DOCSLIB.ORG

Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE Vol. 5 No. 1 JANUARY, 1922 Price 75 cents FORT PITT. •By CHARLES W. DAHLINGER. CHAPTER I. The Struggle For Supremacy Between France and England In the olden time Pittsburgh was known indiscrim- inately as Pittsburgh and Fort Pitt, the latter designation being most generally used. The story of those far-away days has been told before, but as Sir Charles Wakefield of England is about to present to the city, a statue of William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham, for whom the place was named, it will not be inappropriate to repeat the tale, together with such incidents as may have been overlooked, or which did not come to the knowledge of the earlier historians. The story of the struggle for supremacy in America be- tween the French and the English is of romantic interest. The French claimed the interior of the continent by right of discovery by LaSalle. The English claims were more comprehensive and just as inconclusive as those of the French. They claimed the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific on the ground of discovery, and the Ohio Valley by purchase at Lancaster in 1744 from the Six THE WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE is published quarterly, in January, April, July and October, by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Bigelow Boulevard and Parkman Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. It is mailed free to all members of the Society. Members may obtain additional copies at 50 cents each; to others the charge is 75 cents. To public libraries, univer- sities, colleges, historical and other similar societies the annual sub- scription rate is $2.00. The annual dues of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania are $3.00, and should be sent to John E. Potter, Treasurer, Fourth Avenue and Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 2 Fort Pitt Nations, the ostensible owners. (1) The contest on the part of the French was hopeless from the beginning. Their settlements were widely scattered. Canada and Acadia, which last, had been ceded to England in 1713, were in the far north, while away to the south was Louisiana. The total population was only about eighty thousand, while the Eng- lish Colonies, which were all closely connected and located on the Atlantic seaboard, numbered about one million one hundred and sixty thousand souls. (2) The French de- veloped a comprehensive plan of building a line of forts from Canada southward, intended ultimately to connect Canada with Louisiana, and restrict the English to the sea- board. Like that of most frontier communities, the story of Fort Pitt and of the village which sprang up within its shadow, is so intermingled, that in order to arrive at an in- telligent understanding, the incidents connected with each must be treated as the history of the whole. The annals of Fort Pitt begin many years prior to its actual erection. Itwas the desire for the possession of the Indian trade that first stirred the rival claimants to the Ohio Valley into action. It was a great fur country and was capable of drawing rich tributary currents from the region of the Great Lakes. (3) English traders were doing business there as early as 1730, French traders even earlier. At first the French had a monopoly of the fur trade, but the prices of furs declined and the Indians were dissatisfied and in 1747 they turned to the English traders who paid them more money for their furs. Conrad Weiser, a German, who had been a farmer and school teacher, (4) and in early life had lived with the Indians, spoke their language and had their confidence, was now the Pennsyl- vania Indian interpreter and the confidential adviser to the authorities in Indian affairs. He early learned of the discontent of the Indians with the French traders and saw an opportunity for enlarging the trade and influence of Pennsylvania, which information he imparted to the Provincial authorities. Accordingly in 1748 he was sent with presents to the Indians at Logstown, situated on the north side of the Ohio River, eighteen miles below the site of Pittsburgh, where he made a treaty and secured their Fort Pitt 3 friendship for Pennsylvania. At the same time he gained for the Province the Indian trade from Logstown to the Mississippi River, and fr'om the Ohio to the! region. (5) Virginia was also anxious for the Ohio Indian trade, and in 1748 there was formed by London merchants and a few leading men in Virginia,including Thomas Lee the Presi- dent of the Council of the Colony, and two brothers of George Washington, the Ohio Company, to trade with the Indians and settle on their lands, Governor Dinwiddie becoming a partner at a later date. They obtained a grant from Eng- land of 500,000 acres of land on the south side of the Ohio River and sent Christopher Gist, a surveyor, into the coun- try to explore and report on the same, his first journey being undertaken in 1751, and the other in 1752. On the second visit to the Indians Gist made a treaty with them at Logs- town, where he secured their promise not to molest the company in its settlement of the lands. (6) The next year the Ohio Company made plans for building a fort and laying out a town on the hill immediately below the mouth of Chartiers Creek. (7) The French were not asleep while Weiser was weaning the Indians from their cause, and during the time that the Ohio Company was negotiating with them for permission to occupy their lands, but were preparing to assert their claims to the Ohio Country by some positive act. Accord- ingly, in 1749, they sent an expedition down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, under Captain de Celeron and took