of those halcyon days —
days spent in the innocent contemplation of the world
that lay all undiscovered before him. But, alas ! Those
were the days in which the rose plucked from the inno-
cent bowers of pleasure had no thorns. The lengthen-
ing shadows now warned the hunter of approaching
night, and being in the vicinity of the Skyles Oak, he
could not forego the pleasure of again resting beneath
its friendly branches. The incessant babbling of the
brook seemed to invite repose, and being in a mood for
meditation, as on a former occasion, he seemed to hear
a low, sweet voice coming from among the branches.
Listening attentively this voice resolved i;tself into
speech and appeared to be addressed to the hunter:
H^ ♦ H<
'^And vou are the ano;ler who was here last Julv ?
I see vou have chano^ed vour fish rod for a o-un. It
were a great pity that you so-called sportsmen have
such cupidity. Wby not be content in viewing the
beauties of nature and in studying the forms and the
habits of God's innocent creatures ? But instead of this,
it is just kill, kill, with you. Had you but given a
AXD Other Imprints. 183
small portion of the time and money you have spent in
hunting and tishing to tlie study of amateur photogra-
phy, you would now have a collection of pictures you
would prize very much. Did you say that you would
give five dollars for a photograph of many of the scenes
you have looked upon in your outings ? Why, certainly
you would, and more too. But it is now too late to ob-
tain them, for many have been destroyed by man
through some one of his many destructive ways.
i'fi ^ ^
"I am very sorry to see those little dead squirrels,
but I am also very glad that you did not kill any
ruffed grouse. It is against the law to kill them at
this time, did you say? The average hunter cares l)ut
little for the law when he has a chance to kill any
kind of game. He usually considers any living animal
his lawful prev. Many years ago a pretty little squirrel
made his home among my branches. He was so playful
and such a gentle little creature that I loved him verv
dearly. I was awakened one morning by the loud bark-
ing of a dog. The squirrel had gone down to yonder
w^alnut tree for his breakfast. He ran to me as fast
as he could run, and climbed m}^ trunk to the topmost
branches, where he thought that he was safe. Just
then a man came up the road carrying a gun. How
I trembled for the safety of my little friend ! A loud
report was heard and the squirrel fell limp and lifeless
to the ground. His life-blood dyed the daisies that
grew by the road-side a crimson hue. The man ap-
peared greatly elated over his triumph and carried the
lifeless body away.
184 MoccAsix Tracks
*•'! have often heard that you were a friend of the
birds. Year after year a pair of orioles have suspended
tlieir nest from one of my slender twigs and reared
their young undisturbed. Cardinal grosbeaks and song
sj^arrows nest in the hemlock and rhododendrons grow-
ing along the margin of the brook. I hope parents and
teachers will so instruct the boys that they will love
and protect the birds. They are not so plentiful as
they were when I was a younger tree. You have prob-
ably noticed how many fine trees are infested with
worms and caterpillars of late years. This is because
of the decrease in the number of birds. The srirls, true
to their finer sensibilities and inclinations, do not harm
the birds except in following the relentless hand of
fashion. ISJ^ow, were I a youno* lady instead of beinff a
tree, I should never wear a little dead bird on mv hat.
It is tolerating the wanton destruction of God's most
beautiful, as well as most useful, created beings in the
lower forms of life.
"One ]3eautiful Sunday morning a numlDer of boys
who sliould have been at church came do\\m here. Their
attention was soon attracted l^y the chirp of young
birds. They spied the nest and with shouts of antici-
pated victory began to throw stones at it, but it was too
high for their puny efforts to ])e of any avail. One of
tlie boys, more reckless and daring than his compan-
ions, at once proceeded to climb my trunk with the
evil intention of taking the nestlings from their soft,
downy cradle that had Ijeen so gently rocked by the
wind. Before he reached his coveted prize the branch
on which he stood suddenlv broke, and he fell heavily
to the ground. I felt very sorry to see the lx)y in such
AND Other Imprixts. 185
great pain, but I was surely very glad that he did not
get my baby birds. I hope that he learned a very im-
portant lesson from his luckless adventure and that he
never attempted to rob a bird's nest again.
^ H< H^
"You would like to be told something more about
the Civil War? Well, I once told you a little comedy
about the war, but I will tell you about one of its trage-
dies. It was the saddest incident that I witnessed dur-
ing that distressing period. Two civilians, dressed in
the honorable uniform of Southern soldiers, stopped
here with an old man, whose scantv locks were white
almost as the driven snow. He had been taken from
his mill over on Gauley river in Nicholas county. They
had made him give up his boots and had given him a
pair of old shoes. They had compelled him to carry
them over the many fords of Birch. The water was icy
cold, it being late in autumn. I heard him speak of a
dear, little boy that had been left on the mill. He feared
he would be drowned before his mamma found him.
The old man, almost heart-broken, wrung his hands in
agony while the tears ran down his emaciated cheeks.
He never returned to his home and his loved ones. He
died in the land of Dixie, where he was taken, a mar-
tyr to sectional strife. A few weeks after a company of
Nicholas Home Guards passed this way. I heard one
of them say the little boy found his way home. For
many and many a cold winter day he anxiously watched
for his papa who never returned to greet him. He is
now a man and is an influential citizen of Nicholas
county. Well, 1 know this is not a very pleasing story
for vou or anvone to hear, but it is true, nevertheless.
186 MoccAsix Tracks
I Ii0i3e that no section of country or class of society
■will ever again be arrayed against another. Such a sad
thing as I have related can only occur in civil strife or
warfare. Eobert Burns, the Scottish poet, has very
truthfully said, 'Man's inhumanity to man makes count-
less thousands mourn.'
H^ ^ ^
^'There have been many advertisements of patent
medicines, tobaccos and political meetings posted on my
trunk. Xow, I think this is very wrong. Man}' of the
most beautiful rural scenes have been greatly marred
by this most pernicious practice. Eocks and trees
alike are disfigured. What a shock it must be to a i>er~
son, when viewing some natural object of exquisite
beauty with infinite pleasure, to be reminded of the
fact that he has that tired feeling, or that he is bilious
and should take a certain brand of pills or other nau-
seous decoction that in every instance does the patient
more harm than good. If such things must be read by
a long-suffering people, let bill boards be erected for
such purposes. I have heard that many farmers allow
such stuff to be placed on their barns and other farm
buildings, but I can scarcely believe that it can be true.
I hope the legislature of West Virginia will soon pass
a law making it a misdemeanor under a penalty of fine
and imprisonment to post notices or advertisements of
any kind on rocks and trees along the public highways,
in parks, or on private property unless permission from
the owner has been obtained.
^ ^ ^
"Xow. T have taken you into my confidence, and I
have told you, in my homely way, many interesting
AND Other Imprints. 187
tilings. By some persons you have been called a very
successful angler and hunter. But you have gained no
real pleasure in your murderous pursuits. When you
witnessed the death of one of your victims you felt like
an actual murderer. You could not witness the dying
agonies^ and sought solace in some excuse to justify the
takino' of a life vou never can oive back a^ain. I am
frank in telling you that I consider it a very doubtful
compliment to be called successful in the pursuit of any
harmless creatures. God in his infinite wisdom made
them all, and their indiscriminate slauohter bv man is
wrong. You should not again be guilty of such wan-
ton destruction of life as you have in the past.
lJfl\e 111 Lilt' pnsL
The hunter was aroused from his reverie by the
rather harsh tone in which these last words were spoken,
and feeling guilty of the charge, he picked up the dead
squirrels and half wished that he could restore them
alive to their forest home. As he slowly traveled in
the direction of home his thoughts were of a sadder cast
than they were when he so joyously went to the woods
that beautiful autumnal morning.
, Number III.
When we have been attracted to any one of the great
objects of inanimate nature it is but little wonder that
we desire to pass some time in its presence indulging in
pleasing reveries, or spending the time in contemplat-
ing its beauties. We never grow tired of it. While in
its presence there is a restfulness that comes upon one
that is akin to sleep^, and a tranquility that gives a
respite from the harassing cares of the daily routine of
life. To some persons this object is a flower; to oth-
ers a rock, a tree, a river, or a mountain, and yet to
others it is each of these combined in one grand pano-
rama of nature.
To me, the most beautiful thing below the animal
kingdom, is a tree. In .its majesty as it towers towards
the sky, it seems to possess some of the qualities be-
longing to the human family, yet it defies the storms of
a thousand winters: its branches assume an upright
position to be the more able to overcome gravitation.
If its branches are broken bv the wind, the damasre is
quickly repaired and a scar only remains as a reminder
of adversity. Trees have inspired the prose writer as
well as the poet. They have played a very conspicuous
part in the history of the United States. These historic
trees can be found scattered throughout the length and
breadth of the land. Brvant tells us that the sfroves
were God^s first temples. It was there that man first
lifted up his heart in praise to his Creator before the
building of churches, cathedrals, or temples. The oak
tree was sacred to the Druids, the ancient inhabitants
of Great Britain.
AXD Other Impeixts. 189
It has not been nianv weeks since the erstwhile an-
gler and hunter was in the vicinit}^ of the Skyles Oak,
and he again rested beneath its sheltering branches.
The western breeze, the babbling brook, and the inces-
sant hum of the autumnal insects invited repose. The
tree spoke to him in its former tone, and with its usual
alacrity, but in a somewhat sadder vein. This sadness
might have been because of the near approach of win-
ter or the loss of some of its leaves.
♦ ♦ :H
"Well, I have told you on two former occasions some
of the most interesting things that have come under my
observation. I was here when the first settlement was
made in this valley. I have seen the old pioneer
dressed in homespun clothes pass away and his son
wearing tailor-made clothes succeed him. I have seen
the children go by here on their way to school. It glad-
dens the heart of any one to see them care-free, and
to hear them talking so artlessly of the burdens of life
that lay so lightly upon their shoulders. This is as it
should be for them. They will be rudely awakened to
the stern realities of life soon enough. Let them en-
iov life before its burdens become heavv.
'Many children of the neighborhood have come here
to pla}') in my shade and to build castles out of the
sand in the road and along the brookside. I remem-
ber one little girl with sparkling blue eyes and raven
hair who used to gather acorns in her apron and play at
hide-and-seek with the boys and girls of her own age.
Her smile was like the sunshine and her laughter was
190 MoccAsix Tracks
as musical as the ripple of the brook or the carol of the
birds among my branches. The same Being that had
formed the one had created the others also. Well do I
remember seeing her start on her first morning to
school to the Four Oaks. She often brought her books
over here and prepared her lessons when she had grown
older. She was always kind and gentle, and she had
many friends. I saw her go away one autumn day
and I afterwards learned that she was teaching school.
I watched from day to day for h^r home coming. When
she did come home, over there where you can see the
two black pines in front of the house, she did not come
toi see me because the snow la}' deep on the ground.
On Sundav evening; she left the home of her childhood
never ao-ain to visit it. One cold winter dav I saw a
sad throng slowly and sorrowfully coming down the
road bringing the body of my once little favorite. All
that was mortal of her was laid to rest on yonder hill,
where the violets and daisies deck her last resting place
each returning spring. ^Thus the young and lovely
pass away.^ Many children have played here since then,
but I can never forget the little fairy-like girl who vis-
ited me so often. The snows of twentv-two winters have
covered her grave. This mantle of snow is a very be-
fitting emblem of her pure and unselfish life.
Hi ^ ^
"It has been extremely painful for me tO' witness the
many cruelties practiced upon the horses that have
been driven or ridden past here. Many horses are
afraid to venture upon the ice that often covers the
brook in winter, and whip and spur are used without
AND Other Imprints. 191
mercy. I have seen many teams overloaded, and be-
cause the heavy load could not be moved up the steep
bank on the opposite side of the brook, the horses were
cruelly beaten by the ignorant drivers. A few months
ago a very fine span of horses hitched to a wagon
loaded heavily with lumber crossed the brook, but they
could not move it up the bank on the other side. The
leader was a beautiful bay, with sleek, glossy hair. The
poor creatures time after time did their very best, but
still the wagon did not move. The driver plied his
whip with a heavy hand, and used the customary pro-
fane language, but neither availed anything. The
horses had become confused and could not pull to-
gether and the wagon rolled back into the brook. The
usual crowd collected. Eacli man offered a plan as the
best method of procedure. At this time a very benevo-
lentj looking old gentleman came down the road and
stopped to inquire as to wh}' so many men and boys bad
collected by the roadside. Upon learning the trouble,
he spoke kindly to the horses and stroked the neck of
the leader. The intelligent animal rubbed his head
against the old man's shoulder. After adjusting the
harness on each of the horses he took up the lines, but
not the whip, and spoke to them in a voice that indi-
cated that the trouhle had been removed. The horses
pulled with a will; the wheels began to turn, and the
load was easily landed at the top of the bank.
This was an object lesson not soon to be forgotten.
The horses felt that their driver did not give them fair
treatment and they could not act in concert. When
they had been spoken to kindly they felt like showing
192 MoccAsix Tracks
their . appreciation and the wagon moved along. Socie-
ties for the prevention of cruelty to animals have done
and are doing a noble work, it is to be hojoed that
branch societies will be founded in ever}' county of
West Virginia.
^ ^ ^
"I see you have neither rod nor gun with you. 1
hope you will begin the study of nature with a camera
instead of such deadly weapons as you have been accus-
tomed to use on your outings. When you get in close
touch with the squirrels^ the grouse, and the quail, they
become so interesting that jou. have no desire to kill
them. They become a part of the great world of
beauty that is spread around you, and, when they are
gone there is nothing so interesting in nature to take
their place. Can you imagine what a dreary place this
world would be if there were no wild animal life? This
will be the condition a few years from now if restrictive
measures are not soon put in force.
H< ♦ *
"It has been more than one hundred vears since the
first party of surveyors was here. The leader of the
crew was a man by the name of Skyles, who was a son
of the noted surveyor of Kanawha county. He sur-
veyed a tract of land lying near the mouth of the brook
that was later called Skyles creek. The space of a cen-
turv means much in the life historv of the individuals
composing a nation, but it means but little in the his-
tory of a forest tree. Before the blighting hand of the
lumberman had smitten the forests of Birch river
many stately poplar trees, whose life history embraced
AND Other Imprints. 193
more than seven centuries, graced its banks. These
grand old landmarks of the remote past have all been
cut down and the logs floated to Charleston, or left to
decay along the banks of the streams."
^ ^ H*
The latter part of this discourse awakened in the
listener a feeling of sadness, because it brought back to
his mind the days of his youth, when he rambled care-
free through the woods on his father's farm admiring
the majestic beauty of the forest giants. He waited for
a continuation of the discourse, but the voice was
stilled. The breeze had died away and the sun having
long since crossed the meridian, the listener hastened
homeward musing on the mutability of time.
INFLUENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN RE-
LIGION ON CIVILIZATION.
The untaught mind of men in all ages and in all
countries has tried to discover the source of life and
the dispenser of happiness among the people of the
world. This has given rise to many different systems
of religion^ and each has had a marked effect upon the
destiny of nations and the lives of individuals. The fol-
lowers of Zoroaster believe that their hig'hest religious
duty is to destroy all harmful animals and noxious
weeds. The Egyptian mothers, in an agony of grief,
threw their babies into the Xile to be devoured by the
hideous crocodiles because they had been taught that
this was the most effectual way of gaining divine favor.
The devotees of other religions tried to make them-
selves just as miserable as possible in this life because
thev thouo^ht that was the means by which thev could
gain celestial happiness in the next. The followers
of Confucius pay divine homage to their ancestors
because they have been taught that by so doing they
can obtain eternal happiness.
The Jewish priests sacrificed lambs and doves be-
cause they thought that Jehovah was pleased by the
shedding of blood on the sacrificial altar.
The Aztecs of Mexico sacrificed their handsomest
boys and most beautiful girls because they thought that
to be the only way in which they could again bring
themselves into the favor of an offended Deity.
But the religion that has had the most powerful ef-
fect, and has b^en the most potent factor in the world
for good, is the one that was established by the meek
and lowlv Jesus — the Christ-child born in Bethlehem
AND Other Imprints. 195
of Jiidea more than nineteen hundred years ago. By
him a new reiigi6n was given to mankind in whicli the
two principal tenets are, love to God, the Creator,
and love to man, our fellow being. This is a revealed
religion based upon the prophetic revelations of such
men as Samuel, Isaiah, Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and
many other holy men of the Hebrew nation. This re-
ligion in the beginning was taught by Jesus, assisted
by the disciples and apostles. The idea of a Supreme
G-od being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent,
was but imperfectly understood at that time. This
religion is the one governing the conduct of all civi-
lized nations of to-day and the one upon which all of
their public institutions are based. The great mission-
arv zeal of the Christians has caused to be erected a
cross, the emblem of their faith, among the most re-
mote people on the globe. These people have been in-
structed in the principles of moral and religious recti-
tude that are elevating in their tendency and in conse-
quence civilization and learning have been dissem-
inated.
The Christian religion is based upon the very ele-
ments of civilization. It aims for a higher and purer
life ; for the administration of justice between man
and man. It is the basis of modern society, and it of-
fers to those who sucessfully run the race of life in
harmony, with certain prescribed rules a crown of ever-
lasting glory, and to those who fail to honor their Cre-
ator eternal banishment from His presence.
Non-civilization is the lack of the proper organiza-
tion of society on the principles of right and justice.
It is that state of existence in which the people are
196 MoccAsix Tracks
steeped in ignorance and superstition and in which
they have no proper conception of either right or
wrong. The Christian religion, by being the basis of
society, is a most potent factor in civilization because it
teaches the sacredness of the marriage vow and filial
affection. It teaches obedience to law and government.
It also teaches one's duty to those in unfortunate
circumstances, all of which elevate and ennoble man-
kind.
The first nation to embrace the Christian religion
was the Eoman Empire. Many barbaric peoples with
whom the Romans came in contact gladly received their
missionaries and were enrolled as members of the
church when baptized. They also accepted their laws,
manners and customs that had come from Egypt, As-
syria, Babylonia, Phoenecia, Greece and many other
countries.
This civilization and culture was passed to England,
Spain, Holland, Germany, Sweden and France through
the medium of Christianity. From these countries it
came to America, where it has borne its choicest fruit.
It is to this religion that we of to-day owe our great-
est debt of gratitude for our boasted civilization in the
United States, the land over which the Stars and
Stripes, designed by Betsy Ross, waves so triumph-
antly.
