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. ' JOSIAH HUGHES. CONTENTS PART ONE—THE MOVING VIRGINIA FRONTIER The Aboriginal Inhabitants ........ 3 The First Frontier 3 The First Two Years of the Jamestown Colony .................................... 4 A Period of Progress ........ 5 The Second Frontier 6 Bacon's Rebellion ................ 7 09461-'70 The Rise of New Towns and Cities ............................................................. 8 The Fur Trade (with Indians) 8 Jamestown Abandoned 9 The Advance of Settlements toward the Blue Ridge ........................... 9 The Unknown Region West of the Mountains ..................................... 10 The Third Frontier 10 The Germans and the Scotch—1ris_h.............................................................. 12 Other Parent Counties 13 The French and Indian War 14 Ancestors of West Virginians in the French and Indian War .......... 16 The Work of the Mound Builders 16 Buffalo Trances and Indian Trails ..............................................................17 The Fourth Frontier 19 Early New River Settlements .. 19 Early Settlers in the Greenbrier Valley .............. 20 The Greenzbrier Settlements from 1769 to 1777 22 HWCDSrs-Tr-A-r New Counties Created 22 The Earliest Settlements on the Upper Waters of the Monongahela 24 The Indians Alarmed 25 The King's Proclamation 25 Pontiac’s Conspiracy 25 General Bouquet’s Expedition ......... .. 26 Ten Years of Peace .. 23 A Quartette of Deserters from Fort Pitt ..................................................27 Simpson's Camp near Clarksburg 28 The Pringle Camp on the Buckhannon ................................................... 28 The First Fermanent Settlement on the Buckhannon ...................... 28 Mason and Dixon's Line 29 Other Pioneer Settlements in Monongahela Valley ............................. 29 Wa,sll1ington’s Trips to West Virginia ........................................................ 31 First Settlements on the Ohio——TheFifth Frontier .............................. 32 Early White Visitors to the Great Kanawha Valley ............................ 33 The First Home-seekers in the Great Kanawha Valley .................... 33 Early Explorers in the Valley of the Little Kanawha 34 The First Settlers in the Little Kanawha Valley 35 The Proposed Province of Vandalia ................................................... 36 Frontier Troubles 36 Dunmore's War 37 The Battle of Point Pleasant 39 After the B-attle 40 Logan’s- Defiance 40 The Return of the Army 41 Ancestors of West Virginians Fought in Dunmore’s~War .................. 41 The Last Survivor of the Battle of Point Pleasant ............................ 42 The Virginia Frontier in 1775 42 The District of West Augusta 43 PART TWO-—THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR The Outbreak of the War 45 Early Patriotism 45 The Year of Independence 46 The Bloody Year of the Three Sevens ....................................................... 47 The Murder of Cornstalk at Point Pleasant ........................................... 48 Fort Randolph Attacked 48 The Attack on Fort Donnally 49 The Northwest Saved 49 A Critical Period on the Frontier .50 Virginia Plans for New Forts on the Border ........................................ .51 Former Kanawha Settlers Seek to Return ............................................... .52 Expedition of General McIntosh 52 General Brodhead’s Expedition 53 The Sad Fate of Colonel William Crawford ............................................. 53 The Last Indian Raid across the Alleghanies ......................................... 54 The Siege of Fort Henry in 1782 54 The Close of the Revolutionary War ........................................................ 55 Some of Our Ancestors in the Revolutionary War .............................. 55 PART THREE—PER|OD OF THE LATER INDIAN WARS The Year 1784 61 Old and New Counties of West Virginia ..............................................._. 61 Indian Hostilities Renewed 62 Settlement at Neal’s Station 63 The Second Settlement at Point Pleasant .............................................. 63 Native Animals and Birds 64 Moving Westward 64 Perils of the Ohio 65 New Counties Created 66 Daniel Boone Settles in West Virginia ...................................................... 66 The Great Kanawha Valley in 1787 67 The Great Kanawha Valley in 1788 68 Early Settlers in Elk River Valley 68 Two Heroines of Service on the Border .................................................. 69 Pioneer Forts 69 Life in Frontier Forts 70 Locations of a Few of the Frontier Forts .................................... 71 Famous Scouts and Rangers . 75 The Closing Years of the Indian Wars ...................................................... 77 Pioneer Days and Ways 83 PART FOUR—A LONG PERIOD OF PROGRESS The Closing Years of the Old Century .....................................'................ 87 Blennerhas-sett Island 87 Washington's Lands on the Ohio and Great Kanawha Rivers .......... The Frontier Line in 1800 89 Establishments of Early Towns 89 Evolution of River Craft 90 The National Cumberland Road 91 Other Early Roads in West Virginia ......................................................... 91 Early Travel and Transportation on the Highways ............................. 92 Early Newspapers of West Virginia .......................................................... 93 Early Academies 93 West Virginia Towns on the Ohio in 1810 .................................................. 93 The War or 1812 94 New Towns Established 95 Our Forest Resources 95 Evolution of the Sawmill 96 The Lumber Industry 96 Early Gristmills 97 Pioneer Steamboats Upon the Great Kanawha .................................... 97 The Coming of the Railroad 97 Berkeley Springs 98 White Sulphur Springs 99 Other Famous Mineral Springs 99 Slavery in the Western Counties 99 The Growth of Towns 100 The Early Salt Industry in West Virginia ............................................... 100 Early Coal Development in West Virginia ............................................ 101 Other Industries of Pioneer Days 102 John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry ....................................................... 103 The Presidential Campaign of 1860 103 The Secession of Seven States 103 The Southern Confederacy 104 The Uprising West of the Mountains .........................................................104 Creating a New State .. 105 West Virginia in the Civil War ...... 106 PART F|VE——DIMSIDELIGHTS ON PIONEER FAMILIES Five hun-dred families mentioned, beginning at .....................................109 PART SIX—A BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH OF THE WEST VIRGINIA COUNTIES I Begins with Barbour County, at 124 PART SEVEN—A CHRONOLOGY OF WEST VIRGINIA HISTORY Begins with Tidewater Virginia settlements, at ..................................180 I1.‘ PIONEER WEST VIRGINIA PART 0NE—THE MOVING VIRGINIA FRONTIER The Aboriginal Inhabitants When the first English settlers came to the territory now included in Virginia, it was occupied by an vlndian popu­ lation numbering approximately ten thousand, divided among many tribes, each of whom was ruled over by a chief. All the tribes belonged to the Algonquin family. Chief among these tribes and confederacies in or near Tidewater Virginia were the Powhatans, the Chickaho­ minys, the Potomacs, the Susqueha'nnocks, and the Pamun­ keys. The earliest white settlers found all that part o-f Virginia below the falls of the rivers in possession of the Powhatan Confederacy. The chief, Powhatan, dwelt some­ times on the York River, and sometimes at the falls of the James River, where Richmond now stands. As settlements advanced westward the backwoodsmen came in contact with other confederacies and tribes. In the center of Virginia were the Manakins and the Manna­ hoacs; and still farther to the west, in the mountainous part of the State, lived the Shawnees, the Cherokees, the Tuscaroras, and other tribes. The Shawnees, in later years, had their principal villages east of the Alleghanies, near the present town of Winchester. The Cherokees of North