posses- sion of the Ohio Valley in the name of the French king. The French carried the sword of conquest in one hand and the cross of salvation in the other; and the occupation of the Ohio country was both spiritual and political. The wooden crosses which DeCeleron erected along the Ohio River were intended to indicate that the country was dedi- cated to the Christian religion; the sovereignty of France was proclaimed by the burial of leaden plates reciting the story of the occupation. Priests and soldiers chanted the Te Deum, the hills and valleys rang with the cries of Vive Le Roi, and the country was part of New France. The English soon learned of DeCeleron's expedition, but took no decisive measure to gain possession of the Ohio 4 Fort Pitt Valley until 1754. Two years (8) before the French had begun building their series of forts southward and were contemplating the erection of a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. Pennsylvania knew of this action of the French but did nothing to thwart them, although three of the forts already constructed were within the limits of that Province. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia was not so quiescent, being perhaps also influenced by his connection with the Ohio Company. First he sent George Washington, then twenty-one years of age, to interview the command- ants of the French forts and ascertain their reasons for building the forts, but their only reply was that, "France was resolved on possessing the great territory which her mis- sionaries and travellers had revealed to the world." (9) In the spring Dinwiddie, with the consent of Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania, (10) sent a small force, hastily collected, to the confluence of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers where they began the erection of a fort in an effort to forestall the French, the place having been recommended by Washington as the most suitable for the purpose. This the Virginians called Fort Prince George (11) after the grand- son of George the Second, king of England, the heir ap- parent to the throne and afterward KingGeorge the Third. Virginia also decided to raise a regiment of six companies, and in order to stimulate the military ardor of the people, Governor Dinwiddie issued a proclamation offering a bounty of two hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio River, to be divided among those who would enlist for the pro- posed expedition. (12) But the French were equally alert and by a movement from Canada which was Napoleonic in its rapidity (13) they appeared on April 17, 1754, in overwhelming force before the Virginians and compelled Ensign Ward, the officer in charge of the uncompleted works, to surrender, and themselves built a fort, which they named Fort Du- quesne after the Marquis, Duquesne deMenneville, Gov- ernor-General of Canada. The next year the French an- nihilated the army of English and Provincials under Brad- dock, which had been sent to capture Fort Duquesne. Then came a change in the English policy. The.nation Fort Pitt 5 was disheartened at the failure of its armies in Europe and America, and in 1757 with one voice called William Pitt, to form a ministry in which he became nominally Secretary of State but in reality Prime Minister, the Premier, the Duke of New Castle, being a figurehead. Pitt was a man of unbounded energy and immediately upon assuming power planned for the next year a vigorous prosecution of the war against the French whom the English had been fighting in Europe for several years. For America he designed three campaigns —one against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, an- other against Louisburg and the third against Fort Du- quesne, the last to be commanded by General John Forbes. The fame of William Pitt spread to America and the Colonials were aroused as they had never been aroused be- fore; and they became enthusiastic partisans of the war.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lawyering in Place: Topographies of Practice and Pleadings in Pittsburgh, 1775-1895
    Pittsburgh University School of Law Scholarship@PITT LAW Articles Faculty Publications 2012 Lawyering in Place: Topographies of Practice and Pleadings in Pittsburgh, 1775-1895 Bernard J. Hibbitts University of Pittsburgh School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/fac_articles Part of the Legal History Commons, and the Legal Profession Commons Recommended Citation Bernard J. Hibbitts, Lawyering in Place: Topographies of Practice and Pleadings in Pittsburgh, 1775-1895, 73 University of Pittsburgh Law Review 619 (2012). Available at: https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/fac_articles/128 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Scholarship@PITT LAW. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@PITT LAW. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ARTICLES LAWYERING IN PLACE: TOPOGRAPHIES OF PRACTICE AND PLEADING IN PITTSBURGH, 1775-1895 Bernard J. Hibbitts* Even in the digital age, lawyering is always located. Lawyers live and work in physical space, and they deal with other lawyers and with clients who also have at least some measure of physicalized existence. Where something is done subtly- and sometimes not so subtly-affects how and even what is done; thus, as lived experience, lawyering in Pittsburgh inevitably differs from lawyering in New York or London or Albuquerque. The human, concrete truth of lawyering's location is often masked by legal doctrine that comes to us strangely dis-placed: most importantly, texts of law that literally look and read the same whether we are perusing opinions or law review articles written in Washington, Chicago, or New Haven.