The Mohammedan religion, founded by Mohammed
about thirteen hundred years ago, has cast a blight over
everv countn^ in which it has been established, because
its founder told his followers to plant the Moslem faith
by the arbitrament of the sword where necessary. T\Tiat
a contrast is this with the Christian religion founded
AND Other Imprints. 197
by Jesus, who told his followers if smitten on one cheek
to turn the other also. The angels at the nativity of
Christ sang an anthem, the burden of whioh was,
"Peace on earth and good will to all imen." This
should be the slogan of Christ's followers to-da}'. They
should not force their religion on any nation, but by
their upright conduct prove to the world that the
Christian relio-ion is a realitv and not a cloak to be
worn for the purpose of gaining popularity.
The Christian religion teaches the universal broth-
erhood of mankind and the equality of all men in the
sight of Grod, whether high or low, rich or poor, learned
or unlearned, if they but obey His commands. This
religion pleaded effectually for the abolition of the
slave and the serf, although St. Paul said that the re-
ligion of Jesus did not change the condition or rela-
tion of the slave and his master. This meant obedience
to the laws under which one lives. It prepared the
way for the introduction of ari:, literature and culture
from Eome among the barbaric nations of Western
Europe, and exerted a powerful influence in the fusion
of the Latin and Teutonic peoples, which has been
such a power in modern civilization. The Crusades,
which were religious wars carried on in behalf of
Christianity, and which were contrary to its teachings,
gave great momentum to civilization. It did not mat-
ter in the least whether the Holy Sepulcher, that had
been the resting place of the body of Jesus, was in the
possession of the infidel Turks, who were the followers
of ^Mohammed, or under the dominion of the Chris-
tians. But "God moves in a mysterious way," and much
good resulted therefrom, although the lives of vast mul-
198 Moccasin Teacks
titudes of deluded people were sacrificed. The surviv-
orSj on their return to their homes in Western Europe,
brought back with them treasures .'of learning and
classical literature — the fruits of past centuries of hu-
man endeavor. This awakened among the people of the
different countries to which the Crusaders returned an
intellectual activity, which finally resulted in the great
outbreak known as the Eevival of Learning. These
holy wars helped to break down the long established
Feudal Aristocracy and gave prominence to kings and
people; they checked the advance of the Turks from
Asia and Africa for three centuries, and preserved the
existence of Constantinople to the Christians, and thus
gave to the young and rising civilization of Western
Europe time to gain the strength necesary to defeat
the Moslem hordes when they invaded Europe in the
fifteenth century.
The literature of Christian nations, based upon the
Bible, has had an elevating effect on the minds of men.
The Bible, especially that part of it called the Xew
Testament, has become the guide for the majority of
all the people in all civilized nations, and its influence
for good is recognized by those who do not follow its
teachings. Milton's "Paradise Lost,'' Bunyan's "Pil-
grim's Progress" and Bryant's "Thanatopsis" are recog-
nized classics in the English language. Each of these
was inspired in the minds of the author by meditating
on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and the
great plan of human redemption. The reading of these
productions make better men and nobler women. Paint-
ing and sculpture have been greatly enriched by persons
who have taken their subjects from the Bible.
AND Other Imprints. 199
This religion is destined to march onward in its
course until all nations and peoples recognize its merits.
GOVEKNMENT.
The nature of the government under which one lives
affects his well-being to a greater extent than any other
thing, not excepting religion. A close and impartial
perusal of the pages of history will justify this asser-
tion. From the time in which civil government was
first instituted — a time very remote in the annals of an-
tiquity — history records countless revolutions, insurrec-
tions and rebellions. These w^ere principally caused by
the mistaken ideas of the rulers that the government
was instituted for their good and for their personal
aggrandizement, and not for the good of the governed.
The people objected to any restraint of their actions
and were restless and easily provoked to violence. The
rulers were despotic, inhuman and licentious. Many
profligate rulers resorted to extortion to replenish a
depleted treasury.
In comparing the governments of the twentieth cen-
tury of our era with those of two thousand years ago,
we wonder how they could be endured. A better ex-
planation of the objects of government can not be
found than the ones given in the preamble to our Na-
tional Constitution. "To establish justice, to insure do-
mestic tranquility, to provide for the common defense,
to promote the general welfare, and to secure the bless-
ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." This
takes in the whole scope of government, and if these
objects are strictly observed many abuses of government
would speedily disappear.
200 MoccAsix Tracks
Government is established for the good of the ones
controlled, and not for the benefit of the rulers. It is
not for the good of the few to the detriment of the
many. The general good could not be secured through
any other agency and some form of civil government
becomes a necessity.
Lavr, which is a prescribed rule of action, is the guar-
dian of liberty, and without it there would be anarchy,
which is a state of society in which each individual fol-
lows the bent or inclination of his own desires without
any restraint from any one in authority.
One object of government is to protect the people in
their individual rights. It does this by restraining
others from doing violence to their person or to their
property. Government is therefore rendered necesary
by the disposition of some individuals to do wrong, and
this will ever be the condition as lons^ as human frail-
ties exist. But government is not merely repressive;
it must perform other functions: it is not only neces-
sary to restrain the evil-doer, and protect the just, but
it is necessary to promote the general welfare as well
as the welfare of individuals in the protection of their
political rights.
There are many things that must be done for the ad-
vancement of a nation that can only be accomplished
through the agency of civil government. It has much
more to do besides restraining violence, redressing
wrongs and punishing transgressors. Science and art
are to be fostered; education must be promoted: pub-
lic buildings erected and cared for; highways and
bridges built and maintained. It has been said by
many writers on Civics that government is a necessary
AND Other Imprints. 201
evil and the government is the best that governs the
least. The tendency of such statements is to create
distrust of, and aversion to, one of the greatest institu-
tions created by man. A government should be loved,
obeyed and respected. If it is founded on justice and
administered in wisdom, it is always beneficial to the
people living under it.
If governments are regarded as necessary evils ren-
dered necessary because of the viciousness and stupid-
ity of the human family, there is no reason for the
"existence of patriotism, that is stronger than the love
of kindred or any of the other natural affections. This
is a very strong proof that government is regarded as a
blessing and not as an evil. It must be admitted that
there are abuses practiced in all governments, even in
the best forms, because man being an imperfect being
can not create a perfect structure. The best govern-
ment is not the one that governs ^ the least but, all
things being equal, that one is the best that makes the
least show of governing. The wise ruler, whether in
family, school or state, will avoid giving prominence
to the fact that he is a controlling power, but the un-
wise one will on every occasion endeaver to make a dis-
play of his power.
There have been many forms of government known to
history. The oldest was a patriarchal form in which
the father ruled his family and immediate descendants,
and at his death the next oldest member succeeded him.
This, because of the migratory habits of the people,
was not a very satisfactory form, and was superseded
by a monarchy in which a, king or queen ruled over a
certain territory without regard to kinship. Sacred
202 Moccasin Tracks
iiistory telib of a very peculiar form that existed in
Palestine which may be termed a theocracy, which is a
government under the immediate agency of God. The
law was revealed to Moses who in turn gave it to the
people. AVe would naturally conclude that this would
be a very satisfactory government, but the Hebrews
grew rebellious and clamored for a king, which was
given them in the person of Saul.
Another form was a government by the wisest and
wealthiest men, called nobles, and is what is known in
history as an aristocracy. This is now obsolete as a
separate government, but it is sometimes found com-
bined with monarchy. It was always unpopular because
it was too exclusive and did not give the masses a voice
in their most vital affairs.
As civilization advanced and education became more
diffused, the common people obtained recognition and
obtained a share in law makino^. In this wav democra-
cies were founded in Europe at a very early period.
This form has for its foundation the riolit of suffraore
and it has always been very highly prized by the mid-
dle and lower classes of society. A republican form of
government is a kind of democracy, in which the law-
making power, as well as the executive, is elected by
those entitled to vote. This form is substituted for a
pure democracy in a large, populous country where it
is impossible for the electorate to meet in one place for
the transaction of business.
There are three essential elements in all good gov-
ernments, viz : strength, wisdom, and honesty. A gov-
ernment must be: strong enough to quell insurrection
at home, or to repel invasion from without, and to pro-
AND Otiier Imprints. 203
tect its interests aud citizens in foreign countries; it
must possess wisdom in order that the best and the
most suitable laws may be enacted; it must be honest
or else it will fall into disrepute and will fail to receive
the hecirty support of the citizens. A monarchy is
noted for strength, an aristocracy for wisdom, and a
democracy (a republic) for honesty.
It is easy to understand why a republic is the most
honest of all other forms of government. The people
being the rulers, it is to be supposed that they will be
honest with themselves. It will often happen that dis-
honest men will be elected to fill a position for a short
period of time, but at the next election they can be
turned out of office and upright men put in their places.
The government of the United States is a very pecul-
iar one, and can scarcely be comprehended by foreign-
ers. It is not thoroughly understood by many of our
own citizens. If we say that the citizens of the United
States are one people in all respects and under a gov-
ernment which is neither a consolidated republic, nor
yet a confederacy, nor a mixture of the two, but one in
which the powers of government are divided between a
general government and a particular one, each emanat-
ing from the same source, which is the people, we will
have a very good idea of the government of the United
States. Were the government a league of states,
there could be no central or national government;
4 were the nation a consolidated republic, there would be
no state governments.
In a republic the will of the people is supreme, and
all who live virtuously may live happily. All laws are
based upon a constitution of their own choosing, and it
204 MoccASix Tracks
may be amended from time to time where found to be
necessary.
The Xational Constitution established three branches
of government: the executive, the legislative, and the
judicial, and it also provides that these shall be inde-
pendent of each other. The United States, in a way,
combines monarchy, aristocracy and democracy, which
are the three principal forms known to history. The
individual called the monarch is typified in the person
of the president, who gives strength and stability; the
senate represents the nobles in an aristocracy and gives
wisdom : democracy is illustrated in the house of repre-
sentatives and gives honesty. A new set of representa-
tives is elected by the legal voters every two years and
reflects their opinions and sentiments. A republican
form is considered the best government for an enlight-
ened and an intelligent people. ♦
BIRDS AND FLOWERS.
The Creator has given us a most beautiful world in
which to live. He has also given us intelligence capa-
ble of the utmost enjoyment, if properly cultivated.
One of the greatest pleasures of life is within easy reach
of every one if he but listens to the harmonies of Na-
ture and keeps his eyes open to her different lines and
shades of beauty. It is possible for one to go through
this life neither seeing nor hearing, yet he is neither
"blind nor deaf. The most beautiful flower makes no
impression upon the eye; the songs of the birds make
no impression on the ear. He has utterly failed to get
in touch with the God of Nature and the God of Reve-
lation will be but imperfectly understood and will be
but little appreciated by him.
The two principal words in the caption of this arti-
^cle are not very aristocratic when one considers the
great array of adjectives that might modify or restrict
their meaning. I think that these words are inferior
to none in the English language except three — Mother,
Home and Heaven. Each of these has reference to a
higher organism and development, and they are su-
preme in our language. Mother is the only celestial
being this side of Heaven. She is the crowned queen
of material creation. Home is the dwelling place of
mother, where we forget all of our troubles amidst her
all overshadowing love. Heaven is the only place
where one can enjoy a full fruition of all the hopes
and aspirations of this life. •
Birds are the greatest beings not endowed with will
power or the power of knowing. It is said in the Bible
206 MoccASix Tracks
that man was created a little lower than the angels. To
my mind birds are but a few removes from man him-
self; therefore birds are but little removed from the
angels. Each of these several classes was spoken into
existence by the same creator.
From a botanical viewpoint every student of biology
can tell us the object and the purpose of a flower. God
could have accomplished the same object through other
means. But in His infinite wisdom He gave us the
flowers to cheer us in the time of distress and darkness.
Henry Ward Beecher, perhaps the greatest preacher
that America has produced, said: "A flower is the
greatest thing that God ever created and forgot to put
a soul in it." I do not wish to criticise this assertion,
but I like to think that such a lovely thing as a flower
will appear in another world, just like the best repre-
sentatives of the genus called man. I still hold to the
belief of mv childhood davs.
These thoughts came to me as I sat by the roadside
near the old Jesse Payne homestead one beautiful June
morning just after the Bolair Training School had
closed. I did not sit down because I was tired, for I
had only left Bolair an hour before, but it was because
it was of the many birds whose songs could be heard
from all directions. This region, known as the Sand
Eun country, is one of the best for birds and flowers
in West Virginia, or second to none in central North
America. The birds on this morning were in their best
spirits: a recent rain. had revived the vegetable world
after a two weeks drought. The birds seemed to be
celebrating this event in their best song; Nature's or-
chestra, the most perfect of any, was very much in
AND Other Imprints. 207
evidence, iu this symphony a hundred voices were
heard and many of ditt'erent species. No false note was
heard; there was no discord, because each musician had
been taught by the same instructor. The voice of the
wood thrush was heard from many trees. Two brown
thrashers on the tallest tree on two of the highest points
in the vicinity were singing. Any one who listens to the
song of a brown thrasher will at once acknowledge his
superiority in a musical contest. Five gold-finches
passed by in their undulating flight and their soft
musical notes floated on the balmy air ; from the top of
an old chestnut, two flickers were renewing their former
love; from a thicket on the Elk side of the divide an
oven bird sang "teacher, teacher, teacher.'^ I wondered
if it could be the echo of the voice of a belated pupil
over at the church where the Training School closed on
yesterday; a red-eyed vireo made a clumsy effort at
catching an insect on the wing in imitation of a true
fly-catcher. Its mate joined him and they espied a
hooded warbler that had attached a hanging nest in the
crotch of a maple limb about five feet from the ground.
They spoke to the brooding mother, but she made no
reply. After they had gone away investigation revealed
four white eggs flecked with black on the larger end.
I thought wdiat a busy time such a little mother would
have providing food for her hungry babies. The
call of a crow was heard over on the divide between
Beaver and Sand runs ; a grass finch sang his cheerful
song from a sassafras bush growing in a nearby pasture
field; away off in the deep woods the musical but
plaintive notes of a wood pewee were heard: from a
208 MoccASix Tracks
(liferent direction the sweet voice of a scarlet tanager
came floating on the air; he was answered by the Ken-
tucky cardinal, a near relative; the scolding voice of
a robin was heard overhead; on looking up a female of
that species was seen with her bill filled with food and
she hastened away to relieve the hunger of her nest-
lings; a least fly catcher, whose flight song is the finest
note in nature^s orchestra, was both seen and heard.
The- tufted titmouse, the noisiest of small birds, was
very much in evidence ; his cousin, the chickadee, in his
black cap, was exploring a cavity in a poplar stump;
a Ijlue bird, whose pugnacity is as pronounced as that
of the English sparrow, made a dash at him and he
sought the protection of the low brash growing along
a fence. As I journeyed toward the Springs the yellow
breasted chat sang from a dense thicket. The drum of
a ruffed grouse and the merry whistle of a bob white
were added to the list of birds seen and heard. On the
"Golden Shore*' the song sparrow, the sweetest singer
of the familv, attracted mv attention. He, as R. Moore
Dodrill says, puts all of his power into his short at-
tractive song, which is repeated at short intervals. He
is a permanent resident and gives us good cheer during
February and March when song birds are not very plen-
tiful.
June 9th is not a very good time to observe the flow^-
ers between Bolair and Webster Springs. The trailing
arbutus made the roadside very attractive during a part
of April and May. This most beautiful, yet unassum-
ing little flower, was the first seen by the Pilgrim
Fathers on the hills about Plymouth and was called
by them the May flower, because it first appeared iu
that month. The mountain honeysuckle blooms in the
AND Other Imprints. 209
mouth of May. I think "hre bush'' woukl he a very
appropriate name for this shrub whose golden Howers
make it look like a bush on fire. The roadsides were
then lined with this most beautiful flower in every
shade of yellow and orange. A poet like Wordsworth
could have written a poem about them that would ex-
cel his "Daffodils." They usually grow in moist ground
and are called swamp honeysuckles, but here they are
not confined to this kind of land but grew all over the
sides of the hills, even along the driest portion of ex-
posed rocks where a little detritus has collected. They
are also found along the margin of the rivers.
The locust was in bloom at the same time as the
honeysuckle, and the pretty white flowers made a pleas-
ing contrast wdth the yellow flowers of the little honey-
suckle that grew by its side. The locust towered forty
or fifty feet above its tiny neighbor but the little bush
attracted more attention because of its flowers of such
gorgeous hues and so large in comparison with its
stately neighbor.
But very few of our nature students in Webster
county have thought it worth while to examine the flower
of the poplar. It does not attract very much attention
because it is so high. The poplar was in full bloom on
the above mentioned date. The only squirrel seen on
the trip was one that made a hurried leap from one of
these trees, where he had been rifling the tulip-shaped
flowers of their nectar, which rightfully belonged to the
honey bee. Many flow^ers strewed the ground, which
had been cut off by him. In a few weeks the chestnut
will be in bloom and these cream colored flowers will
make the forest most beautiful, as there are many
210 MoccASix Tracks
chestnut trees yet remaining even where the mill man
has been located. The sour gum will be next in order
and the girls can string these small bell-shaped flowers
together and play the role of the queen of the May, al-
though the month will be July or August. The bass-
wood tree will be in bloom at the same time as the chest-
nut, but there are few trees of this species in the Sand
run country. On the Elk side this tree is very com-
mon. The dogwood made these hills especially at-
tractive a]x)ut the time the trailing arbutus was in
bloom. The flowers of many different hues bloom along
the wayside leading from Bolair to Webster Springs.
These little plants with their modest flowers are the true
^^Babes of the Woods."' My mother, many years ago,
showed me two tiny stars in the southern part of the
sky and told me an old legend of two lost children in
the forest. The two babies when dark came upon them
nestled in each others arms and mother said that God
protected them and that he afterwards placed two little
stars in the heavens to represent them. The larger stars
represent the trees under whose boughs they found
shelter. This story came to my mind as I stopped to
examine a trillium which had bloomed after its brothers
and sisters had departed perhaps to bloom in another
world. Who knows?
The mountain laurel, thought by many flower lovers
to be one of the most beautiful flowers, blooms in late
May and early June. The large pink clusters of flowers
are very pretty. The shrulj is quite plentiful in Webster,
where it grows in the most rocky and sterile ground.
The big laurel, or rhododendron, the state flower of
West Virginia, will bloom the latter part of June. It
AND Other Imprints. 211
is a general favorite. The flowers are larger than those
of the mountain laurel and when growing close together
these bushes make a rugged hillside have the appearance
of a flower garden.
