Yale University Library OF WEST VIRG1 JAMES MORTON CALLAHAN 'I give the/e Books \ for the f ou> • , ¦ 1915 SEMI-CENTENNIAL History of We& Virginia By JAMES MORTON CALLAHAN Professor of History and Political Science West Virginia University With Special Articles on Development and Resources Published by the SEMI-CENTENNIAL COMMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA 1913 Copyright, 1913, by J. M. Callahan Today we celebrate The ripe achievements of our fifty years : — The mastery Of forest, field and mine, the mill; which rears Its bulk o'er many a stream, the forge and factory's Incessant hum, The railways linking mart to mart and home to home. The growth of trade in each emporium, And other wealth material that has come To bless Our subjugation of a wilderness, And mien undaunted in a time of stress : — AH these we proudly sum. The pride is just ; but let it not ignore Our progress in the things that count for more In strengthening a state Than wealth material won. Let it relate what we have done To further Education, and promote An understanding near of things remote. What may we claim Of those fine civic traits which earn the name Of a great commonwealth, And are the tokens of sound civic health? Respect for law, to each his equal chance, fi For variant opinion, tolerance; Yet in the issues real That touch the common weal Conscience implacable, that alike defies The bribe, the threat, or coward compromise. And most of all, As we survey the decades since our birth, And count our present worth, Let us recall The hardy virtues that first cleared the ways To these abundant days ; Nor, in the privilege Of statehood which has brought us where we are, Forget the pledge Implied when first we set our eager star Amid the galaxy That crowns the ensign of a Nation free : The pledge to keep the star forever pure By probity of purpose and of deed ; In home and court and office to abjure The sordid aim, the cloudy arts of greed ; Keep clean and straight Our private ways ; and dedicate The best that in us lies to serve the State : — So that the light symbolic of that star, By us replenished still, shall constant be, And carry far The noblest radiance of Democracy. From a poem by Herbert Putnam. PREFACE The Semi-Centennial Commission decided that the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the state should be given a practical form m some enterprise of permanent value. It seized the- opportunity, furnished by the occasion, to collect data and publish. a historical volume the value of which will be increasingly realized and appreciated in the later years of maturity of development result ing from the recent, industrial awakening. At the close of November 1912, in response to an invitation of the Governor and the Executive . Committee of the Commission, I agreed to furnish for publication in connection with the Semi-Centen nial- celebration the manuscript of a condensed historical narrative which I had prepared largely from researches conducted, during several vacation periods, incidental to the assemblage of materials for class use at the West Virginia University and coincident with various attempts to stimulate the study of local history in the state. At the same time I agreed to take general editorial control of the preparation of a series of special articles, by different contribu tors, to combine with the unified narrative. What at first seemed an innocent, and even an attractive, propo sition, later assumed uglier proportions as I approached the duties of its concrete requirements. In addition to the duties inci dent to the editorial work I have spent much additional time and labor in the further elaboration and completion of the chapters of my historical narrative. By much strenuous but quiet labor, the author obtained his materials from many sources — from old files of various newspapers, old manuscript record books and old letters, pamphlets and public documents, and reminiscences secured by interviews with the partici pants in public affairs. Arduous investigations, requiring much correspondence with many people in all parts of the state, and necessitating visits to many points in the state, have been conducted principally in the Department of Archives and History at Charleston, in the Library of Congress at Washington, D. C, in the Library of West Virginia University, in the Wheeling Public Library and in the Carnegie Library at Pittsburg. IV PREFACE. Footnote references to authorities, which appeared in the first draft of the author's manuscript, have been omitted to meet limita tions of space; but a carefully prepared bibliography is included in ¦convenient form. Although no pains have been spared to secure accuracy of state ment, the author is conscious of the imperfections of the work and does not doubt that mistakes have escaped his detection. He has made no attempt to secure uniformity in the style of special articles pre pared by others, each of whom is responsible for his own contribution. Cordial thanks are due all who have given assistance in securing data. Among those who deserve special mention are Professor D. D. Johnson who rendered valuable service in the corrections of copy and galley proof, and my wife whose constant service entitles her to the "better half" of the credit of authorship. In completing the labor involved in the preparation of the volume, I greatly appreciate the opportunity which it has afforded me to render service to the state and to extend my acquaintance among its people. J. M. Callahan . West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va., June 30, 1913. ERRATA Page 6. — In line 11, Oarribean should be Caribbean. Page 18. — In line .18, Bates should be Batts. Page 48. — In line 1, omit the comma. Page 67. — At end of line 3, insert icere. Page 127. — To complete a footnote, arid a line — fir.e acres of land u:ith a house, or a house and lot in town. Page 128. — In line 14, the date 2872 should be 2788. Page 173. — Top folio line 1H12 should be 7878. Page 191. — In running head, Awukeing should be Awakening. Page 252. — In line 2, exccrsise should be exercise. Page 255. — In line 13, boundry should be boundary. In line 20, seperation should be separation. In line 22, embarras should be embarrass. In line 24, histroical should be historical. In line 28, preserv ration should be preservation. ptiblicatione should be publications. Page 257. — In line 28, for should be or. In line 29, awaken should be airakened. In line 30, omit be. . polotical should be political. Page 262. — In line 35, Youghoigheny should be Youghiogheng. • improtance should be importance. Page 264. — In line 21. argrument should be argument. Page 280. — In line 27. — federcy should be federacy. Page 281. — In line 1, solemnly should be solemnly. Page 285. — At bottom of page, omit the last title. Page 321. — In line 5, brhlglcss should be bridgeless. Page 335. — In line 9, scare, should be scarce. Page 389. — In line 22, Viwintoirn should be Uniontown. Page 472. — In line 9. Clerenland should be Cleveland. Page' 013. — In line 11. b ebronght should be be brought. Page 514. — After line 17, insert sub-head, The Period from 1900 to 1910. Page 552. — In line 4 from bottom, publication should be publications. Page 582. — In line 4, accomplshments should be accomplishments. Page 583. — In line 51, progresire should, be progressive. Page 586. — In last line of first stanza, E'er should be E'en. Page 588. — In line 24, two should be too. Line 17 from bottom should appear as line 13 from bottom. CONTENTS Chapter Page Introduction 1 I. Geographic Conditions 6 1. Physical Basis 6 2. Old Indian Trails 9 II. The Struggle for Possession and Evolution of Settle ments 14 1. The First Advance 14 2. The First Decade of Trans-Allegheny Advance 20 3. The Eear Guard of the Eevolution 30 4. Expansion of Settlements after Wayne's Victory. . . 40 III. E^rly Industrial and Social Life '48 1. General Survey 48 2. Eastern Panhandle and South Branch 60 3. New Biver and Greenbrier 62 4. The Monongahela Valley 63 5. Along the Ohio 78 6. Along the Great Kanawha 85 7. The Interior South of the Kanawha 87 IV. Historic Highways , 90 1. National (Cumberland) Boad 90 2. James Biver and Kanawha Turnpike 92 3. Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike 101 4. Northwestern Turnpike , 106 V. The First Bailroad -* 110 1. Earlier Conception and Difficulties 110 2. Harpers Ferry to Cumberland 112 3. Selection of the Boute from Cumberland to the Ohio 113 4. Construction from Cumberland to Wheeling 115 5. Facilities of Travel and Connections 122 6. Grafton-Parkersburg Branch 123 7. The Celebration ' 124 8. Influence 125 VI. Sectionalism : Political 4nd Constitutional Develop ment 126 1. Introduction 126 2. A Half Century under the Constitution of the Revolution 126 3. The Constitutional Convention of 1829-30 130 4. The Constitution of 1850 136 VII. Formation of the New State 141 1. Secession Convention 141 2. First Wheeling Convention 142 3. Second Wheeling Convention 143 4. The First Constitution 145 5. Final Steps to Statehood 150 VIII. The Strategy of War 152 1. Contest for Northwestern Virginia 152 2. Contest for the Kanawha 155 3. Confederate Raids 157 4. Contest for the Eastern Panhandle 158 ti contents. Ohaptee Page IX. Political Problems and Reconstruction 161 1. Border Disorders of the War Period.. 161 2. Test Oaths, Disfranchisement and Disorder 163 k Removal of Suffrage Restrictions 163 4. Concrete Illustration from Mercer County 168 5. Formation of Summers County 170 X. The Constitution of 1872 172 1. Motives in Calling the Convention 172 ' 2. The Work of the Convention and Chief Provisions of the Constitution 173 3. Amendments 180 XL The Industrial Awakening 183 1. General Survey 183 2. Evolution of Railroads and Industrial Progress 188 (1) Projected routes 188 (2) Along the Kanawha via the Chesapeake and Ohio 191 (3) Along the Baltimore and Ohio branches in north-central West Virginia 197 (4) Along the Ohio 206 (5) Along the north-central route from the Potomac via the Elk to the Kanawha. .210 (6) Along the southern border via the Norfolk and Western 216 (7) Across the southern interior via the Vir ginian Railway 220 XII. Social and Institutional History 223 1. Population 223 2. Educational Development 229 3. Institutions for Dependents, Defectives and Delin quents 232 4. Inspection and Regulation 234 XIII. Political History 241 1. Under Early Republican Control 241 2. Under Democratic Control 241 3. Later Republican Ascendency 246 XIV. Interstate Relations 249 1. Minor Questions 249 2. The Boundary Dispute with Maryland 249 3. The Virginia Debt Question 252 Retrospect and Prospect 256 Poem on West Virginia By Herbert Putnam 258 ' Appendix A. Wheeling-Pittshurg Struggle for Headship on the Ohio 262 Appendix B. Additional Social Statistics ' 274 Appendix C. Important State Papers 280 Bibliography 284 Index 295 List of Special Articles 303 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Sketch Map of West Virginia Facing Title Geographic Relations of West Virginia Facing 6 Little Blackwater Biver " 6 A View of Cheat River " 7 Seybert's Fort (1758), Pendleton Count? " 21 District of West Augusta and Counties Formed Thereprom " 34 Map of Virginia — By Samuel Lewis (1794) " 40 Map of West Virginia Showing Mother Counties of 1790 and Development of Present Counties " 48 Old-Fashioned Water-Power Mill, Summers County . " 51 An Old Suspension Bridge " 60 An Old Iron Furnace (Hardy County) " 60 An Early Map of Western Virginia " 73 Wellsburg-Bethany Turnpike Tunnel (With "Mor gantown" Sandstone Above) " 80 A Map of the Internal Improvements of Virginia Prepared by C. Crozet (1848) " 90 Bridge on National Pike near Elm Grove " 90 Founders of the Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad Com pany '. " 110 View of Harper's Ferry (From Bolivar Heights) ... " 111 View of Cheat Biver From the B. and 0. Bailroad (Near Rowlesburg) " 111 Founders of the .New State ,. . " 140 Birds-eye View of Wheeling, 1861 " 141 Maps Illustrating the Formation of West Virginia.. " 150 Historic Buildings at Wheeling " 151 Colton's Map of the State of West Virginia (1865) " 161 Members op the Constitutional Convention of 1872.. " 172 Map Showing County Majorities on Constitution of 1872 " 179 Electric Water Power Plant on the Potomac, Mor gan County .'. . . " 186 Tow Boat Scene on the Kanawha Biver " 187 Coal Fleet on the Great Kanawha River (Near Charleston) " 196 View of Charleston " 197 Plant and Town of Enterprise, Harrison County (Consolidated Coal Company) " 203 View of West Virginia University and Morgantown.. " 206 Down the Monongahela From Morgantown " 207 Birds-eye View of Wheeling, 1913 " 208 VIII list of illustrations. Page B. and 0. Railroad Bridge Over the Kanawha, Point Pleasant " "209 Waterfall Along the Western Maryland Railroad, Near Douglas " 212 Falls of the Blackwater " 213 Pulp Mill at Davis, Tucker County " 213 Tannery at Gormania " 213 Coming Down Tug Biver (N. and W. Railroad) " 217 Normal School, Huntington " 230 View of the Campus, W. Va. University " 231 Old Woodburn Seminary and New Library Building " 231 President's House, W. Va. University " ' 231 Hospital for the Insane, Weston " 232 State Penitentiary (Main Entrance), Moundsville " 233 Specimen Map of Topographical Survey (Beproduced From Charleston Quadrangle) " 239 Governors of West Virginia " 240 Political Map Showing Parti Majorities by Coun ties in Gubernatorial Elections, 1866-88 " 241 The State Capitol Building and Annex at Charles ton ' , " 243 Political Map Showing Party Majorities by Coun ties in State Elections, 1892-1912 " 246 Map Illustrating by Counties Besult of Presi dential Election of 1912 ¦ « 247 Historical Laboratory, W. Va. University " 294 Maps Showing Virgin Forest 1880, 1913 " 322 Scene on Knapp's Creek, Pocahontas County (bass STREAM) « gag Laurel Creek, Pocahontas County (typical ' trout stream) « 3gg Laboratory Agricultural Experiment Station (W. Va. University « 342 View of St. Mary's on the Ohio " 356 Ohio Biver Valley near Eureka " 356 Oil Wells on Coon's Run (near Adamsville, Harri son County) « 357 Pipe Stacked -at Tollgate (for large natural gas mne) « 358 The Largest Gas Pumping Station in the World (at Hastings, Wetzel County) " 35S Liverpool Salt Works, Hartford " 368 Tipple and Fleet of Plymouth Mining Co.,Plymouth, Putnam County « 369 Pittsburg Coal Outcrop (near Connellsville, Pa.) Showing Columnar Structure of Typical Coking Coal « 386 list of illustrations. IX Pagid Coke Ovens, Steel Tipple and Slack Bins, Coalton, Randolph County " 387 The Old School House at Holden, Logan County. . " 556 The New School Building at Holden " 556 New Building for District High School at Lumber- port, Harrison County " 560 Parkersburg High School Building (From Marietta Sandstone) " 561 Memorial Arch Erected for the Semi-Centennial Celebration " 578 Officers of the Semi-Centennial Commission " 590 Historian of the Commission " 591 Introduction Undaunted by danger, uneonquered, true-hearted, With ax-beaten march the brave pioneer's came, And the wild tangled vine of the wilderness parted As Progress swept onward with banners of flame. Lee O. Harris. The story of the exploration, settlement and development of the trans-Appalachian region constitutes one of the most fascinating chapters of American history. The territory included in West Vir ginia, which received a few white settlers in its eastern panhandle as early as 1726-27 but was the home of few civilized men before the middle of the eighteenth century, has a history which in many ways iUustrates the larger life of the nation with which it has an intimate connection at many points. Its plain but self-reliant pioneers were the fore-runners of a mighty tide of immigration, far greater in energy than in numbers, which burst the barriers of the Alleghenies. They participated in the Anglo- French struggle for a continent — a struggle which began by collisions between the frontiersmen of rival nations along the upper Ohio.' At the close of that struggle, from which they emerged with a new stimulus born of victory, they advanced from the ease and security of older settlements into the trans-Allegheny wilds, steadily pushed back the frontier and the Indians, and in the heart of the wilderness established their homes on many streams whose fate had recently hung in the balance. Here, they turned to the conquest and subjugation of the primeval forest which the Indians had sought to retain uneon quered. Although a mere handful of riflemen, they served as the immovable rear guard of the Bevolution, securely holding the moun tain passes and beating back the rear assaults of savage bands which might otherwise have carried torch and tomahawk to the seaboard settlements. At the same time they served as the advance guard of western civilization hewing out paths across the mountain barrier and experimenting with the difficulties and opportunities of the wilder ness. The story of the settlement of every early community is full of the heroic deeds of these plain, modest, uncelebrated men of the struggling common people — men who sought no praise and achieved no great 2 semi-centennial history OF WEST VIRGINIA fame, who were not conscious of their own greatness, but who were always ready for any service which was needed to maintain an ad vancing frontier. Out of many springs among the hills emerged at last the irresistable current of their strength. They toiled not in vain. While building homes in the wilderness, far from the tidewater East against which they were later forced to struggle 'for political and social rights, they were raising the framework of a self-govern ing state destined to play an important part in the history of the nation. The new inducements to settlement, increasing after the battle of Point. Pleasant in 1774, and receiving a new stimulus at the close of the Bevolution, produced a rapid expansion movement which re sulted by 1790 in a total trans-Allegheny population of over 50,000 people widely separated into many detached, isolated local groups, intensely individualistic in spirit, and with frontier conditions which, in the absence of transportation facilities to develop the vast resources of the region, were little fitted to develop unity of action or co operation. Gradually, with the extension of agricultural clearings made by steady and laborious work aided by axe and fire, there emerged the larger problems of improvements in communication, transportation, and industry, accompanied by an increase of refinement and culture and a growing sectional opposition against the political domination of tidewater Virginia. An era of larger industrial development, fore shadowed by the construction of several turnpikes from the East to the Ohio, was begun by the completion of the first railroad to the Ohio early in 1853 after a series of triumphs over the difficulties of the mountains. Considering the different elements of population, different features of territory, and different interests, the formation of the new state by separation from the mother state (suggested even in the revolutionary period under conditions which gave birth to Kentucky), was the logical and inevitable result of the half century of sectional con troversy between East and West in regard to inequalities under the constitution of 1776. These inequalities were only partially remedied by the constitutional conventions of 1829-30 and 1850-51 — although the latter made large democratic departures from the earlier dominat ing influences of the' tidewater aristocracy in the government, illus trated by the change from appointment to election of state and county officers. The secession of Virginia from the Union only furnished INTRODUCTION o the occasion and the opportunity to accomplish by legal fiction and revoluntionary process an act toward which nature and experience had already indicated and prepared the way. The first steps toward separation of western Virginia from the mother state were taken by the irregular Wheeling convention of May 13, 1861 (composed of 425 delegates from 25 counties), ten days before the election in which the western counties decided against secession by vote of 40,000 to 4,000. A second irregular convention, which met June 11, nullified the Virginia ordinance of secession, vacated the offices of the state government at Richmond, formed the "'Reorganized" government of Virginia, elected F. H. Pierpont to act as governor; and, two months later (August 20), made provisions for a popular vote on the formation of a new state, and for a third convention to frame a constitution. Members of the legislature elected from the western counties met at Wheeling on July 1, and, calling themselves the Virginia legislature, proceeded to fill the remainder of the state offices. After organizing the state government, they selected two United States senators who were promptly recognized at Wash ington as senators from Virginia. The popular election of October 24 resulted in a vote of 18,489 to 781 in favor of the new state. A third convention, in which forty- one counties were represented, met at Wheeling on November 26 ; and, on February 18, 1862, it completed a constitution which was ratified early in April by a vote of 18,162 to 514. The new state, erected by consent of the "Reorganized" govern ment of Virginia (representing forty-eight western counties) and by the consent of Congress, revised its constitution (February, 1863) to meet the conditions of Congress requiring gradual abolition of slavery, and under the President's proclamation of April 20 was ad mitted to the Union on June 20, 1863. In the crisis in which the state was born there were serious sectional differences. The strong sympathy for the Confederacy in the south ern and eastern sections resulted in a sad state of disorder — illustrated in 1864 by the governor's report that in the extreme southern counties it was still impracticable to organize civil authority, and that in fourteen counties there were no sheriffs or other collectors of taxes "be cause of the danger incident thereto." Even at the close of the war the new state was confronted by various conditions which seriously threatened its integrity and inde pendence. In 1866, it rejected the overture's of Virginia for reunion 4 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA and secured the recognition of Congress in favor of its claim to Berkeley and Jefferson counties, which had been annexed in 1863 by legal forms and were finally awarded by decision of the United States supreme court in 1871. The new state inherited from Virginia a boundary dispute with Maryland which was not settled until 1912, and it soon became in volved with Virginia in a debt dispute which was partially decided by the supreme court of the United States in 1911 but still remains unsettled (in 1913). Beginning its existence without a permanent capital, .without any of the usual state institutions, excepting a lunatic asylum, and with out proper executive agencies to secure the general welfare, the state promptly turned to solve the problems of its institutional and social needs, including the establishment of a system of public schools, normal schools and a state university. Executive agencies for in spection and regulation were developed rather slowly. The first period of reconstruction closed with a victory of the Democrats in 1870, and the adoption of a new constitution in 1872. For over a quarter century the Democrats retained political control, although their majority steadily declined after 1880 and became a minority by 1896. Sectional divergences disappeared in the grow ing unity resulting from industrial integration and the expansion of improved communication. The political revolution could not check the steadily growing economic revolution, which since 1872 has largely changed the in dustrial and social character of the state. The largest chapter in the history of the state is that relating to the great industrial awakening, which had its origin largely in the increasing demand for timber, coal, oil and gas, and was especially influenced by inducements for the construction of railroads and for the establishment of certain manufactures for which a portion of the state furnishes a clean, cheap fuel. Almost every county has felt the effects of the great transformation resulting from the extension of transportation facili ties, the arrival of many immigrants from neighboring states and from foreign countries, and the opening of new industries which have precipitated a series of new problems not yet solved. The great problems are no longer the appropriation and exploita tion of natural resources such as confronted the solitary backwoods man sinking his axe into the edge of a measureless forest. The earlier pioneer ideals, determined by experience under frontier con ditions and followed by those who laid the foundations of the state — INTRODUCTION O ideals of conquest and' personal development unrestricted by social and governmental restraint — have recently been modified greatly by the changed economic and social conditions of an era dominated by triumphant captains of industry who regard themselves simply as pioneers of a new era chopping new clearings for larger business, seizing new strategic positions for power sites or dam sites, and opening the way to new enterprises. They have broken down every where in the larger competitions and struggles terminating in canni balistic absorptions, and in trust formations to fight new industrial battles. The new conditions, born of the struggles of a past whose life has almost vanished, have brought new problems which must be met and solved by new struggles — through methods of investigation, education and legislation. "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things." The pioneer clearing is broadening into a field in which all that is worthy of human endeavor may find a fertile soil to grow; and the new democracy, through law and government, is beginning to exact from the constructive geniuses, who sprang from the loins of pioneer democracy, a supreme allegiance and devotion to the common weal. The people of the state, with increasing determination to preserve the heritage which remains, have begun to initiate proper legislation to restrict the evils of an era of unregulated exploitation, often under non-resident management, which has subordinated public welfare to private greed. "The future holds great promise and also grave responsibility for the wise and conservative solution of far-reaching economic problems." SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA I. Geographic Conditions A favored land, — Secured against Atlantic's chilly blast By Allegheny's steadfast mountain crest, It slopes, through hill and dale and meadow vast, To where a noble river on the west Laves a low strand ; Its bosom deep Garners rich store of Nature's wealth for man Sufficient for a generation yet unborn, ! And generations still beyond, until the span Of centuries shall reach their utmost morn And final sleep; Its shaggy hills Bear forests lavish to his further needs For warmth, for light, for shelter and for rest, And copious streams encourage its broad meads To yield obedient crops, at the behest Of him who tills. From Poem by Herbert Putnam, I. PHYSICAL BASIS. West Virginia has an unusual topography which produces great di versity of climate and a copious rainfall. On its highest mountains the temperature may fall to 30 degrees below zero in winter, and in other parts of the state may rise to 96 above in summer. It is the meet ing place of two well defined systems of winds blowing in opposite di rections. Upon its Allegheny summits and slopes, clouds from opposite seas meet and mingle their rains. Those from the Atlantic break against the eastern side of the barrier and often produce terrific rains which usually do not reach the western slopes except in case of snow storms. Those from the southern or far western seas, carried by warm winds from the Gulf and Carribean or by cold winds from British Co lumbia, precipitate their loads of moisture throughout the remainder of the state. Local storms may come from any quarter. The amount of rain varies greatly in different years. The average yearly rainfall, including melted snow, is about four feet. It is always greater west of the Alleghenies and greatest near the summit. The chief rivers of the state have their rise in Pendleton, Pocahontas and Randolph counties, which form the highest part of a plateau region covering about one-third of the state and forming a high arm which curves around toward the southwest. The New river (geologically the oldest river in the state) , which has its source in North Carolina, after i % < ml ;V \ ' _ air ™ - ' Jrx ¦ 1 >^'" "~1 ITS* TtfffiM 'Wit y \> V Inflations' WEST VIRGINIA Courtesy of W. Va. ecological Survey. Little Blackwater Riveb. A View of Cheat River. GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS " flowing in a northerly direction on the eastern side of the plateau, turns toward the west, cuts transversely through the table-land and mingles its waters with the Kanawha. It is especially designed by nature as a great source of water-power which after long ages of wasted energy may be harnessed and utilized in the new age to turn the wheels of ex ploitive industry at the command of the awakening life along its course. Practically every other river of the state also offers superior water-pow er advantages which have begun to attract both private capital seeking to seize and public interest seeking to regulate and control. The entire area of the state was once the bed of an ancient sea into which ancient rivers from a surrounding region of land poured layers of mud, sand, and pebbles which by the pressure of ages and other agen cies became sandstone. In the deeper parts of this sea, far from the shore, were many marine animals whose shells and skeletons were pre cipitated to the bottom and by long pressure were cemented into thick solid limestone. In shallow waters resembling swamps a rank growth of vegetation furnished an accumulation of fallen trunks and branches which in the course of ages beneath the water were transformed into vast beds of coal whose later value made them an important basis of in dustrial development. After long ages, a large part of the bed of this sea with, rocks un broken was elevated above the water and formed the plateau from the highest part of which new-born rivers began to cut their channels to ward the ocean. Later, at different periods, the mountains were form ed by shrinkings of the earth's crust, causing stupendous foldings and archings of the rocks into a series of parallel ranges whose remnants often appear in isolated or detached series of individual knobs, after centuries of destructive erosion accomplished by the incessant toil of wind, frost, and rivers — which also prepared soils suitable for the needs of agriculture and its allied industries. In some cases these folds of earthCrust rose directly across the channel of the earlier bed of a river which, in spite of the steady upward movement, continued to cut its way across, forming a gap such as that cut by the Potomac at Harpers Ferry, by the South Branch at Hanging Bocks, by Mill Creek at Me- chanicsburg, by Pattersons creek at Greenland, by North Fork at Hope well, by Tygart's river at Laurel Hill in Bandolph, and by Cheat at Briery mountain in Preston. In these instances, and in many others, the long and incessant struggle of the rivers has wrought a grandness and pieturesqueness of wild scenery too little appreciated in the earlier struggle for possession and the later reckless race for riches. The entire region was picturesque, and rich in vast and varied re- 8 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA sources which largely remained untouched for over a century after the Indian trails of the wild region of sombre shadows and healthy cli mate first attracted the advance guard of pioneer settlers. In spite of the general roughness of surface, the soil was valuable, adapted either to various purposes of agriculture or to stock raising and was capable of large returns under improved methods of cultivation. There were iron ores which formed the basis of earlier active . industries, and an abundance of coal, oil and gas, fire-clays, sandstones and glass sands which formed the later basis for prosperous conditions felt by the en tire region. There was also a wealth of woods which, after remaining largely undisturbed for over a century, has recently been almost de pleted in most sections by a system of exploitation which has left in its desolate path' nothing more important than the problems of con servation . Before the westward invasion of white settlers, the ancient ridges be tween the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny plateau formed a great wilder ness rampart which forced. the medley population of tidewater Virginia into a useful unity and neighborly community life, under the ancestral tutorship of the wide sea, which proved of great value in the later strug gle for independence from Europe and in the establishment of the nation. The explorer finding a gap was always confronted by other ridges of mountains, and following the channel cut by the Potomac he was soon confronted by a mazy wilderness and other obstacles to en trance into the mountain belt beyond. The education of mountain and forest came later. By its physical formation the trans-Allegheny territory included in West Virginia was destined to be geographically distinct from the tide water region of the Old Dominion. The flow of its rivers toward the Ohio largely determined its commercial connections after the abandon ment of the earlier transportation by pack-horses. Even the eastward flow of the Potomac eventually determined its commercial relation with Baltimore instead of with points in eastern Virginia — a relation which through the influence of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in the crisis which precipitated the formation of West Virginia determined the ex tension of its eastern panhandle to Harpers Ferry. Even the more di rect route of communication between the Kanawha and the James riv ers, presented obstacles which delayed the completion of an adequate avenue of transportation until after the separation of the new state was accomplished. The second quarter of the eighteenth century marked the beginning of a longitudinal overflow movement southward and westward by ad vance up the Shenandoah from the western edge of the fertile lands of . GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS 9 Pennsylvania. Among these pioneers, following the earliest contin gents of Germans, were the Scotch-Irish — Scotch in blood, Irish by adoption and Presbyterian in religion— who largely populated West Virginia and won their way into Kentucky and to the farthest West. The Appalachian barrier was finally crossed by the overflow from the East. By 1773 the tides of life began to flow toward Pittsburg which; by the strange geological changes resulting from the ice invasion of long ago (diverting the ancient river system which had its headwaters in West Virginia), was the natural gateway to the Ohio and the West at which centered various lines of migration from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. From the upper Shenandoah and the upper James there was a smaller expansion to the middle New river region. 