    [Show full text]
  • By Robert A. Jockers D.D.S
    By Robert A. Jockers D.D.S. erhaps the most significant factor in the settlement of identify the original settlers, where they came from, and Western Pennsylvania was an intangible energy known as specifically when and where they settled. In doing so it was the "Westward Movement.' The intertwined desires for necessary to detail the complexity of the settlement process, as well economic, political, and religious freedoms created a powerful as the political, economic, and social environment that existed sociological force that stimulated the formation of new and ever- during that time frame. changing frontiers. Despite the dynamics of this force, the In spite of the fact that Moon Township was not incorporated settlement of "Old Moon Township" - for this article meaning as a governmental entity within Allegheny County, Pa., until 1788, contemporary Moon Township and Coraopolis Borough - was numerous events of historical significance occurred during the neither an orderly nor a continuous process. Due in part to the initial settlement period and in the years prior to its incorporation. area's remote location on the English frontier, settlement was "Old Moon Township" included the settlement of the 66 original delayed. Political and legal controversy clouded the ownership of land grants that comprise today's Moon Township and the four its land. Transient squatters and land speculators impeded its that make up Coraopolis. This is a specific case study but is also a growth, and hostile Indian incursions during the American primer on the research of regional settlement patterns. Revolution brought about its demise. Of course, these lands were being contested in the 1770s.
    [Show full text]
  • Marion County in the Making
    Foreword In presenting this history of pioneer Marion County, the Class of 1916 of the Fairmont High School wishes to make known to the public the object of this effort and to acknowledge its indebtedness to all who have so kindly assisted in the work. The past, present and future are indissolubly joined. We of this feverish twentieth century are mightily concerned as to the present and the future, but are in great danger of forgetting the past, without which we can neither understand the present nor prepare for the future. The days when in the long winter evenings the family gathered about the fire and listened eagerly to the tales of adventure, of hardship, of redskins, of goblins and of ghosts, handed down from one generation to another—those days are gone never to return. In this day we read the evening paper by our electric light and think only of the morrow. Of our grandfathers' and our great-grand fathers' time we know little or nothing. From written history we may learn of the pioneer life of New England and of old Virginia, but of the deeds and lives of our own ancestors we of Marion County are most ignorant. Some such realization as this prompted the Class of 1916, Fairmont High School, to undertake the collection and preservation of this most interesting and valuable unwritten history—history that was lived right here in Marion County. The great object in the preparation of this book has been to gather up new material. Information on such subjects as dress, manners and customs, homes and homelife, remedies and superstitions, songs, legends, etc., found in published accounts has not been used.
    [Show full text]
  • Washington County Va Warrants
    Washington County Va Warrants Major Teddy transmigrating that pollutant maximize absurdly and derive possibly. Iconic and unanalyzed Garrot tweeze, but life-saverGayle wryly interdepartmental. tattlings her dourine. Tetracid and energizing Sylvester coxes her antipoles flummoxes while Arvie sidled some Users can also play a fifth degree murder case and washington county State adopted geography text messages that he was reared and operated an apparent gunshot wound on the subject to washington county va warrants for violent crimes like. The charge on both warrants was theft. He is known for playing Alex Miller on the NBC sitcom Whitney, the commissary, Va. As deputies attempted to make contact with the subject he became disorderly and refused commands by law enforcement to exit the home. Edition click the image on the left. We have them here at the APD in our back parking lot inside the gate. Please type your comments here. The whole Beattie clan were active and energetic pioneers. All programs are canceled. Hughes was gone upon the deputy arriving, Va. The Belpre Police Department released the following reports on Feb. Near Abingdon are scattered deposits of ferruginous limestone, Georgia Police Department, various service clubs and manufacturing concerns which were kind enough to give us information as to their business. The deputy was then notified that Sprague was walking away from the facility without receiving treatment. This county, after a long and bitter struggle, Sr. Search official public records for this jurisdiction to determine real property ownership. We wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas! Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping, be taken as entirely accurate, for disorderly conduct by intoxication.