From April to late November when the frost king
has laid his mailed hand on all plants these "Babes of
the Woods'^ can be found along the road I traveled this
June morning : wake robins, Indian pipes, and butter-
cups ; bloodroots, wild geraniums and lady-slippers ; yel-
low star grass, blue star grass and wood sorrel ; downy
phlox, Jacks in the pulpit, and wood betony; violets
(white, yellow and blue), golden ragwort, bluets, and
rattlesnake weed; wild spikenard, Solomon's seal and
wind flowers ; golden rods, asters, and milk pokes, each
in its season. A^Tio can deny the fact that God has
given us a most beautiful world when he understands
the reason why He has given us such beautiful and at-
tractive things as birds and flowers.
Keep your ears and eyes open and you will soon learn
and understand this most important and beai^iful
lesson.
THE STORK'S VISIT.
The following telegram was ^\Titten on the morning
of June 20th, 1913, and was given to Hon. S. C. Bur-
dette, of Charleston, and was read by him in a mass
meeting at the Court House in Webster Springs in the
afternoon at the Semi-Centennial exercises :
Wheeling, W. Va.,
June .20, 1863.
To "Little Eattlesnake Bill" :—
Born unto Uncle Sam and Mrs. Virginia, a daugh-
ter. This is the latest addition to a very numerous
family, the eldest of whom is Kentucky, which was
soon followed by Tennessee. Mrs. Virginia became fos-
ter mother to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis-
consin and Minnesota. This late arrival caused quite
a commotion in the family of Uncle Sam.
As usual on such an eventful occasion, there was
much discussion and speculation as to what name the
3^oungster should bear. After a family consultation in
which such names as Kanawha, Vandalia, Trans- Alle-
ghany and Augusta had been freely discussed, it was
decided to christen the lusty baby West Virginia.
Uncle Sam, who has been somewhat indisposed for
the last two years, is now convalescent; mother and
child are doing nicely.
(Signed) BEOTEHE JONATHAN, M. D.
SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF WEST VIRGINIA.
JUNE 20, 1913.
?
This is the fiftieth birthday of West Virginia. On
June 20^ 1863^ a new star was added to the American
constellation and the then little mountain state proudly
took her place in the official family of Uncle Sam.
Formed as a separate state at a time in which the
United States was engaged in a great civil war, and
under the most inauspicious circumstances, that star
has increased in brilliancy until West Virginia has be-
come one of the most prosperous states in the American
Union.
The intellectual development has kept pace with the
material progress of the state, and to-day a liberal edu-
cation is in reach of each of her sons and daughters.
Fifty years ago free schools were almost unknown in
West Virginia. To-day free schools are to be found in
every neighborhood of the state. High schools were
unknown. To-day they number one hundred and forty-
two and are rapidly increasing in number. The State
University, at Morgantown, is doing a great work in vo-
cational and professional training. Denominational
schools of high standing are doing their full share in
the great educational awakening that is abroad in our
land.
The geographical position of West Virginia is most
desirable, occupying an intermediate place between the
extreme cold of the north and the tropical heat of the
south. It is the most northern of the southern states
and the most southern of the northern states ; it is the
most western of the eastern states and the most eastern
214 MoccAsix Tracks
of the western states; its people do not belong to the
type of any one section of the Union, but is a harmo-
nious blending of each. A larger percentage of the pop-
ulation belongs to the old Kevolutionary stock than is
to be foiind in any other state. The late Virgil A.
Lewis, the historian, speaks of these people as being
a large brained, raw-boned people who have subdued
the forests, driven back the Indians, and established
civilization in the Trans-Alleghany regions.
The spurs of the Alleghany mountains are plenti-
fully supplied with valuable minerals and their surface
is covered with the most valuable commercial varieties
of timber. West Virginia takes a high rank among
her sister states of the republic in the production of
petroleum, coal, gas, and lumber. Thousands of peo-
ple depend upon these industries for a livelihood.
While West Virginia has not usually been considered
an agricultural state, more than two-thirds of the pop-
ulation are engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and
rich harvests are being gathered by those who farm in-
telligently. A better day for the agriculturist has
dawned. Scientific methods are displacing the old
fashioned, hap-hazard ways of our fathers. Young
men are studying in agricultural schools, and boys are
forming corn clubs; the rapid railroad development
has brought the town and the factory to the farmer's
door, and the prevailing high price of farm products
is stimulating production.
When we consider the short period of time that has
elapsed since the first settlements were made in our
state, we are most agreeably surprised at the great pro-
AND Other Imprints. 215
gress made. When the New England states had at-
tracted the attention of Europe by their great progress
in education and commerce, the foot of civilized man
had scarcely trod the region now occupied by West A'^ir-
ginia. Soon after the first pioneers had reported the
extreme fertility of the soil of the hills and valleys,
people from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New
York and the faraway New Eno-land states hastened to
this Eldorado of the west. Their offspring, a hardy
race of men, has always espoused their country's cause
and has taken a distinguished part in each of the wars
that has been waged since, besides defending their
homes from savage warfare.
The very atmosphere of these rugged mountains seem
congenial to human development, progress and freedom.
During slavery days but few of the black race were held
in bondage, and the motto of the state, "Mountaineers
are always free,^' is very appropriate.
West Virginia is a child of the great Civil War and
many battles were fought on her soil. The state was
baptized in the blood of many brave soldiers who up-
held the cause of the Union or that of the Confederate
States. Thirty thousand men joined the Federal army
and seven thousand the Confederate. This was a large
proportionate number when compared with the sparse
population of the state.
W^est Virginia has produced many eminent men.
Among this great number may be mentioned James
Rumsey, of Shepherdstown, who invented the first
steamboat in 1784. He is the only American buried
in Westminster Abbey where repose England's great
men.
216 MoccAsix Tracks
Philip Doddridge, the statesman and orator, was the
descendant of an illustrious family of pioneers. He
attracted national attention as a member of the Vir-
ginia Constitutional Convention of 1829 and as a United
States senator from Virginia during the formative pe-
riod of our National historv.
Arcliibald Campbell, who said to Eoscoe Conkling
that he carried his sovereignty under his own hat, has
left his imprint on journalism in West Virgin ja.
Thomas J. Jackson, the hero of Bull Eun, and one of
the greatest military leaders in the Civil War, was born
in central West Virginia.
Alexander Campbell, of Brooke county, was a noted
scholar and theologian. He was the founder of the
Church of the Disciples and of Bethany College, which
is now one of our leadins: institutions of learnins:.
Jesse L. Reno, who gave his life for the Union cause
at the battle of South Mountain, occupied the highest
rank of any Federal officer who fell in battle. This
list could be extended to almost every field of human
endeavor. Men have srone out from this state into other
fields of labor and have made good in their chosen pro-
fessions.
The men who erected the territory between the Al-
leghany mountains and the Ohio river into a sovereign
state have all passed away. The Pierponts, the Willeys,
the Boremans, the Van Winkles, the Stephensons, and
the Hubbards live in the pages of our state history. A
second and a third generation have come upon the stage
of action. Much has been accomplished, yet much more
remains to be done. The state cannot progress on past
achievement, grand though it may be.
AND Other Imprints. 217
The future welfare depends upon the present genera-
tion. The signs of the times indicate many needed
reforms. Two of them are a cessation of corrupt prac-
tices in public life and an electorate that can neither be
bought nor sold. The time is not far distant in the
past when men would sell their votes with impunity.
But to-day it is the lower classes of society that furnish
the purchasable vote, and this class is growing less year
bv vear. Political parties and candidates for office are
responsible to a greater degree for this condition of
affairs than the voters themselves. As long as bribes
are offered there will be bribe takers. There will be
conditions in the life of a voter that he thinks mitigates
the crime of selling his manhood. This practice is
striking at the very fountain head of all popular gov-
ernments. It must be eradicated or modern republics
-will share the fate of ancient ones.
The boys must be taught the sacredness of the ballot.
They must be made to understand that while the right of
suffrage is one of the greatest privileges accorded a free
born American citizen, and that it is not like so much
merchandise to be bought and sold on market days.
They must be made to understand that while the right
to vote is a great privilege it is no less a duty. They
must be taught to cast their vote without fear or favor
and that the man who sells his vote is an enemy to so-
ciety and justly loses his social standing in the com-
munity in which he resides.
West Virginia is destined to become at no distant
date one of the wealthiest states in the Union. She should
also become a leader in education and morality. Our
greatest assets are not in coal, oil, gas, lumber and
218 ' Moccasin Teacks
other natural resources, but in our boys and girls in
whose hands are soon to be placed the future destiny
of the state. Let them have the best possible chance
to get an education, because education is the safeguard
of the commonwealth.
BUSINESS AND CIVIC HONESTY.
An address delivered at Eichwood, April 4, 1910, in
the Presbyterian Church, under the auspices of the
Zeta Beta Society.
West Virginians, who have gone away from home,
have often heard their state referred to as the "Little
Mountain State/^ This appellation is a misnomer be-
cause West Virginia is little in nothing that makes a
state great. West Virginia is almost one-half the area
of all the New England states combined. It ranks
third among the states in the production of coal, and it
has a sufficient quantity of these black diamonds, if
converted into heat, to make perpetual summer in the
frigid regions of the North Pole. West Virginia ranks
third in the production of petroleum and it has enough
of this fluid to oil the machinery of the solar system.
West Virginia has timber enough if sawed into boards
to fence the universe, and gas in sufficient quantities to
supply all the politicians, story tellers and public speak-
ers of the world.
Nicholas is often referred to -as a backwoods county.
With its great wealth of timber and coal, and its graz-
ing and agricultural possibilities one is informed by the
would-be pessimist that no large cities are located with-
in its borders, and that there are no large manufac-
tories. We answer this objection by saying that Nich-
olas county produces the finest specimen of manhood
and womanhood to be found in the world, and if they
cannot be produced fast enough to supply the demand,
requisition is made on the best people from other parts
220 MoccASix Teacks
of \\'est \'irgmia and from Ohio, Peunsylvania, \'ir-
ginia, New York and many other states of the Union.
We say to tlie pessimist that Nicholas has Eichwood,
"The Gem of the Mountains/' in which is located one
of the largest lumber manufacturing plants in the
United States; a city that manufactures enough
leather to make a pair of shoes for every orphan boy
and girl in America ; a city that manufactures enough
•
paper to wrap up a Christmas present for every man,
woman and child in the state ; a citv that manufactures
enough carriage hubs to carry all the people of West
Virginia to a Fourth of July picnic; a city that man-
ufactures enough clothes pins to fasten the clothes on
everv farmer in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Mis-
soTiri during their fiercest cyclones: a city that can
boast of the best schools of any city of its size in the
state of West Virginia; a city of busy, industrious
people that will not be content until Eichwood reaches
a his/her rank amono; her sister cities. But with all
your natural resources : with all your business pros-
perity ; with all your revolving wheels and spindles,
there is something back of all this that demands your
careful attention.
In this great commercial and utilitarian age — an
age in which competition is strong and active, business
and professional men, as well as public officials, are too
apt to smother their conscientious scruples in regard
to the principles of right and wrong. The paramount
question in the consideration of any enterprise in which
they are about to engage is, "Will it pay?" If, after
a careful consideration, an affirmative answer to the
question can be given, the projected business is entered
AND Othek Imprints. 221
into with earnest zeal without any regard to the prin-
ciples of honesty and integrity. After its successful
termination the possession of gold and silver outweighs
the pangs of a guilty conscience. This is the only
solace of numberless business men of to-day.
Ever since the human family emerged from a state
of savagery it has been but a natural consequence for
each individual to crave better things; to desire to
possess something of value that would place himself and
his dependents above penury and want. It was but
natural for Abraham, the founder of the Hebrew na-
tion, after he had come into the possession of vast flocks
and other valuables, to buy a burial gTound where he
and his loved ones could rest in peace after life had
come to an end. No one can deny this God-given right
of acquiring wealth and surrounding one's self and his
family with the necessaries, as well as the luxuries of
this life. But the manner in which these things are
acquired is the business of the officers who execute the
laAvs. In the great race for wealth, honor and position,
one should be guided by the teachings of religion and
morality, and in the words of the Great Teacher, '^All
things w^hatsoever that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them," should be the oriflamme around which
all public, business and professional men should rally.
If a business man takes advantage of the ignorance
of a customer as to the value of any article offered for
sale, he fails in the fulfillment of business ethics. Does
anything of value bring real pleasure and happiness to
its possessor who has used unfair means in its acquisi-
tion without any regard to moral rectitude anrl the eth-
222 MoccAsix Tracks
ics of business? This is a question whose answer is so
obvious tliat it need not be given.
it has been said tliat excessive riches are almost as
intolerable as extreme poverty. This, in the main, is
not true, but the assertion is based on the fact that
riches alone do not bring contentment, jDleasure and
happiness. It has also been said that few, if any, of
the great American millionaires gained their wealth by
legitimate business methods. Ill-gotten gains and an
easy conscience are incompatible. They, like oil and
water, are hostile properties. They will not mix. The
conscience is like Banquo's ghost, it will not down.
Solomon, the wisest man of Biblical times, said, "Give
me neither poverty nor riches.'^ He recognized the
burdensome character of these extreme worldlv condi-
tions. This wise moralist had in mind a middle state
or condition; a competency, or enough tO' place one in
an independent position. This middle state is the
happy medium between the two great extremes. Enough
of this world's goods to make one's life pleasant and
happy; a sufiSciency for recreation, pleasure and char-
ity, and enough leisure time for the cultivation of the
mind.
Wealth, or riches, is a comparative term. In this
strenuous age millionaires only are thought to be rich,
while a few years ago men who possessed a few thou-
sands of dollars were said to be wealthy. It is not the
aggregation of wealth that brings happiness, but the
manner in which it is acquired and the way in which
it is used.
An old adage, "Honesty is the best policy," is often
quoted by ministers, moralists and teachers. One should
AND Other Imprints. 223
not be honest merely because it is right, but because it
is the safest and the surest road to ultimate business
success.
The wealthy are too often censured for crooked meth-
ods and the small dealers overlooked when they commit
a similar otfense. The farmer who sells a bushel of
corn or a bushel of wheat that does not consist- of four
full pecks; the grocer who sells a pound of coifee or a
pound of sugar that does not consist of sixteen honest
ounces; the dry goods merchant who sells a yard of
calico or a yard of silk that is not three feet in length;
the lumber dealer who substitutes an inferior board for
a first class one, and the business man who short-
changes a customer is just as guilty of wrong doing as
the United States Steel Corporation when it placed
watered Stock on the market, or the Arbuckle Brothers'
Sugar Company when it short weighed its consignment
of sugar and thereby cheated the United States govern-
ment out of millions of dollars in custom duties. It
did not in any way mitigate the offense when this com-
pany atempted to make restitution by refunding a part
of the ill-gotten profits when caught in the nefarious
act.
If any one doubts that honesty is not the best busi-
ness policy let him visit the Federal prison at Atlanta,
Georgia, and interrogate Charles W. Morse, the once
great "Ice King" of New England and New York, who
entered the great whirl-pool of frenzied finance and
lost sight of every principle of right and justice. He
strictly adhered to the get-rich-quick idea without any
regard to manner or method. As president of the ice
trust he forced up the price of ice in the city of New
224 Moccasin Tracks
York until it was beyond the means of thousands of
tiie sutiering poor. He coined into money the s uttering
of many poor but honest men, women and children.
His ships were sailing, on every sea; he could have
signed his check for millions and it would have been
honored by any banker in Wall Street. He was one
of the rich men of the nation, and, if there be happi-
ness in riches, he was thrice happy; but a day of reck-
oning was at hand ; he had sowed the W' ind and now he
must reap the whirlwind; his blood money took wings
and flew away; in order to regain his waning for-
tune he transgressed the criminal law^, and now he
languishes upon a felon's bed, dressed in the character-
istic garb of a common malefactor, with no one so
«
mean as to do him homage.
If this evidence is not conclusive let the investigator
after truth visit the Illinois state prison and inquire
for one John E. Walsh, the once noted Chicago banker
and financier, who robbed widows and orphans of
money deposited in the bank of which he was president.
This man at one time lived like a prince in one of the
fashionable streets of Chicago, but he was caught in the
toils of the law and now he is numbered among the
prison population of the country.
A^isit the Ohio state prison, at Columbus, and ask
Charles W^arringer, ex-president of the Big Four Eail-
road, if honesty is not the best business policy. He, too,
is reaping that which he sowed. These three men alone
are not the only sufferers because of their dishonesty in
business. A wife and children, yes, perhaps a father
and mother are partakers of their shame and degrada-
tion. Manv others who have been but recently accused
AND Other Imprints. 225
cau not be interrogated. Some did not have the man-
hood to face the shame of their own making and wor-
ried themselves into untimely graves. Others by their
own hand have ushered themselves into that realm from
whence none returns. Most assuredly the way of the
business transgressor is hard. Clean^ business meth-
ods, open and above board, should be the watch-word
of every young man who enters into any business. Hon-
esty is his best asset. Men of wealth will learn to trust
him, and he slowly mounts the ladder of success, round
by round, gaining steadfast footing as he moves on-
ward.
The safe and sane business man has nothing to do
with get-rich-quick methods and reckless speculations.
These belong to the race track, the monte bank, and
the common gambler.
Business and professional men, who are honest and
who believe that honesty should be taken into their ev-
ery day business affairs, are taking a firm stand in de-
fense of their convictions. Clubs and societies through-
out the length and breadth of the land are doing a
noble work in trying to awaken the public in regard
to wrong-doing. The same principles of honesty that
should govern the business man should control the ac-
tions of all public officials from the lowest grade of
municipal officers to the highest in both state and na-
tion.
William H. Taft, president of the United States^
and Joseph' H. Cannon, speaker of the House of Eepre-
sentatives, are no less amenable to the public will than
is your honorable mayor, Samuel C. Dotson, and L. A.
Thomas, justice of the peace of Beaver district. The
226 MoccASix Tracks
time has passed in Xiciioias county, and more especially
in the town of Eichwood, when men, who call them-
selves Democrats and Eepublicans, will vote a party
ticket simply because it has been endorsed by party
leaders. Clean methods in the administration of mu-
nicipal affairs in accordance with the wishes of the best
citizens is in harmony with the saying of Lycurgus, the
Grecian law-giver, that, ''A city built upon a rock and
rightly governed is better than all foolish Xineveh/'
We have heard in the past few years much said about
graft, monopoly, trusts, and business and official cor-
ruption. These allegations have been proven in open
court. Is this because the American people have become
more corrupt than formerly? I cannot entertain for a
single moment an affirmative answer to this question.