2. OLD INDIAN TRAILS. On the eve of its settlement by white men, the territory of western Virginia was the hunting ground of tribes of Delaware, Shawnee and Mingo Indians whose permanent settlements or villages were located in Pennsylvania near the confluence of the Monongahela and the Al legheny. Since 1713 they had occupied the region as tenants of the Iroquois of New York who claimed the ownership. From the Valley of Virginia to the Ohio river they used various trails which later served as the earliest paths of the pioneers. One of the most eastern trails was the Virginia Warriors Path which became a traders and explorers route ascending the Shenandoah valley to the head of Clinch, thence passing through Cumberland Gap via the site of "Crab Orchard" and Danville, Kentucky, to the falls of the Ohio (Louisville). Several trails connecting with the region drained by the Mononga hela were distinctly marked. Westward from the Virginia and Mary land routes of travel which converged on the Potomac at Wills Creek was a transmontane trail which crossed upper Youghiogheny at "Little Crossings" (Great Meadows) and the main Youghiogheny at "Stew art's Crossing'" (Connellsville) thence down the "Point" to the site of Pittsburg. Another was the old Catawba war-path between New York and the Holston river leading also through the Carolinas (not an Indian thor oughfare after white settlements were made in Virginia). This path •crossed the Cheat at the mouth of Grassy run near the Monongalia- Preston boundary line and farther south passed up the Tygart's valley. Another, the Warrior branch passed up Dunkard creek and via Fish •creek to southern Ohio and Kentucky. Another, the Eastern trail 10 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST, VIRGINIA (Great War Path) from Ohio via Fish creek and Indian creek and White Day creek through Preston county (near the site of Masontown and Reedsville and crossing Cheat at Dunkard Bottom) to the South Branch of the Potomac — a route much used by the Ohio Indians in their attacks on the white settlements. A branch starting between Ma-. sontown and Reedsville passed southward between Independence and Newburg via York's run and south of Evansville to Ice's mill on Big Sandy creek where, it met the Northwest trail from Maryland via the bridge at Deakin's on Cheat. Another trail led from Maryland via Big Sandy near Bruceton (Preston county) and via Cheat to the vicinity of Morgantown. Another important Indian route of travel was the Scioto-Monpngahe- la trail which, after crossing from Lower Shawnee Town eastward to the Muskingum valley and from Big Rock (near Roxbury, Ohio) south east via the watershed to the mouth of the Little Kanawha (Belpre, Ohio) and after a junction with another trail from the mouth of the Kanawha and the lower Scioto valley, finally crossed the Ohio and ran near the old "Neal's Station" (now Ewing's station on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad) north of the present Kanawha station and above Eaton's tunnel, thence via Dry Bidge to Doddridge county, passing though Martin's Woods, north of Greenwood to Centre Station, thence east of West Union tunnel (Gorham's), thence to the head of Middle Island creek, up Tom's Fork to the watershed in Harrison county, and down Ten Mile creek into the Monongahela valley. There was also a trail from the Ohio up the Kanawha and across the mountains to Ban- dolph county. Along. the north side of the Kanawha passed the Sandusky-Bichmond trail, an important branch of the Scioto trail which was the principal "war path" and trade path of the Shawanee country and the main route of the Sandusky- Virginia fur trade ascending the Sandusky val ley from Lake Erie and descending the Scioto to the mouth at Lower Shawnee Town, thence passing southward as "Warriors Path" through Kentucky to Cumberland Gap and the Cherokee country. This branch trail reached the mouth of jhe Kanawha over the highland watershed, between the Scioto and the Hockhocking rivers by a southeast route from a point on the Scioto above ChiUicothe, at the intersection of the Scioto-Beaver trail and a trail to Fort Miami from which the Miami trail continued southward. The trails leading from the Ohio east were well known to the early settlers who often posted scouts on them near the Ohio to report the approach of Indian war parties. GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS 11 Indian trail and buffalo trace pointed the easiest way for fur trader and pioneer settler across mountain barrier into the unbroken wilder ness drained by the Monongahela. The country gradually became known by reports of hunters and traders who crossed from very early times. Nemacolin's path, following in part an old buffalo trail across the mountains, furnished a pack horse route for traders who had al ready reached the Ohio before 1750. The blazing of this old Indian trail by Nemocolin and other Indians under direction of Cresap, acting for the Virginia gentlemen who had received 100,000 acres of land drained by the Ohio, precipitated a decisive war to settle the master ship of the western forests. This little westward path, marked by In dian's axe, became a path for Saxon commerce and consequently a path for Saxon conquest leading to the realization of the earliest dreams of the youthful Virginian who while traveling over it in 1752 was already planning a highway to bind the East and the West. It was later widen ed into a wagon road by Washington and Braddock and became an im portant highway to the lower Monongahela — although the first wagon load of merchandise over it did not reach the Monongahela until 1789. Farther south, crossing a wilderness mountain region over which no roads were constructed for a century after the early era of settlement of the region drained by the upper Monongahela, w*e four other trails of no less importance for settlers of the region drained by the upper tributaries of the Monongahela. The McCullough traders' trail led from Moorefield via Patterson's creek and Greenland gap across a spur of the Alleghenies to the North Branch thence to the upper Youhiogh- eny (west of Oakland) thence (via Bruceton mills) to the Cheat near the Pennsylvania line. A branch of it led down Horse Shoe run to the mouth of Lead Mine run. The other three were more obscure. The North Branch trail, over, which came the larger number of the early settlers on upper Cheat and many on the Buckhannon river and which probably was the route of the Indians who conducted raids in Hamp shire county in 1754 to 1759, continued from Fairfax stone across Backbone mountain and down Lead Mine run and Horse Shoe run to Cheat river — connecting here with an up-river branch to the vicinity of Parsons and via the head of Leading creek to the Seneca trail at Elkins and to the settlements of the Tygart Valley, at the head of which it connected with trails to the Little Kanawha, the Elk and the Green brier.. The trail to Greenbrier passed through Mingo Flats and west of the present Marlinton pike crossed the mountain — dividing at the top of Middle mountain into two branches, one of which continued to Old Field Fork and the other to Clover Lick. The Shawnee (or Sen- 12 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA eca) trail, although the chief highway between the South Branch and Tygarf s valley, travelled westward yearly by pack horses laden with salt, iron and other merchandise and later by many droves of cattle driven to the eastern market, ascended the South Branch (passing the McCullough trail at Moorefield) followed the North Fork and Seneca creek, crossed the Alleghenies twenty miles south of the North Branch trail, and the branches of Cheat above the mouth of Horse Camp creek; and passed near Elkins and Beverly to the vicinity of Huttonsville in ¦ Bandolph. Another path, connecting with the old Shawnee trail from Pennsyl vania and Maryland from the head of North Fork and following the general course of the later Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike, passed up the South Branch to the mouth of North Fork (in Grant county) which it followed to the mouth of Dry run (in Pendleton county) , then followed Laurel creek to the site of the later crossing of the Staunton and Parkersburg pike, then turned westward, crossed the Alleghenies thirty miles south of the Seneca trail, followed the East Fork of the Greenbrier to the main river, crossed Shaver's mountain to the Shav er's Fork of Cheat, thence crossing Cheat mountain to Tygart's Valley, intersecting the Shawnee trail near Huttonsville and crossing to the head of the Little Kanawha which it followed to the Ohio. Two other trails may be noticed. One led from the headwaters of the South Branch via the Sinks of Gandy, to Shaver's Fork of Cheat river at the mouth of Fishing-Hawk, and across Cheat mountain via the heads of Files creek to Valley Bend (above Beverly). Another led from the Great Ka nawha up the Elk and Valley Fork and down Elk Water to Tygarf s Valley — a meeting place of many trails and probably a favorite hunt ing ground of the Indians. An old well-known Indian trail, originally a buffalo trail and later used by settlers till 1786, passed from the Kanawha Up Kelley's creek, thence down Bell creek and down Twenty Mile to its mouth (now Belva), up Gualey to a point over a mile north of Bich creek up which it meandered and thence passed over Gauley mountain through the site of Ansted and across the branches of Meadow creek to the upper wa ters of Muddy, an affluent of the Greenbrier. Over this serpentine trail the earliest settlers twisted their way. It was used for the outward trip of Lewis' army in 1774 and was followed by the Indian invaders who attacked Donnally's fort in 1778. The Gauley river route faTther northeast also lead to the heads of the Greenbrier. The chief old trail of the Indians and early settlers from Lewisburg to the Ohio ran along the ridges at the heads of the tributaries of the Great Kanawha, cross- GEOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS 13 ing Paint creek near its source. It was a mere passage way for foot travel through the wilderness — although over much of it one could ride horseback. It was used considerably for early travel. The western Indian trail around the narrows of the Great Kanawha led from the Kanawha up Paint creek, thence via the site of Beckley, over the northeast extension of Flat Top mountain, and across the New river above the mouth of the Bluestone. Among other trails was one via Horse Pen creek to the head of Clear Fork, down Tug, to the mouth of Four Pole, thence across the ridge be tween the Sandy and the Guyandotte. An early hunters' trail from the Greenbrier-New river section to Kentucky passed up East river via Bluefield, the Bluestone-Clinch divide, and the Clinch and Powell riv ers. 14 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA II. Struggle for Possession, and Evolution of Settlements I. THE FIRST ADVANCE. Nearly two hundred years ago the cosmopolitan Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia led an expedition which, by penetrat ing the fifty miles intervening between the frontier and the peaks of the Blue Ridge, and descending beyond the Valley of the Shenandoah, broke down the barrier which had checked the westward expansion' of the English in America and began a conquest which made Virginia the mother of an empire. Born in 1676, at Tangier in Morocco, of an illustrious Scottish fam ily, and distinguished as a soldier who had fought with Marlborough at Blenheim, Spotswood became the first great expansionist and one of the first true republicans of the Old Dominion. Coming to Virginia in 1710, he soon took an active interest in plana to break through the mountain blockade beyond which the traditional enemies of England and their Indian allies were already actively en gaged in trade. He was confident that the colonists with proper en couragement would soon extend their settlements to the source of the James. Riding at the head of a gay and merry body of thirty cavalier adven turers, marshalled and guided by the sound of the hunter's horn, and followed by a long retinue of negro slave's and Indian guides, spare horses, and sumpter-mules laden with provisions and casks of native Virginia wine, he left Williamsburg on June 20, 1716, traveled via King William and Middlesex counties and via Mountain Bun to the Bappahannock, thence up the Bapidan to his own estates at Germanna, (colonized by Germans 1714) where all their horses were shod, thence to Peyton's Ford and via the present site of Stannardsville (in Green County) and over the rugged road through the Blue Ridge by Swift Run gap to the Shenandoah about ten miles below the site of Port Re public, and some writer has said that he continued westward through mountain defiles to a lofty peak of the. Appalachian range (perhaps in Pocahontas county) . EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 15 According to John Fontaine's journal of the expedition, each day's march was enlivened by the chase and each night's rest, after the meal of grouse and pheasants shot in forest glades, was enlivened by laugh ter, song and story which were stimulated by stores of various liquid mixtures from the vineyards of Virginia lowlands. Looking westward from a peak of the mountains, Spotswood was fascinated by thf sug gestion awakened by the view of a more distant mountain peak, to the west and north, from which Indian guides said one could see the sparkle of the fresh-water sea now called Lake Erie. On the Shenandoah, which Spotswood at first named the Euphrates, "with ceremonious sa lute, and appeal to the store of creature comforts" the adventurers took formal possession of the "Valley of Virginia" in the name of the Han overian monarch of England and buried the record in an empty bottle near the camp which they had pitched. Returning to Williamsburg he gave a glowing description of the healthful region visited; and, perhaps in order to commemorate the recent jovial invasion of a wilderness, previously unbroken by the white man, he established the "Transmontane Order" of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" and gave to each of the members of his expedition (and to others who would accept them with a purpose of crossing the mountains) miniature horseshoes bearing the inscription "Sic jurat transcendere montes." Howe in his Historical Collections of Virginia states that in commemoration of the event the king conferred the hon or of knighthood upon Spotswood and presented to him a miniature golden horseshoe on which was inscribed the above motto. From his excursion and hunting picnic among the hills he obtained visions which expanded his views as an expansionist and induced him to propose ambitious and aggressive imperial plans for control from the mountains to the Lakes — plans which although held in abeyance at the time and for many years after his removal from office in 1722, and after his death in 1740. were finally revived under a later expan sionist governor, also a Scotchman (Dinwiddle) — and pressed to exe cution at a fearful cost. Spotswood gave the stimulus which soon attracted to the passes of the mountains the pioneers who were later gradually awakened to the possibilities of a great movement which resulted in the winning of the West. The short journey from Germanna to the Shenandoah was the first march in the winning of the territory now included in West Vir ginia. The leader of the expedition continued to encourage western settlement by treaties protecting the frontier from Indians and by leg islation for exemption of the inhabitants of newly formed counties from 16 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA quit rents. Some of his followers led in the westward movement along the Potomac and in the Northern Neck. The earliest permanent settlers in the eastern panhandle, however entered from Pennsylvania by the "Old Pack-horse Ford" (at Shep- herdstown) . By 1727 Morgan Morgan settled on Mill creek (in Berke ley county) and Germans began a settlement which later grew into a village called New Mechlenberg (now Shepherdstown). In 1730 and within a few years thereafter, other daring pioneers settled upon the Opequon, Back creek, Tuscarora creek, Cacapon, and farther west on the South Branch. Among those who founded homes along the Po tomac in what is now Jefferson and Berkeley counties were the Shep herds, Bobert Harper (at Harper's Ferry), William Stroop, Thomas and William Forester, Van Swearinger, James Forman, Edward Lu cas, Jacob Hite, Jacob Lemon, Richard and Edward Mercer, Jacob Van Meter, Robert Stockton, Robert Buckles, John and Samuel Taylor and John Wright. In 1736' an exploring party traced the Potomac to its source. In 1762 Thomas Shepherd secured an act of the assembly es tablishing Mecklenberg. In 1732 Joist Hite and fifteen other families cut their way through the wilderness from York, Pennsylvania, and crossing the Potomac two miles above Harpers Ferry proceeded to the vicinity of Winchester and made settlements which exerted a great influence upon the early neigh boring settlements in the territory now included in West Virginia. He also became involved in a famous land dispute of interest to settlers in the eastern panhandle — a dispute with Lord Fairfax who had inherited under a grant of 1691 a large estate south of the Potomac including the present counties of Mineral, Hampshire, Hardy, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson and one-eighth of Tucker and three-fourths of Grant. This lawsuit, which Fairfax began against Hite in 1736 and which was not settled until all the original parties were resting in their graves, a half century later, arrested development of the lower valley and stim ulated settlement farther west. Several German immigrants, induced by insecurity of titles in the lower Shenandoah, crossed the Alleghenies and built cabins in the New, the Greenbrier and the Kanawha valleys. Farther up the Shenandoah at "Bellefont," one mile from the site of Staunton, John Lewis in 1732 established a first location in Augusta county which at that time comprised all the undefined territory of Virginia west of the Blue Bidge mountains. The issue of patents in 1736 brought to Augusta and Rockbridge from the lower Shenandoah and from England a stream of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, some of whom pushed their way with their descendants into the adjoining country know as Bath, Allegheny and Craig counties. ( EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 17 The descendants of these first settlers of the Shenandoah were among the pioneers who later crossed the Alleghenies and established homes in the valleys of the Monongahela, the Kanawha and the Ohio. From the Shenandoah to the South Branch the advance was rapid- unobstructed by difficult mountains. Adventurers and homeseekers could either ascend the Potomac or take the shorter route across North Mountain. As early as 1725, John Van Meter, an Indian trader from the Hudson river, traversed the upper Potomac and South Branch valleys. In 1735 the first settlement in the valley of the South Branch was made in what is now Hampshire county by four families named Cobun, Howard, Walker and Butledge. A year afterwards Isaac Van Meter, Peter Casey, the Pancakes, Foremans and others reared homes further up the South Branch — some of them located within what is now Hardy county.* By 1748 there were about 200 people along the entire course of the stream. The expansion of settlements was influenced by conditions resulting from the great land grants owned by Lord Fairfax. In 1736 hearing glowing accounts of the South Branch (from John Howard who had gone via South Branch, crossed the Alleghenies and gone down the Ohio) Fairfax ordered a survey of his boundary and soon began to issue 99-year leases to tenants at the rate of $3.33 for each hundred acres, and to sell land outright on a basis of an annual quit rent of 33 cents. In 1747-48, after the erection of the Fairfax stone at the head of the Potomac in 1746, much of the land within the Fairfax grant in the South Branch country was surveyed by Washington and laid off in quantities to suit purchasers. Nearly 300 tracts were surveyed in the two years, f At the same time, many frontiersmen — not approving the English practice but wanting full title in fee — pushed higher up the Shenan doah and South Branch valleys. New settlements crept up the South Branch into regions now included in Pendleton county, whose triple valleys had already been visited by hunters and prospectors — one of *A11 these settlements were at that time in Orange county (formed from Spottsylvania in 1734 which extended to the "utmost limits of Virginia" includ ing in its boundaries all of what is now West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and + At the close of the Revolution the Fairfax lands were confiscated by Virginia and thrown open to settlement under the regulations for other state lands, and in time they became the property of many farmers. The project for large manors on South Branch and Patterson creek was never realized. In 1782 the Assembly confiscated the claims of the Fairfax heirs, having previously declared invalid the claims of the Vandalia and Indiana companies. In 1789 David Hunter received a patent for lands which had formally belonged to Fairfax, but being refused posses sion he brought suit in the court of Shenandoah county, which decided against him in a decision which was later reversed by the Supreme Court of the state. Later, David Martin, to whom Fairfax had bequeathed the right to the disputed property, appealed to the United States Supreme Court which in 1816 sustained the lower court of Shenandoah, causing many to fear that the confiscation of the Indiana and Vandalia claims might not prove a permanent settlement of their title to western lands. IS SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA whom had built a cabin about 1745 a half mile below the site of Brandy- wine. In 1746-47 Robert Green of Culpepper entered several tracts giving him a monopoly of nearly 30 square miles of the best soil. In 1747 he gave deeds of purchase to six families who were probably the first bona-fide settlers of Pendleton. In 1753 there was a sudden wave of new immigration and four years later the territory now included in Pendleton had a population of 200 — equally divided between the South Branch and the South Fork, and most numerous toward the Upper Tract and Dyer settlement. The earlier settlers in the region now oc cupied by Hampshire and Hardy counties included Dutch and Germans and Irish and Scotch and English. The territory included in Pendle ton was largely settled by Germans from the Shenandoah. Considering the needs of -the South Branch region, the Assembly in 1754 made provision for the formation of the new county of Hampshire from the territory of Frederick and Augusta with boundaries extending westward to the "utmost parts of Virginia." The county was organ ized in 1757. The presiding justice of the first county court was Thomas Bryan Martin, a nephew of Lord Fairfax. Bomney was es tablished by law in 1762 (by Fairfax). In the meantime, to meet the exigencies of the expansion of western settlers, commissioners of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland in 1744 negotiated with the Six Nations (at Lancaster, Pennsylvania) a treaty by which for 400 pounds they ceded to the English all the re gion between the Alleghenies and the Ohio. Settlements were delayed, however, first by the barrier of the Alleghenies, and later by the unin viting character of narrow defiles and dense wilderness, and of the un cleared valleys beyond, which furnished ample cover for treacherous Indians opposed to the adventurous pioneers seeking to penetrate the wild hunting grounds. The first direct stimulus to settlement farther west came from the earlier settlements established about 1732 on grants including the site of Winchester and the site of Staunton. Following the expansion of settlements up the Shenandoah and the James, the most adventurous settlers, following the hunters, began to push their way across the di vide to the New river and then farther west to lands now included in West Virginia. A century before the establishment of permanent set tlements, the New river region of West Virginia westward to Kanawha Falls was visited by a party of Virginians under Captain Thomas Bates with a commission from the General Assembly "for the finding out the ebbing and flowing of ye South Sea." The earliest settlements in the New river region of West Virginia had their basis in the earlier settle- EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 19 ment of 1748 by the Ingles, Drapers and others at Draper's Meadows (later known as Smithfield, near Blacksburg, Virginia)' and were pos- _ sibly also influenced by the settlement of 1749 by Adam Harman near the mouth of Sinking creek (Eggleston's Spring, Giles county) and the neighboring settlement made by Philip Lybrook in 1750. They received their direct incentive from the report of Christopher Gist, who (in returning from his Ohio exploring expedition of 1750) passed down the Bluestone valley and crossed the New river a short distance below the mouth of Indian creek at Crump's Bottom (in Summers county) . In 1753 Andrew Culbertson, induced by fear of the Indians to leave his home near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, journeyed via the settlements in Montgomery and Giles county to Crump's Bottom. A year later Thomas Farley obtained the Culbertson tract and erected a fort at Warford farther west. Around the scattered settlements sev eral others were begun in the same year. Pioneers from Pennsylvania came both by the James and by the South Branch and Greenbrier riv ers. ' The discovery of the Greenbrier in 1749, by a lunatic citizen of Fred erick county, excited the enterprise of two men from New England (Ja- ¦cob Marlin and Stephen Sewell ) who took up residence upon the Green brier and were found there in 1751 by General Andrew Lewis, agent of the Greenbrier Land Company. This company obtained a grant of 100,000 acres of land, of which about 50,000 acres was surveyed by 1755 — when operations stopped until about the close of the French and Indian war (after which they were renewed in spite of the King's proclamation). The earliest incentive to actual occupation in the Monongahela and Ohio region was furnished in 1748 by the formation of the Ohio com pany which received from George II a grant of 500,000 acres along ihe Ohio between the Monongahela and the Kanawha and which planned settlements by which to divert the Indian trade from Pennsyl vania. Plans for settlement by Germans from Pennsylvania were pre vented by Virginia's law against dissenters.* Four years later, trans- montane settlements were encouraged by the house of burgesses through ¦an offer of tax exemption for ten years. Many of the first settlers, west of the mountains considered the soils ?In 1751 the Ohio company desiring to obtain an additional grant for the region between the Great Kanawha and the Monongahela sent Christopher Gist to make explorations along the Ohio. After Gist made his report in 1752, the company petitioned the King for the grant and for permission to form a separate govern ment in the region between the Alleghenies and the Ohio. After years of waiting and negotiation, the Ohio and Walpole companies were merged into the Grand Ohio company, which continued the efforts to secure the formation of the .proposed province of Vandalia with its capital at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. 20 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA of the region non-supporting and intended to remain only until the game should be exhausted. Daring frontiersmen began to seek' trans- Allegheny homes farther north. The earliest attempts at settlement along the waters of the Monongahela were made by David Tygart and Robert Foyle on Tygarf s Valley river (in Randolph) in 1753, by Thomas Eckarly and his broth ers on Cheat at Dunkard's Bottom (in Preston) in 1754, and by Thom as Decker and others near the mouth of Deckers creek (in Monongalia) in 1758. Permanent settlements were not made until after the close of the French and Indian war, and until the treaty negotiated with Pontiac at the forks of the Muskingum by General Bouquet rendered peace on the border more certain. The center of the region which in 1754 (at the formation of Hamp shire county) contained the pioneer settlers of West Virginia may be indicated by an irregular line drawn from the Blue Ridge through Harpers Ferry, Charleston, Martinsburg, Berkeley Springs, Romney, Moorefield, Petersburg, Upper Tract and Franklin, Marlinton, and thence down the Greenbrier and through Monroe county to Peters Mountain. The total population has been estimated at 10,000 whites and 400 blacks. 2. FIRST DECADE OF TRANS-ALLEGHENY ADVANCE. During the early part of the French and Indian war western settle ments were pushed back to Winchester and Cumberland, and the In dians held sway west of the Alleghenies. Following Braddock's defeat the Indians were a great menace to the settlers along the entire frontier line. On the day before the de feat, the Shawnees completely destroyed the Ingles-Draper settlement and escaped with their prisoners, crossing the New above the mouth of Bluestone and from thence passing over the northeast extension of Flat Top and via the site of Beckley over the trail to the head of Paint creek and thence down the Kanawha. After the return of Mrs. Ingles measures were adopted by Governor Dinwiddie to defend the frontier. In 1756 an expedition under Captain Andrew Lewis passed down New river and through Drapers Meadows to the Sandy but as a result of the cold winter it was broken up near the junction of Tug fork. Its failure encouraged other Indian assaults and forays which contin ued until 1763. Farther north forts for defensive and offensive operations were speedily erected along the frontier. Fort Ashby stood on the east bank of Petterson's creek, in what is now Franklin district, Mineral county ; |M H (3PO o k o s a ¦ S5 w Eh MO EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 21 Fort Waggener was on the South Branch of the Potomac, three miles above the site of Moorefield, in Hardy county; Fort Capon was at the forks of Capon, now in Bloomery district in Hampshire county; Fort Cox stood on the lower point of land at the confluence of the Little Cacapon and Potomac rivers; Fort Edwards was near the site of Capon Bridge, now in Bloomery district in Hampshire county ; Fort Evans was two miles south of where Martinsburg now stands; Fort Ohio stood where the village of Ridgeley, Mineral county, is situated ; Fort Pearsall was on the site of the present town of Romney ; Fort Pe terson was on the South- Branch of the Potomac, in Milroy district in Grant county; Fort Pleasant was erected on the Indian Old Fields, now in Hardy county ; Fort Riddle was in Lost River district. Hardy county; Fort Sellers was at the mouth of Patterson's creek, Mineral county ; Fort Upper Tract was in what is now Mill Run District, Pen dleton county ; and Fort Seybert stood on the bank of the south fork of the South Branch of the Potomac in the same county. The French with their savage allies bore down with resistless fury upon the West Virginia border, and around these primitive forts were enacted many tragedies and dramas of the wilderness. The Tygart and Foyle settlements on Tygarf s Valley river together with those of the Eckarly's on the Cheat river, and of the Deckers on the Monon gahela were destroyed, and many persons were killed on the Green brier river. Fierce battles were waged in the vicinity of Fort Edwards, Fort Biddle and Fort Pleasant; bloody massacres occurred at Fort Upper Tract and Fort Seybert. After the peace of 1763, Indian dep redations resulting from Pontiac's conspiracy completely destroyed the Muddy creek settlement in the Greenbrier valley. The fate of the Monongahela and all the trans-Allegheny region hung in the balance until the fall of Fort Duquesne opened the way for the new colonization movement — a movement also encouraged and aided by the Braddock and Forbes roads which had been opened to determine the- destiny of the West. In the decade between the French and Indian war and the opening of the Bevolution, settlements could be made only in opposition to the policy of the English government. Although Governor Dinwiddie in 1754 in order to encourage volunteers to enter military service had set apart 100,000 acres along the- Ohio to be granted to soldiers, George III, desiring that the trans-Allegheny region should remain a hunting ground for the Indians, or at least expecting to control the later settle ment and government of the territory, on October 7, 1763 issued a proc lamation forbidding the colonists to grant warrants, surveys or patents 22 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA, in the territory until it could be opened by treaties with the Indians — thus theoretically extinguishing their titles to lands beyond the proc lamation line. Two years later he directed the governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania to remove by force all settlers in that region — an or der which was never executed in Virginia. By the terms of the treaty of Fort Stanwix (now Borne, New York) in 1768 the Six United Nations ceded to the King of England prac tically all of West Virginia, except what is known as the "Indian Ces sion" a large territory north of the Little Kanawha (about 4,950 square miles) which they reserved and granted to Captain William Trent and other Indian traders in -consideration of merchandise taken from them by the Indians on the Ohio in 1763. The Gen- ' eral Assembly of Virginia repudiated the title of the traders who there fore never came into possession of any part of the cession. A plan to found a new province in the Ohio valley, first urged by Dinwiddie as early as 1756, assumed definite shape in 1771 when Thomas Walpole, Benjamin Franklin and others submitted to the King a petition for a grant of land including the larger part (forty counties) of the terri tory now included in West Virginia and the eastern part of Kentucky which they proposed to form into a colony under the name of Vandalia, the capital of which they proposed to locate at the mouth of the Great Kanawha (now Point Pleasant). The King favored this project to organize the sparsely settled Virginia hinterland into a fourteenth col ony with a government more dependent upon the crown than those of the older thirteen, but in 1775 the execution of the draft of the royal grant was postponed to await the cessation of hostilities which finally closed only with the complete loss of English jurisdiction between the Atlantic and the Mississippi. The people were determined to occupy the land without purchase of Indian titles, and during the peace on the frontier from 1764 to 1774 proceeded first to secure tomahawk rights and soon thereafter to es tablish settlement rights — pushing the frontier to the Ohio and into Kentucky. A tomahawk right, respected by the frontiersmen, was often merged into a settlement right. Although Virginia took no step until 1779 to sell lands in West Virginia, and no titles can be traced beyond that year, she respected the claims of the earlier settlers and in fact taxed these settlers on their lands before patents were issued. Pioneers, in order to hold their 400 acres on a settlement right, erected any kind of a pole cabin or log cabin near a good spring of water. They could preempt 100 acres additional if found free of prior claims. Surveys, both earlier and later, were inaccurate and unsystematic and laid foun dation for many future law suits some of which are still on the court EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 23 dockets. In early years, speculators patented large tracts — 10,000 to 500,000 acres — often overlapping scores of farms, but they could not hold land already occupied, and in many cases the large tracts were sold for taxes or otherwise transferred to the people in smaller tracts. These permanent settlements, tentatively beginning as early as 1764, became especially augmented both in extent and number from 1772 to 1774, numbering a total population of about 30,000 by 1775. They were seriously affected by the conditions which precipitated the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, and by the renewed danger of Indian attacks beginning about 1777 and continuing in some sections until the treaty of 1795 following Wayne's victory against the Indians in northwestern Ohio. Was it any wonder that the Indians fought to retain a country which they and their fathers had used for a summer retreat for many generations — a land famous for game .and fish and with abundance of fruits and nuts which could be obtained without toil ? Especially after the treaty of Fort Stanwix the enterprising yeoman ry actively pushed forward over the mountains to the Greenbrier and New rivers, to the Monongahela, and down the Ohio as far as Grave's jreek. Preparation for settlement further down the Ohio was begun by the survey of lands of George Washington at