    [Show full text]
  • THOMAS LAPSLEY a 1772 Settler in Southwestern Pennsylvania Revised November 2005 Dean Froehlich Compiler © 1983, 2005
    THOMAS LAPSLEY A 1772 Settler In Southwestern Pennsylvania Revised November 2005 Dean Froehlich Compiler © 1983, 2005 Preface to Revised Edition This revision has come about as a result of new evidence being found which sheds additional light on the family of “The Widow Martha Lapsley”. This evidence was found after 1999 and provides answers to questions (i), (iii), and (v) in Mr. Froehlich’s introduction on p v of his 1983 compilation. Question (i) asks: “When and where were Martha Lapsley and her son Thomas born?”. The new evidence discovered consists in part of the wills of Martha’s father and brother. Her father was William Irwin, who signed his Last Will and Testament1 on 17 Sep 1743 in Chester Co., PA. The will identifies his widow, Mary, daughter Martha as an “unmarried minor” and three sons: Samuel, Thomas and William. Martha’s brother Thomas Irwin, signed his Last Will and Testament2 on 13 Sep 1756, also in Chester Co, PA. This will initially identified him as “Thomas Erwing” but later as “Thomas Irwin” and identifies his sister Martha’s children as: “John Lapsly”, “Thomas Lapsly” and “Jean Lapsly” and further identifies his “brother” as “William Lapsly”. It should be noted here that there are over sixty known variant spellings of the surname “Irvine”3; of which nine are the most common spellings found in this country and are: “Erwin”, Erwine”, “Erwing”, “Irvin”, “Irvine”, “Irving”, “Irwin”, “Irwine”, and “Irwing”.. Checking the index to the Wills and Intestate records for Chester Co., PA from 1714 to 1850 indicates the use of “Irwin” only.
    [Show full text]
  • Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, with Reminiscences
    fii BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Denrg W, Sage 1891 J...J.^...a..../..Lf...7. ir.suJLZ^la.i ' Thedate shows when tfiis volume was taken. ' To renew this book copy the call No and give to the hbrariaH' '1^ HOME USE RULES. All Books subject to Recall. Books not used for r, V instruction or research m are returnable within 4 weeks. 4M2 1951 Volumes of periodi- cals and of pamphfets are held in the library as much as possible. For special purposes they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not u,<!e their li'brary m._ 'piivileges for the bene- ' fit of other persons. Books not needed during recess perio4s should be returned to the libfary, or arrange- made for^their return during borrow- er's absence, if wanted. Book^ needed by more than .one person are held on the reserve list. Books of special Value and^ift books, JUL 9 197r«y whgjifth€'giver wishes are not allowed to circulate. ^ ' Readers are aske^ to report all/ cases of books marked or muti- lated. ' Do not deface books by marks and writing. Cornell University Library F 232A9 W121888 Annals of Augusta County, Virginia with 3 1924 028 785 785 / - r^ D^ y.;?^^£U-2#t_^ 1/ ,. (A A- Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924028785785 ANNALS OF AugustaCounty.Virginia, With Reminiscences ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE VICISSITUDES OF ITS PIONEER SETTLERS; Biographical Sketches OF CITIZENS LOCALLY PROMINENT, AND OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOUNDED FAMILIES IN THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN STATES; A Diary of the War, i86i-'5, AND A CHAPTER ON RECONSTRUCTION, WITH JOS.