1 believe that the percent of honesty among the Ameri-
can people of to-day is as great as it was in the younger
days of the republic, when Washington, Adams, Jeffer-
son, Madison and Monroe were the principal actors in
the national drama. It is but an awakening of the dor-
mant conscience of the American people. During the
younger days of the republic representatives, senators
and judges were tried for offenses against the people
committed while in office. At that time but few news-
papers were in existence and their circulation was very
limited. But to-day, with our multiplicity of newspa-
pers, wrong-doing is advertised to a greater extent than
formerly. A newspaper of accredited ability is to be
found in almost every home. These periodicals discuss
the official acts of public servants without fear or favor.
Even the president is not immune from this criticism.
This freedom of the press, rightly used, is the safe-
AND Other Imprints. 227
guard the republic. The official acts of President
Taft concern every man, woman and child in the na-
tion, regardless of politics or religion.
The citizens of the United States are the rulers and
they decide the policies of *the government. They are
responsible for the manner in which the laws are exe-
cuted. Since my first visit to your city I have heard
the theory of municipal government discussed from its
various standpoints. There is now a tendency to hold
the officers of a city government to a stricter accounta-
bility than in former years. The people of Richwood
are responsible for the manner in which the town is
governed. The legislature of the state has thrown
around you every possible safeguard for your protec-
tion. Home rule is fully recognized. If you have of-
ficers who do not conform to the rules and regulations
of the town, the remedy is in your own hands. They
can be prosecuted for both misfeasance and malfeasance
while in office. They can be replaced at the end of the
year by a new set of officials.
I do not think it is right for a physician to keep a
patient in bed for an indefinite time, simply for the
sake of a fee for professional services. I do not think
it is right for a lawyer to accept a fee from both par-
ties in a law-suit. While he may think he has the
ability to represent both sides in the case he can be true
to neither, and moreover, he has done an injustice to
a brother attorney whom he has cheated out of a fee.
Neither do I think it right for a school teacher to
enter into a contract with two sets of trustees for
schools that are to begin on the same day, although he
228 MoccAsix Tracks
sees his way out of the difficulty by giving one school
to a brother teacher for a pecuniary consideration.
These principles that have been discussed are the
basic ones that underlie our business, professional,
moral and religious institiftions of to-day, and upon
them they must either stand or perish.
The outcome of the long struggle between the regular
Eepublicans and the insurgents is an object lesson to
the American people. The day of one-man power in
popular government has passed. This is a government of
the people, and for the people, as was declared by the
immortal Lincoln nearly fifty years ago. The over-
throw of Speaker Cannon and his autocratic power is
an uplift for the entire country.
The people are the rulers and if the majority does
not get what they want the fault is not with the rulers,
but the voters. Let every patriotic American citizen
vote for the best interests of himself and that of his
neighbors and the future welfare of the people will be
secure. Let men be men, and not barter away their po-
litical birthright on election day for a few paltry dol-
lars. Let them vote for men tried and true and de-
mand of these men an impartial administration of jus-
tice between man and man, and manv of the abuses
that have crept into our city, county, state and national
governments will speedily disappear.
Cambonne. a French general, at the disastrous battle
of Waterloo said, "The Old Guard dies but it never
surrenders." So it is with the upright citizen. He may
be out-voted, and in the minority, but he must not for
a moment think of surrendering his cherished princi-
AND Other Imprints. 229
pies, which he believes to be right. It has been said
that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Never in
the history of the United States has there been a time
that demanded greater diligence than the present. There
is an apparent conflict between capital and labor and it
must be settled and settled right. Patriotism is
stronger than politics — yes, it is stronger than dollars
and cents. When amidst the seeming breakers of of-
ficial graft, corruption and class hatred the grand Old
Ship of State that has had in the past for her com-
manders such noble men as Washington, Jefferson,
Jackson, Lincoln and McKinley, sails grandly into the
harbor of safety, she will receive the hearty plaudits
of a hundred million American citizens.
AN ORATION DELIVERED AT RICH-
WOOD, JULY 4, 1909.
I am greatly pleased to be greeted by such a mag-
nificent audience as we assemble to celebrate the Fourth
of July in a place where but a few years ago was a pri-
meval forest, scarcely touched by the hand of man, and,
where less than two score years ago a public speaker
would have had for his auditors the stately trees and
the wild birds of the forest, and, perhaps, in close prox-
imity could be found such wild animals as the bear,
the folf, the panther, and the deer. The murmur of
the water of Cherry river hastening onward to kiss in
friendly greetings the water of the Gauley; the sigh-
ing of the wind in the tree tops, and the carol of the
birds Avould have been his only music. The plaintive
notes of the whippoorwill would have lulled him to re-
pose, if, perchance, he had not been startled by the
blood-curdling scream of a panther.
But these primitive conditions have passed away. A
city of bus}^, prosperous, and contented people has come
into existence, and the music of nature has been suc-
ceeded by the music of brass bands and by the hum of
the busy wheels of industry. The Cherry valley is do-
ing its full share towards the restoration of normal
business conditions.
The rapid development of this locality during the
past ten years speaks volumes for American manhood
and the dignity of American labor when backed by
American capital and guided by American business sa-
gacity. Richwood, the gem of the mountains, may she
continue to grow and prosper, and in the near future
AND Other Imprixts. 231
may she become the seat of justice of the new coimty
of Armstrong.
Mr. Chairman, this is the natal day of the United
States. In Philadelphia, the ''City of Brotherly Love/^
one hundred and thirty-three years ago this nation was
born. It was the first time in the history of the world
in which a nation was born in a day. Empires, king-
doms and principalities each celebrate the birth of roy-
alty, the coronation of kings, and their jubilees. But
tlie United States celebrates none of these. The Fourth
of July is celebrated not in recognition of the birth of
a royal personage, but in the recognition of the birth
of a nation recognizing the rights of the common peo-
ple. The origin of most other governments is lost in
the obscurity of time. But enough is known of the
history of the older governments to convince any one
that they arose from accident, and were moulded by
circumstances without any preconcerted action by their
original framers and promoters, and generally without
any view of the happiness or the best interests of the
governed.
The first government of wdiich we have any account
was patriarchal in form — a government in which the
father ruled his immediate descendants. This form
degenerated into the despotic governments of the Ori-
ent of one hundred years ago. The ancient 'republics
were established by the expulsion of tyrants who had
usurped authority. Little thought was given to the
rights of the people, and the prerog'atives of govern-
ment were often kept in the hands of the men who
succeeded them. Durinsr the third and fourth centuries
232 Moccasin Tracks
of our era the barbarians of the North conquered the
provinces of the Roman Empire and in order to protect
themselves the military leader was usually proclaimed
king.
It was reserved for our immediate ancestors to estab-
lish a government by the people in which they were
interested, and in which all power emanated from them,
and in which government depends entirely upon them
for support.
In ancient times it did not enter into the minds of
the rulers to perpetuate their names by noble deeds
and generous actions toward their subjects, but during
their reigns vast armies of laborers were employed in
building pyramids or other structures to perpetuate
their names and achievements. They were remembered
in stone, in brick, in marble, and in bronze, which are
silent reminders of departed glory. The name of
Cheops, the Egyptian Pharaoh, the builder of the
greatest of the pyramids, on the banks of the Nile,
would have passed into oblivion had not a workman in
an idle moment written the name of the builder on one
of the inner walls. The same may be said of Mauso-
lus, king of Cairo, had not an affectionate wife erected
a magnificent tomb, called the Mauvsoleum, to his
memory. This structure became one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world. In the course of time
every vestige of these works of art will have crumbled
•to dust, and the names of the builders will linger only
in the minds of the antiquarian, the historian and the
student of archseolog)^
But this is not true in regard to the American pa-
AND Other Impeints. 233
triots who founded this nation and made it possible lor .
us to enjoy entire political and religious freedom. Wil-
liam Penn, Koger Williams, Lord Baltimore, Patrick
Henry, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, to-
gether with a host of other patriotic men, did not write
their names on tables of stone or bronze, but by un-
selfish devotion to the cause of humanity, engraved
them on the table of men's hearts. Their names will
be revered by all liberty-loving peoples in all countries
and in all ages. The Declaration of Independence is
a monument to those who signed it as enduring as the
eternal stars of heaven.
They gave us a government founded upon the prin-
ciple of the equality of all persons before the law ; upon
the principle that all governments are instituted for the
good of the governed and not for the personal aggran-
dizement of the rulers; upon the principle that all au-
thority of government emanates directly from the peo-
ple; upon justice and the teachings of the Bible.
Having these principles of government in mind, we
should remember that the greatness of a nation does
not depend upon the extent of its territory, but upon
the individual worth of the people composing the na-
tion. This government, made possible by the Declara-
tion of Independence, which was sustained by the con-
tinental army under the leadership of the immortal
Washington, ably assisted by his noble generals, is a
rich heritage left us of the twentieth century.
It is not my purpose to-day to speak of the virtues
and the achievements of the men who established this
republic. Their deeds are recorded in the pages of
American history and are known to every one ; but it
234 MoccAsix Tracks
is rather my purpose tO' give a word of friendly counsel
in regard to the present and future conditions of so-
ciety in this country. This heritage of which I spoke
is ours to enjoy, but we do not hold it in fee, but in
trust — it must be neither bought nor sold. It must be
passed on to the succeeding generations, by us unsul-
lied and untarnished. We owe this obligation to the
men who have given so freely of their treasure and
their blood — yea, of life itself, to make this a free na-
tion; we owe it to future generations yet unborn; we
owe it to ourselves because each of us is responsible for
the manner in which the government is administered.
Of what does this heritage consist? It consists of
the very principles that have been in contention on
every great battlefield of the world from the time in
which the Persian cohorts invaded Greece to the battles
of our own American Eevolution. It consists of the
right to be free and unmolested as long as our actions
do not come in conflict with the rights of others. It
recognizes man's position in society, and gives him the
right to the fruits of his honest toil. It recognizes no
class or condition in societv, and the son of the hum-
blest citizen may hope to occupy the highest position
in the gift of the people if he has but prepared himself
for this honorable office. It gives us the right of free
speech, and the ri^crht of a free press as long as we do
not use these privileges to harm others. It gives us
the right to be secure in our persons and in our prop-
erty from imlawful search and seizure. It give? u? the
right to be free from military tyranny — all the rights,
in fact, that makes man free and independent, answer-
AND Other Imprints. 235
able only to law when he has transgressed upon the
rules which he assisted in making.
But each of these rights is coupled with a duty, and
if we are to fully enjoy these rights, and leave them
unsullied to our successors, these duties or obligations
must be fulfilled. What are some of the duties of an
American citizen? I would answer that one of his
first duties is to vote. While this is one of the highest
privileges or rights under a free government it is no
less a duty. If the conscientious citizen fail to cast
his vote, unprincipled men will usurp the powers of
government, and its benefits will pass beyond the con-
trol of those who have the best interests of the state
and nation at heart. Political parties are essential in
all free governments to carry into effect the desires of
the majority of the people, but partisan politics as ma-
nipulated to-day is the bane of societ}^ The man who
votes a political ticket in local affairs simply because
the persons for whom he votes are of the same political
faith as himself, without any regard to their fitness for
these positions, is an enemy to good government. AVhat
shall I say of the man who sells his vote ? He not only
sells his own political birthright and those who live
contemporaneously with him, but he sells the political
birthright of future generations. Two of the greatest
enemies of free government have been military tyranny
and a corrupt electorate. I have no hesitancy in say-
ing that the man who sells his vote should be disfran-
chised. All public officials should be diligent in the
enforcement of the law against vote selling. The of-
ficers whose duty is to enforce this law should have the
hearty cooperation of all law-abiding citizens. The
236 Moccasin Tracks
very life blood of the nation is being sapped by this
pernicious and contemptible practice.
It is the duty of all persons !o pay their taxes. Good
citizens will not try to evade this plain, bounden duty.
It is the means by which the wheels of government are
kept in motion. It is the duty of all citizens to obey
the laws under which they live, to see that all laws are
faithfully executed, and to assist the officers in enforc-
ing them. If an unjust law be placed in our statutes,
the best means to adopt with reference to its repeal is
to rigidly enforce it. It is the duty of a citizen to pro-
tect public property. All public buildings cost money
which is collected from the people by means of taxation,
and all public-spirited citizens will see that property is
not defaced, and that it be given the proper care for its
preservation.
It is the duty of all citizens to defend their country.
It does not fall to the young men of each generation
to fight the battles of their country under the inspiring
colors of the Stars and Stripes, but when this oppor-
tunity has come there has been such response that the
nations of Europe were greatly surprised. The young
men of this generation are no less patriotic than former
ones. How mav one defend his countrv besides fi2:ht-
ing her battles ? By voting without fear or favor for
men whom he thinks will act from principle and will
administer the laws to the best interests of all the peo-
ple. To pay his taxes: to obey the laws, and to assist
in enforcing them: to protect public property and to
be public spirited. If each of these duties be honestly
performed, one becomes a real defender of his country.
This is a glorious countrv in which we live. It is
AND Other Imprints. 237
good to be an American citizen. It was said in the lirst
century of our era that it was a greater honor to be a
Koman citizen than to be king of any otlier country.
If this could be said of Roman citizens, what can be
said of the lionor of being a free American citizen in^
this, the twentieth century?
One hundred years ago, it was thought tiiat the
United States could not expand beyond the Mississippi
river. The distance was so great that the powers of
government would neither be felt nor recognized. But
by the invention of the steamboat, the telegraph, the
telephone, and the building of railroads the conditions
have changed, and the United States has expanded be-
yond the American continent. There are three ways
by which messages may be sent in a very short space of
time from New York to San Francisco: telegraph,
telephone, or tell a woman. Now, Mr. Chairman, as I
am a bachelor, and as an apology to the Eichwood girls,
I will say that this thought is not original with me,
but I heard a Methodist preacher use it at Oowen not
long since.
May the United States continue to grow and prosper ;
may she be a leader and a guide for all the civilized
nations of the world. May the state of West Virginia
continue to be one of the brightest stars in the Ameri-
can constellation of states. May Richwood grow until
she becomes the chief city of the state, and may she be
a leader in patriotic devotion to the Stars and Stripes,
and in morals, education, and religion.
SCHOOL ROOM SMILES.
But few, if any, of the so-called school room jokes
published hi the comic papers had their origin in the
"School room. They were written by a penny-a-liner
and seldom have the marks of probability, Many ludi-
crous mistakes do occur in all schools. Many such have
occurred during the thirty-three years 1 have spent in
teaching. Xo notes were taken at the time and many
can not be recalled at this time.
In a school taught in Nicholas county many years
ago, a little girl was reading the "Lord's Prayer"' writ-
ten in verse. When she came to the couplet, '"0 give
to us daily our portion of bread, It 'is from thy bounty
that all must be fed,'' she read with great deliberation,
"0 give to us daily our pone of bread. It is from thy
bounty that all must be fed."
A l3oy of seven years was reading the lesson about
bees in the Second Eeader. One paragraph speaks
about bees being very busy little creatures. His version
was, "Bees are verv buzzv little creatures.'^ This mis-
take is pardonable when it is remembered that bees are
both buzzy and busy.
In another school the pupils had been taught to di-
vide a word into as many syllables as there are vocal
sounds contained in it. The plan worked very well
until a boy in the fourth srrade was readino- "The Xo-
blest Eevenge.'*' He came to the word Stephen, which
was a new one to him and he proceeded to apply the
rule. It did not work very well in this instance for he
pronounced it "'Step-*hen.*' The teacher came to the
AND Othek Imprints. 239
conclusion that the rule needed revision along certain
lines.
A Webster county girl of six, who had been taught
to read by the word and sentence method, made most
excellent progress in the First Reader. She came to
the lesson about the dog Fido sitting in a chair with a
hat on his head. The lesson was read by the teacher
and the new words pointed out. When called upon to
recite, the lesson was read correctly until the last sen-
tence w^as reached. It was at that point that the trou-
ble occurred. The sentence is, "When school is out I
will try to teach him some other tricks." This is the
way the little girl read it: "When school is out I will
try to teach him some sense." It is needless to say that
the mistake was not pointed out that day.
Here is a joke on the teacher in which he, for ob-
vious reasons, did not join in the inevitable smile. It
occurred in a Training School at Haynes (now called
Dyer) twenty-four years ago. A class of young men
and women were reading "It Snows," a selection found
in the Fifth Eeader. After several members had read,
the teacher said that each stanza should be read in a
different manner in order to express the feelings of
each character referred to in the poem. "Xow, listen,"
said he, "while I read." He selected the stanza that ex-
pressed the feelings of the wciety girl when she saw
the snowllakes falling. He entered fully into the spirit
of the scene. When he came to the verse, "From her
mirror to see the flakes fall," he read, "From her mir-
ror to see the snakes fall." Is it any wonder that the
teacher did not join in the laugh that followed such a
ludicrous blunder ? That particular lesson has not been
MO Moccasin Teacks
assigned to a class in a Training School since that time.
It would be quite an interesting phenomenon to see
snakes falling from the sky in winter.
Will and Tom were twins, but by a difference of a
few hours in their births, their birthdays were not cele-
brated on the same day. The teacher, who was person-
ally acquainted with the father and mother, and know-
ing the peculiar circumstances under which they were
born, asked Will how old he was. "1 am seven years
old," said he. "Tom, how old are you?" asked the
teacher. Tom replied, "I am six years old." "Tom,
are you and Will twins?" questioned the teacher.
"Yes," said Tom, "but Will is one year older than I
am." His age was recorded as seven.
Henry was reading the lesson in the First Eeader
about the nest of young birds found by Willie and
Rose. The little girl looked at the birds in great won-
der and exclaimed, "What big mouths and no feath-
ers." A smile was the result of this reading: "What
big. mothers and no fathers." This is one of the jokes
found in comic papers that did occur in the school
room.
In reading the story of "The Fish I Didn't Catch,"
a little girl unconsciously gave an attribute to a fish
that has often been given by the Angler when he failed
on several occasions to land one after it was hooked.
The boy. as spoken of in the lesson, when he hooked a
fish cried out in great glee to his uncle that he had a
fish. At that instant it fell into the water and "the
arrowy gleam of a scared fish was seen darting into the
middle of the stream." The pupil said that a "sacred"
fish was seen dartinof into the middle of the stream.