the mouths of the rta- nawhas The first settlements made in the District of West Augusta before 1774 were grouped in a circular belt around a large wilderness of heavy forest land which remained largely unsettled for two decades later. The chief points of the circle were the Middle New and Green brier rivers, thence westward down the New and Big Kanawha to the Ohio, the Monongahela with its upper branches (Cheat, Tygarf s Valley, Buckhannon and West Fork) and the region around Wheeling and Grave creek on the Ohio. In 1760 James Moss reared his cabin at Sweet Springs, now in Mon roe county. In 1769 the Woods family settled and built a fort on Rich creek about four miles east of the site of Peterstown which fourteen years later became the home of Christian Peters, an American soldier who served in Lafayette's corps at Yorktown. To the same region in 1770 came the Manns, Cooks, Millers, Alexanders, Nickells, Campbells, Dunsmores, Hokes, Lakes, Calloways, Sweeneys, Haynes, Erskines, Grahams, and Hutchinsons — largely from the Virginia valley. Adam and Jacob Mann (of English origin from Kent) and others built a fort on Indian creek about ten miles west of the present town of Union ; the Cooks from the Valley of Virginia built a few miles from its mouth, the Keenys later built a fort on Keenys Knob farther down the river. By 1769 settlers began to push up the Greenbrier and to form the 24 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA more western nuclei of settlements which later contributed to the ad vance down the Kanawha, to the Ohio and over the divide to the Mo nongahela. A settlement was made at a fort on Wolf creek (Monroe county) and another farther north (in Greenbrier county) at Fort Spring. In 1769 the first permanent settlement in Greenbrier county was made at Frankford by Colonel John Stuart, Robert McClenachan, Thomas Renick and William Hamilton followed by others from Au gusta county. In the same year, Thomas Williams settled about two miles south of the site of Williamsburg, and near him William McCoy and William Hughart established homes. In 1770 on the site of Lewis-. burg was built the old Savanna fort which became Fort Union. Later settlements were made in 1771 at the foot of Hughart' s mountain by John Patton and on Culbertson's creek by William Blake, in 1772 on Muddy creek by William McKinney, and in 1773 on Big Clear creek by William McClung (who patented a large tract on Meadow river) and on the site of Fort Donnally by Andrew Donally. In 1774 a settle ment was made on the White Sulphur Springs lands. Farther up the stream by 1773 a settlement was established at Little Levels (now in Pocahontas) by John McNeil and others from the lower Valley of Virginia. At the same time settlers began to venture down the Kanawha. In 1770 the land around the site of Montgomery was originally taken up by Levi Morris who later came by mule from Alexandria, Virginia and built the first house there. In 1773 the "big bottom" survey on which Charleston now stands, was located by Colonel Thomas Bullitt. In the same year Walter Kelly from North Carolina invaded the trackless forest which lay between Camp LTnion and the mouth of the Kanawha and made the first family settlement in the Kanawha valley (at the mouth of Kelly's creek). In 1774, on the site of Old Brownstown (now Marmet) on the Kanawha, Leonard Morris made a permanent settlement. Kelly's place became the point of embarkation for later home-seekers and travelers from the East and was often called the "Boat Yards." Even earlier the pioneer settlers were penetrating into the wilds drained by the Monongahela. By 1772 nearly all the land in Tygarfs valley was located — although few patents were obtained for it until ten or fifteen years later. Two forts were built (at Beverly and near Hut tonsville) in 1774. In 1764 at the mouth of Turkey creek on Buck- hannon river a forest camp was established by the Pringles and others who had deserted from garrison duty at Fort Pitt and after roaming through Maryland went west down Horseshoe to Cheat thence over the EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 25 divide to Tygarfs valley. To this camp came prospective settlers who by 1769 brought their families to the Buckhannon valley and made several settlements which were followed by others at Booth's creek in 1770 and at Simpson's creek and Hacker's creek in 1772. In 1764 John Simpson, a trapper from the South Branch established his cabin opposite the mouth of Elk creek on the site of Clarksburg, around which settlers began to locate lands in 1772. In 1774 the sons of Captain James Parsons who had lived at Moorefield in the South Branch lo cated at the Horseshoe bend on Cheat (now in Tucker county) . By 1766 pioneer settlers reached the middle Monongahela region now included in Monongalia county. In 1767 the first permanent set tlement at Morgantown was made by Zachwell Morgan and others and from this point David Morgan emigrated up the river to lands now in cluded in the bounds of Marion county, in which several settlements were made by 1772. About the same time settlements were made at various points in the territory now included in Preston county; in 1769 on the waters of Big Sandy near the sites of Clifton Mills and Bruceton, in 1770 on the Sandy creek Glades and east of Cheat (the Walls settlement) and in 1770-73 at Dunkard Bottom by hunters from the South Branch who led the way for permanent Virginia settlers. The earliest known settlement of Wheeling was made in 1769 by Colonel Ebenezer Zane and two brothers, who leaving the South Branch near the present site of Moorefield, followed the trail frequented by Indians and traders from Cumberland to Bedstone fort, the present site of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and there, learning of a beautiful and fertile country bordering the waters of the Ohio, crossed the interven ing country to the head-waters of the stream now known as Wheeling creek, and travelled along its banks to its confluence with the Ohio. Here they marked out a claim on the Island in three divisions, includ ing nearly all of the present site of Wheeling, and built a rude cabin. In the following spring Colonel Zane brought his family from the South Branch via Bedstone fort from which they floated down the Monongahela and the Ohio in canoes and pirogues. With him came Isaac Williams and domestic servants and laborers who had charge of the- live stock. In 1770 other families from the South Branch joined the settlement, including Colonel David Sheppherd, John Wetzel and the McCullochs. Constantly recurring warfare with the Indians checked the growth of the settlement, which in 1782 consisted of a fort and a few log cabins surrounding it. Its early history was made up of almost continuous struggles against ihe efforts of the savages to destroy it. These settlements augmented by new arrivals in 1774, constituted an 26 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA advance guard through which the Indians must penetrate to reach the interior in which new accessions were arriving from Maryland, Penn sylvania, and Virginia. By^their position they also became a rendez vous for pioneer speculators who were engaged in entering lands on the borders of Kentucky and Ohio. In 1774 protection against hos tile Indians was provided by the construction of Fort Fincastle which at the formation of Ohio county in 1776 was changed to Fort Henry in honor of the new governor of Virginia. South of Wheeling, a settlement begun at Grave creek in- 1770, re ceived new accessions in 1772. Northward, in the territory included in Brooke county a few settlers arrived in 1772, followed by others in 1774. While the Monongahela and Ohio settlements rapidly increased, the boundary between Virginia and Pennsylvania was still unsettled. Be yond the western line of Maryland, where Virginia's and Pennsylva nia's possessions came in contact, a bitter dispute arose, almost leading to open hostilities between the people of the two states. Virginia want ed Pittsburg, and boldly and stubbornly set up a claim to the ter ritory at least as far north as the fortieth degree of latitude. This would have given Virginia part of Fayette and Greene counties in Penn sylvania. The line of 39° originally claimed by Penn as the southern boundary of his grant would have given him a large part of the Monon gahela region which is now included in West Virginia. In Septem ber 1767 the surveyors of the Mason and Dixon line, who had been accompanied by an escort of the Six Nations until they reached Pe tersburg, Pennsylvania, continued westward from that point alone be yond the western limit of Maryland marking the northern boundary of what is now Preston and Monongalia counties. They were threat ened and finally stopped near Mt. Morris on Dunkard creek, at the crossing of the Warrior branch of the Great Catawba war path, by the Delawares and Shawnees who claimed to be tenants of the country. The survey was not finally completed until seventeen years later. In 1773 Governor Dunmore of Virginia sent Dr. John Connolly to Fort Pitt to resist occupation by Pennsylvania which had just established courts at Hanna's Town (Near Greensburg) with determination to exercise jurisdiction over the lower Monongahela valley. He soon oc cupied Fort Pitt, changed the name to Fort Dunmore, and established a rival court and rival magistrates precipitating the bitter struggle which was stopped only by the Eevolution. Lord Dunmore's war was the inevitable culmination of a long series of mutual grievances and outrages between the Indians of the Ohio EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 27 valley and the Scotch-Irish and German frontiersmen of western Vir ginia and Pennsylvania who, after the close of the French and Indian war and the smothering of Pontiac's conspiracy, and in spite of the pol icy of the English government, had relentlessly pushed westward with migratory instinct, converting aboriginal hunting grounds first into their own game forests and then into virgin farms. Although the na tive title to lands eastward from the Ohio to the mountains was quieted in 1768 by the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and reinforced in 1770 by the treaty of Lochaber with the southern Indians whose boundary was then fixed at the Kentucky river, many of the Indians denied the validity of the cessions. Year by year the exasperation of the borderers, planted firmly among the Alleghenies, grew greater, and the tale of wrongs they had to avenge, grew longer. The. savages grew continually more hostile, and in the fall of 1773 their attacks became so frequent that it was evi dent that a general outbreak was at hand. The Shawnees, located on the Scioto were the leaders in all these outrages ; but the outlaw bands, such as the Mingoes and the Cherokees, were as bad, and were joined by parties of Wyandottes and Delawares, as well as various Miami and Wabash tribes. The spring of 1774 opened with everything ripe for an explosion. Borderers were anxious for a war. Border warfare was precipitated by Captain Cresap's attack on Indians at the mouth of Captina creek and a general fight of Indians and whites at a rum dispensary opposite the mouth of Yellow creek — resulting in the death of almost all mem bers of Chief Logan's family. Lord Dunmore, although he acted with discretion, was ambitious for glory and probably thought that a war against the Indians would prove a political measure to distract atten tion from the growing difficulties between the mother country and the colonies. Early in the spring when the hostile Shawnees began their outrages, Lord Dunmore's lieutenant (Connolly) issued an open letter command ing the backwoodsmen to hold themselves in readiness to repel an attack by the Indians. All the borderers instantly prepared for war, and later when the Indians rose to avenge the murder of Logan's family in "Cresap's war," Dunmore himself prepared for the attack. Apprized by messengers from Cresap and Connally that the frontier settlers were alarmed at the situation, he promptly sent a defensive and puni tive force of upper Potomac settlers under Major Angus McDonald who hastened to Wheeling, erected Fort Fincastle, and after descending the Ohio to the mouth of Captina creek invaded the Indian country and 28 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA destroyed their towns and cornfields. Soon thereafter Dunmore rais ed an army of two wings or divisions each 1500 strong, one to advance under Dunmore over a northern route via Fort Pitt and to descend the Ohio to the mouth of the Kanawha to meet the other, an army com posed of backwoodsmen under General Andrew Lewis, which was in structed to rendezvous at Fort Union and march down the Kanawha. The backwoodsmen of the Alleghenies felt that the quarrel was their own and were eager to fight. They were not uniformed save that they all wore the garb of the frontier hunter ; most of them were armed with good rifles and all were skillful woodsmen, and although they were ut terly undisciplined they were magnificent individual fighters. On September 8, with 1100 men Lewis advanced from Camp Union on a fatiguing march, making his road as he went. Guid ed by Captain Mathew Arbuckle (an experienced frontiersman) he followed along the trail via Muddy creek, Keeny's Knob, Bich creek, Gauley, Twenty Mile, Bell creek and Kelley's creek to the Ka nawha (September 21) which was followed to its mouth both by ca noes and by trail). Beaching Point Pleasant (on October 6) he anx iously awaited Dunmore, whom he expected to join him, but who mean time had decided to march direct to the Scioto to a point not far from the Indian town of ChiUicothe near the Pickaway plains. Finally (on October 9 he received through a messenger (Simon Girty) Dun- more's orders to cross the Ohio to meet him before the Indian towns near the Pickaway plains. Although Lewis was not pleased at this change of plan he decided to break camp and march next morning.. During the night, however, Chief Cornstalk — who, after an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the war, was now determined to bring it to a successful issue, and who, see ing his foes divided, .had determined to strike first the division that would least expect the blow — ferried across the Ohio on improvised rafts a few miles above Lewis' camp his 1000 braves, picked warriors from between the Ohio and the Great Lakes. Before daylight the. alarm was given in the camp and the drums beat to arms. General Lewis, thinking he had only a scouting party to meet, ordered out Colonel Charles Lewis and Colonel Fleming each with 150 men. Later, when the ringing sound of the rifles announced that the attack was serious, Colonel Field was at once dispatched to the front with 200 men just in time to sustain the line which, with the wounding of Lewis and Fleming, had given way except in a few places. He renewed the at tack, which after his death was continued by Captain Evan Shelby. The fight was a succession of single combats. The hostile lines al though over a mile in length were never more than twenty yards apart. EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 29 Throughout the action the whites opposite Cornstalk could hear him cheering his braves to be strong. Shortly after noon the Indians be gan to fall back and by one o'clock the action had ceased except the skir mishing which continued until sunset. Although the Indians had reached a position rendered strong by underbrush, many fallen logs and steep banks, under cover of the darkness they slipped away and made a skillful retreat. The whites, though the victors, had suffered' more than their foes and had won the battle only because it was against the entire policy of Indian warfare to suffer a severe loss, even if a victory could be saved thereby. Lewis, leaving his sick and wounded in the camp at the Point, and reinforced by the arrival of the Fincastle men under Colonel Christian who reached the ground at midnight after the battle, crossed the Ohio with a thousand men and pushed on to the Pickaway plains. When but a few miles from Lord Dunmore's encampment he heard that ne gotiations for a treaty of peace with the Indians were in progress. His backwoodsmen, however, flushed with their success and eager for more bloodshed were with difficulty restrained; but although grumbling against the earl for sending them back they were finally induced to march homeward after the treaty at Camp Charlotte. Lord Dunmore's war, was a focal point in western history. In it fought the daring frontiersmen who had carried American institutions across the Appalachian barrier. The battle of Point Pleasant was distinctly an American victory, fought solely by the backwoodsmen, and as purely a soldiers' battle in which there was no display of generalship except on Cornstalk's part. It was the most closely contested of any battle fought with the north western Indians and the only victory gained over a large body of them with a force but slightly superior in numbers. Although to call it "the first battle of the American Bevolution" would be inaccurate, it was of the greatest advantage to the American cause in the struggle for inde pendence : for it kept the northwestern Indians quiet for the first two years of the Bevolutionary struggle. It was almost equivalent to the winning of the Northwest : for if it had not been possible to occupy that region during the early years of the Revolution, it is not improbable that the treaty of 1783 might have fixed the western boundary of the United States at the Alleghenies. It opened an ever-lengthening pathway to western settlement. "Thenceforward new vigor was infused into the two chief forces of the country — American expansion and American nationalism. 30 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 3. THE REAR GUARD OF THE REVOLUTION. During the Revolution settlements and population continued to mul tiply west of Harpers Ferry along the Potomac and up the South 'Branch. Shepherdstown was a busy industrial town through which there was much travel and traffic, and for many years thereafter it con tinued to maintain its position as a center of trade. The new county of . Berkeley, including all the territory now embraced in Berkeley, Jeffer son and Morgan, was formed from Frederick county in 1772. The town of Bath was incorporated in 1776 and laid off into lots a year later. Martinsburg (named in honor of Colonel T. B. Martin) was estab lished in 1777 by act of the Assembly which also appointed seven trust ees in whom the titles to lots were vested. Middletown was established in 1787 and Drakesville in 1791. The increase of settlement in Hamp shire county is indicated by the establishment of new towns : Watson- town in 1787 and Springfield (at Cross Roads) in 1790. In 1786 the new county of Hardy was formed with the county seat at Moorefield which had been established on the land of Conrad Moore in 1777. In the Middle New river region settlement continued to expand dur ing the revolution. The first important settlement on the Bluestone tributary of the New river was made by Mitchell Clay in 1775 at Clover Bottom (five miles north of Princeton) . A settlement on the site of Alderson was made 1775-77 by Bev. John Alderson, a Baptist minister from Bockingham county. Here he organized a Baptist church in 1781. In 1778 Thomas Ingles and family located in Wright's valley near the site of Bluefield; but, finding himself too dangerously near the Indian trail from the head of Tug of Sandy southward across East river mountain to Wolf's creek and Walker's creek settlements, he soon removed to Burke's Garden. In 1780 the Davidson and Bailey families located at Beaver Pond Spring, a branch of the Bluestone — where they built a fort, battled with the Indians and maintained their position on the border until the close of the Indian wars in 1795. In the same year John Toney settled at the mouth of East river at Montreal (now Glenlyn) . John and Christian Peters settled on the site of Peterstown in 1783 — a year later than the settlement of Captain George Pearis at Pearisburg on land entered in 1780 by William Ingles. The influx of population was increased during the revolution by the arrival of em igrant tories from North Carolina (including David Hughes who set tled on Sugar run in 1780) and at the close of the revolution by Amer- • ican and Hessian soldiers seeking new homes. By the construction of Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant the New river and Greenbrier settlements were protected from larger bands of EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 31 Ohio Indians although they still suffered from smaller bands who evad ed the frontier defences. The murder of Cornstalk at Point Pleasant in 1777 incited new Indian hostilities' which lasted long after the Rev olution bringing upon the pioneer settlers the horrors of savage ven geance and retarding the advance of the frontier lines of settlement. In 1778 Fort Bandolph was attacked by a large force of Indians who, be ing compelled to withdraw, started toward the New river settlements which were saved only by timely warning. In 1783 Indians destroyed the settlement of Mitchell Clay, but they were pursued along the old trail from the Bluestone across Flat Top mountain and over the divide between the Guyandotte and Coal river along the top of Cherry Pond mountain and were overtaken near the mouth of Pond fork (in Boone county). In the fight that followed many fell before the fire of the pursuers and their backs furnished strips of skin used as souvenir ra zor-straps for years later. The problems which tested the spirit and endurance of the frontiers men of this period is illustrated by the story of Mrs. Margaret Hanley Paulee who, starting with her husband and son and others in Septem- bed 1779 from Monroe county to go to Kentucky,* was captured by a party of Shawnee Indians about five miles from the mouth of East river and taken to their town at ChiUicothe and finally, after her ran som in 1782, returned home through the wilderness via Pittsburg with eight other ransomed captives.** •In September 1779 John Pauley and family and others set out from the Green brier section to go to Kentucky via the hunters' trail. They crossed New river at Horse Ford near the mouth of Rich creek, then passed down New and up East river, which was the shortest route to Cumberland Gap. (There were no settle ments then on East river. 1 This route via Bluefleld, the Bluestone-Clinch divide to the Clinch, down Clinch and via Powell's river, was the route usually followed bv people of the Greenbrier-New section to Kentucky. "••Other illustrations may be found in the period following the Revolution. Start ing on the fall hunt with his sons on November 12, 1788, Captain Henry Harman, who, after a stay near Salem, North Carolina, had settled in New river valley in 1758 3nd later on Kimberling creek, met a party of Indians who fired on him on the right bank of Tug Fork of Sandy in the present McDowell county and after a bloody fight was compelled to return. In 1789 other raiding parties came up Dry Fork of Big Sandy and attacked the settlers. In the fall of that year a body of them came into the Bluestone and Clinch settlements, crossed East river mountain to the waters of Clear Fork of Wolf creek and after depredations re turned via Flat Top mountain and North B'ork of Tug Fork, carrying a Mrs. Wiley to the Indian town of ChiUicothe where she remained until September 1782 when she escaped up Kanawha and New rivers. In 1790 another marauding party ¦ entered Bluestone and upper Clinch settlements and stole many horses. In the spring of 1791, while Andrew Davidson had left his settlement at the head of East river (nearly one-half mile from the east limits of Bluefleld to visit at Smithfleld (Drapers Meadows) from whence his father had moved about ten vears earlier, Indians captured his wife and children and took (hem to their town in Ohio where the children were shot. On the route (near Logan court house) Mrs. Davidson gave birth to a child which the Indians drowned the follow ing day. She remained in captivity till after Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers. 'In 1792 while with a party of militia in pursuit of a band of Indians who had stolen horses in Bluestone and upper Clinch settlements, Samuel Lusk was captured in an attack on a creek flowing into the Guyandotte and taken to the Ohio town (ChiUicothe.) While the Indians were on their fall hunt in the region of the lakes in September he escaped with Mrs. Wiley in a light canoe down the Scioto and up the southern bank of the Ohio to a point opposite Gallipolis where they found a few French settlers with whom they took refuge. They feared to follow up Big Sandy or the Guyandotte. Lusk decided to take no risks by attempt to 32 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Awaiting the cessation of dangers from Indians the beginning of development along the Big Sandy was delayed for two decades after the surveys made by George Washington along the Tug. In February 1789 however the advance guard began to arrive from the East and attempted the first settlement at the junction of the Tug and the Sandy on the Vancouver tract forty miles from any other settlement. Here on an original survey made by Washington for John Fry about 1770 ten men under Charles Vancouver built a fort, raised some vegetables and dead ened about eighteen acres, but the appropriation of their horses by the Indians prevented the completion of their plans to raise a crop. Soon thereafter a second settlement was attempted near the mouth of Pigeon creek. One of the earliest settlements in Mingo was made at the mouth of Gilbert on the Guyandotte after 1795 by French peasants under a man named Swann whose purpose was to start a vineyard there. This was followed by another on the Tug (at the mouth of Pond creek) by the Leslies. All the settlers of both these places were driven away by Indians. Provision for protection of later settlers along the waters of Big Sandy was made by the construction of blockhouses in 1790 — after which the Indians ceased to give trouble in that region although they stole horses in the Scioto valley as late as 1802. The Leslies who re turned in 1791 and located at John creek were the earliest permanent settlers in the Sandy valley. They were soon followed by many others including the Marcums on Mill creek (near Cassville) . In Greenbrier county which was created in 1777 new settlers arrived in 1778 and 1780 and continued to arrive thereafter. In 1793 the alarm created by prowling bands along the upper Kanawha and lower New was quieted by the organization of a company of men under Cap tain Hugh Caperton of the Greenbrier section to proceed to the Elk and to scout the country to the Ohio. After 1795 settlers from Greenbrier and the Kanawha began to occupy new lands in the region wh'ich in 1818 was formed into the new county of Nicholas (formed from Ka nawha, Greenbrier and Bandolph) . In Fayette near Montgomery a large tract of land was secured by return through Virginia mountains. He secured passage on a passing push-boat bound for Pittsburg. Thence he went to Philadelphia where he found Major Joseph Cloyd of Back creek with whom he returned home — about one month after his escape from ChiUicothe. Mrs. Wiley declined to go via Philadelphia ; and, a few days after his departure, started on her tiresome trip up the Kanawha and New to the home of her husband's people at Wiley's Falls in territory now included in Giles county. Richard Bailey a revolutionary soldier who had moved from (now) Franklin county (then Bedford county) and settled in 1780 at Beaver Pond Spring, a branch of Bluestone, now in Mercer county, and built "Davidson-Bailey Fort," discovered In March that Indians had stolen his boy's calf (March, 1793.) Major Robert Crockett military commander of Wythe county then at the head of Clinch, gathered a party (including Lusk) and followed the Indians and overtook them at their camp on the island at the mouth of Island creek (opposite Logan) attacked the camp which rapidly dispersed (March 15) leaving their stolen horses behind them. EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 33 Henry Montgomery after his service in the Point Pleasant campaign and was used by him as a stock farm. In the vicinity of Ansted the ear liest settlers were Baptist squatters who arrived about 1790. At Sew- ell, Peter Bowyer settled in 1798 and established a ferry. The Bullett lands including the site of Charleston were purchased in 1788 by George Clendenin of Greenbrier who brought with him several daring pioneers. Fort Clendenin was built in 1788. Attack upon it by Indians in 1791 was the occasion of the famous historic ride of "Mad Anne Bailey" up New river to Fort Union to secure needed supplies. At Clendenin in 1789 the first court of the newly formed county was held. By act of 1794 Charleston became a town. 'Below Charleston on the Kanawha settlements were retarded. On December 12, 1791, Daniel Boone (then a resident of the Kanawha) writing briefly con cerning conditions in the Valley said : "From the Pint (Point Pleas ant) to Alke (Elk) 60 miles; No Inhabitence: from Alke to the Bote Yards (Mouth of Kelly's Creek), 20 Miles; all inhabited." In 1788 at the mouth of Coal river Lewis Taekett who came with the Clendenins erected a fort — the only one between Fort Donnally and Point Pleas ant. In the same year his fort was destroyed by a band of Shawnees from the Scioto. Not until twelve years later did Stephen Teays come from Virginia and establish below Coalsmouth a ferry and an inn for travellers between the East and the Ohio valley. After 1794 settlements along the Kanawha above Coalsmouth de veloped rapidly. From the region at the mouth, Mason county 'was formed in 1804. The new county was long retarded in development. Point Pleasant which was first settled in 1774 on lands surveyed by Washington four years earlier, did not grow for many years. Residents had a superstition that the cruel murder of Cornstalk in 1777 had caus ed a curse to rest upon the place. Into the old District of West Augusta settlers came in large numbers- after the Recolution. Both in the Monongahela country and along the upper Ohio stockade forts and block houses were built for protection, and roads which began to emerge frequently followed the tops of ridges- in order to avoid Indian ambushes in the hollows. In October 1776, from the District of West Augusta was formed the counties of Yough iogheny, Monongalia and Ohio. Monongalia included all the terri tory drained by the Monongahela in Virginia and considerable territo ry in the southwest part of Pennsylvania. Its first county seat was on the plantation af Theophilus Phillips (two miles from the site of Geneva, Pennsylvania) which was located in the most thickly popu lated part of the county. During the Bevolution the settlers manned 34 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA feeble stockade forts against Indian attacks at the same time their ranks furnished men to participate in the campaign and battles of the East. At the close of the Revolution, the settlement of the boundary dis pute with Pennsylvania reduced the bounds of Monongalia and neces sitated the removal of the county seat. From 1774 to 1780 Virginia courts continued to sit on territory claimed by Virginia in western Pennsylvania. An agreement on the boundary was finally reached by negotiations of 1779 which were ratified by Virginia in June 1780. The temporary survey of the Mason and Dixon line was completed in 1781, and the permanent survey in 1784 (soon followed by the completion of the survey of the western boundary of Pennsylvania northward to Lake Erie in 1785-86). In April 1782, before the Pennsylvania- Vir ginia boundary line was run through Monongalia, and therefore prior to the regular administration of civil government in the disputed ter ritory, confusion was threatened; and between the Youhiogheny and the Monongahela, and in the larger part of Washington county, there was (among the settlers opposed to the transfer to Pennsylvania) a strong sentiment expressed in convention favorable to a proposed new state including the territory west of the Alleghenies from the Kanawha to Lake Erie — a resurrection of the old Walpole grant of 1772 (the abortive Vandalia). It was counteracted by an act of Pennsylvania passed December 1782, but was revived in 1794 by some of the leaders of the Whiskey Insurrection. In 1782, the county seat of Monongalia was located at Morgantown by an act of the legislature which made Zackwell Morgan's house the place of holding court and designated Morgan's and Bush's Fort (now Buck- hannon) as voting places. At Morgantown was built a frame court house which by 1802 was replaced by a brick structure. "Morgantown" was established as a town by the legislature in 1785. To stimulate the growth of the town the act of incorporation required every purchaser of a lot to erect upon it in four years a house at least eighteen feet square with a chimney of stone or brick. In 1788 an extension of three years was allowed on account of Indian hostilities, and in 1792 a further ex tension was granted because of difficulty of procuring building mate rials. The final Indian attack in this vicinity occurred on the site of Blacksville in 1791. Along the eastern border in spite of the Indian attacks on the settlement at Dunkard Bottom in 1778 and 1788 new clearings prepared the way for the later county of Preston. Near the Maryland boundary in 1784 Francis and William Deakins selected nu merous choice tracts of land. By 1786 new pioneers located at Bran- District of and oriental counties ¦form ed tA eeeff»y, H76. EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 35 donville and in the vicinity of Aurora. In 1787 at Salem a German settlement was made. Settlements were increased in 1789 by arrivals from the South Branch and later, by immigrants from Ireland and Pennsylvania. From 1785 the pioneer clearings slowly widened into farms. In 1784 Monongalia was divided by the legislature, and Har rison county was erected from that part south of a line drawn from Ford Fork on the Maryland boundary to the headwaters of Big Sandy, thence down the Big Sandy and Tygarf s to the West Fork, thence up West Fork to Bingamon creek and up Bingamon to the Ohio county boundary. To the new county was refunded her proportion of the cost of erecting the public buildings in Monongalia. The county seat was located at Clarksburg which although a mere group of log cabins in 1781 was becoming a settled community and in 1785 it had several stores and was incorporated as a town. In 1788 it was visited by Bish op Francis Asbury who in his official capacity had journeyed horse back from North Carolina via Greenbrier county and Tygarf s valley. In 1790 it had primitive roads connecting it with both East and West. Midway between Morgantown and Clarksburg the basis for the later county of Marion was laid by the arrival of many families who settled in the vicinity of the site of Fairmont and at other points. At the head of West Fork the first settlement on the site of Weston was made by Henry Flesher who in 1784 after an attack by a party of Indians, discreetly took refuge for a time at the settlement made by Thomas Hughes and others on Hacker's creek. The earlier settlement on the Buckhannon was broken up in 1782 by Indians who also destroyed the fort. The first settlement in the present limits of Barbour was prob ably made in 1780 two miles northwest of Philippi — soon followed by other scattered settlements, for which there were many grants of land especially in 1786-88 and thereafter. As early as 1787 when the Ban- dolph county court ordered the survey of a road from Beverly to San dy creek, Daniel Booth probably lived near the site of Philippi, but the original owner of the land on which the town stands was William An- glin who probably settled there as early as 1783. The place was called Anglin's Ford in 1789 when the Randolph court ordered the survey of the road to connect it with Jonas Friend's (the site of Elkins) . It was later called Booth's Ferry, named for Mr. Booth who about 1800 established or owned the old ferry which was not abandoned until after the completion of the wooden bridge