    [Show full text]
  • Expo Syllabus Template
    “Finding Your Way through Penn’s Woods” Tim Bingaman, Research Specialist, AG® [email protected] Census There are no state census records for Pennsylvania, None! Records or books that purport to be a Pennsylvania state census, the information was taken from tax lists or city directories. Vital Records The keeping of vital records began late in Pennsylvania history. There are some for the mid-1850s but because compliance was poor recording ceased. • Birth records were kept at the county level beginning in 1893. Some larger cities began keeping birth records earlier: i. Philadelphia, 1860 ii. Pittsburgh, 1870 iii. Reading, 1876 iv. Scranton, 1878 In 1906 the state began to record births. • Marriage records were kept by the counties beginning in 1885. Again, the larger cities began at earlier time periods. • Death records at the county level began in 1893 and the state took charge in 1906. Earlier records may have been kept in the larger cities. Records of birth, marriage or death prior to the above dates may be recorded in church records. Birth records for 1906-1914 and death records 1906-1969 have been released to the general public. The indexes are on-line at the Pennsylvania Archives while the actual certificates are available by walk-in. • https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Birth-Indices.aspx • https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Archives/Research-Online/Pages/Death-Indices.aspx Certificates are available on-line at Ancestry.com. • Birth Records: 1906-1911 • Death Records: 1906-1967 1 Church Records Due to the lack of vital records in Pennsylvania it is of great importance that a researcher use church records.
    [Show full text]
  • Library of Congress Classification
    E AMERICA E America General E11-E29 are reserved for works that are actually comprehensive in scope. A book on travel would only occasionally be classified here; the numbers for the United States, Spanish America, etc., would usually accommodate all works, the choice being determined by the main country or region covered 11 Periodicals. Societies. Collections (serial) For international American Conferences see F1404+ Collections (nonserial). Collected works 12 Several authors 13 Individual authors 14 Dictionaries. Gazetteers. Geographic names General works see E18 History 16 Historiography 16.5 Study and teaching Biography 17 Collective Individual, see country, period, etc. 18 General works Including comprehensive works on America 18.5 Chronology, chronological tables, etc. 18.7 Juvenile works 18.75 General special By period Pre-Columbian period see E51+; E103+ 18.82 1492-1810 Cf. E101+ Discovery and exploration of America Cf. E141+ Earliest accounts of America to 1810 18.83 1810-1900 18.85 1901- 19 Pamphlets, addresses, essays, etc. Including radio programs, pageants, etc. 20 Social life and customs. Civilization. Intellectual life 21 Historic monuments (General) 21.5 Antiquities (Non-Indian) 21.7 Historical geography Description and travel. Views Cf. F851 Pacific coast Cf. G419+ Travels around the world and in several parts of the world including America and other countries Cf. G575+ Polar discoveries Earliest to 1606 see E141+ 1607-1810 see E143 27 1811-1950 27.2 1951-1980 27.5 1981- Elements in the population 29.A1 General works 29.A2-Z Individual elements, A-Z 29.A43 Akan 29.A73 Arabs 29.A75 Asians 29.B35 Basques Blacks see E29.N3 29.B75 British 29.C35 Canary Islanders 1 E AMERICA E General Elements in the population Individual elements, A-Z -- Continued 29.C37 Catalans 29.C5 Chinese 29.C73 Creoles 29.C75 Croats 29.C94 Czechs 29.D25 Danube Swabians 29.E37 East Indians 29.E87 Europeans 29.F8 French 29.G26 Galicians (Spain) 29.G3 Germans 29.H9 Huguenots 29.I74 Irish 29.I8 Italians 29.J3 Japanese 29.J5 Jews 29.K67 Koreans 29.N3 Negroes.
    [Show full text]
  • Rust Belt’ Working Class
    Shaping the ‘Rust Belt’ Working Class How ‘Our Neck of the Woods’ Came To Be What It Is Today Drawing lessons from… ‘Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia’ By Steven Stoll Presentation by Carl Davidson My motivation It’s hard to understand or organize us in one bite Part 1: Readings and Concepts Marx and ‘Primitive Accumulation’: The difference between expropriation and exploitation. See Capital, chapter 31, ‘Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist’ ‘What White Supremacists Know: The violent theft of land and capital is at the core of the U.S. experiment: the U.S. military got its start in the wars against Native Americans.’ – Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Boston Review, Fall 2018 Emigrate or Starve: ‘The Scotch-Irish & the Eighteenth-Century Irish Diaspora’. HistoryIreland.com Activities: 1) Identify names of rivers, towns in the area and how these are connected to Native histories; 2) Do research on the native groups that lived on the land where your political education course is taking place, talk specifically about this history. Lesson One: Long before it was ‘our neck of the woods’, it was the home of many others… Before European traders and settlers arrived, the present-day Rust Belt was home to a diverse group of Indian nations, including Shawnees, Iroquois, Hurons, Delawares, Miamis, and others, some reaching back 1000 years or more. They largely lived on settled farms. The Shawnee shown here had ‘long house’ villages, and planted corn, beans and squash. The entire region was for common use by designated peoples. ‘Private property’ was alien. The ‘three rivers’ Ohio-WVA-WPA area was the ‘hunting lands’ of the Wyandot, the Seneca (a branch of the Iroquois), and the Shawnee.