AXi) Other I:\irKiNTs. 24:1
These school-room smiles are links in a lengthening
chain that bind the teacher with the past. Each ot the
little folks who made these childish mistakes have long
since arrived at the estate of manhood and womanhood.
Some of them became teachers themselves and have
often smiled at the mistakes of their pnpils. Others
have engaged in other vocations and are endeavoring
to fill the position in society to which their education
and talents entitle them.*
The teacher after a third of a century spent in his
chosen profession, still treasures in his memory the
smiles that occurred in the schools that he attended.
But the frowns and the unkind words spoken in anger
are not forgotten, but they have long ago lost their
sharpness and their sting. It is his frowns, his un-
kind words and his thoughtless actions toward teachers
and schoolmates that still haunt him. A smile in the
schoolroom, as well as in the home, is always better
than a frown. If you can do an act that may lighten
the burden of anv one, do it to-dav. Do not wait for
to-morrow. It may be too late. Smiles are flowers
that brighten the pathway of life. They are good for-
both the giver and the recipient.
HALLEY^S COMET— A BURLESQUE.
As other writers ot high and. low degree have had an
inuiiig at Hailey's eoinet, 1 hope to be pardoned for
taking a tling at it and casting a stone, so to speak, in
the already troubled waters of astronomical discussion.
Many direful happenings have been prophesied in
regard to the visit of this mysterious stranger to our
part of the solar system. All manner of evil is to hap-
pen to us poor earth mortals \fhen this mundane sphere
passes through the tail of this leviathan of empyrean
regions. These forebodings need alarm no one, because
this is not the first time that this grand old world
of ours, which astronomers call a planet, has had the
caudal appendage of a comet flaunted in its face. But
it has gone on still doing business in the same old way
and at the same old stand as it has been doing since the
Creator spoke it into existence by His all-powerful com-
mands.
We are somewhat comforted by the assurance of those
who know something of astronomy in general, and
of comets in particular, that on the day when the crisis
is expected there will be a distance of about twelve
millions of miles between the earth and the comet.
Yet, this is but a small consideration at most when
measured by the yard-stick of the sky, which is the dis-
tance between the sun and the earth.
Now, as to what the result of this meeting will be is
only problematical or the merest conjecture. Should
our globe come in contact with this mysterious visitor
bearing the name of one of England's most illustrious
astronomers, there will be "something doing down the
AND Other Imprints, 243
pike." 1 am always loyal to my own country and I
think the result would be just like that of the little
Jersey bull that charged the engine of a "Fast Flying
Virginian'' below Clifton Forge not long since.
The astronomers say that the greatest danger to the
people who have a temporary abode on this terrestial
ball is from the comet's tail. This is just the reverse
of the danger from the animal referred to above.
The Associated Press sent a message last week from
Paris, the French capital that sets the fashions for the
rest of the world, stating that the astronomical solons
of that distinguished city had discovered a very poison-
ous gas in tire w^anderer's tail that will kill rats, cats,
dogs, and other representatives of rodent, feline, and
canine species of small animals. I am frank in saying
that I cannot see my way clear as to which class man,
the being called the lord of all creation, belongs, but I
hope he is not included in the list named above.
If the men who are said to have discovered this
deleterious gas to all animal life on the earth, had as
many wheels in their heads as the men and women
who designed the spring fashion plates for ladies'
costumes, no attention need he paid the before-men-
tioned dispatch.
I must admit that I have no knowledge whatever as
to the meaning of the word used in the telegram des-
ignating the poison. Modesty forbids any attempt even
in trying to write the word used by the learned Par-
isians.
As far back as last August, and in some isolated
cases in the preceding April, certain activities among
244 MoccASix Tracks
the old bachelors were noticeable in Webster and ad-
joining counties. Upon investigation it was found that
the same conditions existed throughout the United
States and Xew Jersey. This activity was the more
pronounced when the bachelors were in the presence of
widowS;, spinsters, and even girls who are sometimes
called sweet sixteens. This action on the part of men
who had steeled their hearts against the bewitching in-
tiuence of the fair sex was something more than a nine
days' wonder. It remained for an astrologer unknown
to fame in a remote Oriental country to solve this great
mystery. He in some mystical way connected this ac-
tivity of the bachelors with the tail of Halley's comet.
By searching said comet's caudal appendage with a two
inch telescope, he discovered certain gases resembling
ultra violet rays known to exist in the atmosphere of
the earth. It w^as easy for him to connect violet rays
with spring time and the blue, white, and yellow vio-
lets sometimes called Johnny -jump-ups. The problem
was then solved. The comet is therefore responsible
for the courtship and marriage of many heretofore
hopeless bachelors. This same astrologer predicts in
his horoscope that all marriages contracted under this
condition will be especially happy. The wife will be
dutiful and will not scold when the husband comes in
late at night from lodge, or when he has had a time
with the boys. The husband will be loving and indul-
gent and will cheerfully pay the bill for the latest style
of the Easter or Merry Widow hat. Should his so-
called better half come in late from a mothers' meeting,
he will not scold, but will tell her that babv cried but
AND Other Imprints. 245
once during her six hours' absence. The astrologer
further states that on the next appearance of the above-
mentioned comet, after an absence of seventy-five years,
in which it has traveled more than one hundred bil-
lions of miles, with no other seeming purpose in view
than to frighten the inhabitants of the different worlds of
the solar system, the grand-children of these bachelors,
widows, spinsters, and sweet sixteens, will rise up and
call the comet blessed because of its having had such
benign influence upon their great forbears as Eobert
Burns would say. I will now give you a few concrete
examples of the wonderful activity among eligible bach-
elors. The Doctor who has made a reputation in his
■ profession that is synonymous with success had been no
more suspected of a softening of the heart than of hav-
ing paresis, which is a technical term for softening of
the brain. But just before the comet's nearest approach
to the sun he led a blushing bride to the altar of
Hymen. Had the comet been at one of the remote
points in the solar system the good Doctor might now
be living the life of single blessedness.
The Editor, who has been noted for the past five
years for his manifested indifference to all the females
of the species, has of late been seen in the company of
one of Upshur count\^'s fairest daughters. Only last
week he was seen on the train at Bumsville. When
questioned as to his destination he said that he was go-
incr to Weston on business, but he afterwards admitted
that he would visit Buckhannon friends before his re-
turn to Webster Springs.
The Anofler was on the same train. This devotee of
.246 MoccAsix Tracks
piscatorial pursuits has lived unmolested by the girls
for many years but he told the Editor in the greatest
confidence that he was just returning from a trip to a
town down the line. He said that the name of the
town means peace and harmony.
The genial Clerk, who has but lately invaded tlie
ranks of bachelorhood, left the Springs on the train
with the Editor for the realms of bliss. The Clerk was
thought to be on his way to Braxton county to visit a
little town called Caress. This is or should be a most
desirable town for all bachelors to visit.
The good natured Lawyer has again been seen in
Lover's Lane. It is to be hoped that the new board
walk will not break down under his ponderous weight as
the old one did some months ago. He then solemnly
vowed that he would never again visit the Lane, but
under the influence of the violet rays he can most
readily be pardoned for departing from the road marked
out for himself.
It is unnecessary to adduce additional evidence as to
the effect of the comet on bachelors.
The ministers are already talking of the great in-
crease in their matrimonial revenues, and it seems as if
all the eligibles will be married before the comet's final
disappearance from the vicinity of the earth.
THE BACHELOR.
The month of May spent on a trout stream among
the mountains of West A^irginia is an unfailing source
of pleasure to those who can get close to nature and her
teachings. All natural objects, both animate and in-
animate, seem to revel in the bright sunshine. The
cold winds from the icy north have been succeeded by
the warm, life-giving winds from the south. A pro-
fusion of wild flowers deck the hills and valleys. The
deciduous trees are donning their summer clothes. The
spruce and the hemlock are now putting forth pale,
green leaves in pleasing contrast with their winter
garments. The trout, the monarch of the mountain
stream, now grown lusty and strong after his long win-
ter's inactivity, is on the alert watching for the unwary
fly, moth, or bug, that drops near his lair. In his
eagerness for his prey, he falls an easy victim to the
angler's lure. The birds are in full song and in their
singing there is a suggestion of the orange and the
palmetto from which they so lately sang during their
sojourn in the sunny south. It is in a camp on the
banks of a swift, babbling stream amid the surround-
ings just described that the lover of nature drinks to
his full from the magical fountain of health sought
in vain by Ponce de Leon, the old Spanish Cavalier.
A party of five anglers pitched their tent near the
mouth of Big Beechy on the Williams last May. Trout
were in abundance and bear "sign" was just plentiful
enough to make a meeting with bruin among the possi-
bilities. In the party was an attorney well versed in
the legal lore of Chitty and Blackstone; a theologian
248 MoccAsix Tracks
who had druiik deep from the wisdom of Solomon and
Paul; a school teacher who had often lectured to his
classes on Feudalism, Chivalry, and the Crusades: a
railroad engineer who had safely carried his precious
freight of human lives through many dangers from fire
and flood. The fifth member of the party was called
"Bach/' because he never worked in double harness in
coming down the rocky lane of life. The many slights
he had received from the girls had not soured his dis-
position. Being on the sunny side of forty, he is what
the world would call a jolly bachelor.
One eveniug after supper when the events of the day
had been discussed by each member of the party, the
attorney and the theologian were talking of the har-
mony existing between the Law of the Gospel; the en-
gineer and the teacher were discussing the feasibility of
a railroad from Boston to Buenos Aires; "Bach'^ was
smoking his pipe in silence, probably thinking of some
fair creature who had crossed his pathway many years
ago.
"A^^iy, Bach," said the teacher, "what's wrong ? You
look as glum as a cowled monk. Come, take a 'wee.
drap of the crathure/ as the Irish washerwoman would
say, to brace you up, and tell us why you never mar-
ried.'' After sitting in silence for some time enough
of the *^crathure' was taken to drive away the blues.
Bach resumed his accustomed seat and said: "Have
you ol)served the curiosity, wrongly called sympathy,
manifested towards a person who is supposed to have
met with unfortunate circumstances? He is plied with
questions by the curious until he is driven to despair,
AND Other Imprints. 249
if not to absolute distraction. The secrets of his past
life must be laid bare before an inquisitive public. What
is considered a misfortune by some is not so considered
by others. I can see no legitimate reason why a bache-
lor should be made the object of such fond solicitude
and sympathy. Perhaps some woman would have been
made very unhappy had he married. Many a woman
would have been happier had she relegated her so-called
husband to' the ranks of bachelorhood. While I am not
at all sensitive on the question of being a bachelor, I
do not discuss the subject even with my most intimate^
friends. Now, as to why I am not a married man, I
shall not attempt to answer, but will instead give you
an account of some of my experiences with the fair sex
during my courting days.
^'When I was about sixteen, I thought it was high
time for me to marry out. I fell desperately in love
with a little black-eyed girl of about my own age whose
father lived four miles from my paternal home. I lost
all interest in books and the boys who had been my
companions in hunting and fishing. My sole delight
was to be in the company of the girl who had so com-
pletely captivated me. Her clear, well modulated voice
was music celestial to my boyish ears. I went to see
her each Saturday night, and sometimes remained over
Sunday. One Monday morning I went home about
eleven o'clock and hastened to the corn field, where
corn hoeing was in progress. My father rather ab-
ruptly asked me if I could not have left that girl a
little earlier. I told him that I thought I would stay a
week the next time I called on her. Nothing more
was said at that time bv either of us, but when we
250 MoccASix Tracks
went home to dinner^ father and I had a very stormy
interview in the wood-shed, in which a good sized
leather strap played a very prominent part. After that
for some time I spent my Saturday afternoons in hook-
ing suckers along the river. The boys were again my
companions.
"Time deals o-entlv with a I30V of sixteen, and heals
bruises as well as broken hearts. It was not many
months before I again fell a victim to a pair of eyes
as blue as the sky on a June day after a thunder storm.
This time in order to be on the safe side I asked my
father's permission to visit the young lady. My request
was granted and he also said that he would not inter-
fere, if I courted in moderation. But, alas ! there was
another father whom I had forgotten to interview on
the subject. I went to see her once in two weeks, and,
as I thought, was making fair progress towards matri-
mony. One Saturday night, or rather Sunday morn-
ing, while we were sitting in the parlor her father in
great wrath came into the room. I had always ob-
served that he had a very large foot, but I did not
know until that night that he wore a number thirteen
boot. I was ejected from the house with such force
and so unceremoniously that in order to show my utter
contempt for the old gentleman, I never called again.
I must confess that for some years I lost all interest in
eyes of any color, and found solace in rod and gun.
The boys who had been discarded for some months were
again admitted to companionship. But it was always
my misfortune to get mixed up in some luckless love
affair.
^^When I was twenty-eight I met a dashing widow of
AND Other Imprints. 251
thirty who had been represented to me as fairly well-
to-do as far as this world's goods are concerned, and
also that she was not encumbered with any children.
I wrote to her asking permission to call on a certain
Sunday and received a favorable answer. Promptly at
the appointed hour, I called and was welcomed with
her most winsome smiles. She led the way into the
best room. We talked of the weather, the crops, and
the neighbors. I heard muffled voices and the shuffle
of little feet in the closet. The widow talked in her
most voluble manner, and in a somewhat louder tone
than was her usual custom. Presently a little squeaky
voice called out, ^Mamma, has the man left yet? Jane
and Sam is pinchin' me and Mary won't make 'em
quit.' Mother of saints ! At least four little fatherless
children cooped up in the closet! Thinking it would
be cruel to remain longer, I took my departure more
hastily than the strict rules of etiquette would have
warranted. It is passing strange how easily an old
bachelor can lose interest in a dashing widow. I never
repeated that call, but again went tO' the river in search
of suckers. I had been very forcibly reminded of the
fact that all suckers were not to be found in the
water.
"It is now very obvious that I did not profit by past
experience, for my heart was again lost, to a spinster
of very doubtful age, who nevertheless, was very at-
tractive ; her teeth were of pearly whiteness ; her cheeks
were ruddy as the rose when first kissed by the sun-
light of the morning; her glossy hair gleamed like
threads of gold. When in her presence I experienced
the same rapturous delight felt prior to the little epi-
252 Moccasin Tuacks
sode in the wood-shed, which had occurred twenty years
previous to that time. 1 often called upon her by ap-
pointment and was always received by her in the most
approved manner. She was neither too affectionate
nor unduly reserved. I have often thought since then
that she was past master in the pleasing art of court-
ship. I forgot the wise counsel of my father in regard
to courting in moderation, and on a Wednesday called
unexpectedly. Eight there, as Uncle Eemus says, is
where I broke my molasses jug, or rather that of the
young lady. Xot finding her in the parlor I went in-
to the kitchen. It was washday. When she saw me
she tried to cover her mouth with one hand and the
top of her head with the other. With a muffled scream
she fell in a swoon. I carried her into the house, and,
after a liberal application of cold water, she slowly re-
vived. She looked up at me with a glassy stare without
making an effort to speak. The color of the rose was
not on her cheeks when I called; her head looked like
a Webster county forest after a Pennsylvania logging
crew had gone through it : her teeth — ^well, she had
none at all. Had I met her in the street in the condi-
tion in which I found her, I should have addressed her
as grandma. I left as soon as I had recovered from
the shock.'^
At the close of Bach's story plans were laid for the
morrow, and the fire having burnt low, each sought his
bed of spruce and hemlock boughs, where sleep more
refreshing could be secured than on beds of down.
FROM THE WILLIAMS TO LAKE ERIE.
The Angler left Cowen on a beautiful morning in
May and in the evening of the same clay went into
camp at the mouth of Big Beechy on the Williams for
a three weeks outing among the trout. Many large
trout were secured and amidst the picturesque scenery
of that region many things that gladden the heart of
one who delights to study nature in her various moods
were both seen and heard. The native simplicity of
the people; the many species of birds to be seen, and
the cold, sparkling water as it comes dashing down a
declivity must be seen before they can be fully appre-
ciated. The Hammons family is the most numerous
one in the vicinity of Big Beechy. They have lived
here for many years and are typical backw^oodsmen —
a class of people that is becoming fewer as the county
becomes more thickly settled. The Hammonses are the
best bee hunters, deer stalkers and trout fishers in
West Virginia. Big Pete is a good representative of
the family. He knows where to find a deer or a bear in
any season of the year; he is a crack shot — the best
on the river; he can find a bee tree where other ex-
perts fail to find a "course;" he knows where to look
for the largest trout, and while he is not considered the
musical genius of the family, yet when he takes down
his fifty dollar violin and plays the "Cumberland Gap"
and sings in his best style this couplet,
"Lay down boys and take a little nap,
For you'll catch h — 1 in the Cumberland Gap,"
to use one of his most expressive sayings, "I hope I
254 MoccAsix Tracks
may die/'' if it is not worth going to the Middle Fork
to hear him.
These people have but little, if any, ''book larnen,''
but they are well versed in woodcraft and wild animal
life. Big Pete was asked by the Angler if he was ever
lost in the vast forest around the head waters of the
Williams and Cranberry rivers. "No/^ said Pete, "but
I have been bothered as much as three days at a time."
A tenderfoot would have thought that wandering
through the trackless forest for three days without food,
sleeping under the pines at night, and listening to the
melancholy hoot of the owl, was being lost w4th a ven-
geance, yet the hardy mountaineer referred to it as being
bothered. In a day's travel from the Three Forks to
the Dead Water, a distance of fourteen miles, in com-
pany with two members of the before-mentioned fam-
ily, about fifty species of birds were seen. My com-
panions could tell some interesting fact about each
species, and they had a local name for each which in
the majority of cases was the correct one. They could
not only tell the time of their migrations but their
songs and call notes could be imitated. Upon inquiry
it was ascertained that the birds were fed in the winter
by them. A bird which is a shining mark for many
so-called sportsmen is never shot by a Hammons.
On his return from the mountains to Cowen the
Angler was invited by a friend, a veteran of the Civil
War, to visit him in East Springfield, Pennsylvania.
The invitation was most gladly accepted. Meeting his
friend at Wainville, the first stop was made at Clarks-
burg. This busy, thriving little city, centrally located.
AND Other Imprints. 355
is destined to become one of the most thriving commer-
cial centers of West Virginia. Coal, coke, the manu-
facture of iron and glass, and the machine shops will
place the city in the front rank. It is surrounded by
the best farm and grazing land to be found in the state.
Fairmont, where some of our very best teachers re-
ceived their training, still retains its old-time vigor.