at Philippi in 1852. The region stretching along the head streams of Cheat and Tygart, forming the southwestern part of the Monongahela drainage system, re ceived some of the earlest settlers who passed over the divide from the older-settled bordering region of Pocahontas. The scattered settle- 36 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA ments along Tygarf s valley in which three new forts were built in 1777, were attacked by Indians late in 1777 and again in 1779, 1780, 1781 and 1782 — after which this valley remained free from. Indian invasions, with one exception in May 1791. The most disastrous invasion of 1781 began by an attack on a party of men who were returning from a visit to Clarksburg to obtain deeds from the land commissioners, and closed by an attack which almost broke up the settlement on Leading creek. Randolph county was formed from Harrison county in 1787 by act of October 1786. At that time it included half of Barbour, half of Up shur, much of Webster and all of Tucker. At its first county court held in .1787 a county seat contest between the people of Leading creek and the people of the vicinity of the later town of Beverly was decided in fa vor of Beverly. In 1788 plans were adopted for a court house which was not completed until ten years later and was not used after 1803. In December 1790 Beverly was established as a town, by the Virginia as sembly, on lands owned by James Westfall. On upper Cheat a new settlement was begun on the site of St. George in 1776 by John Minear who after building a stockade moved his family and led a colony of others from the South Branch. Here he promptly built a saw mill which was probably the first one west of the mountains. Soon thereafter small colonies were established at various points along Cheat. They usually led their cows and brought afew utensils and other "plunder" on packhorses. On the revival of the Indian war in 1777 the Parsons colony built a fort and soon there after a grist mill and a saw mill. In April 1781 Minear and others went to Clarksburg to obtain their land patents from the commission ers of Monongalia. and while returning, just before crossing the Valley river below Philippi, were attacked by Indians who then turned south and murdered the settlers on Leading creek. A year later one of three small forces of militia from Hampshire county sent by the gov ernor of Virginia to protect the border settlements was stationed on Cheat near St. George. In 1787 and 1789 these Cheat settlements were again invaded by the Indians. Among the most prominent men of the county after Captain James Parsons and John Minear was the industrious James Goff who settled on Cheat near the Preston county line by 1786 and at one time owned the greater part of the land from the Minear claim to Bowlesburg. Others prominent were the Dumires who settled in the eastern part of the county above the upper tributaries of Horse Shoe run and the Losh family, one of whom at an early date built a grist mill on Horse Shoe run. After the expedition of Lord Dunmore there was a revival of the EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 37 movement of settlers westward from the Monongahela toward the upper Ohio — a movement which continued at intervals throughout the Revolution. The chief outpost of defense was Fort Henry which was besieged by the Indians in 1777. In 1780, near the site of Triadel- phia the settlers erected Fort Link which was attacked in 1781. Ohio county was formed in 1776. Its first courts were' held at Black's cabin on Short creek near the site of West Liberty. In this region the large advance guard of pioneers of 1785-87 was followed by a cessation of land entries lasting until 1795 when entries were redoubled in nur> ber by a "new irruption." West Liberty was incorporated as a town in 1787. It was the county seat until Brooke county was formed in 1797. Wheeling which was laid out into town lots in 1793 and estab lished at a town by legislative act in 1795, became the county seat in 1797. To the settlements farther up the river came new home seekers in 1774-76, largely from New England. Several patents were located from 1785 to 1787 after which there was a cessation of entries until 1795 after which the advance guard was augmented rapidly. Charles- town (later Wellsburg) which was laid out in 1790 and established by act of legislature in 1791 became the county seat of the new county of Brooke at its formation in 1797. In the region now included in Han cock county the earliest settlement was made about 1776 by Mr. Hol- liday at Holliday's Cove. In 1783 and thereafter other settlements ,were begun by soldiers of the Bevolution. In 1783 George Chapman located 1000 acres including the site of New Cumberland. After 1790 and especially after 1795 arrivals increased. In 1800 Hugh Pugh located 400 acres including the site of Fairview. Below Wheeling creek settlements now included within the limits of Marshall county were made in 1777, 1785, 1790 and thereafter. In 1798 Elizabeth (now Moundsville) was laid out on Tomlinson's land facing the ferry across the Ohio which was established in the same year: In the territory later included in Wetzel county the first clear ing was made by Edward Doolin who about 1780 patented and entered upon lands at the mouth of Fishing creek including the site of New Martinsville. After his death, resulting from an Indian attack upon his home in 1784, part of his land was bought by Presley Martin who was soon followed by Friend Cox. The settlement received few acces sions for the next decade and grew very slowly thereafter. At the site of Sistersville a settlement was made by diaries Wells by 1802, and perhaps much earlier.* *Wells, twice married, was the father of twenty-six children, sixteen of whom were still living — including three sisters for whom: the town was named. After the formation of Tyler county (in 1814) the first county court was held at Wells' house. The place was then called Ziggleton but was rescued from this name soon thereafter. On petition the county seat was removed to McKay's which was called Next Post Office, and soon thereafter it was removed to Middlebourne. 38 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA The region of western Virginia about the mouth of the Little Ka nawha secured few settlers before 1785 but its unbroken solitudes be came more and more tempting in the decade which followed. In 1783 several tomahawk or preemption claims to rich bottom lands on the Virginia side of the Ohio were made by Robert Thornton, Samuel and Joseph Tomlinson (and their sister Rebecca) three Briseo broth ers, and others. The lands on the site of Parkersburg which were claimed by Robert Thompson on the basis of a tomahawk entry made ten years earlier, were confirmed to him by the land commissioner. In the same year they were assigned to Alexander Parker (of Green county, Pennsylvania) who in 1784 received a patent from Governor Beverly Randolph of Virginia. At the death of Parker in 1800 these lands descended to his daughter whose title was disputed by John Stokely and others. One of the first permanent settlers at the mouth of the Little Ka nawha was Captain James Neal of Green county, Pennsylvania, who first arrived in 1783 as deputy surveyor of Samuel Hanway of Monon galia to survey the entry of Mr. Parkers on the site of Parkersburg. He brought others with him by flatboat in 1785 and on the south side of the river erected Neal's station, the first block house in the vicinity which served as a place of protection for both settlers and travelers. Two years later he brought his family. Later he became a justice of the peace with authority to perform the rites of marriage. Although security was increased by the erection of Fort Harman on the site of Marietta in 1786 and Farmer's Castle at Belpre in 1789 the Station was threatened in 1790 by Indian bands who continued to invade the Little Kanawha region. At the site of Williamstown on which the Tomlinson brothers (Sam uel and Joseph) made a tomahawk entry in 1770, the first permanent settlement was made by Isaac Williams* in March 1787, following the establishment of Fort Harman in 1786 directly across the Ohio at the mouth of the Muskingum. It was made on a wilderness- farm of 400 acres of land, preempted and partially improved in 1783 by the Tomlinson brothers for their sister Mrs. Bebecca Martin whom Wil liams married in 1775 at Grave creek (where she had been housekeep er for her brothers since the death of her first husband in 1771.) The new settlement soon became a noted and interesting place and here •Isaac Williams was born at Chester, Pennsylvania in 1737. At the age of 18 he served in the Braddoek campaign as a ranger and spy under the employ of Virginia. In 1758-67 he hunted on the Missouri river. In 1768 he conducted his parents from Winchester and settled them on Buffalo creek (now in Brooke county) near West Liberty. In 1789 he accompanied the Zanes in explorations around Wheeling, Zanesville and elsewhere. In 1774 he accompanied Governor Dunmore in the expedition against the Shawnees and was present at the treaty negotiations near ChiUicothe. He died September 25, 1820. EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 39 Williams remained until his death thirty years later. By 1789 it was connected with Clarksburg and the East by a trail cleared by Cap tain Nicholas Carpenter and sons who drove cattle over it to Marietta and were killed on it by the Indians in 1791. The interior regions now included in Ritchie county (formed from Harrison, Lewis and Wood in 1843) were first opened to the notice of settlers in 1789 by the construction of a state road from Clarksburg to Marietta which for nearly forty years was an important thoroughfare to the Ohio. It was still an almost unbroken wilderness for another decade. The first cabin home in its limits was built as early as 1800 by John Bunnell on the site of Pennsboro. In 1795, Mrs. Maley of Phil adelphia exchanged her dowry for 1000 acres near the site of Harris- ville; but, although she promptly started with her husband on the long journey, she turned aside to the upper Shenandoah from which she moved to Ritchie in 1803. In 1782 part of the bottom lands below the mouth of the Little Ka nawha, first located in 1771 by George Washington, were included in the survey of a tract located by William Tilton and Company, a mer cantile firm of Philadelphia which in 1785 employed Joseph Wood of Pittsburg to act as agent for the colonization and sale of the lands. A large tract at the site of Belleville was selected as a place to begin set tlement. In the fall of 1785 Wood freighted a boat with cattle and utensils to begin the new settlement and left Pittsburg November 28 with Tilton and four Scotch families — landing at the site of Belleville on December 16, 1785. Here they completed the erection of a block house early in January 1786. Mr. Wood then laid out the new town of Belleville, donating a lot to each actual settler. One hundred acres were cleared the first year. When Tilton returned to Philadelphia in the spring of 1786, Wood was left in charge as sole agent of the com pany and manager of the settlement. He continued to make im provements and provide good defenses. New families arrived in 1787, and a company of hunters came from Lee creek where they had erected "Flinn's Station." In 1790 Wood married one of the earlier emigrants, the marriage being performed at Belpre because no one in Belleville had authority to officiate at the wedding. A year later he moved to Marietta where he later filled many important offices. In 1796' Belleville received a new stimulus by the addition of Connecticut emigrants led by George D. Avery who for several years thereafter conducted a merchandise business there in connection with the ship building. 40 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 4. EXPANSION OF SETTLEMENT AFTER WAYNE'S VICTORY. A glimpse of the rush of pioneer immigrants to the Ohio following the treaty of Greenville after Wayne's victory of 1795, the experiences incident thereto and the conditions along the route between Maryland and Wheeling and southward along the Ohio, is obtained from a letter written at Belleville (near the earlier Flinn's Station) in November 1796 by Samuel Allen. Mr. Allen describes a journey from Alexan dria via Cumberland to the Ohio via "broadaggs (Braddocks) old' road" undertaken by himself and several other New Englanders under the management of Mr. Avery who had lots to sell at Belleville. He states that the fare from New London to Alexandria was $6.00 for each pas senger and that freight for goods was 60 cents per hundred pounds. At Alexandria, wagoners were hired to carry the goods across the mountains to Morgantown on the Monongahela at a cost of "thirty- two shillings and six pence for each hundred weight of women and goods." On June 30 the company left Alexandria. The men walked the en tire 300 miles and for three days Mr. Allen carried a very sick child which without proper medical assistance died (July 14) on the moun tain in Allegheny county, Maryland, and was tenderly laid to rest in a grave beside those of several strangers who had died crossing the mountain. Leaving Braddock's road near the Pennsylvania line, the company reached Morgantown on July 18. They found the river too low for boats; but, four days later, favored by rains which rapidly raised the river, part of the company embarked before the arrival of all their wagons — leaving orders with a local merchant to send their goods. As soon as the rise in the river would permit, on July 23 Mr. Allen and two others started by land with the cattle and horses via Wheeling creek and on August 9 arrived at Belleville. Along the entire route from Morgantown to Wheeling they found the country settled, and a pleasant road, and saw "beautiful plantations," and •"large fields of corn and grane;" but over the large part of the route from Wheeling to Belleville, except along the banks of the river, they passsed through a wilderness whi'ch was broken only by a blind foot path and in which they found it "very difficult to get victules to eat." Along the river they found some inhabitants who had arrived in the spring and had no provisions except what they had brought with them. At Belleville, the new settlers found the "country as good as repre sented and settling very fast." They found life on the Ohio interest ing and were not tempted to return to New England. They had caught the spirit of the West, and had faith in the future of their own EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 41 village from which they could see many boats which passed on the river laden with families hunting new homes. The following extracts from Mr. Allen's letter to his father furnish a live picture of local conditions : "There is now at this place a numberi of familys that came since we did from Sesquelianah. There is now at this place eighty inhabitance. Corn is going at 2s per bushel by the quantity 2s 6d by the single bushel. There has been between two and three thousand bushels raised at Bellville this season & all the settlements along the river has raised corn in proportion but the vast number of people that are maving into this country & de pending upon bying makes it scare & much higher than it would be. "There is three double the people that 'passes by here then there is by your house there is packets that passes from Pittsburg to Kentucky one from Pittsburg to Wheeling one from that to Muskingdom 90 miles one from that to Gallipolees 90 miles the french settlement opisite the big Canawa & from that there is another to Kentucky — of which goes & re turns every week & — loaded with passengers & they carry the male Mammy offered me some eloatb, for a Jacket & if you would send it by Mr. Wood ward it would be very exceptible for cloths is very high here Common flanel is 6s per yard & tow cloth is 3s 9d the woolves are so thick that sheep cannot be kept without a shephard they often catch our calves. I have often be awoak out of my sleep by the howling of the wolves. * * ************ Horses are very high in this country & if you have not sold mine I' shall be (glad) if you would try to send him on by Mr. Woodward. ************ ********* Land is rising very fast. Mr. Avory is selling his lots at 3G dollars apeace he has sole three since we came here at that price we were so long a comeing & provisions so very high that I haid not any money left when I got here except what I paid for the cattle I bought I have worked for Mr. Avory since I came here to the amount of sixteen dollars I paid him 80 dollars before we left London. I am not in debt to him at present or to any one else I have isot me up a small house and have lived in it upwards of a fortnight we can sell all our milk at 2d per quart Mr. Avory will give me three shillings per day for work all winter and find (furnish) me with victules or 4s and. find miself 1 need not want for business I think I am worth more than T was when 1 came." In 1796 Eric Bollman, who journeyed from Cumberland west over the Alleghenies, spent the first night at West Port (Maryland) and on the afternoon of the second day passed through the Glades to which many hundred head of cattle were driven yearly from South Branch for pasturage, and after the second night "breakfasted with the large and attractive family of Tim Friend the noble hunter and dined at Dunkards Bottom on Cheat, spent the third night, with Mr. -Zinn and arrived at Morgantown on the following day."He regarded this as the nearest point at which to reach the western waters. From the latter point he travelled via the mouth of George's creek (near Geneva), through Uniontown, Brownsville and Washington to Pittsburg. In October 1798 Felix Renick with others, starting from the South Branch of the Potomac to visit Marietta, on the third night reached ¦Clarksburg" which was then near the verge of the western settlements 42 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA except along the Ohio. West of Clarksburg he spent the night in the woods but early next morning unexpectedly found a "new improve ment" established by a lone man who had settled in the wilderness to accommodate travelers at high prices. After two more nights in the woods he reached his destination. Settlements along the Little Kanawha were greatly increased by the tide of new immigration following the treaty of Greenville of 1795. As danger decreased many new families arrived ; the Cooks and Spen cers from Connecticut, and the Beesons from Pennsylvania who set tled on the river near the. site of Parkersburg; the Hannamans, Creels, Pribbles and Kicheloes on the Kanawha ; the Beauehamps on the site of Elizabeth and the Hendersons farther above ; the Neals, Phelpses, Fo- leys, Wolfes and others (including Blannerhassett) below the Kana wha. In 1797, Harman Blannerhassett came via Pittsburg to Mari etta and in 1798 located on the upper half of the island where he could hold his colored servants as property and at the same time be near in telligent and educated officers of the American army who had settled at Belpre. The island, first entered by Washington in 1770, and later surveyed in 1784 under a patent issued by Governor Patrick Henry, had been owned since 1792 by one Backus. Blannerhassett liv ed in the old block house until he completed his mansion in 1800. By 1798 there were enough settlers to justify steps to secure a new county by separation from Harrison, and in the following year Wood was formed with interior boundaries beginning at a point on the Ka nawha thirty miles from the Ohio northeast and extending thence northeast to the Ohio county line at a point twenty-one miles from the Ohio. Much contention arose concerning the location of a coun ty seat which the court was authorized by the Assembly to select "at or near the center of the county as situation or convenience would per mit." The principal claimants or contestants, for the court house were the Spencers at Vienna and Isaac Williams at the Ferry. Jus tices of the county court, who met in 1799 at Hugh Phelps' residence, fixed the location at Neal's Station, Those who met at Isaac Wil liams' in October 1800 ordered the erection of public buildings on lands of Williams, but a month later by a vote of 10 to 6 adjourned to Hugh Phelps' house at which they unanimously agreed to erect the court house and whipping post above the mouth of Little Kanawha at its junction with the Ohio on lands of John Stokely. The village at that time was called "The Point" or Stokelyville, consisting of a half dozen log cabins. Here Stokely (whose patent was dated December 8, 1800) laid out a town which until 1809 was called Newport. On EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 43 an adjoining part of the Parker estate which was saved to the Parker heirs (700 acres) the new town of Parkersburg was laid out. In 1810 an act was passed establishing Parkersburg adjoining and including Newport and allowing the seat of justice to be removed to a proposed brick house. The survey of the town was made by George D. Avery a surveyor and lawyer of Belleville. In 1812 or 1813 a con tract was made for a new two story court house to be built of brick, forty feet square. Trouble resulted at once. Vienna, and Munroe or Neals on the South side, continued to assert their claims. Some ob jected to the extravagance and others to the location. The Vienna people prepared a petition to the legislature which proceeded to ap point commissioners (from Ohio and Mason counties) to decide the contest. The decision was in favor of the public square in Parkers burg, and there the court house and also the old whipping post were erected in 1815. Above Wood county in the present territory of Pleasants settlements were made by 1797. In the territory now included in Tyler, the ear liest centers of settlement were at Sistersville, which was laid out in 1814 as the county seat, and at Middlebourne which was established as a town in 1813 and has been the county seat since 1816. Sistersville at which a ferry was established in 1818 was later known as a good boat landing. Farther up the Little Kanawha in the region of Wirt county the first settlement was made in 1796 on the site of Elizabeth by William Beauchamp who was soon followed by others and in 1803 built a grist mill. The earlier name of Beauchamp's Mills was changed to Eliza beth in 1817 in honor of David Beauchamp's wife whose maiden name was Elizabeth Woodyard. Eastward and southward in Calhoun (formed from Gilmer in 1856) in Gilmer (formed from parts of Lewis and Kanawha in 1845) in Braxton (formed from Lewis, Kanawha and Nicholas in 1836) in Clay (formed from Braxton and Nicholas in 1858) and in Webster (formed from Nicholas, Braxton, and Bandolph in 1860) development of settlements was delayed and retarded by location. On a Virginia map of 1807 no towns are shown between upper Tygart and the mouth of Elk. In the territory of Roane (formed from parts of Kanawha, Jackson and Gilmer in 1856) the first settlers, Samuel Tanner and family, reached Spring Creek valley and located in 1812 at the site of Spencer on lands included in a survey of 6000 acres patented by Al bert Gallatin in 1787 and later owned by J. P. R. Buerau who located at Gallipolis with other French Colonists in 1791. This settlement was called Tanner's Cross Boads from 1816 to 1839 after which it bore 44 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the name of New California until 1858 when it was incorporated under the name of Spencer. Along the Ohio below Wood county, in the territory now included in Jackson county (formed from Mason, Kanawha and Wood in 1831), the first actual settlers were William and Benjamin Hannaman who arrived in 1796. With them came James McDade, who became an Indian scout along the Ohio between the two Kanawhas. Others set tled in 1800. In 1808 John Nesselroad settled at the mouth of Sand creek. Among those who came with him was Lawrence Lane who reared his cabin on the site of Ravenswood — on lands which William Crawford surveyed for George Washington in 1770 and which were settled by squatters who were later ejected by the agents of Washing ton's heirs. Ravensworth (accidentally changed to Ravenswood by the map engraver) was laid out in 1836 three years after Bipley be came the county seat. About 16 miles above Point Pleasant on 6000 acres of the Washing ton lands a settlement designed as a Presbyterian colony was begun in 1798 by Reverend William Graham who for twenty-one years had been president of the first academy west of the Blue Bidge. The at tempt failed at the death of its leading spirit who died at Bichmond a year later, resulting in the withdrawal of the discouraged colonists. The place is still known as Graham's Station. Along the lower Kanawha, in the territory which later (1848) form ed Putnam county, settlement was delayed until after 1799 — although sites for homes had been selected over 20 years before and George Washington and his surveyors had visited it in 1770. A settlement at Bed House was made in 1806 but none was made at Winfield until about 1815. South of the Great Kanawha, "the whole country swarmed with surveyors and speculators" after the news of Wayne's victory and the treaty of 1795. Even before the certainty of safety from Indians along the old war paths, the wide wilderness domain between the few scattered settlements invited the enterprise of land speculators of the East who procured from the Virginia land office at a nominal price land warrants for large entries and tracts of lands which were latei located in the unbroken forest under a policy whose methods, resulting In uncertainty of land titles, long continued to hinder and retard set tlements. Nearly all the territory south of the Kanawha and the Ohio to the headwaters of Holston, were entered, surveyed and car ried into grant. Bobert Morris surveyed grants for about 8,000,000 acres of land, much of which was patented to him as assignee of Wil son Carey Nicholas in 1795. The territory comprised within the pres- EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 45 ent counties of Mercer, Raleigh, Fayette, McDowell, Wyoming, Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wayne Cabell, Lincoln, Kanawha and Putnam was al most completely "shingled over" with these large grants by the Vir ginia land office and frequently they over-lapped. Commencing on the East Biver mountain on the south side, and then again on the north side, were grants to Eobert Pollard, one for 50,000 and the other for 75,000 acres; then came the grant of 80,000 acres to Samuel M. Hopkins, a grant of 50,000 acres to Eobert Young, 40,000 acres to McLaughlin, 170,000 acres to Moore and Beckley, 35,000 acres to Eob ert McCullock, 108,000 acres to Rutter and Etting, 90,000 acres to Welch, 150,000 acres to DeWitt Clinton, 50,000 acres to Dr. John Dillon, 480,000 to Robert Morris, '500,000 acres to the same, 150,000 acres to Robert Pollard, 500,000 acres to Wilson Carey Nicholas, 300,- 000 acres to the same, 320,000 acres to Robert Morris, 57,000 acres to Thomas Wilson, 40, 000 acres to George Pickett, and farther down Sandy, Guyandotte and Coal rivers were large grants to Elijah Wood, Smith and others. Peace having been restored along the frontier settlements, and no further danger being apprehended . from the Indians, there was also a great rush to the most desirable parts of the New river valley and westward by people from eastern Virginia and western North Carolina. The region along Middle New river settled rapidly; and civilization advanced by the construction of houses, the opening of roads, and the election of civil officers. The people, complaining of the inconveni ence of travel to the county seat at Lewisburg, in 1799 secured from the Assembly an act creating Monroe county. The first county court selected the site of Union for the county seat. The' county belonged to a judicial district which also included Greenbrier, Botetourt, Mont gomery, and Kanawha. Part of Monroe was combined with parts of Montgomery and Tazewell in 1806. Coincident with the increase of immigration, a "vast throng of peo ple from the New river valley quickly penetrated the country between the New river settlements and the Ohio and settled on the Sandy, Guy andotte and Coal waters, even reaching to the Ohio." Among them were the McComases, Chapmans, Lucases, Smiths, Coopers, Napiers, Hunters, Adkinses, Accords, Aliens, Fryes, Dingesses, Lusks, Shan nons, Baileys, Jarrells, Egglestons, Fergusons, Marcums. Hatfields, Bromfields, Haldeons, Lamberts, Pauleys, Lawsons, Workmans, Prices, Cookes, Clays, Godbeys, Huffs, McDonalds, Whites, Farleys, Keezees, Perdues, Ballards, Barretts, Toneys, Conleys, Stollings, Stratons, Buchanans, Deskins, and many others who largely people the section and left honored descendants throughout it. 46 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA \ On the territory later (1847) included in Boone, the first settlement was made in 1798 on Big Coal river near the mouth of White Oak creek, by Isaac Barker. At that time the nearest neighboring settle ment was that of Leonard Morris at Marmet, and the nearest grist mill was at the mouth of Gauley. In the decade which followed clear ings were made and homes built in the Coal river valley by many hardy pioneers from Monroe, Greenbrier, Cabell and Kanawha counties and from Virginia and Pennsylvania. One of the earliest pioneers of the interior region south of the Kana wha was Edward, McDonald (great grandfather of Judge Joseph M. Sanders), who entered and surveyed the valuable land on Clear Fork of .Guyandotte (in Wyoming county) which David Hughes, the tory, had pointed out to him for a "blanket and a rifle. In 1802, in com pany with his son-in-law Captain James Shannon, he removed to Guy andotte and took possession of the land. Captain Shannon who set tled a few miles above the Big Fork of the Guyandotte found Indian wigwams still standing in the bottoms. In 1812 James Ellison (born at Warford 1778), a distinguished frontier Baptist preacher, planted the Guyandotte Baptist Church on the site of Oceana. In Lincoln the first settlers were four men named McComas, who arrived from beyond the mountains in 1799 and after raising a crop of corn in the fall returned for their families. Near them other cabins soon appeared. Farther away on Ranger's branch (a tributary of Ten Mile creek) Isaac Hatfield settled in 1800 and was soon followed by others. Among the early settlers along Trace fork was John Tackett who arrived with his family in 1801. On the site of the county seat, David Stephenson erected a cabin in 1802. Near the mouth of Slash creek on Mud river (12 miles southeast of Hamlin) Luke Adkins set tled in 1807 and near him several others reared their cabins. In 1811 Bichard Parsons led the way through the wilderness to the mouth of Cobb's run upon which others soon built neighboring cabins. On the upper streams and tributaries of the Big Sandy valley a con- ' siderable population from North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland set tled before the settlements were made near the mouth. Near the forks of Big Sandy, Samuel Short reared his cabin (near Cassville) about 1796, followed by others in 1798 and subsequent years. Near the mouth, Stephen Kelley settled in 1789 followed by a neighbor in 1799, and others in 1800. On the upper waters of Twelve Pole the first settler arrived in 1799. On the same stream at the mouth of Lick creek, James Bias settled in 1802 and was followed by others in 1802 and 1803. Near the site of Trout's Hill, Jesse Spurlock and EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMENTS 47 Samuel Fergerson built cabin homes in 1802 and were followed by others in 1802 and 1806. The present territory of Cabell was settled at a comparatively late date. , The earliest settlements in the territory were located on the Sav age grant, made in 1775 to John Savage and fifty-nine other soldiers of the French and Indian war on lands surveyed by William Crawford about 1771 and extending from above the Guyandotte and up the river for a short distance, down the Ohio to the Big Sandy, and up the Big Sandy on both sides. The earlier grant included 28,- 627 acres. In a later lawsuit it was stated that in 1775 some of the grantees partitioned the lands among themselves and after taking pos session set up a claim of exclusive ownership to the allotments which they held, but according to established tradition there were no settlers on the grant before 1796. Parts of the grant were occupied by squat ters after that date. The first permanent settlement was made in 1796 at Green Bottom by Thomas Hannon of Botetourt county. Guy andotte was settled soon thereafter by Thomas Buffington and others. It became the county seat in 1809 and was made a town by legislative act in 1810 — three years ahead of Barboursville. At Salt Bock on the Guyandotte, Elisha McComas settled about 1800. Between Guy andotte and Barboursville, at the Shelton place, Edmund McGinnis settled with his family in 1802. Midway between Barboursville and Guyandotte a settlement was also made by Jacob Hite (grandson of Joist Hite) who came to the Savage grant in 1808. III. Chief Features of Early Industrial and Social Expansion I. GENERAL SURVEY. The early wooden farm implement, gradually gave way to iron im- turned to the conquest of primeval wilds which the Indians had sought to retain unconquered. With no appreciation of the wealth of the depths of the primeval forests they gradually extended the area of cleared bottom lands by the steady and laborious work accomplished by axe and fire. The finest timber was burned or used for fence rails. Gradually, with the introduction of a few rude saw mills, a small por tion of it found a more appropriate use in the few plank houses which began to replace the more primitive log cabins. The problems of sheltering cabin and rude agricultural clearings were soon followed by larger problems of better communication through the almost fathomless depths of almost trackless regions, and problems of improvements in transportation. The settlers, at first following mere. trails along the streams or across the bends of the streams or the divides, later began to open wider avenues of travel to meet the needs of thickening settlements and multiplying population which dictated the formation of new counties and the incorporation of new towns. In everything they were bound together by a com munity interest — fasting, feasting, fighting, praying and cursing with one common mind. Although always influenced by traditions and customs and laws of Anglo-Saxon civilization, they often became in their isolated communities a law unto themselves.* Banded together by neighborly ties and cooperation, and isolated from the touch of or derly law and the refinements of culture, they forged a set of •customs- which were transmitted like law and formed the basis of an unwritten law. In the earlier periods of settlement it was customary every autumn *A's late as 1822, after the passage of the act of 1819 to regulate marriages nnd to prevent forcible and stolen marriages, there were complaints that the inhabitants in some localities labored under great inconvenience from lack of persons duly authorized to officiate in performing the rites of matrimony. To remedy this condition in Cabell, Kanawha and Monongalia, the Assembly authorized the county courts to appoint persons who could legally officiate after they took the- oath of allegiance. map of — - ^; ^^rlrf ..WestV/rG/'n/'a— ! 