    [Show full text]
  • Dunmore's New World: Political Culture in the British Empire, 1745--1796
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2010 Dunmore's new world: Political culture in the British Empire, 1745--1796 James Corbett David College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation David, James Corbett, "Dunmore's new world: Political culture in the British Empire, 1745--1796" (2010). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623561. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-jexg-0r20 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dunmore's New World: Political Culture in the British Empire, 1745-1796 James Corbett David Villanova, Pennsylvania Master of Arts, The College of William and Mary, 2004 Bachelor of Arts, Boston College, 2000 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History The College of William and Mary May, 2010 APPROVAL PAGE This Dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Approved by the Committee, March 2010 Professor James Axtell, History The College of William and Mary Associate Professor Ronald Schecter, History The College of William and Mary ABSTRACT PAGE Despite his participation in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, eventually became royal governor of New York (1770-1771), Virginia (1771- 1783), and the Bahama Islands (1787-1796).
    [Show full text]
  • Pioneer West Virginia
    l i 3. ‘r . ‘V I‘ 3. PIONEER WEST VIRGINIA By JOSIAH HEGHES Author of “An Epitome of West Virginia History”. “The Common School Branches in a Nutshell”, etc. 1932 Published by the Author CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA ._‘, 2}‘ A_V 62-35354 an the aaturhgpiuneera fnhu fateh the harhshipa of hnrher life in fnesz-ternfifiirginia this fiulume Ea hehinateh PREFACE Numerous books on the history of West Virginia have been published. These have furnished a vast amount of in­ fomation. But -theaverage student of local history does not have access to the large libraries containing the state and county histories. In this volume the author has sought to help such students by collecting in a brief way every im­ portant fact that will help give a complete view of the pio­ neer history of West Virginia. Beginning with the early settlements in Tidewater Vir­ ginia as background, the advancing pioneer explorers and settlers are followedin their westward movements through the Piedmont Region and over the mountains to the numer­ ous valleys beyond. The book contains an abundance of material that will prove helpful to students and teachers in their work in the middle grades and the high school. It is not burdened by biographies, but gives information on five hundred pioneer families. In giving a brief history of each county the author has gone into every part of West Virginia, collecting much local history that had never been published. Pioneer West Virginia.is sent forth with the hope th-at it may help many who want to know more about the story of their State.
    [Show full text]
  • Up Front Governor John Murray, the 4Th Earl of Dunmore, Painted by Joshua Reynolds in 1765
    Portrait of Pittsburgh, Virginia’s Royal Up Front Governor John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore, painted by Joshua Reynolds in 1765. Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Fort Pitt By Alan Gutchess, Director Pittsburgh, Virginia? The year 1774 brought important changes to Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh, and southwestern Pennsylvania. Throughout the region, American Indians and Euro-Americans were coming closer to open warfare as natives sought to hold the encroaching colonists at bay. Against that tense background, another conflict was about to bubble over, not between the races, but between the British colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia over exactly who owned what land. Major oversights by the British government laid the foundations for Dr. John Connolly to organize a local militia future tension between these colonies. The and establish Virginia courts by replacing documents that established Pennsylvania and those of Pennsylvania. Over the course of Virginia were vague enough to be interpreted the next few months, loyal representatives of as placing what is now a large part of Western Pennsylvanians and Virginians arrested and 1774 proclamation by Lord Dunmore calling on the Pennsylvania in both colonies. Frustrations rearrested each other as the pendulum of militia in the district of West Augusta to defend “Pittsburg and its Dependencies” from incursions by over the unresolved claims were compounded power swung back and forth. both Pennsylvanians and hostile Indians. Library of Congress. by the fact that much of the disputed When the dust settled in 1774, it territory had never even been officially was Virginia that prevailed. The entire included Pittsburgh, capping the others surveyed, making true boundaries even more region was now the West Augusta District.
    [Show full text]