It is rapidly increasing in wealth and population. It
was in this town in 189J: that the writer had the pleas-
ure of meeting Francis H. Pierpont, the "Graoid Old
Man'' of West Virginia, who lived here at that time.
Morgantown, the Athens of West Virginia, a busy,
hustling town, is the seat of the State University. It
was here that a large majority of the lawyers, judges ,
and politicians of the state were educated. This town
has the double commercial advantage of having both
railroad and water transportation. Coal, coke, and
various manufactories, backed by good farming and
grazing land, will make Morgantown one of the most
prosperous cities in the Monongahela valley. In travel-
ing through Lewis, Harrison, Marion, and Monongalia
counties some of the best farm land in the state is to be
seen. The cattle, horses, sheep and hogs are of the best
and show the result of careful breeding.
From Morgantown it is one hundred and five miles
to Pittsburgh, the "Gateway of the West." The Monon-
gahela Valley is of great interest to the student of
American history. It was in this valley that General
(then Colonel) AYashington fought his first battle and
surrendered Fort Necessity in 1754 to the French and
Indians. It waS here that General Braddock was so
256 Moccasin Tracks
disastrously defeated in the next year. Wasiiington and
the Virginia ''buckskin boys" by heroic lighting saved
a remnant of the army.
Pittsburgh, with its five hundred thousand people, is
a veritable bee-hive of industry. It is situated in the
heart of bituminous coal, oil, and natural gas regions.
A large part of the coke of the country and much of the
iron and steel are made in or near Pittsburgh. Large
quantities of machinery are made here. This city is
the greatest center in the world for the manufacture of
plate glass. Allegheny, now a part of Pittsburgh, is
noted for the manufacture of pickles, packed meats, and
leather. Before the davs of railroads these two cities
possessed the commercial advantage of the river routes
afforded by the Ohio river, and the Alleghany and the
Monongahela which unite here. Millions of tons of
coal are shipped annually from Pittsburgh down the
Ohio. There is a problem before the people of the city
as to the handling of the immense amount of traffic.
In Smithfield street one has to dodge the trolley cars,
the ice and meat wagons, and the automobiles. For a
man who has just come from the woods there is great
danger of being run over. It would be but little con-
solation to the victim to know that he had been hit by
a four thousand dollar machine.
The train was boarded in Allegheny city and the
last stage of the journey was begun. Some very rough,
rugged country, rivaling in scenic beauty the Webster
county hills, was passed through. Mars is in the
oil field where hundreds of derricks can be counted at
one sight. It is more than twenty-five years since this
AND Other Imprints. 257
territory was first developed, yet it is still considered a
rich field. Connelsville is situated in a rich coal terri-
tory and shows many evidences of prosperity. Butler
is a manufacturing town and is rapidly increasing in
population. East Springfield is in Erie, the most
north-west county in Pennsylvania. It is one of the
best farming communities in the state. The country
is comparatively level, having been smoothed down by
the great Laurentian glacier ages ago. Each farmer
has a telephone in his home and the mail is brought
daily to his door. Eailroads and trolley car lines are
more plentiful than public highways in Webster. The
Bessemer and Lake Erie has ninety-five pound steel
rails, is double tracked and partly laid with steel cross-
ties, but it has been discovered that under certain con-
ditions they are not equal to wooden ties. This road
was built by Andrew Carnegie . and carries coal, coke,
iron, and steel to western markets. It also carries ore
from Lake Erie to the iron and steel mills in the Pitts-
burgh district. Conneaut, in Ashtabula county, Ohio,
has a good harbor. Large whale-back steamers bring
red hematite and black band iron ore from the Lake
Superior regions.
Some of these steamers are six hundred feet long
and carry twelve hundred tons of ore which is unloaded
in four and one-half hours by a machine called a ^'^clam
shell." It is then loaded on cars and shipped east to
the foundries.
This region has good public roads, some of which are
macadamized. Travel is always by carriages or automo-
biles. No one is ever seen on horseback.
This is a great country for birds. Many old friends
258 MoccAsix Tracks
of other days were met and many new acquaintances
were formed. It is essentially the summer home of the
robin and the brown thrasher. Scores of each. species
can be found in a short ramble. Lake Erie is two hun-
dred and forty-five miles long, with an average width of
sixty miles. While sixty miles is not a long flight for a
bird, many of the smaller species prefer to nest along
the southern shore of the lake.
My friends accused me of attempted poaching on the
lake by casti]ig a fly from the Ohio shore within the
three mile limit in the Canadian waters. This feat
with an eight foot bamboo and one hundred and fifty
feet of line would be no easy task to perform, the dis-
tance being fifty-seven miles to the forbidden Avaters.
Fish are very plentiful in Conneaut creek. This
stream would be called a river in West Virginia, it
being sixty-five miles from its source to where it flows
into the lake. Muskalonge, pike, pickerel, bass, rock
bass, dace and many other species go up the creek in
the spring and early summer to spawn. This was a
favorite stream with the Indians, who came here in
large numbers to spear fish in its clear water. The
name is of Indian origin and means sweet water.
Erie county is noted for woodchucks. These animals
are called groundhogs in West Virginia. Farther east
in Warren county leeks grow in abundance. These
'plants are called ramps in Webster county. Botl; wood-
chucks and leeks are eaten by the people. If Pennsyl-
vanians eat woodchucks and leeks, there can be no valid
reason why • West Virginians should not eat ground-
hogs and ramps, although Tom Daly says that if a
native of Webster persists in the habit for any length
AND Other Imprints. 259
of time there is danger of his voting the Democratic
ticket.
One would naturally suppose from the varied indus-
tries of Pensylvania that a cosmopolitan population
would be found. But to be sold a glass of beer by a
German from Heidelburg; to be shaved by a Spaniard
from Barcelona; to have one's shoes shined by a Greek
from Athens; to have an Afro-American carry one's
baggage to a hotel; to be "cussed'' by a washerwoman
from Austria, and to escape arrest with difficulty by an
Irish policeman from Dublin because one "sassed" back
in good Webster county style, was quite an experience
for one who had heard a wolf howl and had seen a
bear track at the Big Slip on the Williams only a week
previous.
WINTER BIRD FRIENDS.
Bird life in Webster county clurino- the winter is not
very extensive. It comprises two well-defined groups
— winter visitants and permanent residents. A few
summer residents sometimes prolong their stay until
Christmas, and in very rare instances they remain
throughout the long, dreary winter. The robin, the
blue bird, and the towhee are the three species most fre-
quently found here when other migratory birds have
left for the south.
The winter season is a very favorable time for bird
study. The species are not so numerous as to be con-
fusing even to those who have given but little time to
the study of their form, color, song, or habits. Birds
are not so timid during very cold weather and will ven-
ture to the doorstep if they are given the least encour-
agement. Many bird lovers feed them when snow
covers the ground. Lunch counters are provided for
the purpose where the diners are in no danger of being
molested by the house cat. This practice of feeding the
birds is a very commendable one. It has a tendency
to attract them to one's premises. But very few, if any,
of the winter birds will freeze to death when plentifully
supplied with food. The normal temperature of a bird
is much higher than in quadrupeds, and, because of this
fact, a greater amount of food is required to maintain
the body heat. The amount of food a bird consumes
daily is astonishing. It sometimes amounts to almost
the weight of the bird.
WINTER VISITANTS.
The Junco.
The junco, or slate-colored snowbird, is the most nu-
merous family of winter visitants. It is known to
every one, for its acquaintance can be most readily
made. It arrives in the latitude of Webster Springs as
early as the middle of October and usually remains un-
til the latter part of April. During their stay they
consume large quantities of the seeds of harmful plants.
They nest as far north as New England and southern
Canada. Many become permanent residents of Webster
county, nesting in the high mountain regions on the
head waters of the Gauley and the Williams rivers and
their tributaries. Just before leaving for their summer
home, the junco sings a very simple but sweet song,
thus paying for any hospitality which they received.
The song somewhat resembles that of the chipping
sparrow, which is a distant relative. The nest is a
very simple affair, located on the ground under the side
of a rock or a log.
The Golden-Crowned Kinglet.
The members of this family are very small birds,
very much resembling warblers. It may be identified
by its orange and gold crown. Its arrival and depar-
ture closely coincides with that of the junco.
The golden-crown is usually found in pairs, nerv-
ously flitting about the terminal twigs in search of in-
sect food. During the winter it may be found from
Maine to Florida and it nests from North Carolina to
262 MoccAsix Tracks
southern Ganada. They sing during the nesting season
only. It is very interesting to watch a pair of these
tiny birds feeding. Each twig is inspected for small
insects or their eggs. They are not at all shy, but will
come very near a person when they are feeding. These
little midgets in feathers make a winter landscape less
gloomy by their presence.
The Winter Wren.
The winter wren is the baby of the family of wrens.
It arrives here in late autumn and departs in the early
spring. It is found in the vicinity of thick under-
brush and fallen timber. Lumber yards are favorite
haunts. When alarmed winter wrens seek shelter in
hollow logs, under the upturned roots of trees or in a
water hole. As songsters they are not excelled by many
birds of larger size. They are easily identified by their
diminutive size and short erect tails. This wren nests
in the higher altitudes of Webster.
The Brown Creeper.
There are twelve known members of this familv, yet
the brown creeper is the only American representative.
It is a northern bird and breeds at sea level from
Maine to the Arctic Circle and along the Alleghany
mountains to North Carolina. They arrive here very
late in autumn and they are always busy feeding on
the eggs and larvae of insects. The creeper begins at
the base of a tree and winds around and around, ex-
ploring every nook and crevice until it reaches the top,
AND Other Imprints. 263
and tlien without a moment's pause drops to the base
of the next one. It, like the wood-pecker, is never seen
with its head downward, but using its strong, stiff-
pointed tail feathers as a prop, travels rapidly up a
tree.
The only note uttered while in our midst is a fine
squeak not unlike that of a bat, but in its northern
home it sings an exquisite song of four distinct notes.
PERMANENT RESIDENTS.
Our permanent residents are not lacking in birds of
brilliant plumage or in sweet songsters. Who has* not
noted the pleasing contrast of a. cardinal grosbeak
against a backgroimd of snow? What is more cheerful
than the song of a Carolina, wren or a song sparrow on
a clear February morning? While all bird admirers
give a cordial welcome to winter visitants, and summer
residents, the native species seem to be the general fa-
vorites, because thev brave the summer heat as well as
the winter sleet and snow.
But very few individual birds remain in the same
locality throughout the entire year. They move south
at the approach of winter. The birds that spent the
summer in the Elk valley moved south and members of
the same species from forther north took their place.
In the spring they will return to the vicinity in which
they nested last year.
264 MoccAsix Tracks
The Song Sparrow.
The song sparrow is one of our most common perma-
nent residents. This bird is usually found on the bor-
der of a thicket, on or near the ground. If there be a
little brook near, bordered with weeds or thick rushes,
he is almost certain to be found there. When the deep
snow covers the ground look for him about the barn,
under l^oard walks or buildings that are not resting on
the ground. He will be known by his brown coat, long
tail, and mottled breast, with a black spot in the cen-
ter. The song sparrow is a sweet singer and with the
exception of a short period in August he may be heard
throughout the year. Chapman says that his modest
chant always brings good cheer and contentment, but
when heard in silent February, it seems the divinest
bird lay to which mortal man ever listened. The magic
of his voice bridges the cold months of spring; as we
listen to him fields seem green, and bare branches seem
clothed in rustling leaves.
When flushed he does not fly far, but makes a dash
for the nearest cover. The nest is usually placed on
the ground, but a bush may be chosen for the site.
Three broods are raised between !May and September,
and each one consists of four or five nestlings.
The Cardinal Grosbeak.
The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginia red-bird, with his
scarlet coat and prominent crest, is known and admired
by every one. His mate is not so gaudily dressed but
she is verv readilv recognized bv the crest that adorns
AND Other Imprints. 265
both sexes. This species is common from Florida to
New York. The song, which is confined chiefly to the
male, is a whistle of various notes and intonations.
One of his favorite songs is thought by many farmers
to indicate rain, as he seems to say "Wet, wet, year,
year, year.'^ They build their nest from four to eight
feet above the ground and is located in a dense thicket.
The nest is made of very coarse material in which the
bark of the grape vine predominates. But one brood is
reared each year and it consists of three or four young
ones.
The Blue Jay.
The blue jay in his beautiful uniform of blue and
white is a permanent resident with very erratic habits,
and movements. He is very common in October and
November, feeding on acorns, beech nuts, and chestnuts,
which form his chief diet in the fall and winter. At
times he is absent from his usual haunts for many
months. These movements are governed by food sup-
plies rather than upon climatic conditions. His best
friends can not call him a songster of much merit, but
his worst enemies cannot deny his great conversational
powers. Besides a succession of melodious notes called
a song, birds have certain call notes, which is a method
pf communication between individuals of the same
family. To any one who has listened to a large flock
of blue jays feeding in a woodland comprising five or
six acres, their vocabulary appears almost unlimited.
Besides the call notes peculiar to their own species,
they are most excellent mimics and they can imitate
266 MoccASix Tracks
the red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks in a wav to
deceive the most practiced ear. One is never certain
from which it proceeds until he hears the unmistakable
"Jay/^ "jay" from the same vicinity or sees the hawk
mount upward on tireless pinions.
Jays spend much time in teasing the owl. The one
that finds an owl gives a peculiar cry which is immedi-
ately answered by every jay in hearing of the call.
They gather around the owl as closely as safety will
admit, each uttering a protest in the most positive
manner. It is very comical to see the owl turning his
head from side to side to see eadh of his diminutive tor-
mentors. A perfect Babel of noise is heard and the
poor owl, driven almost to distraction, flies away, but
he is followed by the entire flock of his persecutors.
.Xot until he is driven out of their feeding ground will
they desist.
The jay is a robber and a despoiler of the nests of
other birds. He also eats the young ones. This trait
has made him many enemies that otherwise would be
his friends. Jays build a very compact nest of small
twigs and rootlets about fifteen feet from the ground.
The eggs, four or five in number, are a pale olive-green
color. Jays are very useful in the transportation and
planting of seeds. I have found twenty-five beech nuts
hidden by them in a stump at least four hundred yards
from a beech tree. Jays are permanent residents from
Florida to Nova Scotia.
The Tufted Titmouse.
The tufted titmouse is a very common bird through-
out the year in central West Virginia. It has a long
AND Other Imprints. 267
tail and a promment crest. Its prevailing color is gray
above, with reddish brown sidies and cream-colored
breast. Its call notes resemble the black-capped chick-
adee, but they are somewhat louder and more nasal.
Another call heard in mild winter weather is a low
whistle, "peto, peto, peto," repeated for hours at a time.
The male is an ardent suitor, and during the months
of April and a part of May he is very attentive to his
intended mate. It is a fact worthy of note that birds
choose but one mate for the season, unless by some
fatality it becomes necessary to choose another one.
Some species select a permanent mate and the two are
always found near each other, except in the spring mi-
gration the male arrives at the nesting place two or
three weeks earlier than the female.
Some years ago, near Bolair, I witnessed a very sin-
gular courtship between two titmice. The male fol-
lowed the female from branch to branch and from tree
to tree, uttering a low, plaintive cry like that of a
young bird. His wings were fluttering, and his move-
ments indicated the utmost excitement. After some
time the female flew down to the ground and was fol-
lowed by her admirer. She picked up a small straw
and gave it to him. This act must have indicated that
his love was reciprocated, for he at once became quiet,
but he continued to follow her. She, probably from
the first, intended to accept him^, but thought she would
keep him in doubt and suspense for a while, like some
young ladies do their sweethearts.
Titmice feed upon nuts and seeds in autumn and
winter, and during the remainder of the year their
chief diet consists of insects. They hoard their food
268 MoccASix Tracks
like blue jays, and even when snow covers the ground
they seem to have no trouble in locating it where it was
concealed months before. While feeding they keep up
a continual twittering, which is very pleasing to the
ear.
The Downy Woodpecker.
The downy woodpecker belongs to a very numerous
family distributed from the Arctic regions to Mexico.
The members of this family are called the surgeons of
the forests, because they excavate holes in the trees
with their sharp, chisel-like bills in search of the larvae
of injurious insects. They do immense damage to
timber in this wav, but the harm done is in a measure
balanced by their keeping the ravages of forest insects
in check.
The downy woodpecker is common in all seasons of
the year. His feet,' tail, and bill are especially adapted
to his mode of procuring food. His sharp toe nails
enable him to climb with ease and rapidity; his stiff
pointed tail feathers act as a prop to hold him against
a tree, and his sharp bill can penetrate the hardest
wood. It is used as a hand with which to procure food,
and as a tool to excavate a receptacle in soft or decayed
wood for a nest, and also to construct a winter home.
In the coldest weather he may l)e seen diligently search-
ino; for insect food hidden in the bark or in decaved
wood. He is the partner of the orchardist and the
farmer, destroying m}Tiads of insects, bugs, and worms
that are injurious to trees. In the autumn he is found
making a hole in a fence prop, a stump, or a post in
which he snugly spends the cold, winter nights. In
AND Other Imprints. 269
the same way he prepares a site for a nest. The eggs
are white and the usual number is six.
The downy is not noted for his courage or his fight-
ing qualities, although he is armed with a bill that
could be used to good effect in both offensive and de-
fensive warfare. He is very sociable in his habits, and
spends much time in the company of nuthatches and
chickadees.
Some years ago, I was interested in a pair of blue
birds that had selected an abandoned home of a wood-
pecker in a wild plum for their nesting place. They
visited it daily to see if any other birds were trespass-
ing on their rights. One cold, rainy evening in April
they came as usual, and one of them looked, in at the
door, but quickly withdrew his head in great agitation
and utered a cry of alarm. He then flew to a nearby
tree and his mate looked in with a similar result. They
both flew some distance and appeared to hold a con-
ferance as to the best method of procedure against the
intruder. They were very much excited, and used tail,
wings, and voice to express the indignation they felt
at the intrusion. The downy was very much alarmed
at thus being cooped up in a home that did not belong
to him and two angry owners plotting against him.
He had sought shelter from the rain, but he did not
feel at all comfortable at this time. He very cautiously
peeped out, and seeing his enemies some distance away,
he made a dash for liberty hotly pursued by the angry
blue birds. The chase continued in my sight for two
or three hundred yards, and the pursuers did not re-
turn for about an hour. They remained on guard until
late twilight, but the downy did not return. For some
2?0 MoccAsix Tracks
unknown cause the blue birds did not use the plum tree
as a nesting site that year.