111V <,/, -J' , Mother Counties tfJtfgj © e k e/iy m ent of Present CoMtCtiejL, ' T| /goo % ' .EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 49 for each little neighborhood of a few families to send a caravan of pack horses heavily laden with peltries, ginseng and bears' grease, to the older settlements east of the mountains to barter for salt, iron, utensils and implements. The difficult journey by bridle paths required sev eral clays. Two men often managed a caravan of ten to fifteen horses, each carrying about two hundred pounds burden. At night they en camped and sank to sleep on pack-saddle pillows, often amidst the sound of howling wolves and screaming panthers. For many parts of northwestern Virginia the place of exchange, first by pack horse and later by pack horse and wagons, was in succession, Baltimore, Freder ick, Hagerstown, Oldtown and Fort Cumberland. The treaty with Spain in 1795 and the later opening of steam navi gation, however, stimulated the activity of commerce on the Ohio and encouraged many to plant on a larger scale and participate in a larger and more convenient commerce. Small farms on the Monongahela and upper Ohio early became the source of supply to the New Orleans markets for flour, potatoes, apples and pork. Cattle raising also became an important industry along the Ohio from whence the animals were driven to the Glades for a brief period of pasture, and then to the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets. Wool growing also became important and smelting furnaces were erected in the Monongahela valley and the northern panhandle. Later the war of 1812 emphasized the need of internal improvements. The commercial restrictions of the period were a factor in causing trade and immigration across the Alleghenies by an overland route. In 1815 wheat and cotton were carried in wagons from Wheeling to the East, and after the opening of the Cumberland road to Wheeling in 1818 there was a larger traffic across the mountains from the neighbor ing region. Finally, through the fertility of the soil, the industry of the settlers and the eastern demand for their surplus products, the problems of the primitive life of frugal economy and mere subsistence were merged into the new problems of improved industry and better houses and new conditions and standards of life. The surplus product of energy and labor, through the law of supply and demand, found a sale in the older communities of the East — furnishing a money com modity of exchange, the means to increase wants and to improve homes and farms, and the stimulus to facilitate communication between east and west. With these improvements came the accumulation of wealth and the increase of refinement and culture. New influences appeared with the arrival of a new class of settlers, ¦such as those who formed the German settlement in Preston near Mt. Carmel and the New Englanders who made their largest settlement at 50 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA French Creek in Upshur county and in Lewis. Several colonies of Germans also found homes along the Little' Kanawha, in the upper panhandle, and in Doddridge and Bandolph counties. The early wooden farm implement gradually gave way to iron im plements -which were later improved or supplanted. The old hominy block with wooden pestle was succeeded by the handmill of stone, which later gave way to the water-propelled tub-mill which first utilized the water power along the rapid streams around the sources of the South Branch, the Cheat, the Monongahela, the Elk, the Gauley, the New and the Tug. The early sickle and flail gradually gave way to the reaping cradle and thresher, by a natural process of evolution. About 1840 the first rude "chaff-piler" threshing machine made its appear ance. In 1850 the Downs' "Separator" thresher was introduced, fol lowed soon thereafter bv its rival — Balston's "patent threshing and cleaning machine." Delanoe's "patent independent" horse rakes, and Ketcham's mowers, first introduced in the vicinity of Wheeling in 1854 by R. H. Hubbard (the first dealer in agricultural implements in the western part of the state) were not generally used until about 1865. The first county fair in the territory of West Virginia was held at Mecklenburg (now Shepherdstown) by authority granted by the Vir ginia house of burgesses in 1766. The first concentrated action for the encouragement of improvement of agriculture, attempted in 1841 by the creation of a board of agriculture by an act which was repealed the following year, was accomplished through the Marshall county Ag riculture Association which was incorporated in 1850, and, by sim ilar associations organized in Monongalia, Jefferson and Cabell coun ties. The Northwestern Virginia Agriculture Society, 'which pur chased and equipped the Wheeling fairgrounds was incorporated in 1858. Between 1830 and 1850, western Virginia increased rapidly in pop ulation and in wealth. This was due in part to the construction of turnpikes which attracted emigrants and aroused the interest of spec ulators in the cheap lands and the rich natural resources. So intense was the land craze at times that associations were formed to prevent land buyers from overbidding each other and to treat those who offend ed to rail-rides and to tar and feathers. At the same time, many fac tories were established by capitalists from New England and the Mid dle states who brought emigrants with them. The material advance of the settlements before the era of railroads, may be measured by the evolution of mills, by the increase in the num ber and size of stores, and by the evolution and development of roads-. - ¦ ."<''•*"?!"' ¦v -tsSE* ' " *v • - Courtesy of W. Va. Geological S tirveij. Old-fashioned Wateb-poweb Mill (Summers County). EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 51 and ferries and methods of transportation— as well as by the changes in farm implements and machines and the general development of ag riculture. Before 1807 there was a greater demand for the construc tion of mill dams, ferries, and smelting furnaces than for internal com munication with the East. The manufacture of salt especially began to emancipate the West from the East. In 1797 the first salt furnace on the Great Kanawha was set up. In 1807 the method of manufacture, improved by the Ruffner brothers, increased the quantity of the prod uct and soon made the "Kanawha Salines" widely known. The in dustry furnished an occupation for many people, some of whom built keel boats and distributed the manufactured products along the Ohio and its tributaries. In 1814, about 600,000 bushels were produced. The earliest mills, the "tub mills," which were built in the oldest trans-Allegheny settlements about 1779 or 1780, began to be supersed ed between 1795 and 1800 by the better water grist-mill (equipped with country stones) which in time retreated before the steam mills. Before 1807, the construction of dams across the Monongahela was first regulated by the Virginia legislature by an act of December 5, 1793 and later by act of February 3, 1806. Many such dams were found along the streams of the settled regions by 1820. When the first offi cial examination and partial survey of the Monongahela river was made in 1820, under the direction of the Virginia Board of Public Works, beginning a mile below the Lewis county court house and con tinuing to the Pennsylvania line, there were between those points (nearly 107 miles) ten dams — usually mill danis. Stores at first kept only a few goods which had been carried over the mountain on a pack horse. At a later period they were supplied with a larger stock brought by wagon from eastern markets or (first by wagon and later by boat) from Pittsburg. With the stores developed villages and towns, some of which showed considerable economic and social development by 1830 and thereafter. The manufacture of iron became an important industry in the north west (e. g. Jackson's works on Cheat) . Sheep raising became a profit able industry in the counties on the upper Ohio and on the Monon gahela. Wheeling became a city of nails and woolen mills. The im portance of salt and the facilities of the manufacturing towns were increased by the application of steam to water navigation. From 1800 to 1830 the number of counties increased from thirteen to twenty-three. By 1830 there were many little towns in which merchants kept a stock of merchandise. Here were the homes of lawyers, physicians and 52 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA ministers, and in each class were men of brilliant intellects. In the river valleys and on the rich uplands dwelt by far the larger part of the population — farmers who, in addition to producing corn, wheat, buckwheat, potatoes and fruits for their own use, generally had a sur plus to sell to others, and also raised good horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Still another class dwelt in the "hill country" where they built their cabin homes and cleared a few acres of land on which they pro duced grains and vegetables sufficient for their own needs from year to year; they had but few domestic animals, and for other food they depended largely on wild game and fish. Periodically they visited the towns, there to barter venison, skins, furs, maple sugar and ginseng, for clothing, coffee, medicines, ammunition and other necessities, and then returned to their homes to follow the same routine to the end of their lives. The development of transportation, confronted with many obsta cles, was determined largely by the pressing needs of the growing communities. After the Braddock and Forbes roads, the first road affecting the Monongahela region was cleared from the South Branch to Fort Pitt along the general route of the Braddock road by com missioners appointed by the general assembly in 1766. The first road connecting directly with the Monongahela region of Virginia was the "state road" from Winchester via Romney to Morgantown, authorized by the legislature previous to 1786 when a branch wagon road, from a point near Cheat to Clarksburg, was also authorized. Over this route there was probably no wagon traffic for many years. A wagon was driven from Alexandria over the road to Morgantown as early .as 1796. In 1786 the legislature also authorized the opening of roads from Morgantown to the mouth of Fishing creek, and from the state road in Harrison county to the mouth of the Little Kanawha. Among the other earlier authorized roads, which at first were little more than trails, was one from Morgantown to the mouth of Graves creek in 1795, one from Clarksburg to Point Pleasant in 1806, one from the Monongahela Glades to the mouth of Buffalo and to the Ohio in 1812, one from Beverly via Clarksburg and Middlebourne to Sistersville in 1817, and a turnpike from Staunton (via Jackson river, Huttonsville and Beverly) to Booth's Ferry on Tygart's Valley in 1818. The first post roads were opened to Morgantown and Wheeling at which the first post offices were established in 1794. Morgantown and Clarksburg advertisements and news, which before 1797 found their only ave nue of newspaper publication in the Pittsburg Gazette, appeared in the Fayette Gazette from 1797 to 1804 at which date a paper was es tablished at Morgantown. In 1806, Virginia gave aid to repair a post EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 53 road in Bandolph county. Ferries, which began to appear by 1776, were established, in 1785 at other points, and by 1803 were operated over the Ohio and Little Kanawha at Parkersburg (also over the mouth of Fishing creek and the Guyandotte, and over the Great Kanawha at the mouth of Coal, and at other places) . Toll bridges which began to appear by 1807 were considerably increased in number from 1816 to 1819. The completion of the National Boacl from Cumberland to the Ohio at Wheeling in 1818 stimulated progress in its vicinity for branch roads to intersect it, and farther south for competing roads between Virginia towns and the Ohio. The need of river improvement was felt early. In 1785, a portion of the Potomac was cleared of rocks at Harper's Ferry. Biver transportation to Pittsburg or to nearer points began at a very early period. In 1793, the Virginia legislature passed the first act for clearing and extending the navigation of the Monongahela and West Fork rivers for the convenient passage of canoes and flat boats. In January 1800, it declared the Monongahela a public highway. Soon thereafter both through private individual initiative, and possi bly in part through the report of Secretary Gallatin on internal navi gation, the question of river improvements to secure better navi gation was seriously considered. The subject received new signifi cance from the development of steam navigation on the Ohio after the trial trip of 1811-12. In January 1817 the Monongahela Navigation Company was incorporated by the legislature to make the West Fork and Monongahela rivers navigable for flatboats, rafts, and lumber, and with authority to cut a canal to divert the waters of the Buckhannon to the waters of the West Fork in order to secure an additional supply of water. A survey from Weston to the Pennsylvania line was made in 1820. The company under the energetic lead of John G. Jackson began its work on West Fork even before the survey was made, but soon abandoned the enterprise after the destruction of some of its dams by a river freshet, and finally forfeited its rights and franchises. Steamboats from Pittsburg began to make regular trips to Morgan- town about 1826 ; but the ascent to Fairmont, first made in 1850, was more difficult, although in 1854 and thereafter regular trips were made at periods of high water. Improvement of the river above the Penn sylvania line, strongly urged in the ante-bellum decade, was postponed until the beginning of Congressional appropriations for the work in 1872. Propositions to improve the two Kanawhas by slack water navigation were urged in 1820, resulting in the first legislation for improvement 54 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA on the Great Kanawha. In 1819 the first steamboat on the Kanawha, the "Robert Thompson," ascended to Red House. By its inability to ascend above that point Virginia was induced to direct the James river and Kanawha company to improve the navigation of the river so that three feet of water could be secured all the year to the Kanawha Falls, to which the company was also directed to construct a turnpike across the mountains. In 1820 the "Albert Donnally" ascended to Charleston, and the traffic by river thereafter steadily increased. Packets between Charleston and Gallipolis, which at first ran weekly and later triweekly, in 1845 began a daily service which continued until the civil war. In 1839 a survey of the Little Kanawha was made from its mouth to Bulltown salt works above Elizabethtown. In 1830 the assembly was flooded by petitions from the West urging the incorporation of internal improvement companies, and approppri- ations for turnpikes, or for permission to raise money by lotteries. In the decade after 1830 the question of roads which had already become prominent, assumed a position of dominating importance. The con struction of the Northwestern Turnpike and the Staunton and Park ersburg Turnpike, stimulated the construction of intersecting roads — and in various ways exerted on the social and economic development, in almost every part of the Monongahela region, an influence which continued until the greater changes wrought by the advent of the rail road. About 1852 many bridges were built across streams at import ant crossings. That the route of the first railroad to the Ohio would pass through the northern Virginia counties was practically determined by the James-Kanawha River enterprise which largely absorbed the money which might have been used for internal improvements in other parts of the state. Finally, after various delays and the consideration of several different routes, in 1852 the construction of the first line of the Baltimore and Ohio was completed via Fairmont to Wheeling, and in 1857 the Northwestern branch intersecting the older line at Grafton was completed via Clarksburg and Salem to Parkersburg — constituting a rival to the great Northwestern turnpike. By furnishing improved facilities for transportation, these roads, which touched both the throb bing pulse of the great metropolis of the East and the streams of life in the growing West, soon began to produce wonderful changes affect ing the material interests and the social life — and may be regarded as the entering wedge in the larger development of the region through which they passed. Material development, in the larger sense, in 1861 was largely confined to the immediate vicinity of the railway and the Ohio. EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 55 The growth of population by decades to 1860 is indicated by coun ties in the following table : 03 ;_ "* W © © ^ ^ to ^ CO O ^- OS OS H Tf* C» -^ © CO X © H ^ iH rH W CO fc^ ^ ^ t- ¦> t- W t^ t- I- l> I- t~- t- O0 CO CO 00 OT M 00 00 00 CO CC CO CO CO CO CO 00 00 CO HHHHHHHHHHHHHriHHHHHHHHHHHrirtHHHHHHHHHHHHHrlrlHHHHHHrlrHHHHHH C010COC1'H©TriO'^TH-*©tr-*iracO©t'-©t-CMMCOc©©t^t-0]© 00 iHCM^C\lrHC»©C»©WC»'^WCOL,'-CMrH0SCNrHC0toco©C»C0O5rHCN 00 °i. l^^^^^Q0°lT~(l-l'TtlC-J.l:~Il^.,~lo WOSOCOt-CScRM05C»CBCOt-t'-C»CO^C>lt-l*COCOt-^COCOOC>lin^CO^jaiO 00 COCNTcoVfMMOS^^OWrHO'^OCO^ SO rH rH t-H CM i-i i-( ri HHH rH iH r-t t- « _ Ht-©CMC0C0C0t-C0^©THt--GSC»C0'HC0G0l>G0O^iniQ0CMCMCM^inCT Ml'lOONfl'^'^OWWlOOWeCOQKCfiOlOQlN^lflMHMlOcSOClOlfJL'-OOMKlOlftffl^o t-^« o ot- iom t-_ co o -^cn cooo"i>^oco"«i>i>oo^©«com OS CO CO -HH CO CM CO © rH CO rH OS 00 1- <* tJ4 tH i-l CO ^ t)< (M O Hi t- rH ID 00 O (M OS © t- CM ¦<*! CM OS CM CO CO © ** ^ ^ OS ¦* 00 CM Mioqioqi^trOM^coo^t^ffim^iMHC^eoH a rJcZ^inci^&in&Cit^&t^ef&iQ^CDvSiQefeiaS \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ * * ; | ; \ * \ \ \ \ * \ \ * ;©" CSrHO CI rH CM ©t-COOSrHOOt-OOCS'^t-COCM© COrHCDCO^COOlDTflOSCOCDCOOOCDCOrHTHlDCM©COCM©H©CRt>COC©CO©COlDOCOt-COCMCOTrD0SrHgThcn co "10 os" iaciy£v$ \a co" ioVhth csf C0CO©©lDC0t-COCMOSCOt-CO ¦^OTrirr'-*-^CM(MCOCO©THCO CO©iDL-CO00cDCCOSCMt-CMrH : :<* co cm oor^tri^coTHcoco-^i-iTrt;;'. ;;;;;;..;; co CO CO 00 CM ID © CO H "* rrl rH CO rH rH CO CO ITS ITS CO t- t- CM O O CO OS -rf t^Os'^'lOCO^CN't^" CM" [ \ \ \ .'.'. \ '.'.'. \ '.'. \ '.', \ '.'.','. \ '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.','.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. '. !lO 56 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA The composition and condition of the population in 1850 is partially indicated by the following statistics from the census of that year : Counties White Male I Female . Colored Free | Slave Number of Dwellings (excluding slaves) Number of Families (excluding slaves) Barbour . . Berkeley . . Boone Braxton . . BrookeCabell DoddridgeFayette . . . GilmerGreenbrierHampshireHancock . . Hardy Harrison . . Jackson . . . Jefferson . KanawhaLewis Logan Marion . . Marshall . Mason Mercer MonongaliaMonroe . . . Morgan . . , Nicholas . . Ohio Pendleton Pocahontas Preston . . Putnam . . Raleigh . . , RandolphRitchie . . Taylor Tyler Wayne . . . Wetzel . . . Wirt Wood Wyoming 4,380 4,290 222 133 4,974 4,592 249 1,956 1,603 1,451 183 2,111 2,012 89 2,490 2,433 100 31 2,974 2,928 8 389 1,396 1,322 1 31 . 1,923 1,857 19 156 1,776 1,627 72 4,315 4,234 156 1,317 6,251 5,858 224 1,433 2,124 1,916 7 3 4,085 3,842 356 1,260 5,674 5,539 27 488 3,405 3,075 11 53 5,453 5,023 540 4,341 6,278 5,723 212 3,140 4,852 4,768 43 368 1,866 1,667 " 87 5,200 5,239 19 94 5,087 9,963 39 49 3,562 3,279 51 647 2,051 1,967 27 177 5,987 6,105 119 176 4,584 4,477 81 1,061 1,753 1,678 3 123 1,974 1,915 1 73 8,981 8,631 230 164 2,771 2,672 30 322 1,675 1,628' 28 267 6,943 4,619 59 87 2,408 2,285 10 632 899 830 13 23 2,561 2,442 9 201 1,983 1,903 16 2,697 2,433 69 168 2,778 2,678 4 38 2,450 2,114 7 189 2,183 2,078 6 17 1,695 1,624 2 32 4,664 4,344 69 373 811 772 1 61 1,4671,668 495679839 976 525593571 1,419 2,035 590 1,3271,866 1,0341,960 2,110 1,533 572 1,7861,668 1,151 655 2,124 1,576 606 602 3,097 891553 1,664 788296844649818949 749 716 528 1,554 248 1,467 1,703 495679839976525593571 1,4192,035 590 1,340 1,8661,040 2,000 2,160 1,533 572 1,7911,6781,173 655 2,1241,576 606602 3,178 891557 1,664 819296844649823 948 790 716528 1,554 248 The census of 1850 contains the following statistics of towns in the territory later included in West Virginia : Towns Counties White Male I Female Colored Free I Slave Total Bolivar Charlestown . . . Charleston Clinton Fairmont Fulton Harpers Ferry . . Martinsburg . . . New Martinsville ParkersburgRitchieton Shepherdstown . Smithfield Triadelphia .... Wheeling West Liberty . . JeffersonJefferson Kanawha Ohio . . . Marion . Ohio . . . Jefferson Berkeley Wetzel . . Wood . . . Ohio . . . JeffersonJeffersonOhio . . . Ohio . . . Ohio . . . 479 ' 469 60 46 515 490 166 386 403 341 54 252 159 154 324 328 4 27 129 137 806 745 87 109 995 891 44 260 119 104 5 575 577 29 37 586 481 4 619 633 60 249 173 176 2 95 121 1,199 2 5,660 5,519 212 44 105 109 5 1,0541,5071,050 313683 266 1,747 2,190 228 1,218 1,0711,561 446 242 1,1435 219 EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 57 The following school statistics, compiled from the census of 1850 indicate con siderable interest in primary and secondary education : COLLEGES PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACADEMIES COUNTIES u ;o ^ tl) o> o J=> jo,e| j=s - a d a* Up, 0d © a P n» a a I' a 3 fc £H ZPh £ .O-d a OJ - a .Q XSJ3 a 0 a ^ fc £H 11a 3 ZC4 Barbour . . Berkeley . . . Boone Brooke Cabell Doddridge . Fayette . . . GilmerGreenbrier . Hampshire Hancock . . . HardyHarrison . . Jackson . . . Jefferson . . Kanawha . , Lewis Logan .... MarionMarshall . . Mason MercerMonongalia Monroe Morgan . . . Nicholas . . . Ohio Pendleton . PocahontasFreston . . . Putnam . . . Randolph . . RitchieTaylor Tyler Wayne Wetzel Wirt Wood 130 100 $7,500 500 546 550 171 60 374115 96 159 900 1,500 360622330 1,350 1,000 1,500 1,602 175720 700 1,150 400 907498 645 189 3,529 225 200840 115 380376 145203 78 600 293 570 827580 2,020 160 5(19954729 5,5001,000 550 820 250 7,628 3,933 500 640 790 1,180 527 800 2,1393,452 411 230 24,247 675 1,090 750196 381472 20 1,074 82 20 102 $7,363 30 145 25 5760 165162 60 109 75 970300 600 3,230 400 38 900 3,823 080 334 400 265 600000 30 10 The following libraries, other than private, were reported in the census of 1850 : County Vo. Number Vols 2 3,000 i 300 i 1,000 i 600 i 110 i 150 i 2,500 9 75 1 100 Character Brooke . . . Cabell . . . Hampshire Marshall . Marshall . MonongaliaTaylor . . . Wayne . . . Wetzel . . CollegePublicPublicSunday School Church School CollegePublicSunday School ILLITERACY, 1850. The number of adults who could neither read nor write in 1850 is indicated by counties in the following table of illiteracy. County Male White Female | Colored Total Male | Female Total Native Foreign Aggregate 546 177 343102 278 - 78 355185379680 89 111 316178 410 245210 325 26 386 175 34 275323 138 • 390 121 211 366199 102 51 103152227219 350 335549 111 645 203 861 43 581228655416 752 912 127 140564 266 584398368758 26 460 261 66 402 534231 641195 367809 294205 56 196175406332 488 32 128 53 166 1,191 380 1,204 145 859306 1,010 601 1,131 1,592 215 251 880 444994643 578 1,084 52 846436 100 677857 369 1,031 316578 1,175 493307107 .299 327 633551 838 65 183102 277 50 45 7 40 31 4 907611 1,281 456 1,208 86 846306 1,123 591 1,120 1,647 209 293 878 415 994 647 570 1,072 52 700405 100 677 845370 1,007 315576 1,177 496 304112299 327633 548840 65 158 102277 1,281 ' I 456 Ohio 7 59 13 1 1,215 145 859 306 Wood 55 58 113 10 26 3 43 2 2 29 1 8 11 1,123 9 332222 H 25 14 22 is 58 36 44 1,146 1,650 252295 880 440 994648578 1,083 52 859 436 100 677 861 372 1,031 316 578 1,180 496 Cabell Tyler 3 2 5 5 8 13 159 31 3I i2 4 3 16 2 24 12 3 2 2 31 53 3 307112 4 1 5 299 327633 3 2 1 25 551842 66 4i 4 1 Wirt 183102 277 00 H i ElH H izi %t-t l> t-i O wH o fed S3Q EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 59 jt^jadoaj qa.inqo jo aniBA oooooooocooooioooooiflOftinoooinnooonoooo nncoooobnoowMOoooL-nwb-iucOffjwawo^iOOOo l>rHQ0050rH,ncO(MC:mcD^pHO:QO^L-OCOL^OCOCOlOCOl~t-COL-C©CDrHlc3COCMCOCMCMO t^(NOC0TirTp'crc0O"M!DC0'OCCC0C0CCC.f^'©cfTH rH-tf" rHOO'cMrHT* i-h" IDOO©1DOID©CO OS ©^00 CO* CM CM" O COCJ 'ON COOrHlOCMOOOOCNCCrHClooOl-HHb-IOOOOirai-OaOCOinCM-tfrHOlcOrHrHIOCO CO CO rH (M r- rH rH rH CM rH 01 CM CM. 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ECCc H- c e- +-i c T'a a bt.d i o> t3 60 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY 0E WEST VIRGINIA 2. EASTERN PANHANDLE. In the eastern panhandle, by 1800, many homes of thrift and indus try bore evidence of their location in an older established community. Shepherdstown which during the Bevolution, became a busy center of traffic and travel, and of domestic manufacture, and after the Bevo lution had large aspirations expressed in the steamboat experiments of Bumsey* and a bid to secure the location of the national capital, re tained its local importance in the county for many years. Its later decline was attributed to the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railway. In 1860, it lost its best factory and the population was 400 less than in 1850. At Harpers Perry, by an act of Congress of 1794, a national arsenal and gun factory was erected in 1799. Better communications for the South Branch region were not long delayed. As early as 1790 there were eight ferries in Hampshire county. In 1801 plans wert3 begun for the construction of a road from Bomney through Berkeley county to Washington, D. C. In 1802 commissioners were designated to meet at the mouth of Xew creek to begin the marking of a new road from the Maryland road near Gynn's Tavern through Hampshire and Berkeley counties to Key's Perry on the Shenandoah. Beginning at an early period and continuing- until about 1830, flat- boats from Moorefield and lower points of the fertile valley of the South Branch floated down to tidewater on the Potomac with flour and with iron from Hampshire. The principal markets for the flour were Washington and Alexandria. Farther up the stream, Frank lin (earlier Frankford), the first county seat of Pendleton (formed 1788), incorporated in 1794, grew slowly but steadily. By 1834, it had two stores, two tanyards, three saddlers, two blacksmith shops', a furniture shop, three shoemakers, one tailor, two lawyers and one phy sician. It also had a school and a temperance society. The first stage line in Hampshire was established between Win chester and Cumberland in 1830. The pike from Green Spring to Moorefield was built by a stock company about 1850, the state taking two-fifths of the stock. Stages from Bomney to the Ohio reached Clarksburg in one day and Parkersburg in two. *It appears that James Rurasey was employed in September, 1781, by the Potomac company (of which Washington was a member) to improve the navigation of the Potomac. In the summer of the year 1783, he directed his attention to the subject of steamboats; and in the autumn of 1784 succeeded in a private, but very im perfect, experiment of the Potomac at Shepherdstown in order to test some of the principles of his invention. In October 1784 he obtained from the Virginia Assembly an act guaranteeing to him the exclusive use of his invention in navigating the waters of that state for ten vears. In January, 1785, he obtained a similar patent from the general assembly of Maryland. Finally, in 1786, at Shepherdtown, he gave a public trial of his boat, succeeding in propelling it by steam against the current at the rate of about four miles per hour. An Old Suspension Bridge. An Old Iron Furnace (Hardy County). EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 61 Martinsburg (the county seat of Morgan which was formed from Hampshire and Berkeley in 1820) received new life and fresh im petus in 1835 from the large camp of the surveying corps which located the route of the Baltimore and Ohio railway, and later (1841) from the stores of railway contractors and the trade of the Irish and Ger man who graded and bridged the road. In 1842, the track layers pass ed through the town, followed by a pioneer steam engine whose first piercing whistle completely disorganized the local militia. In 1849, the town became a first class railway station with engine house and machine shops under construction. In 1854, it became the terminus of a turnpike from Winchester. ' In 1856, it was incorporated and had hope of becoming the terminus of the Cumberland Valley railroad con- . necting with Chambersburg. In 1859 it had a population of 3000. Throughout the region along-the Potomac, the Chesapeake anil Ohio canal exerted a great influence. In 1838, the rioting laborers on the canal quit work and marched from Hancock toward Old Town, caus ing the "terrorized" inhabitants of the neighboring region to take measures for defense by a request upon the governor for arms. By June 13, 1850, the canal was completed to the head of navigation at Cumberland. Although navigation on the canal was suspended dur ing the winter, causing much produce to accumulate at Williamsport, business was brisk at other seasons. Within the week before April 22, 1854, sixty-three boats (6660 tons) left Cumberland for Alexan dria. Piedmont was laid out by the ISTew Creek company and incorporated in 1856. Its earliest basis and stimulus was the Baltimore and Ohio railway, which reached the site of the future town in 1851. Its ear lier growth was largely due to Henry G. Davis who, on assuming the duties of station agent of the railway at that point in 1854, and by his keen foresight grasping its industrial and commercial .advantages, established his brothers in the coal and lumber business; and four years later (1858), on resigning his position with the railroad, became the head of the firm and organized the Piedmont Savings Bank of which he became president. * The site of Keyser at New creek was merely developed as a farm be fore the war in which it became a strategic position. The town, es tablished after the war largely through the energy of Henry G. Davis, received its larger stimulus to growth through its selection as the coun ty seat of Mineral county, which was formed from Hampshire county in 1866. 62 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OP WEST VIRGINIA 3. MIDDLE NEW RIVER AND GREENBRIER. In the Middle New river region, beginning with the formation of Monroe county in 1799 and the establishment of a post office at Union in 1800, there was a slow but steady development of industry and other evidences of civilization. Beginning about 1832, an impetus to trade and travel was given by the incorporation and construction of turnpikes such as (1) the Price mountain and Cumberland Gap, (2) the Wayne, Baleigh and Grayson, and (3) the Giles, Fayette and Kanawha. In 1837, Mercer county was. formed in response to a petition of the people living along the Flat Top mountain, the Bluestone, and the upper waters of Brush creek, who complained of the inconvenience of the long journey to their old county seat. The first court house was built in 1839. In 1843 there were in the county only two voting places — Princeton and Pipestem. Along the lower Greenbrier, development was more rapid. This de velopment was influenced by location as well as by the character of the people and the character of the soil. Agricultural advance gave early prosperity. Lewisburg, at which the oldest church , organization (Presbyterian) on western waters was formed in 1783, and the first church was erected in 1795, became prominent as an early center of culture and refinement. Preparation of greater development farther west was made about 1790 by widening the old trail westward from Fort Union, and later by construction of the "old state road" which left the old trail several miles west of Lewisburg, crossed through Little Meadows, passed over Sewell mountain, crossed the New river at Bowyer's ferry, and thence, after passing through "Vandalia" (now Fayette ville). to Montgomery's ferry (Kanawha Falls), continued to follow the south side of the river. On the upper Greenbrier, settlement developed more slowly. Hunt- ersville, the first county seat of Pocahontas (formed 1821), was laid out in 1821 at the terminus of an early road leading from Warm Springs, and on the site of John Bradshaw's pioneer cabin which once served as headquarters for the pioneer hunters. From the Greenbrier the development of settlements advanced west ward both down the Kanawha and into the region which was formed into the new county of Nicholas in 1818 (from Kanawha, Greenbrier and Bandolph). On upper Elk, at a few isolated interior clearings, new centers established a basis for the organization of Braxton county which was formed from Lewis, Kanawha and Nicholas in 1836. At Bulltown, the earlier residence of a small tribe of Indians (about EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 63 1780), salt was made as early as 1795. The earliest village in the re gion was established by act of 1826 as the town of Suttonsville, which in 1837 was changed to Sutton. Before 1836 it had scarcely a dozen inhabitants but was known by its post office name, Newville. 4. THE MONONGAHELA VALLEY. In the earlier development of the large region of Virginia territory embraced in the drainage system of the Monongahela, the chief cen ters were Morgantown and Clarksburg. In 1776, this extent of ter ritory was practically all included in Monongalia county. It was di vided in 1784 by the creation of Harrison and later by the formation of Preston (1818) and of Marion (1842) which later furnished part of the territory for the creation of Taylor (1844). Prom the origi nal territory of the Harrison of 1784 has been created Bandolph (1787), Lewis (1816), Barbour (1843 from Harrison, Lewis and Bandolph), Taylor (1844 from Harrison, Barbour and Marion), Up shur (1851 from Bandolph, Barbour and Lewis) and Tucker (1856 from Bandolph) — and small portions of its territory contributed to the creation of several other counties which do not belong to the topographical region drained by the Monongahela. The industrial development* of Morgantown may be presented as a fitting introduction to that of the surrounding region. Beginning with perhaps no more than four log houses, a frame court house and jail, and a store and a grist mill on Decker's creek beyond the borough boundary, it grew little before 1791. In 1793 it became the terminus of a post route from Pittsburg established under the Pittsburg Gazette management, which distributed its papers by private post riders both be fore and after the United States mails reached Pittsburg in 1788. A post office was established in 1794 and a post route was designated from Hagerstown via Hancock and Cumberland to Morgantown, thence to Uniontown and ¦ Brownsville. Later the route was opened from Morgantown via Mt. Morris and Waynesburg to Wheeling. Ordina ries were licensed in 1796. Henry Dering who came from Lancaster, Pennsylvania via Hagerstown opened a hotel before 1800; and John Shisler who came from Winchester, Virginia in 1796 began to manu facture wagons by 1802. The first newspaper was established in 1803. ?The civic development is also interestinc. In 1810 the first necessary step to ward self-government was taken by making the trustee's elective by the free holders, and in 1816 they were given power to levy taxes. By the new charter of 1838 a government under trustees of mm-e extended powers was inaugurated, re sulting in an increasing number of ordinances — somp of which, necessitating a serious break "nth long-established customs, met with fierce opposition. The latter illustrated by the "hog ordinance" which after a varied career as one of the chief municipal problems was finally settled by the referendum in the election of 1852, by which the hogs lost by 25 votes. 