The Hairy Woodpecker.
The hairy woodpecker^ the downy's big cousin, is a
shyer bird than his smaller relative, and does not visit
the orchards very often, but he spends most of his time
in tlie deep forests. His dress, like the downy, is
barred with black and white. The outer tail feathers
of the downy are white, barred with black; in the
hairv thev are white without black bars. In the males,
the nape of the neck of both species is a bright red.
The feathers on the back of the hairy woodpecker are
somewhat stiff and resemble hair, hence the name.
WTien entering the woods on a cold day in winter one
will hear the tap, tap, tap of a woodpecker in search of
tree "borers.'' When approached they will sidle to the
other side of the tree and peep at the intruder. When
the seeming danger is past work will again be resumed.
All woodpeckers make a loud drumming noise by strik-
ing a dead limb with their sharp bill, which is repeated
a number of times in rapid succession. This is their
love call.
The Pileated Woodpecker.
This is the largest member of the family with the
exception of the ivory bill, which is found in Florida
and adjacent territory. He is seventeen inches in length
and his color is a dull black with much white on his
neck and wings. The high pointed crest of bright red
gives him a very jaunty appearance. It resembles the
AND Other Imprints. 271
bright red cap worn by the Eoman soldiers called
pileus, and he has been called the pileated woodpecker.
He is very shy and rarely comes into orchards or farm
lands. They are not so plentiful as they were twenty
years ago, but quite a nmnber can be seen by those who
go far enough into the dense woods. On the approach
of a snow storm the pileated flies to a southern ex-
posed part of the woods. He remains there until the
storm is about ready to break and then he seeks the
woods facing the north.* The first settlers in Webster
county learned to predict the weather by his flight.
Like all other woodpeckers, he nests in a hole exca-
vated in a dead stub or tree.
The Goldfinch.
To see the goldfinch in the month of May dressed in
his gay wedding suit of yellow and black one can
scarcelv believe that he braves the winter storms. After
the young ones are grown, he lays aside his brilliant coat
and assumes the garb of his more modest mate, and
becomes a winter resident. The goldfinch is a bird of
manv names. He is called the flax bird, the wild
canary, the beet bird, the lettuce bird, and the yellow
bird. He is very sociable and is usually found in
flocks feeding on the seeds of thistles, dandelions, sun-
flowers and many other plants. If you wish to make
the acquaintance of this most interesting little bird,
plant sunflowers in your garden and leave the seeds on
the stalks until late autumn and early winter. The
goldfinch does not go to housekeeping until June, al-
though he has worn his wedding clothes since the
month of April. A very compact nest is built in the
272 MoccAsix Tracks
crotch of a small branch ten to twenty feet above the
ground. It is composed of fine bark and plant iibers
and is lined with soft plant down. The eggs, from
three to six in number, are bluish-white in color.
The song resembles that of the canary, and in early
spring they sing in chorus, but later in the season the
males become most excellent soloists. Sometimes while
the female is feeding, the male will fly around her in
a wide circle in graceful, undulating movements utter-
ing "per-chic-oree, per-chic-oree^^ for some minutes.
The nest is encircled in the same manner when the
female is brooding. Many years ago, when each farmer
sowed a /> small patch of flax for home consumption,
goldfinches were very plentiful, and because they ate
the seeds they were called flaxbirds. They eat the
leaves of young beets and are therefore called beet birds.
In the male, from April to August, the body is a beau-
tiful golden color. The crown is black and the wings
are black and white. The female is a srravish brown,
with wings barred with black and pale yellow. The
range of the goldfinch is from the tropics to the central
part of Canada.
The Black-Capped Chickadee.
This bird belonojs to the titmouse familv. Titmouse
means little mouse. It is one of our smallest birds, be-
ing but four and one-half inches long. It is also called
tit or tom tit. The chickadee is a permanent resident,
but is more plentiful in the spring and autumn migra-
tions. It is insectivorous and destrovs manv insects
harmful to vegetation. It not only feeds upon the in-
sect but upon the eggs and larvae also. The song of
AND Ot^her Imprixts. 273
three or four notes is very musical aud need only be
heard in order to be appreciated. It is not at all shy,
but will allow one to approach very near when in its
native woods. For a nesting place a hole in a dead tree
or limb is selected, but, if a suitable . one cannot be
found, one is soon made with his sharp bill. The small
particles of wood are not dropped at the root of the
tree like the woodpeckers, but they are carried some
distance away before being* dropped to the ground. The
work is done by both male and female, working alter-
nately. AVhen completed, this house is lined with the
soft, inner bark of trees.
The upper parts of the chickadee are gray, and the
under parts are brownish-white. The crown and throat
are black, and the cheeks are white. The eggs, five to
eight in number, are white, spotted and speckled with
reddish-brown.
The White-Breasted Nuthatch.
This is a very interesting bird and no one need be
in the woods very long without hearing his call note,
which is a loud ^^yank," "yank,^' or he will be seen
running head downward on a tree. His song is a rap-
idly uttered ^'ha-ha-ha-ha'^ in a very loud key. This is
not music of a very high order, but when heard in
bleak December, when there is a dearth of bird music,
it has a cheerful ring. The red-breasted nuthatch is a
near relative of the white-breast, but is a more north-
ern bird and is not found in central West Virginia.
They are called nuthatches because they use their sharp,
slender bill to crack or ^Tiatch" a nut after it has been
wedged in some convenient crevice in the bark of a
274 MoccASix Teacks
tree or a crack in a limb. In comparing titmice with
nuthatches, it may be said that the former have long
tails and short bills, and do not creep, while the latter
have short tails and long bills and do creep. The nut-
hatches, with no special structure other than slightly
lengthened toe nails, differ from all other birds in the
ease and rapidity in which they can ascend or descend
trees. The tail is short and square and is not used for
a support in climbing. The color of the white-breasted
nuthatch is bluish-gray on the back with face and un-
der parts white. The crown of the male is black, and
in the female a slaty color. The nest is made in April
and the eggs are white, thickly speckled with reddish-
brown.
The Carolina Wren.
The Carolina wren is very common and is very much
larger than its cousin, the winter wren. It is one of
our jolliest birds, and its call notes and song are varied
and very musical. Wrens are the most vigorous and en-
ergetic of birds. Some species will build three or four
nests before eggs are deposited in either one. A house
wren will carry a half bushel of material to fill up a
nesting cavity, and then build the nest on the top of
the headp. The range of the Carolina wren is from
Xew York to Florida. Its upper parts are bright
cinnamon and its under parts are washed with the
same color. The nest is built in some crevice or out of
the way place, the more effectively to hide it. I have
seen the nest in a basket of feathers hung up in a
smoke house, and in the sleeve of an old coat left in
the wood house. The eggs, from five to eight, are
AND Other Imprints. 275
laid in April. Think of the amount of work Jenny-
Wren and her husband must do to supply food for so
many baby wrens. February is a favorable month to
study the habits of the Carolina wren.
The Raven.
The raven, the bird of ill omen, was very common
thirty or forty years ago, but it is very seldom seen
now. I have seen but two in twenty-five years. These
were seen on Birch river in Nicholas county. They
remained for several days in the vicinity where tirst
seen before taking their final departure. This was in
1902. Eavens built their nests in the deepest forests
far removed from human habitation. When the young
were able to fly they visited the settlements where food
was more plentiful. The clamorous cry of the hungry
youngsters was a very familiar spring sound. They
were casual visitors until spring, when they returned
to their breeding ground, but not before they had
aroused the enmity of the farmers by plucking out the
eyes of young lambs. Farther north the raven is still
verv common.
The Crow.
The crow, another bird of jet black plumage, but
much smaller than the raven, is not so common as
formerly during the winter. He has become a mi-
grant and spends his winters to the south of us, re-
turning at the breaking up of winter. Not many years
ago a small flock could be seen on nearly every farm,
feeding with the cattle or other farm animals. The
276 MoccAsix Tracks
farmers considered the cro^v a great pest because of his
fondness for sprouting corn in the spring and for
roasting ears in the late summer. While much damage
is still done by him, he is now considered a friend of
the agriculturist, as his chief diet consists of grubs and
worms, the natural enemies of the farmer. In the au-
tumn, crows collect in immense flocks and have a com-
mon place to roost from which they forage in small
bands for miles in every direction. When they return
about sundown, for some time their incessant cawnig is
almost deafenino:. Thev feed on beech nuts and the
seeds of some plants in the fall. But their chief food
supply at that season of the year is the shelled corn
and small ears left in the fields by the farmer when he
gathered his crops.
The Ruffed Grouse.
The popular names of many American birds were
given them by the early English settlers because of
some real or fancied resemblance to well known Euro-
pean species. The robin is not a robin but a true
thrush; the meadow lark is not a lark at all, but a
starling; the orioles are not orioles, but a distinct
American family having no representatives in Europe.
One of our best known and most popular game birds,
the partridge of the north and the pheasant of the
south, is neither, but it is a grouse. Ornithologists
have repeatedly pointed out these mistakes in the in-
terest of correct scientific classification of our birds, but
the names have been too long established to be easily
changed.
AND Other Imprints. 277
The ruffed grouse (the pheasant), so called because
tihe neck is ornamented with a black ruff, or collar, is
distributed from the Oarolinas to Canada, but is more
plentiful in mountain regions that are heavily timbered.
The ruff of the male is black and the feathers compos-
ing it are longer than the surrounding ones, but in the
female it is brown and the feathers are of the same
length as the surrounding ones. The color of the
grouse, a dark brown and rusty gray, exactly harmon-
izes with his surroundings of leaves, logs, and dead
brush. This is called protective coloration and enables
him to readily hide from his enemies. The sportsman
who successfully hunts him without the aid of a dog
must have sharp eyes and always be on the alert. He
will quietly sit in a few feet of the hunter until his
back is turned and with a loud whirr he springs into
the air and is away like a shot.
The male grouse makes a loud drumming sound
which corresponds to the love songs of other birds.
They drum most frequently during the nesting season,
which begins about the first of May. Thirty years
ago drumming was often heard at night but I have
heard no drumming after sunset for many years. The
manner in which this sound is produced is not well un-
derstood even by eminent writers on birds. One noted
author says that the bird firmly braces himself against
a low perch and beats the air with his wings. Another
writer says that he drums on a hollow log by beating it
with his wings. Now, I have often watched, at very
close range, the process. The drummer selects a log,
usually an old mossy one, and stands very erect upon
278 MoccAsix Tracks
it. The wings are thrust well in front, and by a very
slow moA^ement at first, strikes the primaries together
producing the sound. The latter part of the perform-
ance is so rapid that he is almost lifted from his perch,
against which he is not braced. If the outer feathers
of the wings did not strike together, no louder sound
could be produced than by suddenly bounding into the
air when flushed.
During the spring and summer the toes of the grouse
are bare and slender, but in autumn a comb-like fringe
grows upon them, which for all practical purposes acts
as a snow shoe, which aids in walking on the snow.
The natural habitat of the grouse is in regions of deep
snow fall, and he spends much of his time on the
ground, so this is a wise provision of nature enabling
him to walk on the soft snow without sinking deep into
it. Grouse belong to the family of scratchers, but he
never uses this method of procuring his food. A leaf-
lined nest is constructed on the ground under the side
of a log or rock, and from eight to fourteen buff-col-
ored eggs are laid early in May.
The Bobwhite.
This game bird, the quail of the north and the par-
tridge of the south, is a permanent resident of small
number. He is called "Ijobwhite" from one of his loud
whistled calls and when heard it is a sure harbinger of
spring. This is a more southern bird than the ruffed
grouse and is found in the eastern United States from
Florida to Maine. The bobwhite has the grouse mark-
ings, and male and female are much alike in color, the
AND Other Imprints. 279
most important difference being the throat and the line
over the eye, which are white in the male and buff in
the female. During the winter they are often seen
about the barn and other farm buildings feeding on the
grain scattered about. They have many enemies, in-
cluding hawks and foxes. They roost on the ground in
a circle with tails together and heads pointing in all
directions. They spring into the air when an enemy
approaches too near for safety. The bobwhite is one
among the farmers' best feathered friends. He destroys
immense quantities of weed seeds, grasshoppers, cut
'w^orms, and other injurious insects. Tlie nest is made
on the ground about the middle of May and from ten
to twenty white eggs are laid.
Besides the birds I have enumerated there are hawks
and owls to be found in Webster county, but because of
their predatory habits, and their desire to live solitary
and alone, they are not numbered among our winter
bird friends.
AVinter birds give us a feeling of comradeship with
nature, and the sight of one of them, or the sound of a
well known chirp, when all nature is held in the icy
embrace of winter, makes a dreary day more cheerful.
The birds from an economic standpoint deserve care-
ful consideration. Leading entomologists estimate the
damage done by insects to the agricultural interests of
the United States at seven hundred million dollars.
This almost inconceivable amount would be many times
greater if the birds did not hold the insects in check.
Immense damage is done by insects to the forests and
our shade trees. Now, if insects are the natural ene-
280 MoccAsix Tracks
rnies of vegetation^ the birds are the natural enemies of
insects. By feeding on insects birds prevent their un-
due increase. If it were not for this, vegetation in
man}^ parts of the earth in a few years would be en-
tirely destroyed. Birds by eating the seeds of harmful
weeds are beneficial to the farmer.
It is from an aesthetic consideration that birds ap-
peal most directly to us. Their beautiful plumage,
their sweet songs, their means of procuring food, and
their annual migration appeal to every one who likes
to spend a part of his time beyond the narrow limits
of a dwelling house. Birds possess many of the char-
acteristics of man. Fear and courage, love and hate,
modesty and vanity are each manifested by them. Many
are ardently attached to their birth place, and return
to it each spring, after having visited lands hundreds
of miles distant. Some are very sociable, living in
, large flocks, and they keep up a constant communica-
tion with eacli other by means of call notes. Many
birds live lonely, solitary lives in the deep forests and
are gloomily silent.
AVho does not admire the intelligence, or instinct,
that enables the bobolink to spend the winter in Brazil,
a land of summer and gay flowers? Yet the next
spring the is merrily singing in his home in northern
United States.
It is said that when a person' has learned the names
of ten birds and can apply the names to the proper
species, that he is lost. The pleasure obtained from the
ten is so great that he is not content until the name of
all the birds that visit his localitv have been learned.
AND Other Imprints. 281
'Now, I sincerely hope that every boy and girl who
reads these sketches will become so completely lost that
they will not again find themselves until they have
learned the names of all the winter visitants and per-
manent residents near their homes. It will then be a
very easy and most pleasant task to learn the names of
the most prominent summer residents and transient
visitants.
Buy a hand book on birds, and take it with you on
your outings, and you will be agreeably surprised with
the ease and rapidity that you learn to identify our
friends in feathers. This applies to elderly persons as
well as young people.
THE EAGLE.
There are many traits and characteristics among the
different species of birds that have attracted universal
attention among civilized peoples. Some birds possess
a sweet voice and poets have sung their praises in
poetic compositions. Others by their long migratory
flights over land and sea, across valleys and mountains,
have been praised for that unerring instinct that safely
guides them to the end of their long, perilous journeys.
The eagle has claimed attention for many centuries,
although he possesses neither a sweet voice nor migratory
habits. He braves the snows of a long Arctic winter or
endures the panting and dissolving heat of the Torrid
zone. He is seemingly at home in all parts of the
world, and his vigils are kept on the highest mountain
peaks or in the lowest valleys. Some one of the
various species is to be found wherever the foot of
2H2 Moccasin Tracks
civilized man has trod. He is most assuredly a bird of
cosmopolitan antecedents and has impressed the human
family from the earliest antiquity.
The eagle possesses many of the attributes of mankind
and man himself can learn many valuable lessons from
this noble bird. He disdains to feed upon anything
not slain by his own power. This characteristic teaches
us that we should be self-reliant and should not depend
upon others for our support or for our ideas. Our own
powers rightly used are of greater value to us than bor-
rowed ones, although they may be of greater dynamic
force.
The eagle is called the king of birds. It is not be-
cause he can sing more sweetly, scream more loudly, or
flv more swiftly, but it is because of the loftiness of his
flight. He posseses a keen eye and he senses the ap-
proach of a storm from afar. From his aerie on some
beetling crag, he spreads his pinions and by easy and
graceful gyrations, he mounts up, and up, until he
soars beyond the natural vision of man, and finally
readies a point beyond the storm clouds. With a fear-
less eye, he looks down upon lightning-riven clouds.
While the earth is being veiled in partial darkness, and
while weaker birds are being tossed to and fro by the
tempest and vainly seeking cover and protection from
the driving rain and hail, he is basking in the sun-
shine immune from the fury of the elements.
What a lesson is taught from this upward flight! It
teaches us that we are to arise above the petty troubles
and annoyances of this life. As we surmount each ob-
stacle, we can look down upon them with complaisance
AND Other Imprints. 283
and self-reliance. Above these troubles all is peace and
serenity; in the midst of them turmoil and discord.
The eagle is invigorated and strengthened by his exer-
tions; so are we by taking a loftier view of the aims
and attainments of this life.
The harpy eagle is a South American species living
alone in the deepest forests. He is gloomily silent and
quarrelsome. He will attack any animal that comes
near him and even man himself is not immune from
his ill temper.
Are you acquainted with any persons of whom this
eagle reminds you? They are to be found in almost
every city, town, or village in West Virginia. They
seem to be at cross purposes with the world. They are true
Ishmaelites and show their ill temper on the least prov-
ocation. They do not freely mingle with their fellow
men but prefer to live lonely, solitary lives, neither giv-
ing nor receiving a helping hand. It is better to come
out in the sunlight of publicity and assist in making
this a better world in which to live. Such persons have
been characterized as "stars that dwell apart in a fel-
lowless firmament." It is said that they do not live in
a house by the side of the road where they can be a
friend to man.
■ Eagles usually rear their broods in nests situated on
the pinnacle of some inaccessible mountain peak, where,
in safety, they can scan a thousand depths of nether
air. The eaglets soon attain the size of the parent
birds, but they are cowering and timid. The mother
watches over them in the fondest paternal solicitude.
She becomes impatient of their long delay in leaving
284 MoccASix Tracks
their temporary abode. She .pushes one after another
out of the nest. If one is not strong enough to fly, it
is left sitting on the side of the nest, or it is sometimes
borne to safety on the back of the mother. This action
of the parent eagle teaches us two valuable truths. If
we never try to do a thing, it will never be accom-
plished. If we make an honest effort, we gain confi-
dence in ourselves, and, if we fail, it gives added
strength which will enable us to win in a subsequent
attempt. In the second lesson taught, we learn to as-
sist the weak and helpless. Man does not live for him-
self alone. Christ exemplified this when he said, "Bear
one another's burdens.^' By our own selfishness and
lack of interest in humanity, we often make the bur-
dens heavier for our fellow beings.
The eagle occupies a prominent place in the ornithol-
ogv of the Bible. It is mentioned many times bv the
sacred writers.
The people of the Eoman Empire, one of the great
universal empires of the world, used the image of an
eagle for their standard. It was carried by the victo-
rious legions from the tropical regions of Africa to the
icy, snow-clad hills of northern Europe. Its victorious
advance under the imperial C?esar in western Europe
was checked by the Belgians near the scenes of conflict
in the great war of nineteen hundred and fourteen. This
emblem in bronze or brass was as sacred to the Eoman
le.erionaries as the Stars and Stripes is to the American
soldiers. Many centuries after the fall of the Roman
Empire, a free and powerful nation came into promi-
nence in Xorth America, and the eagle became its
AND Other Imprints. 285
fitting emblem because the noble bird typifies strength,
power, and endurance. It is represented on the shield
of the United States and also on the silver and gold
coins.
Percival, the American poet, gi^^es a very vivid and
graphic description of the home and habits of the
eagle in one of his poems. He says,
"Bird of the broad, and sweeping wing,
Thy home is high in heaven;
Where the wide storms their banners fling.
And the tempest clouds are driven.
Thou art perched aloft on a beetling crag.
And the waves are white below
And on with a haste that cannot lag.
They rush in an endless flow.
Thy home is on the mountain top ;
Thy fields the boundless air,
And hoary peaks that proudly prop
The skies, thv dwelling are.^'
THE CRISIS OF 1861.
William Cooper, the great English poet and hymnist,
wrote,
"God moves in a mysterious way.
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm."
The aptness of this assertion was fully exemplified
in the great and irrepressible conflict that culminated
in 1861.
The smouldering fires of fifty years burst forth with
volcanic fury, and the United States was plunged into
the vortex of a great internecine war.
This crisis did not come upon the country like a
thunderbolt from a cloudless sky, but its mutterings
had been heard by the founders of the Eepublic — even
by George Washington himself. An intimation of it
had been wafted from England to the shores of Amer-
ica in the wars between the Cavaliers and the Puritans
in 1649. Thirty years prior to this event slavery had
been introduced into the colony of A^irginia. The Cav-
aliers and their adherents, for the most part, settled be-
low what was afterwards known as Mason and Dixon's
line. The Puritans, under the leadership of such men
as Brewster, Carver and Endicott, settled in New Eng-
land, which was north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania
boundary.
It is a well known historical fact that immigration
moves along the same parallels of latitude. So it came
to pass that the dominant class of people of the two
AND Other Imprixts. 2S'^
sections of the colonies inherited and entertained polit-
ical, social, and industrial opinions hostile to each
other. British injustice and usurpation united the
North and the South against their common enemy.
The devolution was fought to a successful conclusion,
and the United States of America, occupying tiie fair-
est portion of the continent, was established.
The importation of slaves was favored by the British
government during the eighteenth century, and at . the
treaty of Eutrecht, in 1713, Great Britain obtained the
contract of supplying slaves for the Spanish West In-
dies. Many of the colonies objected to the interna-
tional traffic in human beings, but it was forced upon
them by the mother country. The colonists of Virginia.
Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts passed laws against it
previous to 1774, but each of these was vetoed by royal
authority.
The slave trade question came very prominently be-
fore the Constitutional Convention of 1787. All the
Southern States, except Virginia and Maryland, de-
manded its retention. After a heated debate the ques-
tion was compromised by giving Congress power to
aholish it in 1808. Congressional Acts passed in 1818
and 1819 authorized the President to send war vessels
to Africa to stop the trade in slaves, which was not
fully given up until 1865.
A sentiment hostile to slavery began to develop
among the Quakers soon after it was introduced into
the North. This religious sect drew up a memorial
against it at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1688.
Woolwich and other Quakers openly denounced it from
288 Moccasin TiiACKS
the pulpit. The Boston town meeting in 1701 passed
a resolution against it. Slaves were few in the North
but numerous in the South, where the increase and the
danger felt from them caused the passage of severe
laws respecting them.
The E evolution, as a movement for liberty, with its
declaration proclaiming all men free and equal, joined
with the humanitarian spirit of the close of the eight-
eenth century to increase the anti-slavery sentiment.
All the Xorthern States either abolished slavery about
this time or provided for its gradual extinction.
Had it not been for AAliitney^s invention of the cot-
ton gin, in 1793, the great crisis might never have oc-
curred. The destiny of a nation is often changed by
verv small occurrences. This invention o^ave a new im-
petus to slavery by making the production of cotton
enormously profitable. It made a large portion of the
people of the Xorth, who were interested in cotton
manufacturing, dependent upon slave labor to supply
the raw material for their spindles. After tliis time the
people of the South began to defend slavery as a posi-
tive good in spite of its obvious disadvantages. Aboli-
tion societies first formed about 1793 began to languish
in 1808.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 arranged that
slavery could not exist west of the Mississippi river and
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, except
in the case of Missouri. The American Colonization
Society tried to palliate the evils of slavery by emanci-
pation and colonization.
About 1830 the agitation against slavery took a more
AND Other Imprints. 289
acute phase and for thirty years it was the all-absorb-
ing political theme. It was during these eventful years
that American statesmanship in the opinion of many
historians reached its zenith. The young Southerners,
nursed and pampered in the lap of ease and luxury,
had ample time in which to study politics, oratory, and
government. They were sent North and even to Europe
to complete their education. Thus equipped they were
able to meet any antagonist on the hustings. The
North, with its splendid schools aud colleges, furnished
a group of statesmen of matchless worth, courage, and
ability. It was at this period of our history that the
great forensic battles of intellectual giants were waged.
The young orators and statesmen of today would ask
no greater honor than to be permitted to break a lance
in the arena of a great oratorical conflict where such
momentous questions are decided.
The tariff and State rights questions were freely
discussed and were closely allied with that of slavery.
The North and the South naturally took opposite sides
of each of these questions. The great Webster-Haynes
debate occurred in the United States Senate, in 1830,
and South Carolina soon after passed the Nullification
Act. Fortunately for the nation Andrew Jackson, a
fearless statesman and firm believer in the sacredness
of the Union, was president *at that time, and the way-
ward state was forced to retrace her steps, and the
crisis for the time being was past.
Slave labor demanded more and more new territory.
The Mexican war M^as forced upon the country at the
behest of the slave oligarchy to satisfy this ever in-
creasing demand. It forced the repeal of the Missouri
290 Moccasin Tracks
compromise in 1854:, which plunged Kansas into a civil
war and gave her a baptism of blood. The Supreme
Court, the higliest tribunal in the United States, sus-
tained thi^ repeal in the Dred Scott case in 185?. The
great compromise of 1850 was thought by many states-
men to forever settle the question of slavery. This be-
lief soon proved a delusion and a snare. They soon
learned that one could not compromise with evil. The
crucial question, the extension of slavery into the terri-
tories, soon overshadowed every other issue. Many per-
sons living in the Xorth had no desire to interfere with
slavery where it already legally existed, but they were
unwilling to see it extended, while the slave owners
claimed a Constitutional right to their property in
slaves as essential if they were to have any share in the
common territories. The Fugitive Slave law of 1850,
and the unwillingness of the Xorthern people to exe-
cute it, assisted in precipitating the conflict. In the
meantime tlie presidential election of 1860 approached.
The great and often victorious Democratic party split
asunder and slavery was the wedge. The Xorthern
wing nominated Stephen A. Douglas, the Little Giant
of Illinois, and declared that the voters of a territory
should decide for or against slavery. The Southern
wing nominated John C. Breckenridge, a dashing cav-
alier, of Kentucky, and dedared the right of slave own-
ers to take their slaves into the new territories. John
Bell, an old line Whig of Tennessee, was nominated
by the Constitutional Union party on a platform declar-
inof for the I^nion. the Constitution, and the enforce-
ment of the law. The Eepuhlican party, formed at
AND Other Imprints. 291
Jackson^ Michigan, in 1854, met in its second national
convention at Chicago and wisely passing by all the
old politicians nominated Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois,
a lawyer by profession, but comparatively unknown to
a very large majority of the voters. The platform de-
clared against the extension of slavery into new terri-
tory, but made no declaration against it where it al-
ready legally existed.
This was the most exciting presidential election in
the history of American politics, as well as the most
sectional in its characteristics and in its results. Dur-
ing the campaign several of the Southern states de-
clared their intention of seceding from the Union if
Lincoln was elected. But little attention was paid to
these threats, however, as they had often been heard on
previous occasions. George Washington had foreseen
the danger of sectionalism and had given warning in
his farewell address to the people of the United States.
The whole world knows the result — Lincoln's election
and the secession of South Carolina, December 20,
1860, soon to be followed by Mississippi, Florida, Ala-
bama, Georgia, Louisana and Texas. 0, for a Jackson
instead of Buchanan as President of the United States !
N'othing was done by the president to check the South
in its mad career. Buchanan hid behind the pitiful sub-
terfuge that the National government had not the
power to coerce a state. At the close of President Buch-
anan's administration the flag of the United States
was flying at only three points in the seven seceded
States. The United States army still held Fort Sumter
at Charleston, South Carolina. Fort Pickens at Pen-
292 MoccASTx Tracks
sacola, Florida, and Key West, the Southern extremity
of that State. Every other fort, arsenal, dockyard,
mint, custom house, and court house had been seized by
the dis-unionists and turned to hostile use. By these
means they obtained artillery, small arms, ammunition,
and supplies of war for immediate use. They obtained
five hundred thousand dollars in specie at the Xew
Orleans mint. The government of the United States
was not in anyway prepared for hostilities. The army
consisted of but twelve thousand available troops, and
the navy was so small that it did not amount to one
large squadron, and its most effective ships were at
points remote from the scene of conflict.
The financial affairs of the government were even in
a more deplorable condition. The credit of the Ignited
States that had been of the verv best standinsr in the
past had been almost entirely destroyed. In the closing
weeks of Buchanan's administration the Secretary of
the Treasury was forced to borrow money at the ruin-
ous rate of 12% per annum to pay the running ex-
penses of the government. In view of these facts it is
little wonder tbat the dis-unionists laughed to scorn any
attempt on the part of the United States government
to arrest their progress, much less to subdue them and
force their return to the Union.
Palliation, conciliation, concession and compromise
were often heard and the almost unanimous opinion in
the South, shared largely by the Xorth, was that to
precipitate war woukl be to abandon the last vestige of
hope for the restoration of the Union, and drive the
other slave-holding States into the Confederacy which
AND OiiiER Imprints. 293
had been formed with Jefferson Davis as its President.
The Southern representatives for the most part re-
signed and on their return home declared that they had
left the Union a corpse lying in state in the National
capitol. This rash boast had an element of truth in it,
yet the corpse was a very lively one as subsequent
events amply proved.
The fourth of March drew near. "What will Lincoln
do when he becomes President?" was the all-absorbing
question in both the North and the South. There was
an element of uncertainty in regard to his actions, be-
cause he had been mysteriously silent on all public
questions since his election in November. Who was
this Abraham Lincoln that was to guide the Nation
through the great crisis? Born in the State of Ken-
tucky under the most adverse circumstances his coming
into the w^orld gave little promise of either usefulness
or greatness. His parents were extremely poor, and
were of that class known as "poor white trash" to the
slave-holding aristocracy of the South, He was taken
to Indiana early in life and later to Illinois by his
parents. He had no educational advantages except
those which he made for himself. But he had what
was better — good natural ability, and a determination
to win success. By sheer force of character he climbed
the treacherous ladder of success to its topmost round.
He was known among his friends as "Honest Abe ;" he
was a lawyer without spot or blemish; a friend to
whom one could confide the innermost secrets of the
heart without the least fear of betrayal; a man whose
name was not enrolled in any church book, yet he
294 MoccAsix Tracks
recognized the workings of a Supreme Being in all
human affairs; he was a Moses especially prepared and
endowed by God himself to be the leader in crushing
the most formidable rebellion in universal history, and
to strike the shackles from four million human beings
held in bondage more galling than that of the Israelites
in Egypt : he was a true type, and exemplar of his
race, his country, and his government : forcible in
speech and faultless in logic, he enriched the language
with new thoughts, new definitions, new maxims, new
parables, and new proverbs. In the language of the im-
mortal Shakespeare,
"His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Xatiire might stand up
And sav to all the world, 'This was a Man.' "
Such a man left his humble home in the State of Il-
linois on one of the darkest days in the darkest period
of United States history for Washington to become the
chief executive of a divided and a disorganized Eepub-
lic. The speeches made on this ever-to-be remembered
journey contain no declaration of policy or purpose
touching the impending troubles. He had the practical
faculty of discerning the chief point to be reached, and
then bending every energy to reach it. He saw that
the one thing needful was his regular, constitutional
inauguration as President of the United States. Poli-
cies, both general and in detail, would come after that.
'Tiet us do one thing at a time, and the big things
first.^' was his homely, but expressive, way of vindicat-
ing the wisdom of his policy.
AND Other Imprints. 395
The president-elect reached Washington in the night
time. He had been advised by friends that it would be
unsafe for him to go through Baltimore on schedule
time. So a secret journey was planned and carried into
effect. This was always a matter of deep regret to Lin-
coln. Threats that he should never be inaugurated
were numerous, and Joseph Holt, Secretary of War,
took every precaution to insure safety by marshaling
troops in and around Washington. Nothing out of the
ordinary occurred on inauguration day. The North,
that had been in a fever of excitement, now breathed
freer, since the President was safely inaugurated and
was living in the executive mansion.
The inaugural address was calm but firm. It re-
moved all unfa^'orable impression existing in the North
relating to Lincoln's position on secession and slavery.
He said that his election did not endanger the institu-
tion of slavery in states where it already existed and
admitted that under the Constitution fugitive slaves
could be returned to their masters. He did not define
his position on the extension of slavery into new terri-
tory. He earnestly and most tenderly pleaded with
those who would dissolve the Union. He said, "In your
hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The gov-
ernment will not assail you. You can have no conflict
without yourselves being the aggressors. You can have
no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government
while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, pro-
tect and defend it. I am loth to close. We are not
enemies, but friends. Though passions may have
296 MoccAsix Tracks
strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection."
These noble words brought a feeling of hopefulness
to the North, but it failed to strike a responsive chord
in the Sonth. It left the people of the South the alter-
native of war or of receding from their stand for seces-
sion. In his selection of his cabinet Lincoln showed
a magnimitv unsurpassed in the history of American
politics. He made Seward, his chief competitor for the
presidential nomination, Secretary of State. Two oth-
ers of his rivals at Chicago were given cabinet posi-
tions. These were Chase and Cameron, who were to
preside over the Treasur^^ and War Departments re-
spectively. In this way the party factions were united
but he was censured for his actions by many party
friends.
One of the first things to which Lincoln directed his
attention was to prevent the border slave states from
joining the already seceded states. By prompt action
Missouri, Kentuclv}', Mar3dand and Delaware were kept
within the Fnion. Upon the secession of Virginia, the
western part of that commonwealth was erected into
the sovereign state of West Virginia. This was the
only geographical change in the gigantic struggle of
four years duration.
By the middle of April. 1861, the people of the
South were very much dissatisfied with the fact that
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of
America, was doing nothing to protect and consolidate
the Confederacy. This do-nothing policy was for the
purpose of provoking Lincoln into some hostile act. In
this wav the North would appear before the world as
AND Other Imprints. 297
the aggressors in bringing on the war. A prominent
member of the Alabama legislature told Davis that if
be did not sprinkle blood in the face of the Southern
people they would shortly be back into the Union.
Strenuous efforts were made by both sides to control
Virginia. "Strike a blow/' said Roger A. Pryor, "and
Virginia will secede from the Union." The blow was
struck. The flag of the United States was fired upon
at Sumter and the mine was exploded that drenched
the country with blood. What a spectacle for poets
and painters ! A gray haired man of seventy years,
standing with lighted match in his hand ready to touch
the fuse at the word of command.
This hostile act consolidated public sentiment in the
North. The same paper that carried the news of the
fall of Sumter contained the call of the President for
seventy-five thousand volunteers.
An outburst of patriotic fervor greeted Lincoln's
call for soldiers to regain the property of the United
States seized by the Confederates. Enthusiastic public
meetings were immediately held in all the free states
from Maine to California. "Down with Secession"
was the slogan, or rallying cry, in village and city as
well as rural communities. Farmers left the team
standing in the field and hastened away to enlist. Law-
yers threw aside their briefs. They enrolled as soldiers
and their clients did likewise. Teachers and students
cast aside their books and hastened away. In the his-
tory of popular uprising no parallel can be found in all
the world. The same enthusiasm met Davis's call for
troops in the South. Men and boys vied with each
other in enthusiastic enlistment.
298 Moccasin Tracks
No braver men ever enlisted under any banner than
these citizen soldiers proved themselves to be on many
a hard fought battle field. They freely and unflinch-
ingly yielded up their lives for the flag under which
they fought. They were all, all Americans and the
same indomitable courage was manifested on both sides.
The boys in Blue as well as the Gray showed that
they were fitting descendants of the old Eevolution
stock. Heroic deeds of valor were performed by the
soldiers of both Grant and Lee. Thousands of these filled
unmarked graves on the battle fields of both the North
and the South.
After four years of warfare the South surrendered;
the country was again ' united ; the slaves were freed;
the right of secession was extinguished : a better un-
derstanding and a better appreciation of each other ex-
ists between the two sections.
The Civil War cost an enormous sum of money, and
the sacrifice of many lives, but it was a great uplift to
the Nation. Such a great sacrifice of life sobered and
chastened the people.
The South after a few years made rapid strides in
education and wealth. A new South, phoenix like,
sprang from the ashes of the old.
Lincoln, by his devotion to the Fnion, and by his
tender, pathetic solicitude for the soldiers and their
sorrowing friends, endeared himself to the people. In
soberly guiding the Nation through the stormy seas of
treachery and rebellion he immortalized his name.
Wlien the Ship of State proudly rounded the rocks and
shoals into the harbor of safety, the brave Captain lay
dead upon the deck.
/'f^:-
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^
'M.