64 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Buggy, carriage, and furniture manufacturing works were established in the decade after 1840. Tanbark was used in the local tanneries. The town improved more rapidly from 1815 to 1830, largely in fluenced by growing trade with the region now included in Preston, Marion, Barbour and Taylor counties from which the people came to buy salt, iron and groceries. The first steamboat arrived from Pitts burg in 1826. In the decade after 1840 the town felt a decline of trade resulting especially from the construction of the Northwestern Turnpike in 1838, and the formation of Marion county in 1842 — and, after the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio mail line in 1853, it lost the great interior wagon trade and could thereafter depend only on the local county trade until it could secure slack -water navigation or railway connection. Although the streets seemed deserted in com parison with their busy aspect of the thirties, closer touch was felt with the larger world by the establishment of a daily mail by 1854. Trade with the western end of the county was encouraged by the construction of a suspension bridge in 1854 by a company which had been organ ized four years earlier. Before 1853 Pittsburg was the main point for exchange of state bank paper, and in the absence of safe mails, payments were conveyed to eastern cities by private messengers. After 1853 money was sent by express from Fairmont until 1875 when a nearer express office was established at Fairchance. The population in 1865 was only 648. Telegraph connection was not opened until 1866/- by a line from Pittsburg to Fairmont. Probably the first road in Monongalia followed Decker's creek from Morgantown to Bock Forge, thence over the general route of the later Kingwood pike and across Cheat at Dunkard Bottom to the site of Westernport, Maryland and to Winchester. It was probably cleared as a pack-horse road between 1772 and 1776, and was later known as the State road or old Winchester road. Over it the early settlers brought salt and iron from Winchester (before the local iron works and Conemaugh salt) , and after the Bevolution it became an emigrant road to the West. Even as early as 1772 Michael Kern kept a boat yard at the mouth of Decker's creek for the accommodation of westward emi- p-rants who followed this road to Morgantown — from which thev con- tinued their journey to Kentucky by the Monongahela and the Ohio. In 1784 the importance of trade with the Ohio, and of poltical connec tions between East and West, induced Washington to urge connection from the Potomac by a canal via Cheat to the nearest navigable point on the Monongahela. In 1791 the state road from Winchester was ex tended to the mouth of Fishing creek (now New Martinsville) and EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 65 soon became a wagon road from the mouth of Savage river (Western- port) to Morgantown. In 1812 the Monongalia Glades road was opened to Clarksburg via Smithton. The first ferry established by law was located across Cheat at An drew Ice's in 1785, others were established across the Monongahela in 1791 and 1792, and others across Cheat in 1792 and 1805. After January 1807 ferries were authorized by the county courts instead of by the general assembly. In the earlier decades after the Bevolution, population and devel opment in Monongalia county increased rapidly in spite of the tide of immigration to Kentucky and Ohio. The population of 4000 in 1790 was more than doubled in a decade. In 1794 the people resisted the attempts to involve them in the Whiskey insurrection. After the military advance into western Pennsylvania, it appears that part of the Virginia division commanded by Governor Henry Lee returned via Morgantown, Winchester and Frankfort. By 1810 the population had increased to 12,783, and the iron works on Cheat and on Decker's creek furnished a basis for prospective in crease of material development restricted only by problems of trans portation. To encourage settlements, to meet the demand for connecting the interests of East and West, and for securing more direct commercial intercourse with the Ohio from which such commodities as salt could be obtained far more conveniently than by the overland route from Winchester or the water route from Pittsburg, in 1812 the legislature authorized the opening of a road from the Monongalia Glades (now in Preston county) via the mouth of Buffalo to the present site of New Martinsville which was to connect on the opposite bank of the Ohio with a road from Zanesville. The road, however, did not meet the ex pectations of its projectors, and in January 1817 new efforts for bet ter 'communications resulted in the incorporation of the Monongahela Navigation company to secure better facilities in river transportation, but all efforts of the next few years to secure slackwater navigation failed. The census of 1820 showed a decrease of 2000 in the population — a decrease only partially explained by the creation of Preston county with a population of 3000 in 1818. In 1823, all efforts to secure slack- water navigation having failed, attention was directed toward the question of canal communication between eastern and western waters. Three years later (on April 29) the first steamboat reached Morgan- town, and by 1830 their continued arrival from Pittsburg, causing a 66 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA shifting of the old head-of -navigation dispute between Wheeling and Pittsburg, stimulated public demand for improvement of the Monon gahela which was presented to Congress by Mr. Doddridge. In 1830 the census showed an increase of 3000 white population since 1820. Morgantown became an educational center by the incor poration of Monongalia Academy in 1829 and the establishment of a female academy in 1832. Development in the western end of the county resulted in the establishment of Blacksville as a town; and growth of settlements further up the river, together with the demand for easier access to the county seat, resulted in petitions for the cre ation of Marion county which was accomplished in 1842. In the decade from 1830 to 1840 the question of roads was still prominent. Earlier efforts were directed toward securing the survey of a road over the nearest and best route from a point on the Ohio be tween the mouth of Fishing creek and Marietta via Morgantown to the national road at or near the Youghiogheny bridge, and the estab lishment of a mail route with semi-weekly stages from Uniontown via Morgantown and Clarksburg to Parkersburg. The first enterprise was opposed in 1830 by Kingwood which seemed disposed to enlist Winchester, Bomney, Westernport and Pruntytown against the estab lishment of the proposed new route. The efforts of Monongalia to secure' better means of communication were stimulated by neighboring improvements. In 1831 stages began to carry great western mail from Philadelphia to Pittsburg in three days. Pennsylvania by her canal, and Maryland by her railroad, were struggling for the western trade. It was evident that the completion of the canal would soon reduce freights and no one yet knew at what point on the Ohio between Pittsburg and the Kanawha the Baltimore and Ohio would terminate, but it seemed certain that either the Balti more and Ohio railroad or the Chesapeake and Ohio canal would reach Cumberland which would thus become a deposit for western products. Therefore it was urged that Morgantown should push the opening of the road from the mouth of Fishing creek to Smithfield in the direction of Cumberland (via Monongalia county), and urge the opening of the navigation of the Monongahela, and secure the establishment of a bank. In 1836 the Brandonville and Fishing Creek turnpike was be gun. Early in 1833 a line of four-horse stages was started between Morgantown and Uniontown by Colonel Johnson and a year later a tri-weekly mail in two horse stages was established between Uniontown and Clarksburg via Morgantown. The Morgantown and Clarksburg (and lee's Ferry) turnpike was completed in 1840 via Smithton, and EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 67 ihe Brandonville and Fishing creek turnpike to Ice's Ferry and thence to the Pennsylvania line. In 1840 the location and construction of turnpikes and bridges ihe chief subjects of local interest. The establishment of Ellicott's rolling mill at Ice's Ferry on Cheat (1840) furnished a new impe tus to secure better roads and also to obtain slack-water navigation, first on the Monongahela and later on Cheat (1847). The Dunkard Creek turnpike projected in 1839 was revived in 1847 and located at Blacksville from whence it was later extended to Burton on the Balti- jnore and Ohio. The Morgantown and Bridgeport turnpike was au thorized by act of 1849. The Kingwood, Morgantown and West Union (Aurora) turnpike, incorporated in 1848, was completed in 1851 part ly on the location of the Morgantown and Clarksburg turnpike. The Pennsylvania, Beverly and Morgantown1 turnpike, incorporated in 1837 was revived in 1853 and constructed via Evansville. From Mor- .gantown to Evansville, it was usually called the Evansville pike. The Masontown and Independence turnpike, incorporated in 1856, was built from a point on the road one mile west of Ice's Ferry. Among the various industries of the county besides agriculture, for a half century after 1800, were the manufacture of iron (one of the earliest), the preparation of country millstones, the operation of card ing and fulling mills, the manufacture of paper (begun 1839), the "manufacture of pottery (which became important by 1830), carriage making (which became prominent after 1851), the operation of foundries, and the manufacture of furniture. As early as 1839 a rag paper mill was in operation in Morgantown. By 1845 Morgantown contained about 150 dwellings, several stores -and mills, two printing offices, two churches and an academy. The iron works on Cheat near Ice's ferry were industrially import ant, furnishing employment for over 1200 persons. The manufac tured products beyond the needs of the neighboring territory centering in the Morgantown market were sent on flatboats to Pittsburg. A gradual decline in the industry, beginning after 1846 and causing the •failure of the Ellicotts in 1848 or in 1849, resulted in its termination in 1868. Near the union of the Morgantown and Clarksburg branches of the state road leading to Winchester in 1800 was a wooded site well known as a camping place on the route so much used by early settlers of Ken tucky who reached the Ohio at the fort opposite Marietta. The cluster •of houses built there in 1807 was named Kingwood which was estab lished as a town in 1811. The perceptible progress of settlement 68 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA around the town after 1813, and other changes of conditions resulted in the formation of Preston county in 1818 without objection of Mo nongahela. Kingwood, the oldest town, became the county seat. The panther was retreating before the advance of the settler, al though the wolf and the bear were still, numerous beyond the margin of the settlements. Cattle raising which had begun as a business to meet the demands of the eastern market, and was encouraged by the completion of the National road between Cumberland and Wheeling in 1818, brought money into the community and stimulated new ef forts toward new improvements — such as the water mills, the intro duction of frame and stone buildings, and the beginning of mercantile business in the small village store. The frequent passage" of immi grant teams on their way to Ohio indicated further improvement in the roads, and increasing travel stimulated new enterprises. By 1845 Kingwood had about thirty dwellings and several stores. The chief staple of the county was Indian corn. Considerable sugar- and tobacco was also raised. In 1850 one of the first prominent wool en factories in Preston was established at Bruceton (originally called Morton's Mills). In 1840, the legislature incorporated the Preston Bailroad, Lumber and Mining company, organized to operate in the lumber and mining business on Cheat. In 1850 it incorporated the Greenville Furnace company which transported its product by water from Cheat to Pittsburg and Cincinnati. For the earliest settlers of the region centering around the mouth of Tygarf s Valley river, Morgantown and Clarksburg were market ing centers; but, with the increase of improvements and the erection of mills along the streams, nearer stores were established, and, later, monthly communication with the outside world was secured by a reg ular mail route. In 1819, Middletown (now Fairmont) was legally established and regularly plotted in a laurel thicket on the farm of Boaz Fleming — the roughest and poorest land in the vicinity. Its earliest develop ment was partly determined by the need of a midway stopping-place for travellers betwen Morgantown and Clarksburg. Its later growth was due to the establishment of various industries in the vicinity — such as the fulling and carding mills of Barnes and Haymond which began operations in 1831. Its first newspaper was established about 1840. In 1837 Bivesville was laid out upon the land of Elisha Snodgrass. In 1838, across the river from Middletown, was established Palatine at which the Marion machine works manufactured McCormick reapers EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 69 a decade before the civil war. - In 1839 a town was plotted adjacent to the Boothsville postoffice which had been established in 1833 at Robert Reed's tavern near the forks of Booth's creek. Some of the smaller towns of the county are older than the county, but the larger number were established after the arrival of the railroad. The attempt to secure the formation of a separate county in 1842, twenty-three years after the plan had first been proposed to the legis lature, was successful in spite of considerable opposition in the legisla ture both from the delegates of Monongalia and those of Harrison. By 1845 Fairmont, the county seat, had seventy dwellings and five stores; and Palatine across the river had twenty-five dwellings and two stores. In the vicinity were located several flouring mills and other mills. Early improvements developed more rapidly around the center at Clarksburg on the West fork. In December 1784, the Harrison county court ordered a bridle road opened from Clarksburg to Wickwires ford (below Fetterman) on Tygart's river. By 1790 commissioners were ordered to mark a road from the state road via Neal's station, near the mouth of the Little Kanawha to the Harrison and Kanawha county line — partly to meet the needs of travellers from Kentucky who left their canoes at "Belveal" and crossed by land from Neal's station to Clarksburg (often under direction of a pilot to keep them from los ing their way) . This connection with the Ohio, and another at Isaac Williams' opposite Marietta were made by William Haymond, Sr., and others between 1788 and 1790. In 1790 or 1791, cattle were col lected at Clarksburg to drive through to the new Marietta settlement. In 1791 or 1792, beaver skins, buffalo skins, and bear skins and meat, were carried by canoe down the Little Kanawha and up the Ohio from Neal's station to Marietta. In 1793 Clarksburg was the seat of an academy and by 1797 it con tained about forty dwellings. By 1798 it had a post office. In the early days it was on a mail route between Gandy's (of Preston county) and ChiUicothe via Salem, Webster, Marietta, Athens and Hewitts. By 1804 it had a wagon shop. At a very early date, too, it had a boat yard for the manufacture of large flat boats, which, before the era of railroads, were built at several points along West fork and floated to Pittsburg loaded with old iron, whiskey, grain, flour, lum ber and country produce. In 1815 its first newspaper appeared. By 1818 its connections with a larger surrounding region were improved by the opening of new roads such as the road to Point Pleasant via the Elk river, and Booth's Ferry and Ohio turnpike from Philippi 70 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA via Clarksburg and Middlebourne to Sistersville. Its larger trade was= always with the East, but by 1819 it received supplies of Bulltown salt, and perhaps also supplies of Kanawha salt which by this time found a market at Salem and other points northward. Although its citizens were of old Virginia descendants, its eastern trading and com mercial relations were always with Baltimore which was more conven iently accessible than Bichmond. By 1820 its most natural markets- were either eastward across the mountains to Atlantic cities (250 or 350 miles distant) , or down the Monongahela to the towns of the Ohio and the Mississippi. The transportation of breadstuffs in either direc tion was too expensive to yield a profit. Therefore, the surplus grain was fed to the horses, cattle or hogs which could transport themselves "on the hoof" to the eastern markets. -By some labor the products- of the forest — logs, boats, plank and staves — -could have been a fruit ful source of wealth, if the uncertainties and irregularities of naviga tion had not prevented them from reaching the market in time to meet the demand. The central position of the town making it a suitable place to collect articles for transportation to Brownsville and thence to Baltimore over the turnpike was one of the factors which in duced the state to make a survey of the West fork and the Monon gahela to the Pennsylvania state line in 1820. In 1830, during the dispute between the Baltimore and Ohio railway and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, both of which planned to reach the Ohio, Philip Dod dridge urged Congress .to improve the Monongahela to Clarksburg. By 1820 other early settlements were growing into towns of some importance. Among these were Salem, located on an early strategic site as a station for troops sent to watch the Indian trail leading from the Ohio up Middle Island creek and Long run to the settle ments on the West fork. It was named by its first colony of forty families who arrived from Salem, New Jersey, before peace had been established with the Indians. On the site of Bridgeport, which prob ably received its first settlers (Joseph Davisson and others) between 1771 and 1774, the legislature in 1816 established a town which by 1845 contained twenty-five dwellings and two churches. Shinns- ton, at which the first settlement was made in 1773 by Levy Shinn and others, sturdy and independent Quakers from New Jersey, was first legally established as a town by legislative act of 1818. West Milford, the site of which had been included in tracts of land granted a decade earlier, gradually grew as a village clustering around the Clements mill which was erected in 1817, and received legal recogni tion as a town by legislative act of 1821. EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 71 Municipal improvement at Clarksburg did not keep pace with economic development. Jack Lovegood, in 1819, after a journey over the mountains, wrote a letter from the safe distance of the Youghi ogheny Glades in Maryland, especially urging the need of a better cemetery, a hearse and better facilities for protection from fires. "I wondered," said he, "why the citizens of Clarksburg who are esteemed as a liberal and intelligent people have not a place to bury their dead secured by a fence from the intrusion of hogs and cattle." Perhaps his criticism caused the town ordinance which went into effect three months later prohibiting hogs from running at large. According to J. H. DisDebar, who visited Clarksburg in 1846, the citizens were "a somewhat exclusive conservative set with all the tradi tions and social prejudices pertaining to an ancient moss-grown aris tocratic town" with pretentions "by common consent founded upon antiquity of pedigree and superior culture and manners." In 1845 the town had a population of 1100, seven stores, two news paper offices, two churches and two academies, and the county had an estimated mineral wealth which was already regarded as an ele ment of prosperity. Connection with the National road by a line of coaches or stages was established about 1830, enabling merchants to reach Baltimore by horseback in six days, although their loaded wagons required fifteen days or more. The town especially felt the influence of the wide Northwestern turnpike which was completed about 1836 and macad amized from Tygart's Valley river to Parkersburg in 1848, increasing facilities for travel and news. By 1845 tri-weekly stages connected on the west with Parkersburg and on the east with Bomney and thence with Green Springs on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. With the increase in the number of settlers and the development of settlements around the head waters of West Pork the inconveniences of communication with the county seat at Clarksburg found expres sion in the demand for the formation of a new county. This demand was satisfied in 1816 by an act of the assembly which created Lewis and provided for the location of a permanent county seat by five commissioners. Fleshersville, which was chosen, was incorporated in 1818 as a town under the name of Preston, changed in 1819 to Fleshersville, and later to Weston which has since borne the honor with no serious opposition. In the following spring the first survey of the West Fork and the Monongahela, with a view to the improve ment of navigation, was begun just below the Weston court house. Gradually the earlier log houses were succeeded by better struc- T£ SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA tures expressing refinement, social tastes and prosperity. The early settlements of the northern and eastern parts of the county were supplied with lumber from choice yellow poplars and black walnuts prepared by water power saw mills located along the neighboring streams. Trees which were too large to be easily sawed were split into fence rails or burned in the clearings. Although in 1843 por tions of Lewis were detached to contribute to tb,e formation of Bar bour and Ritchie counties, the population of the county steadily in creased — about 2,000 each decade — until 1850, after which it was decreased by loss of territory occasioned by the formation of Upshur county in 1851. By 1845 Weston contained about sixty dwellings. The large development and aspirations of the people of Lewis at the middle of the century found expression in many ways — the most prominent of which probably were the Weston and Fairmont turn pike, the Weston and Gauley Bridge turnpike, and the Weston and West Union turnpike. A branch of the Exchange Bank of Virginia was established in 1853. On the eve of the civil war Weston secured the location of the hos pital for the insane — the first and only state institution which was located in the transmontane territory later included in West Virginia. On .the upper Tygart's Valley, around the site of Philippi, the early scattered settlements were connected by "blazed" trails, many of which were distinguished by the kind of tree blazed in order to avoid bewilderment or danger of becoming lost at trail crossings. As early as 1788 the trail from Clarksburg to Winchester, the east and west highway through the territory included in Barbour and Tucker, crossing the Valley river a mile below Philippi and Cheat at St. George, was mentioned in the records as the "state road" — although it was still only the "Pringle Packroad." The Beverly trail branched off a mile above the mouth of Hacker's creek, and passed via Sugar creek and the site of Belington. . With the establishment of Booth's ferry, the road from Clarksburg to the Valley river was widened for wagons and steps were taken to open the road toward Beverly via Sugar creek. By 1803 there was a wagon road constructed on the east side of the river which was later extended to Beverly. The first wagon which appeared in the county was brought in pieces over the mountain to Cheat in 1783 via North Branch, Lead Mine run and Horse Shoe run before trails had been widened for wagons. The early economic life was largely confined to the problem of mere subsistence. Ginseng, however, was exported as early as 1789. 4 Carlisle^ V " ¦¦ 2 i ^ I .!iif ¦).-;!>• PHI \,t^i 1^ £Tc «»^^d^^^B'ut^s^^ W, / '-VY - -' Stettin \\.l *~ ' )1::"~\ /.J 'aS^J^^/to^ *^% : it Prospect o\^.. ¦ ^^]^^yr'^'"-T'» Duinint-s,! 1" frabaccoa s - - i J^ap^.0^^ Jr^^'k^^/ S^Cf'^^'^f "-'A_ J-' >. ,-vl>i»J*4» v>^ '4*£t r ^'\j a. v-^^. ^\\ 'SA \ Evcahiu /'•.«»;<•.»• i f/y,- 0 7ZT >lka -A 5**!* 3f EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 73 A tan yard was located above Philippi in 1800 and the first mill at Philippi was erected in 1818. In 1843 Barbour county was formed from Bandolph, and parts of Harrison and Lewis, and the site for the court house promptly select ed at Philippi (the old Booth's ferry of Randolph) which was then only a farm. Among the first acts of the court was one fixing the charges for taverns, which was re-enacted every subsequent year for over a decade. By 1845 the county was regarded as rather thickly settled at the heads of Simpson and Elk creeks, and on the Buck- hannon and Tygart's Valley rivers. Philippi contained only about a dozen houses, but a basis for later development was believed to exist in neighboring deposits of excellent coal and iron. Coincident with improved transportation facilities resulting from the completion of neighboring turnpikes — the earlier Northwestern, and the -Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike completed via Buckhan- non in 1847 — various signs of improvement appeared. Instances of the introduction of improved machinery, occurring in 1840, became more common a decade later. Although the horse-power thresher be gan to appear perhaps as early as 1846, the first horse-power thresher and separator was not introduced until 1852. In 1848, in Cove dis trict there was an attempt to develop the iron resources ; and, in 1849, the product, after a haul of fifty miles on wagons, was transported to market by boats on the Monongahela. At the same time construction of local pikes was begun. In 1850, Luther Haymond of Clarksburg completed the survey for the Beverly and Fairmont pike, making changes of route above Belington and elsewhere which caused bitter controversies. In Barbour one of the first steam saw and grist mills was built at Peeltree about 1856 and continued to saw lumber for local use for thirty or forty years. After the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad the people from the northeastern part of Barbour found their most, convenient shipping point at Thornton. From various points on the Tygart's Valley river, considerable timber was floated to Grafton. The Bank of Philippi, the first bank in Barbour, was established in 1855, and ¦closed at the opening of the war. Its notes were bought by speculators oven after the close of the war. The first newspaper of the county was founded in 1857 and sus pended publication in June, 1861. At the outbreak of the war nearly all the county officers of Barbour •sympathized with the secession movement of the South. 74 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Along the Buckhannon river, in the earlier years of settlement, hunting, both of animals and of medicinal plants, was a necessary occupation which ceased as such only when the profits arising from it became less than the profits from other labor. The earlier trails were gradually widened into roads to meet the increasing demands of the settlements — especially after the introduc tion of wagons. In 1814 the court of Bandolph ordered a horseback or pack horse road from Beverly to Buckhannon which was later widened and graded and converted into a section of the Parkersburg and Staunton turnpike. In 1800 Jacob Lorentz, Abraham Post and Abraham Carper emigrated from the South Branch, cut an uneven wagon road along the Indian trail and brought the first road wagon to the region. In the same year goods were transported from Beverly to Buckhannon in a wagon. The second road wagon was brought to the county in 1810 by the New Englanders on their overland journey. A mill built 1783 above the mouth of Fink's run near Buckhannon was the only mill in the Buckhannon valley for a score of years. A second mill in that region was built in 1821. Saw mills for domestic use were established on Spruce run in 1806, at Buckhannon and Sago in 1810 and at French creek (Meadville) in 1813. Cattle, brought by the earliest settlers of 1770 and by almost all later settlers, were improved by a better breed brought by settlers from New England about 1810. Sheep were introduced from Hardy county and from New England at the same time. Sheep husbandry became an important industry — especially after the close of the hunters period along the frontier. Obstacles arising from the migratory habits of the sheep and the depredations of wolves and dogs were largely over come with the development of the settlements. In the earlier days there were many and menacing disputes over ownership of hogs — a product which found a ready sale at Richmond, Winchester or Cum berland. Spinning, knitting and weaving were common home industries. Every family contained its own tailor, usually a woman. At first the tanning of leather was a home process, and almost every family contained a cobbler. The conditions encouraged native mechanical genius. Salt, which in the earlier days was brought over the moun tains on packhorses and sold at prices which made it too dear for ex tensive use, was obtained in the county by evaporation after 1839. Jacob Lorentz, who established the first store in the limits of the county — and for a long time the only store in the entire surrounding region — , for many, years brought his goods on packhorses from Rieh- EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 75 mond, Parkersburg or Cumberland. A second store was opened near French creek in 1820. Towns emerged slowly. Buckhannon was established in 1816 on lands then in Harrison county. Under the loose system of Virginia land warrants, which often ap plied to no particular spot and resulted in many conflicting claims and endless controversies, many New England settlers, who became tired of dilatory courts and adverse decisions, emigrated westward (largely to Illinois) about 1830. Many people who remained were compelled to repurchase their lands from rival claimants. Industrial development and other improvements in the county were especially stimulated after 1848 by the construction of the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike and the Clarksburg and Buckhannon turn pike, and especially in 1852 by the completion of the railroad to Graf ton opening a market for logs rafted down the river. The first attempt to establish Upshur county made in 1848, met considerable opposition especially at Weston which disliked the pro posal to add to the new county a part of the territory of Lewis. The law, creating the new county from parts of Bandolph, Barbour, and Lewis, was finally enacted in 1851. The town of Buckhannon was incorporated in 1852, and the first court house was completed in 1854. By the census of 1860, Upshur had a population of 7,299 which was about 700 less than that of Lewis and almost 50 per cent greater than that of the neighboring mother county Bandolph. Early development in Bandolph county was much retarded by lack of communication. The earliest roads were mere "bridle paths" be tween the several settlements. In 1787 the first court of the newly formed county provided for marking a way for a wagon road from Leading creek to Horse Shoe Bottom on Cheat (now in Tucker), but not until 1826 were wagons able to cross the mountains from the direc tion of South Branch. By 1800 a score of roads had been surveyed in Bandolph county. By 1801 the court ordered a survey from the mouth of Black fork of Cheat to the head of North Branch — which, although it resulted in no road, was later followed by the West Vir ginia Central and Pittsburgh railroad from Fairfax to Parsons. In 1814 a pack horse road was ordered from Beverly to Buckhannon. In 1822 aid was voted to open a road from Beverly via Clarksburg to Sistersville. In 1824 the legislature authorized a "state road" from Staunton to the mouth of the Little Kanawha which was built via Beverly over the same general route followed by the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike twenty years later. In 1826 Bandolph co operated with Monongalia in constructing a bridge across Sandy creek 7 6 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA which was their boundary until the creation of Marion county in 1842, after which it became successively the boundary between Ran dolph and Marion, then between Marion and Barbour (1843) and finally between Barbour and Taylor (1844). In 1832 steps were taken to raise money by lottery to build a road from Beverly to Mor gantown. Development, with few exceptions, was slow. The first saw mill at Mingo (upper end of the county) was built near Valley Head in 1822 and the wagon which hauled the irons for the mill was the first that crossed the mountains to Mingo. The first grist mill in the upper fifteen miles of the river was built about 1820 or 1822. Outside the valleys of Tygarf s river and Leading creek the ter ritory of Bandolph was occupied but slowly — • and a century later much of the forest land remained undisturbed. Even after half a century few houses were built of sawed lumber. A saw mill introduc ed near Valley Head in 1822 was probably the only one in the county in 1835 and perhaps for several years later. Even in 1840 there were few settlements except along the Cheat and in the narrow bottoms of the larger creeks toward the northern end of the county. In 1853 there were large tracts entirely uninhabited and almost inaccessible. Changes in markets and transportation are illustrated in the case of David Blackman who, being engaged in the mercantile business at Beverly from 1824 until the civil war, hauled his goods first from Bal timore, then from Winchester, then from Cumberland and later from Fetterman. The chief source of wealth in the county in the ante-bel lum period was live stock — a product which exported itself to the east ern market. The population of Beverly in 1845 — three years before it was incor porated as the "Borough of Beverly" — was about 200. The popula tion of the originally larger county which reached its highest point in 1840 (6,208) suffered a reduction from 5,243 in 1850 to 4,990 in 1860 — due to the loss of territory to form Tucker county in 1856. At the close of the Indian troubles the few people of the northern end of Randolph in scattered settlements along upper Cheat in the vicinity of Leading creek turned to the hard work of clearing small spaces on which they cultivated small crops of corn from which to make corn bread. During a part of the autumn they hunted deer and bear— and in the earliest years sometimes found buffaloes, which, however, were never as plentiful as in the region of Buckhannon, Clarksburg and farther west along the Ohio. At an early date a sash mill was operated in the county by N. M. EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 77 Parsons and George M. Parsons. Among other later ones was that built on Cheat as early as 1830 by Arnold Bonnifield who operated it continually for thirty-five years. The first commercial demand for lumber outside the county was created by the, construction of a bridge over Cheat at the crossing of the Northwestern pike, five or six miles above Bowlesburg. Much of the lumber used in the bridge was saw ed by Bonnifield, hauled to the river and built into rude rafts which were driven by the current to their destination. Beginning about 1852 and continuing long after the civil war, the main Cheat river for about twenty or twenty-five miles above the rail road was somewhat developed by an enterprising company which sought ship-timber for the English market and had mill-works lo cated at Bowlesburg. After 1860 portable and stationary steam saw mills rapidly increased, replacing the old water-power mills by which seven-eighths of the timber both for home and foreign use had been manufactured. As late as 1840 there were very few settlers except along the river and in the narrow bottoms of the larger creeks. The region called "Canada" and the land of Canaan — a high basin surrounded by moun tains, the Backbone on the west and the Allegheny on the east — was an uninhabited wilderness. From the head of Black Fork to Fair fax stone was an unbroken forest of trees which stood so thick that their branches interlocked for miles completely shutting out the sun light from the soil below. Bears and panthers travelled through tun nels which they had broken through the thickets in all directions. Al though the wilderness of the mountains was largely unbroken , oc casionally among the hills appeared 'the cabin of a settler who was opening a farm. In 1836 settlement was begun about the headwaters of Clover run. The first cabin was without door, floor or chimney but it attracted other settlers who obtained lands and by 1840 the neighborhood consisted of five families (including about thirty chil dren) who had begun the earnest work of breaking up the thick for ests and its dens of panthers and bears, and had also built a round- poled, floorless school house in which their children might be able to obtain some rudiments of an education. Canaan valley and the sur rounding plateau country remained practically undisturbed until the forest fire of 1865 which was soon followed by other "burnings" start ed by hunters. The people of the northern end of Randolph, long dissatisfied with the inconveniences of the journey to the county seat at Beverly over bad roads between settlements separated by large tracts of woods, re peatedly agitated the subject of a new county even before the revival 78 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA of the activity resulting from the new industrial opportunities opened to them by the construction of the railroad through the neighboring- woods on the north at the middle of the cehtury. The decisive step was finally taken in the winter of 1854 by a meeting at the residence of Enoch Minear in the old stone house at St. George — which was then called Westernford. Through the influence of strong petitions and strong lobbying, supplemented by the enthusiastic assistance of Judge John Brannon of Lewis county in the legislature, early in 1856 the new county of Tucker was created with the seat of justice at St. George — which remained the county seat until long after the war. The size of the county was later increased by the addition of a strip of territory taken from Barbour. The total population in 1860 was. only 1,428. When Tucker was created, a few of its citizens foresaw a future of greater industrial prosperity. Abe Bonnifield, viewing the principal ridge of Backbone mountain along the side of which the sugar maples belonging to W. B. Parsons were falling beneath the axes of his slaves, saw the promise of rich grazing' plantations. Considering the unoc cupied regions of the land of Canaan which had recently come into the market, he expected to see a new tide of emigration. Knowing that coal had been discovered about 1835 on the sugar lands, and about 1855 on the other side of the mountain, he had confidence that, the rail road projected in 1856 up the North Branch from Piedmont on the Baltimore and Ohio would soon be built, and that its terminus would be in the coal lands of Tucker. The realization of his dreams which came in surplus measure thirty years later, was doubtless postponed in part by the war of secession in which he was a participant in the Confederate service. 5. ALONG THE OHIO. At Wheeling, which early became an important outfitting point for flatboat traffic, the first post office was established in 1794. By 1795 mail boats carried mail between Wheeling and Cincinnati (by four relays) in six days downstream, and twelve days upstream. After the Indian treaty of 1795, additional facilities were secured by estab lishing land routes. In 1801 the road connecting it with Pennsylvania and Morgantown on the Monongahela were repaired. Its first physician arrived in 1803. Its first newspaper (The Repository) was issued as early as 1807. From 1818 it became the principal town of the panhandle. With the approaching completion of the National Toad to the Ohio, business men from other places arrived and began EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 79 to promote new enterprises which received little attention from the older inhabitants whose money was invested in lands'. The first manufacture of window glass began in 1820. The first iron mill was erected in 1834. The first medical society was organized in 1835, and the first hospital was established in 1850. The development of Wheeling as a municipality began in January, 1806, when it was incorporated as a village. In 1810 it had 914 inhabitants. By the building of the Cumberland road to the Ohio river in 1818, and the subsequent extension through the state of Ohio, the town received additional prominence as an avenue and distributing point for passengers and freight east and west, until the turnpike was superseded by railroads. The population increased rapidly. In 1836 the town was incorporated as a city and the water works were built. In 1847 telegraphic communication was obtained by ¦a tap-wire from the main line under construction along the opposite bank of the river. In the same year the project of building a bridge over the Ohio river at Wheeling, which had been previously advocated unsuccessfully by several western states as a national measure before Congress, was revived by the people of Wheeling as a private enter prise, and under a charter from the state of Virginia a suspension bridge with a clear span of 1,010 feet was in 1849 built over the main ohannel, and connected with the Ohio shore by a pier bridge previously built — the two structures being subsequently protected by an act of Congress declaring them post-roads. The suspension span was blown •down in 1854, and was rebuilt during the same year. The corner stone of Wheeling's prosperity to 1860 was the Ohio. In 1830 the city was made a port of delivery, and boatbuilding which had been carried on to some extent previously became one of its important industries. Its position as the largest town in western Virginia was also influenced by the vast number of emigrants who passing through it en route to the middle and farther west, increased its trade and gave it an atmosphere of business. Its population in creased steadily from 914 in 1810 to 1,567 in 1820, 5,221 in 1830 and 7,885 in 1840. Its connection with the East was facilitated by the •completion of the Baltimore and Ohio to Cumberland, enabling it to secure goods from Baltimore in seven days. From 1849 to 1879, ninety-nine steamboats, varying from 651 to 1J/. tons burden were launched from Wheeling boatyards. The quality, abundance, and location of the coal strata adjacent to Wheeling induced the establish ment of other -manufactures, notably of glass and iron, at an early date; and wagons, furniture and other similar products, were turned 80 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA out in considerable quantities for western and southern markets. With the establishment of such manufacturers came a further pro portionate increase of the population of the city, besides a very con siderable increase in its suburban towns and villages. The growth was assisted largely by the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio rail way to Wheeling in 1853, and the completion of its branch con nection with the West, Northwest and South. It was also aided by the completion of the Cleveland and Pittsburg railroad and other branches of the Pennsylvania system, and of minor roads, opening up communication with adjacent territory. In 1848, the gas works, now owned by the city, were begun by a private corporation. In 1851-52 the building known as Washington Hall, which was subse- mently burnt and replaced by the present structure, was erected ; and in 1859 the custom-house, post-office, and the United States court building, were constructed. Development in Brooke county was also rapid. At an early day Wellsburg was the rival of Wheeling for travel between East and West. Until 1818 she was one of the most noted shipping points on the upper Ohio — even exceeding Wheeling in exports. Her first bank began operations in 1813 but was closed in 1815. Though she lost by the decision which made Wheeling the terminus of the National road, she renewed her rivalry with desperate zeal in 1825 when the question of repairs on the road revived her hope of securing a more northern route. To divert travel from the route via Wheeling, she projected the Wellsburg and Washington turnpike which was soon abandoned in despair and allowed to languish for many years. In 1832 she obtained the establishment of a branch of the Northwestern Bank of Virginia. In 1834 she was disappointed in her expectation to become a prominent point on a railway between Washington, Pennsylvania and the Ohio canal at Stillwater. The Bethany turn pike, connecting with a turnpike to Washington, was surveyed and graded in 1850 and macadamized gradually thereafter. The early settlers depended largely upon the New Orleans market, but trading by packhorse over the mountains continued until the opening' of the Mississippi was assured. The distilling and milling business was begun in 1807 and flourished for many years. Distilleries almost succumbed by 1836 and ceased to operate by 1845. The flouring business also declined with the deterioration of the land and the opening of new areas else where. Glass works were erected in 1813 and cotton manufacture became prominent in 1829. Boat building also thrived for awhile. Courtesy of IF. Va. Geological Survey. Wellsbukg-Bethajmy Turnpike Tunnbll. (With "Morgantown" Sandstone above.) EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 81 Bethany college was founded in 1841. The town of Bethany was laid out in 1847 by Alexander Campbell who in 1827 had secured the establishment of a post-office at his residence there, by agreeing to carry the mail free twi^e a week between his house and West Liberty. In the territory inc' aded in Hancock county, one of the earliest industries was the manufacture of iron at a furnace which was erected on King's creek between 1790 and 1800 and continued in operation for several years. The formation of Hancack county in 1848 was the sequence of an earlier plan to move the county seat of Brooke from Wellsburg to the more central point at Holliday's Cove. Fearful of losing the court house the people near Wellsburg voted with the people farther north for a division of the older county. ' New Cumberland was laid out in 1839 and enlarged in 1848 and 1850. It obtained a post office in 1844. At the formation of Hancock it was selected as the county seat by popular election, but the county court which sat at New Manchester (now Fairview) refused to re move the records until after a second election (1850). On a third vote to settle the question, New Cumberland lost by one vote (1852) resulting in the return of the records to New Manchester and the settlement of the county seat question for a quarter of a century. Along the Ohio below Wheeling, development was less rapid. On the site of Mr. Tomlinson's earlier town which had decayed after its failure in the competition with Wheeling for the county seat, Moundsville was laid off in 1831 and established as a town by act of 1832. New Martinsville, at which a hotel was erected in 1807, was established as a town in 1838 and became the county seat of the new county of Wetzel at its creation in 1848. Its earliest church building was erected by the Methodists in 1854 under the pastorate of J. J: Dolliver. Sistersville, through its advantages as a convenient boat landing assumed some importance as a promising town by the middle of the century. The Sistersville and Salem turnpike, begun in 1840, was completed in 1848. At the mouth of Middle Island creek, St. Marys was founded in 1849 by Alexander H. Creel who came from eastern Virginia in 1834. Near its site the earliest settlement was probably made before 1797. Several settlements were made along the Middle Island creek early in the nineteenth century. Mr. Creel in 1834 purchased land on the site of the future St. Marys, but in 1837 he located at the mouth of Green's run, a mile below, and established a village which he named Vaucluse and from which he obtained interior communi- 82 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA cation by a road called the Ellenboro Pike, intersecting the North western turnpike at the site of the present post office of Pike. By jts terminal facilities, Vaucluse became a central point for the distribution of goods on both sides of the river, and for awhile seriously affected the monopoly of trade previously enjoyed by Parkers burg — even causing several Parkersburg merchants to establish "wholesale houses" there. Finding the site too contracted for a town, Mr. Creel in 1847 returned to the site of St. Mary's and in 1849 made a lot survey of the proposed town at the same time giving one acre to the future county of Pleasants on which to erect a court house. To secure connections with the interior a road was con structed to join the Vaucluse pike at the top of the hill. The St. Mary's pike to Parkersburg was built in 1848-50. The population increased rapidly and business became active — stimulated especially by a wagon trade with interior points, including Clarksburg which shipped goods by flat boat or steamer to pioneer settlements farther west. This trade declined after the construction of the railway to Parkersburg, which offered special inducements for the abandonment of the Middle Island route. At the mouth of the Little Kanawha industrial and social develop ment was retarded for a generation. The first licensed tavern or ordinary was kept by Hugh Phelps on the south side in 1789. For some time, settlers at the mouth and along the river above received their mail at Marietta. By 1818, the steamboat began to create a new era for the pioneer. The population at Parkersburg was scarcely 200 (some say about 400) by 1832. In 1833, the first newspaper was established. As late as 1830 to 1835 there were few carriages in the region. The larger development of the town dates from the com pletion of the Northwestern turnpike (in 1837) and the Staunton turnpike (in 1843), both bringing business and traffic which in creased the value of steamboat connection. By 1844 the population was about 1400. In 1839 the Northwestern Bank of Virginia was established. The new stimulus received from the completion of rail way connection with the East in 1857 was re-enforced by the oil development after 1859. In the interior, east of Parkersburg, Harrisville was located and laid out in 1822 in a sparsely settled region. It became a post office in 1830, and the county seat of the new county of Eitchie in 1843. Pennsboro, the oldest post office in Eitchie came into existence about 1820. Smithfield was established as a town in 1842. Below Parkersburg at Belleville, which Mr. Avery had established EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 83 on his tract fronting five miles on the river, the expectations of the founder were never realized. In 1806 Mr. Avery had lost heavily from a fire, started by incendiaries, which destroyed his grain-filled barn, and his grist and saw mill. In 1807, after failing in the ship building business in which he had largely invested, he was confined in the Wood county jail for debt. At the same time development on the Ohio below Belleville was prevented by the high price demanded for the land by the heirs of Washington whose will had admonished the executors not to dispose of it too cheaply and had suggested a price of $10.00 per acre. At the site of Eavenswood on which already stood a black smith shop, a ferry was established across the Ohio in 1831, the first stock of goods for a store arrived in 1832 and the nucleus of the town was laid out in 1836. The first church building was erected in 1837. The first resident physician arrived in 1841. In the decade after 1840, the chief industries were lumber sawing and boat build ing. In 1849 the town secured a post office and in 1860 it had a population of 250 or 300 who became very nearly divided on the question of the war. During the war the town was almost deserted. Its subsequent growth began about 1870. In the northern part of Mason county within the large bend of the Ohio, Mason City was laid out opposite Pomeroy in 1852 by coal operators who found a market for their product principally at Cin cinnati and Baton Eouge. These operators were later succeeded by a company which long after the war used all its own coal for the manufacture of salt, which was sold to the Ohio Salt company of Pomeroy. The town was incorporated in 1856, coincident with the opening of its first salt well and salt furnace by the Mason City Salt company, which later also opened new coal mines which were operated until 1882. At the same time its industrial activity was increased by the establishment of its first saw mill resulting soon thereafter in the opening of a boat yard. Although even early in 1774, the mouth of the Great Kanawha was a resting place for surveyers and their attendants and a rendezvous for explorers and restless pioneers, the real pioneers of Mason county were the occupants of Fort Bandolph and the settlers who, after the danger from the Indians had subsided, established log-cabin homes in the unbroken wilderness along the two rivers. At Point Pleasant — although Boone lived there in 1786 and ferries were established over both rivers by Thomas Lewis in 1791, and although a few other cabins began to appear around the old fort by 1794 and an inn was 84 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA opened in 1797 — the growth of community life was long retarded by the size and price of the tracts held by absentee landlords, and by the difficulty of establishing titles to lands while at the same time on the Ohio side of the river lands could be bought at a reasonable price and in small tracts suitable for farms for real settlers. In 1806 Thomas Ashe in his description said that the town contained about forty houses frame and log with an aspect indicating no prospective increase. "The few disconsolate inhabitants who go up and down, or lie under the trees," said he, "have a dejected appearance and exhibit the rav age of disease in every feature and the tremor of ague in every step. Their motive for settling the town must have been to catch what they can from persons descending the river and from people emigrating from the south western part of Virginia, with a view to settling lower down the river, and who must make Point Pleasant a place of deposit and embarkation. Were it not for the unhealthiness of the town, it would not be unreasonable to presume that this circumstance would render it in time a place of consid erable note." In 1807 Cuming saw only "TWenty-one indifferent houses including a, court house of square logs." In 1820 The Navigator described it as a village of "fifteen or twenty fam ilies, a log court house, log jail and (as usual in the Virginia towns) a pil lory and a whipping post." Henry Clay who later was on a steamer which stopped at the town com pared it to a "beautiful woman clothed in rags." The first practising physician in this region was Dr. Jesse Bennett (one of the jurors in the trial of Burr) whose practice extended from Point Pleasant to Marietta and from Lewisburg to ChiUicothe. Among the earliest industrial establishments were distilleries and tanneries. A new court house and jail were completed in 1826. The town was incorporated in 1833 and again in 1840 and soon there after coincident with the extermination of wolves in the neighboring region its business was increased by the opening of a ship yard. The first bank, a branch of the Merchants #nd Mechanics bank of Wheel ing, was opened in 1854. The Charleston and Point Pleasant turn pike company, organized in 1837, constructed a road which after the destruction of its principal bridges by the unusual flood of 1847 be came impassable for wheeled vehicles and useless except for neigh borhood travel. Below the mouth of the Great Kanawha, in Cabell county, develop ment was early influenced by the opening of the state road through Teay's valley and later by the construction of the Kanawha turn pike which connected with Ohio steamer lines at Guyandotte. Guyan dotte after a steady growth was incorporated and extended in 1849, and its prospects were brightened by the incorporation of the Guyan dotte Navigation company which built locks and dams to secure navigation for the transportation of timber at all seasons of the year. EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 85 The Cabell and Logan Coal company was incorporated in 1852, the Bank of Guyandotte in 1854, and the Guyandotte Biver Bailroad in 1858. 6. ALONG THE GREAT KANAWHA. Up the Kanawha from Mason, in the territory which was included in Putnam at its formation in 1848, the oldest town was Buffalo, laid out in 1834 (incorporated in 1837) and named from the earliest post office which was removed to it from the mouth of Big Buffalo creek four miles above. At Winfield, on the site of a ferry which had been established in 1818, the first hotel was opened in 1850 and the first church built in 1856. ' Farther up the Kanawha above the head of Teay's valley, earlier development was favored both by location on an earlier route of travel and by various local influences — especially by the salt industry which became prominent after 1808. At Coalsmouth, however, there was little industrial development for a generation. In 1816 Colonel Philip Thompson of Culpepper, Virginia arrived at Coalsmouth with his family and purchased a part of the George Washington survey on the Kanawha at that point. Here he built his home and was later followed by others from eastern Virginia. In 1834, three years after the place had become a "stage stand," he laid off part of his farm into town lots and named the place Philippi, which after his death in 1837 continued to be known as Coalsmouth, (the name of the post- office). In 1856, Samuel Benedict of Pennsylvania laid out adjoining lots and called the town Kanawha City — a name by which it was known until the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio furnished the impetus for an additional lot sale. A general store and merchant mill, established about 1820 a mile below the mouth of Coal, was later moved to Coalsmouth and proved a profitable enterprise. After the improvements were made up Coal at Peytonia, the work of the mill greatly increased. Another early industry was the manufacture of lumber by whipsaw, and the construction of flatboats for the trans portation of salt from the Kanawha salines to lower river markets. About 1858 the first saw mill was built at the mouth of Coal. Charleston had a steady growth, although slow in the earlier years. Its first awakening was marked by the authorization of the first ferry across the Kanawha and the Elk in 1794 and the establishment of 86 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the first post office in 1801.* Its earlier growth was greatly stimulated by the development of the neighboring salt worKs at the Kanawha Salines after 1808. Its first tub mill was built below the mouth of Elk in 1805, followed by later saw mills erected on Two Mile creek of Elk between 1815 and 1820. Its first steam flour mill was erected by David and Daniel Buffner in 1832. The first clock and watch maker came in 1808 and the first regular merchants began business in 1813. There were several tailors by 1822. The first resident physician arrived in 1811, but the first drug store waited until 1825. The first local newspapers were the Spectator established in 1818 or 1819, the Kanawha Patriot in 1819, the "Western Courier" in 1820 and the Western Begister in 1829. The erratic lawyer who founded the Spectator soon became principal of Mercer Academy which was founded in 1818 and sustained a "Law Department" by 1823. A library was opened by 1823. A Sunday school, although strongly opposed, was opened in 1823. A new era of growth was stimulated by the opening of steam navigation in 1820 — resulting in steamboat connection with Cin cinnati about 1823 — and especially by the opening of the Kanawha turnpike and the increasing traffic which followed. The first bank, a branch of the Bank of Virginia, was established in 1832. The first church building was that of the Presbyterians erected in 1828. It was followed by that of the Methodists erected in 1833 and that of the Episcopalians erected in 1834. The Kanawha telegraph com pany (organized 1849) constructed a telegraph from Kanawha Salines via Charleston and Point Pleasant to Gallipolis in 1852. A wire suspension bridge over the Elk was erected in 1852. In 1853-57, the salt industry on the Kanawha was impoverished to satisfy the demands of the salt men of Meigs county, Ohio, and Mason county, Virginia, who formed the Ohio Biver Salt company which was not dissolved until 1872. As the manufacture of salt be came a "vanishing industry," the mining of cannel coal arose into prominence largely through the investment of foreign capital which was attracted by the reports of the exploration of Kanawha coal de posits by Professor W. B. Bogers of the University of Virginia in 1839 and to 1841. Several coal companies, organized between 1849 and 1856 to operate on the Kanawha, Elk and Coal rivers, were the forerunners of business expansion and increasing prosperity. In 1857 ?Charleston was on the mail route extending from Lewisburg to Scioto Salt Works in 1804 and from Lewisburg to ChiUicothe for several years after 1808. About 1811 a mail route was established between Kanawha Court House and Gallipolis, and in 1814 there was a route from Boyei's to Catlettsburg. EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 8t the Kanawha Cannel Coal Mining and Manufacturing company erected at Charleston buildings for use in the manufacture of cannel coal oil. In 1858, the Corwin Cannel Coal company erected buildings at Mill creek seven miles up Elk. All the various companies ad vertised for all classes of laborers in 1859 and were in a prosperous condition in 1860. Along the upper Kanawha and lower New, Fayette county was created in 1831, from Kanawha, Greenbrier, Nicholas and Logan. The county seat which at first was located at New Haven (in Mountain Cove district) was removed in 1837 to the site of Fayetteville (then called Vandalia) where court was held in the house (or tavern) of Abraham Vandall until public buildings could be completed. The vote by which Vandalia woii against New Haven in the election contest was obtained by strategy. According to Colonel G. W. Imboden on the authority of his father-in-law (Colonel William Tyree) enough votes (of qualified free holders) to carry the election were secured by Hiram Hall, the first county clerk, by a liberal dis tribution of one-acre tracts of land with no specified boundaries. Shortly before the war, the history of Montgomery began with the arrival of boats from Cincinnati and other points on the Ohio to unload goods at Montgomery Landing which was then the distributing point for merchants in Wyoming, Mercer, Baleigh, McDowell, Nicholas and Fayette counties. From it they also shipped tobacco, hides, wool and other products. Oak Hill, near which Peter Bowyer operated a water-power mill as early as 1820, received its name later from the earliest postoffice established at Hill Top on the mail route from Fayetteville to Baleigh Court House (now Beckley). On the site of Glen Jean, a water-power mill was operated as early as 1850, and a post office was established soon after 1854. 7. INTERIOR SOUTH OF THE GREAT KANAWHA. In the interior south of the Kanawha, development was usually long retarded. On the Madison map of Virginia of 1807 corrected to 1818 no towns are indicated in any part of the interior region and only one public road is represented — a road from the Kanawha via Loup's creek and upper Piney to Pack's Ford at the mouth of the Bluestone, and beyond through Monroe. In the original county of Logan, formed in 1824 from Giles, Kanawha, Cabell and Tazewell, the county seat was located at Lawns- ville or Logan Court House which was laid off in 1827. It received its earliest mails by horse over a post-road from Charleston. About 88 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 1850 it obtained better communication with Charleston by a state road through Boone which for many years was travelled by long trains of wagons from the interior. Boone was formed in 1847 from Kanawha, Cabell and Logan. The county seat was at first located at the mouth of Spruce Fork which was unsatisfactory to the people. By an election authorized by legis lative act of 1848 to settle the question, the location was changed to a point near the mouth of Turkey creek. The earliest road in the territory included in the county was a pack horse road via Marmet to Maiden and Charleston at which the early settlers found a market for ginseng, venison, and bear hams. The first post offices in the county were established at Ballardsville and Madison. The largest industrial stimulus after the opening of the state road from Logan to Charleston was the work of the Peytonia Cannel Coal company which in 1854 placed locks and dams in the Coal river and erected an ex tension mining plant at Peytonia. Raleigh county was formed from Fayette in 1850. Beckleyville (now Beckley), incorporated in 1850 coincident with its selection as the county seat, received its early growth largely through the activities of General Alfred Beckley who in 1836 married Miss Amelia Neville Craig of Pittsburg, resigned his commission as first lieutenant in the army, and removed to Fayette county to improve a body of unsettled lands (now in Baleigh) for his widowed mother and himself. Largely through Beckley's influence, the Giles, Fayette and Kanawha turn pike, authorized by acts of 1837 and 1839, was constructed from Giles Court House, via Red Sulphur, Indian creek, the Bluestone to its' mouth, Flat Top mountain, Beaver creek, Beckley's, Loup creek and Fayette Court House to the Kanawha. Wyoming county was formed in 1850 from Logan. McDowell was formed in 1858 from Tazewell, by a legislative act which declared that the county seat should be called Peerysville and appointed a committee to locate it. Both counties long remained largely isolated by lack of roads. In 1805, although it had become the abode of many of the "old families," the region along the Big Sandy and the Guyan dotte was one of the wildest of western Virginia — a famous hunting ground for bears which fattened on the chestnuts and acorns and furnished many valuable glossy hides to decorate the soldiers of the two contending armies in Europe. The pioneers along the Big Sandy and neighboring country often belonged to the best families of the older East, and some of them brought slaves with them as well as the household goods which they EARLY INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL EXPANSION 89 carried on the backs of horses. For their products they found the earliest markets down the Ohio. For the up-river conveyance for their larger purchases, they used flat boats above the Sandy. They received their earliest mails from Catlettsburg, Kentucky. To make their earliest exchanges they went to the mouth of the river and continued to Burlington, Ohio (three miles below) or to Limestone. In 1815 or 1816, Joseph Ewing began store-keeping one-fourth, mile above the mouth of Sandy in Virginia. Farther up the river, Frederick Moore established a store which from 1815 to 1834 secured the larger part of the Sandy trade. Coming west from Philadelphia with goods, he reached the forks of Sandy six years before Louisa became a town. He purchased tracts of land on both sides of the river. In 1818 he sent for his wife and children and established him self below the "forks" on the Virginia side. Among the earlier industries in the Sandy valley was salt manu facture. As early as 1795 salt was made on lands belonging to Henry Clay on Middle Island creek in Floyd county, Kentucky, ten miles from Prestonburg (founded 1799). Near the mouth of Blain on the Virginia side of Sandy, considerable salt was made as early as 1813. Warfield on Tug received its earliest stimulus from salt works established before the war by Governor John B. Floyd and brothers of Tazewell county. The new county of Wayne was formed from the southwestern part of Cabell in 1842, and the county seat was located at Trout's Hill (at Wayne) . Ceredo was founded on the Ohio in 1857 by Eli Thayer who had dreams of founding a great manufacturing city there co incident with his activities to aid the emigration of anti-slavery men to Kansas. Fairview was incorporated in 1860. IV. Historic Highways Four prominent roads which crossed the territory of West Virginia at different points exerted a great influence on the development of the region through which they passed. 1. THE NATIONAL CUMBERLAND ROAD. The earliest and most famous highway across the mountains was the Cumberland or National road, whose Ohio terminus was largely determined by the preference for Wheeling as a place of embarkation in dry seasons because of obstacles in the river between Wheeling and Steubenville. The road was projected largely through the influence of Gallatin and completed through the influence of Clay. In 1803 at the admission of Ohio as a state, provision was made to connect it with seaboard by a road to be constructed by the United States from a fund arising from proceeds of sale of United States lands located within the boundaries of the new state. In 1805, com missioners appointed to examine routes finally selected one extending from Cumberland to Washington by the shortest portage from Atlantic navigation to Ohio river waters. After considerable delay, caused in part by insufficient funds from the land sales, Congress began to build the road in 1811; and, in response to the popular demand for its completion, first authorized advance treasury loans based upon expectations of future sales of land, and finally made additional appropriations openly with no pretense of a loan. The road was well-built. In the middle of a cleared space of sixty feet in width, there was a leveled strip thirty feet wide, in the middle ¦ of which was the strip of road bed twenty feet wide and covered with small crushed stone eighteen inches deep in the center and sloping to a depth of twelve inches at the sides. In 1815, before its completion to the Ohio, it was used for the "Great Western Mail" upon which prepayment of postage was re quired for the special service. The road was opened to Wheeling in 1818, although a section between Uniontown and Brownsville was not yet completed. Its immediate influence was felt, not only along its route across the northern panhandle, but also across the entire unci improver,* piix . . - . "': jgBn -- 4m9bBh^^H^H *6 , ! . w x^ ¦A.'-^S^^pj IS" View Of Cheat River (From the B. & O. Railroad, near Rowlesburg). THE FIRST RAILROAD 111 The company was organized with a capital of $3,000,000 of which $500,000 was subscribed by Maryland, $500,000 by Baltimore. The remainder was promptly secured by subscriptions at Baltimore, Fred erick and Hagerstown. On April 5, 1828 the engineers reported on their survey* and on July 4 amidst imposing ceremonies the corner stone of the road was laid by Charles Carroll of CarroUton, the only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Soon discovering by actual work that the cost of construction had been underestimated, the company increas ed the capital stock to $5,000,000 and made an effort to secure from Congress an appropriation which failed through the opposition of the canal lobby. • The first brigade of cars, each operated by one horse, began tri- •daily trips between "Baltimore and Ellicott City on May 24, 1830 at a rate varying from seven to thirteen miles an hour. Soon thereaf ter experiments were made with a lighter "sailing" car rigged with a mast and square sails to catch the force of the wind. Later, a horse motor car of the tread-mill pattern was tried. Finally, in August 1830, Peter Cooper made the trial trip of the first American locomo tive — a working model improved for the occasion and constructed in a carriage maker's shop. Although on the return trip the crude lo comotive lost in the historic race with the gray horse, it solved the prob lem of steam power for the railroad. The completion of the track to Point of Bocks on the Potomac, on April 1, 1832, was followed by a steadily increasing traffic and travel irom the river above which assured the future success of the road and indicated that it had outgrown the earlier conception of a mere im proved form of toll road. At this point the enterprise was halted by a decision of the Court of Appeals in favor of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which contested the right to occupy the narrow valley of the Potomac and generously invited the railroad company to abandon its work and devote its resources to the completion of the canal. By in terference of the legislature which compelled a compromise, the rail road company subscribed for 2500 shares of the canal stock and sub mitted to obnoxious regulations to prevent fright of the tow-path *The engineers made reconnaissances or surveys on several routes terminating on the Ohio at various points from Pittsburg on the north to Parkersburg on the south One of the early routes surveyed passed down Muddy creek in Preston and -down Decker's creek via Morgantown and across the southwest corner of Pennsyl vania The change of route may have been partly due to the opposition shown both in Monongalia county and in Greene county (Pennsylvania) by people who feared the innovation would seriously affect the price of horses and horse feed, and the lives of wives and children and of cows and hogs. "Compel them to stop at Cumberland " they said in their meetings, "and then all the goods will be wagoned through our country, all the hogs will be fed with our corn, and all the horses with ¦our oats We don't want our wives and our children frightened to death. * * * We don't want our hogs and cows run over and killed." 112 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA horses — including a demand 'to haul its trains by horses through the passes along side the canal. After securing the repeal of these petty regulations, the directors of the road, after May, 1833, pushed their tracks forward to Wager's Bridge opposite Harpers Ferry at which connection was made with the short Winchester and Potomac road on December 1, 1834, produc ing an immediate stimulus to the business of the road, coincident with the introduction of better cars and additional engines and the inven tion of various devices such as switches and turn tables. At this point westward extension was abandoned for several years during which the Democratic legislature of Virginia from 1835-1838 continued to deny the requests of the company for authority to con struct its lines through the Whig counties of central Virginia. In 1837, after reports of reconnaissances of the engineers from Harpers Ferry to Wheeling and from Cumberland to Pittsburg had been made, the directors recommended the extension of the line to Cumberland at a cost of $4,600,000. Although 'Maryland and Baltimore each agreed to subscribe $3,000,000 and Maryland paid her subscription in bonds, no money was available either to meet the additional cost of new construction or to rebuild the crude and inadequate experimental road already constructed to meet the necessities of growing traffic, and it was necessary to overcome objections to the extension of the railway parallel to the canal. 2. HARPERS FERRY TO CUMBERLAND. Finally,' in 1838, construction through Virginia territory was made possible by an extension of the time limit of the earlier charter for five years by the Virginia legislature on the condition that the route should pass through Virginia from Harpers Ferry westward to a point near Cumberland and that Wheeling would eventually be one the termini. At the same time Virginia added a new subscription of $1,058,420 to the subscription of $302,100 made to the stock of the company in 1836. In the face of overwhelming difficulties the directors, adopting the expedient of paying bills by certificates redeemable in Baltimore city six per cent stock at par, began actual construction again in 1840 and completed the road to Cumberland on November 5, 1842. The exten sion increased the yearly earnings from $391,070 in 1842 to $575,- 205 in 1843 and $658,619 in 1844. At the same time there was a re duction in passenger rates due to the completion of Pennsylvania lines THE FIRST RAILROAD 113 of road.* The amount of transportation resulting from the wagon traffic over the National road was also smaller than had been antici pated, causing a disappointment which continued until the completion of the road to Wheeling. The effect of the road on the region through which it passed may be illustrated by Harpers Ferry which changed from a sleepy village to a sprightly town, and by Cumberland which increased in population from 1162 in 1830 to 6,105 in 1850 and be came the most important place between Baltimore and Wheeling. Failing in an attempt of 1844 to secure money from Europe to ex tend the road to the Ohio upon whose navigation the company largely relied for expectations of traffic, the directors in 1846 sold bonds at ten per cent discount to finance the reconstruction of the Baltimore-Harp ers Ferry section (81 miles) on which the antiquated plate-rail was replaced by the new edge-rail. 3. SELECTION OF ROUTE FROM CUMBERLAND TO THE OHIO. The postponement of further extension from 1842 to 1848 was due to lack of money and credit and to the difficulty of securing addition al legislation necessary to extend the time limit (1843) provided in the Maryland act of 1836 and the Virginia act of 1838. Although Maryland extended the time to 1863 by act of 1842 (which also or dered the sale of the state's interest in all internal improvements), Virginia delayed for several years. In 1845, however, the Virginia legislature was asked to consider a bill authorizing the extension of the line through Virginia to the Ohio but with no mention of a definite location for the terminus which was sought by almost every town along the river. The railroad company, seeking the shortest route of con nection with Cincinnati, preferred a river terminus at Parkersburg which probably had the best claims to advantages of geographical lo cation — especially in connection with the projected plans of the Mari etta and Cincinnati and the Cincinnati, Hillsboro and Parkersburg railways which were seeking an eastern route. Nevertheless, Parkers burg lost on the first skirmish. Mr. Edgington moved to amend the bill by specifying Wheeling as the terminus. Although the bill with the amendment became a law, the stockholders of the road rejected it, considering it impractical and its conditions (as to rates, taxation, routes, etc.) onerous. Meantime, the legislature of Pennsylvania, possibly influenced by the plans of the Pennsylvania railroad which •At one time the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company being Interested in the proposed Pittsburg and Connellsville railway were inclined to abandon the Wheelilng route in favor of the route to Pittsburg, and authorized a loan of $3,000,000 to build a connecting line to Connellsville. 114 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA was begun a year later, failed to pass a law authorizing the construc tion of the road by a route through western Pennsylvania. During the summer and fall of 1845 the struggle between Park ersburg and Wheeling was renewed on the home grounds. A con vention of those counties - favorable to the terminus of the road at Wheeling was held at Fairmont. Eesolutions were adopted in favor of the law of the preceding legislature. On November 23, 1845, at an internal improvement convention held at Clarksburg, resolutions were adopted in favor of a liberal charter for the railway. Discussion in the newspapers both in eastern and western Virginia was very full and often very amusing. Lengthy arguments were made concern ing the question whether the shortest distance from Baltimore to Cin cinnati could be .found through Parkersburg or through Wheeling. A dispute arose as to which place was the head of navigation. It was a matter of great importance whether up-river boats could reach the river terminal of the road all the year to deliver their cargoes. The real objections of tidewater Virginia to the enterprise, irre spective of the question of western terminus, were voiced by the Bich- mond Enquirer, which, after asserting that the road would result in no economic benefit to western Virginia equivalent to the extra tolls which it would charge on commodities produced along the route, ex posed the reason for its solicitude by solemnly warning the people that a railroad through that region would divert trade from Bich- mond to a rival city in a neighboring state. Another objection from a neighboring region was expressed by the Lynchburg Virginian which urged that a railroad in northwest Virginia would injure the projected James Biver and Kanawha system of improvements which the state proposed to connect by a canal across the Alleghenies. From this standpoint the completion of the railway to Parkersburg was much more dangerous than the completion of the proposed line to Wheeling, which passed through a peripheral region whose trade the tidewater section could no longer hope to control. To those who desired to push the Baltimore and Ohio as far out of the state as possible, the Wheel ing terminus seemed the least objectionable. In spite of a flood of petitions requesting the authorization of a rail way from the East via Clarksburg to Parkersburg, the Virginia legis lature in December 1845 failed to enact the Potomac and Ohio rail way bill and at the same time granted the Baltimore and Ohio three years to begin its line to Wheeling and fifteen years to finish it. The fight for a railway to Parkersburg was renewed with increased vigor. At Weston, in the summer, a general convention was attended THE FIRST RAILROAD 115 by 1400 delegates selected from various counties of the Parkersburg district. It especially expressed strong feeling against the unjust dis crimination of the Southeast against the prosperity of the Northwest whose representation under the existing constitution was too low. To counteract the effects of any railroad which Parkersburg was almost certain to secure by determined efforts, and to save the traffic of this section to eastern Virginia markets, tidewater interests plan ned a road from Lynchburg via the Valley of Virginia and down New river to steamboat navigation on 'the Kanawha and later proposed to complete it to Guyandotte on the Ohio. Similar interests also pro jected an all- Virginia road from Alexandria via Moorefield and Weston to Parkersburg. Finally, in March 1847, possibly influenced in part by the Pennsyl vania grant of the Connellsville railroad charter, the Virginia legisla ture became more friendly to the railway and granted an act authoriz ing the extension of the road through Virginia on restrictive terms ac ceptable to the company. This act providing for the beginning of construction within three years and completion within twelve and designated a route via Three Forks and the mouth of Tygart's Valley* and thence to the Ohio by either Grave or Fishing creek and along the Ohio to Wheeling. It also required all parts of the road between the Monongahela and the western terminus at Wheeling to be opened .simultaneously for the transportation of freight and passengers. It also annulled the stock subscriptions made by Virginia in 1837 and 1838 and made provisions as to connections, erection of depots, tax ation and other regulations. At the same time Wheeling Was given authority to subscribe $1,000,000. 4. CONSTRUCTION FROM CUMBERLAND TO WHEELING. In 1848, the large cost of the construction of the remaining two hun dred miles of extension to Wheeling, through the roughest region yet -traversed by an internal improvement in America, was partly made possible by funds and prestige secured from the sale of $1,000,000 of -"unsalable" state bonds to Baring Brothers with whom they had pre: viously been deposited as security for railway supplies. In 1848, also, -the management of the road adopted the policy of applying net reve nue as capital and of issuing stock dividends instead of money. It issued bonds for rails bought in London. The peculiarly difficult conditions were met by the ingenuity of Chief Engineer B. H. La- trobe and his assistants, and by the motive power supplied by the re- *This route was practically determined by the foresight of Thomas Haymond; representative from Marion county. 116 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA sourceful mind of Boss Winans, the indefatigable inventor and loco motive builder. In the summer and fall of 1848, Engineer Latrobe induced by the difficulties of a suitable route over the mountains and across the valleys of the Cheat river and Tygart's Valley river regions, secured the services of two other expert engineers. After careful sur veys, he reported the selection of a route on which construction was practicable. The estimated cost of the road was $6,278,000. Although some of the directors proposed to complete the road only to Fairmont, President Swann urged active measures to push it through to Wheeling as originally planned. The construction of the four years which followed (1849-52), through the mountains, over ra vines and rivers, through tunnels drilled in the rocky mountain-side, up steep ascents and around perilous curves, was achieved without ade quate funds to execute the matured plans and in the face of other ob stacles. Between Cumberland and Wheeling eleven tunnels were bored and 113 bridges were constructed. The bridge across the Mo nongahela, 650 feet in length, was then the largest iron bridge in America. In spite of engineering obstacles between Cumberland and Wheel ing the road was carried rapidly forward. The Wheeling end was built as a separate section. The first engine on that part of the road was brought to Wheeling via Pittsburg. In 1850 controversy and dissension arose in connection with the decision of the directors of the road to follow the Fish creek route to the ravine of the Ohio. At one time an attempt to stop the progress of the road in the state was made by the citizens of Wheeling who con tended for the Grave creek route to the Ohio. By law of March 21, 1850, the dispute was submitted to a board of engineers which made a decision adverse to the company. Bitter controversy was averted by the stockholders of the road who submitted to the desires of the people of Wheeling. At the same time Wheeling agreed to pay the road $50,000 for release from an agreement of 1847 to furnish right of way through the city streets and a depot on two acres of ground north of Wheeling creek. In spite of the previous scarcity of labor, the operations in 1850 were conducted by 3,500 laborers and 700 horses. Employment was given to the native inhabitants who sought work along the route, and the increased demand for food benefitted the people for miles around. New towns began to rise along the route — especially near the loca tion of tunnels and bridges. The completion of the section from Cum berland to Piedmont was celebrated in 1851 with a formidable excur- THE FIRST RAILROAD 117 sion from Baltimore. At the same time, Engineer Latrobe promised that trains would run into Wheeling by January 1, 1853. Then followed a series of triumphs over the difficulties in the moun tains. The road was pushed from Piedmont westward across Preston county, through the haunts of roaming pack-wolves, and parallel to the extensively travelled route whose immense throng of people was soon to be diverted to newer routes of more rapid travel. After pass ing over deep gorges on high trestle work, and over turbulent streams by heavy masonry work, at Tunnelton it passed through the longest railroad tunnel which had yet been constructed in the world and con tinued westward toward Fairmont creating new towns (Bowlesburg. Newburg etc.) in the region which was still sparsely settled, and bring ing the pioneer prospectors who prepared the way for the later era Df great industrial development based on coal and timber. In order to hasten the work westward beyond the site of the Kingwood tunnel which was not yet opened, and to get the road into Wheeling on sched ule time, a remarkable achievement was performed by conveyance of materials .over the top of the mountain on a temporary track which had a grade of 530 feet per mile. To this point cargoes of supplies, which for part of the year reached Morgantown from Pittsburg by steamboats, were transported by wagons from the head of the Monon gahela navigation. By the same route, or across the country from the National road, also came bands of Irish laborers inquiring their way to the "big toonel." Just above the site of Tunnelton, on Tunnel Hill, on the pike in the direction of Fellowsville a hamlet known as Greigsville sprang into ex istence, grew to a busy town resembling the frontier terminal stations of the later transcontinental Union-Pacific, and melted away with the cessation of the construction of railroad and tunnel. It was the scene of the termination of the "Irish War," of the combined factions of Connaughters and Corkers (about 500) against the Fardowners who, after being driven eastward from the scene of the construction camp at Fairmont and partially dispersed at Newburg, were finally relieved from further disturbance at Tunnel Hill by the prompt action of act ing sheriff, Colonel J. A. F. Martin who with a force of 130 men dis persed the invading force and arrested several leaders. Many of the Irish laborers, although in some instances they engaged in disturbing factional fights during the •construction of the road, became perma nent residents and contributed a useful element to the citizenship of the state. The new village of Tunnelton, the neighboring successor to the con- 118 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA structiontown of Greigsville, was located on the railway ten miles south of Kingwood, at the head of Pringle's run, where the primeval forests were first broken in the summer of 1849 by the railway surveyors who announced to the neighboring farmer-pioneers the advancing invasion of steam transportation on the Ohio. It was built on land acquired by Hon. James C. McGrew who, perceiving the advantageous position erected the first house and the first store which furnished the nucleus for the future town. It was largely supported at first by timber and lumber industry, to which was added a large tannery in 1858. Later Mr. McGrew, after opening mines and constructing tramways and other structures, began to mine and ship coal to supply the increasing, demand in eastern cities ; but he was forced to abandon his enterprise by a discirmination in freight rates in favor of other mines farther west in which railroad officials were interested. The first postoffice immediately followed the opening of the railroad. New industrial life began at many points and stimulated new en terprises. The stave industry was begun at Independence in 1853. The first circular saw mill which entered the County began operations- two miles south of Tunnelton in 1854. Another began work at Newburg in 1865 and a third at Austen in 1867 and three years later they were at work in other sections of the county. By 1852 Cran berry Summit and Bowlesburg had also become centers of consider able lumber and timber business, and coal mines were extensively op erated at Newburg- and Austen. Coal mines were opened at New burg in 1855 and at Austen eleven years later. The Orrel Coal com pany which operated the Newburg mines after 1856 also acquired tim ber lands. The revival of interest in the iron industry is shown by the construction of the Virginia Furnace on Muddy creek in 1853 by Har-, rison Hagans who shipped his product by rail to Cranberry Summit, and by the later enterprise of George Hardman near Independence (Irondale) in 1859 and at Glades ville in 1869. The demand for better highways was also increased. The West Union and 'Morgan- town turnpike was opened in 1854. Brandonville was connected with the railroad in 1857-58 by a turnpike terminating at Cranberry Sum mit. The rapid development of the region along the new railroad result ed in an unsuccessful attempt to remove the county seat from King- wood to the east side of Cheat at the suspension bridge. Kingwood increased its hold on the county seat in 1857 by erecting a fire brick courthouse to replace the small stone structure. This hold was strengthened a . year later by the establishment of Kingwood's first THE FIRST RAILROAD 119 newspaper; although in 1869, when the court house was burned by an incendiary, the question of removal to Cranberry Summit (later Port land and now Terra Alta) was agitated. With the gradual development of the eastern part of the county, there was a revival of the old boundary dispute with Maryland which persisted until it was finally settled by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1910 and the survey which followed. In November 1852, as the Baltimore and Ohio was pushing west ward through southern Preston and via Fairmont • to the Ohio at Wheeling, enterprising citizens of Preston and Monongalia counties desiring to develop the great mineral wealth of the region secured from the legislature the incorporation of a company to build a branch rail road by 1857 from the mouth of Cheat via Morgantown to intersect the Baltimore and Ohio at Independence.* Although the enterprise failed through lack of general interest and financial means, its in ception was prophetic of the great industrial development of the re gion half a century later. West of the southern part of Preston was a region retarded in devel opment organized as Taylor county in 1844 following the new stimu lus to greater development resulting from the opening of the North western turnpike. Its first village of any importance was Williams- port, or Pruntytown, situated near the ferry across Tygart's river, whose growth was influenced first by Bector College which reported 1101 students in 1840, and later by its selection as the county seat. In 1845 it had grown to a town of thirty dwellings, three stores and two churches. Wonderful changes in the industrial and social life of the country followed the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Shipments of cattle and other sources of wealth were made with larger profits. Timber resources were utilized, agricultural interests were improved, coal mines and other mineral deposits were opened, manu facturing and commercial interests flourished and thriving business centers were created. Fetterman, bright with prospects of rapid growth, became a way station only through enthusiastic over-confi-' dence of its citizens which induced them to elevate the price of land beyond that which the railroad promoters proposed to pay. •Monongalia county, regretting the earlier opposition which had been a factor in diverting the route of the road to Fairmont, made new efforts to escape from her comparative isolation. Enterprising citizens also urged another road — "The Monongahela and Ravenswood Railroad" — which the legislature incorporated in 1854 to connect Morgantown with the Ohio, but which never got beyond the paper stage of projection. This road was really conceived as a link connecting the Pennsyl vania lines with the Ohio at a terminal point which, situated below Parkersburg, wa.s believed to possess advantages over either Wheeling or Parkersburg as a satis factory head of navigation, and which therefore would give an advantage in securing control of the trade of the Ohio valley. At the same time, efforts were renewed to secure better facilities for river transportation on the Monongahela. 120 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Grafton, founded in the woods at Three Forks, — its first house con structed by Mr. McGraw one of the many "railroad Irish" whose de scendants have become prominent and useful in the affairs of the state — -grasped the opportunity which Fetterman failed to seize, obtained the location of railroad shops and buildings, became the division stop for the change of engines and crews, and later flourished as the termi nus of the Parkersburg branch known as the Northwestern Virginia railroad. Largely the creation of the Baltimore and Ohio, the new town also later received a new stimulus to growth by securing the lo cation of the court house which in 1878 was finally removed from Pruntytown. Its railroad facilities attracted capital to the town, gave it excellent manufacturing plants and made it quite a mercan tile center. Before the extension of branches of the Baltimore and Ohio it was the market for all the timber from Buckhannon and Val ley rivers — which was floated down and caught in the boom above the town, but later the timber was sawed nearer its source and the lumber shipped by railroad. West of Grafton construction was continued down Tygart's Valley to its mouth, thence following the oppposite side of the Monongahela to Fairmont to which the road was opened on January 22, 1852. Here a decided increase in the population of the county had begun in 1849 through the immigration which followed closely on the heels of the surveying engineers of the Baltimore and Ohio. Some of the emi grants were Irish, fresh from the bogs of C'onnaught and the lakes of Killarney, who carried with them all their local feuds and prejudices which induced them to transfer their sectional fighting from the old sod to the land of greater freedom and opportunity. In a locally fa- > mous riot in which the Connaughters who were employed at Ben ton's ferry attacked the Fardowners at Ice's mill and pursued them to Fairmont in an exciting chase punctuated by occasional gun-shots and hideous yells, the law abiding citizens of Fairmont proved themselves equal to the occasion by arresting all accessible assailants, eighty-eight of whom they placed in jail where they had an opportunity to study their first lessons in Americanization. The approaching railroad encouraged other local activities which furnished other incentives to industry and progress. These included the construction of three turnpikes each begun in 1849 — one to Weston another to Beverly and another to Fishing creek. In February 1850 Fairmont people were excited with delight by the first arrival of a steamboat — the Globe — resulting in the subsequent arrival of others which began to make regular trips in high water during 1852, and also producing local efforts to secure permanent navigation through organ- THE FIRST RAILROAD 121 ization of the Monongahela Navigation company* and attempts to in terest capitalists— efforts which failed largely through lack of suffi cient encouragement from the people of the county. A suspension bridge across the river to Palatine was completed in April 1852. In 1853 a state stock bank was organized. Bafting on the Monongahela to Pittsburg and lower points which began as early as 1840 continued until about 1890. A few years af ter the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio in 1852 much lumber cut by portable mills was shipped to Fairmont, Farmington and Man- nington. Westward from Fairmont the railway followed Buffalo creek and at the junction of Pyles creek furnished the stimulus for the creation of another town from a cluster of houses which as early as 1845 had been known at Koontown, in honor of Samuel Koon who built a tav ern and a store there. In 1852 the place was renamed Mannington for James Manning, a civil engineer of the new railroad; and in 1856 it was incorporated by the assembly. From 1853 it had a tannery and a good trade in timber products and farm products. Northwestward from Mannington, the route* continued up Pyles Fork, thence across the divide between Glover Gap and Burton to the upper waters of Fish creek (via Hundred and Littleton and Board Tree Tunnel) and finally across another divide to another stream which it followed from near Cameron to Moundsville. On the site upon which David McConaughey settled in 1846, Cameron began to grow and, by an increasing trade from Wetzel, Greene and Marshall counties, soon became one of the best business points between Graf ton and Wheeling. *A company was chartered by Virginia in 1847 to slack the Monongahela from the state line to Fairmont. In 1851 it became active in its efforts to obtain sub scriptions but failed. Its charter was extended by Virginia in 1853, and the Board • of Public Works was authorized to subscribe to its stock as soon as the Pennsyl vania company completed slack-water navigation to the state line. Morgantown, in March, 1853, become especially active in soliciting aid, and appointed a committee to institute suit against the Pennsylvania company to compel it to complete its work or forfeit its charter, but the suit was never brought. The charter of the Virginia company was revived in 1858, extending until 1868, the time for completing the work of slacking the river to Fairmont ; and again in ] 860. authorizing the ex tension of the work to Clarksburg. At that time the Pennsylvania Navigation Com pany had completed dams (1844) making the lower Monongahela navigable from Pittsburg to Brownsville, and (by 1856) to New Geneva; but assurances of aid from the Pennsylvania company came to naught, and civil war postponed the subject until the incorporation of the Marion and Monongahela Navigation company in 1863, and the amendment of its charter in February, 1867, so as to allow it to collect tolls on lumber and their freight as soon as one lock and dam should be completed. The project was fruitless as its predecessors and nothing was accomplished until Congress began a policy of appropriations in 1872. •When the Baltimore and Ohio was completed to Grafton, the company con templated a route westward from a point near Mannington via Fishing creek to the Ohio and Mr. Hunter who was attorney for the railroad presented a request for a right of way through Tyler county (which then included Wetzel) but the plan was defeated by the vote of John W. Horner of Middlebourn who was influenced by argu ments that the trains would scare the game out of the country. 122 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA At Boseby's Bock the last rail was laid and the last spike driven? on December 24, 1852. The first train from the East rolled into- Wheeling on January 1, 1853 and the road was opened to the public on January 10. Extensive preparations were made for a grand celebration at Wheel ing on January 10-12. Over 400 persons including the legislators and^ executives of both Virginia and Maryland left Baltimore on two trains. on January 10 and arrived at Wheeling about midnight on January 11 after a novel trip behind snorting locomotives, and an exciting ride- on the frail and temporary switch back railroad over the steep summit above awe-inspiring gorges at Board Tree Tunnel which was not yet: completed. The triumphal march, banquet and oratory which the- citizens of Wheeling had planned for their guests was postponed until the following day. At six o'clock on the following evening nearly- one thousand persons sat at the banquet in Washington Hall. 5. FACILITIES OF TRAVEL AND CONNECTIONS. To aid in the control of river traffic, by diverting it from Pittsburg" to connection with the railway at Wheeling, the company in 1852 char tered a line of boats to run regularly between Wheeling, Cincinnati and Louisville. Soon after the opening of the road the following- advertisement appeared in the newspaper: "The tunnels across the mountains are now completed. Connection with a fine line of steamers from Cincinnati at Wheeling. Leave Wheeling daily at 9 a. m. and arrive at Cumberland (201 miles) at 7' p. m., and allowing two hours there, arrive at Baltimore (380 miles) at 5 a. m. Passengiers allowed ample time and opportunity at all points to get their meals. Tick ets from Wheeling to Baltimore, $8.50." I For a while after the completion of the railway along Lake Erie from which a good connection was established with Cincinnati, there was a reversal of the current of travel by which the routes to the East via Wheeling and Pittsburg were practically abandoned but these temporary conditions were changed by later events resulting in a return of steady traffic. Bejoicing over new advantages by which she might be able to main tain her claim in a contest against Pittsburg for the hegemony of the Ohio, Wheeling soon confronted a new cause for grievance in a proposed connection contemplated by the Baltimore and Ohio with the Ohio Central railway four miles below the city at what is now Ben- wood Junction — a project which induced the people of the city to tear up the tracks of the railway and stimulated the city to secure an in junction against the railway company, which after a long fight was THE FIRST RAILROAD 123 finally dissolved by the Court of Appeals of Virginia in August 1855. Having subscribed to the Baltimore and Ohio to get its western termi nus, Wheeling objected to any change of plans, or to the repeal of any charter restrictions, which would leave her on a mere branch of the road. She was also anxious to prevent diversion through travel from Wheeling to the Parkersburg branch known as the Northwestern. With the hope of securing better communications, she gave hearty support to the Hempfield railway enterprise which was organized by Pennsylvania interests in 1850, incorporated by the Virginia legisla ture in 1851, begun at Wheeling in 1855 and completed to Washing ton, Pennsylvania by 1857. At the same time she strenuously op posed the Pittsburg and Steubenville railway* which was chartered by the Pennsylvania interests in 1849 (as a link in a proposed exten sion to Columbus), begun at Pittsburg in 1852, and thereafter long delayed, first by failure to get permission of Virginia to cross the narrow strip of panhandle, and later by the objection of the restored government of Virginia to the construction of the Steubenville bridge. 6. GRAFTON-PARKERSBURG BRANCH. Undaunted by previous failures, Parkersburg with the support of a large tributary region continued the fight for a railway. Meantime, always doubtful of the wisdom of establishing the terminus of the road at Wheeling, and still regarding it as an unsatisfactory terminus, the directors of the company felt the necessity of a river terminus at a lower point in order to get an advantage in securing the traffic of the West. To this end the Northwestern Virginia railroad was projected and chartered in 1851 from the main line at Three Forks (Grafton) to the Ohio at Parkersburg.* Although regarded as a domestic corpo ration which should receive more friendly support than a foreign cor poration, it was really constructed under the direction of the Balti- *This opposition, sustained by the Virginia legislature, caused considerable ill- feeling in Brooke and Hancock counties. As late as 1856 the Washington (Pa,) Examiner still referred to the contemplated secession of the upper counties of the panhandle from Virginia, and annexation to Pennsylvania which would thus secure the logical western boundary on the Ohio. *The Northwestern Virginia was hardly under construction before a movement was started in Philadelphia to save the trade of the Ohio valley to that city. The Hillsborough and Cincinnati road, with which the Baltimore and Ohio expected tc connect at Parkersburg became involved in financial difficulties and was absorbed by the Marietta and Cincinnati, which preferred Philadelphia to Baltimore as an out let for its traffic. By 1954, when the Pennsylvania railway was completed to Pitts burg, a road to connect with it was already projected from Greenburg to Wheeling. In 1854, the legislature of Virginia chartered the Morgantown and Ravenswood railway which was proposed as a link to connect with another road reaching the main line of the Pennsylvania west of Philadelphia. It was thought that this road, striking the Ohio south of Parkersburg, would have a great advantage in getting- the trade of the Ohio valley. Most of the money for the proposed enterprise was promised by Philadelphia capitalists. Meetings were held along the proposed route- to arrange for stock subscriptions. Like so many enterprises of its kind, however,. it remained on the list of roads constructed only on jpaper. 124 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA more and Ohio railway, through B. H Latrobe who was chosen chief •engineer of the new line. Although over three thousand shares of the stock of the new com pany were held in Parkersburg and along the road to its intersection with the Baltimore and Ohio, one can see back of the project the inter ests of Baltimore and especially of the Baltimore and Ohio company pushing it to the fullest extent and furnishing the support that made the construction of the line possible. To relieve the embarrassing financial difficulties encountered near its completion, the directors of the Northwestern obtained from the Baltimore and Ohio a loan of $210,000 of its bonds and gave a mortgage on the uncompleted road to secure payment. The road, after its completion (on May 1, 1857), passed to the mangement of the Baltimore and Ohio. Although it had twenty- three tunnels it was one of the best constructed railroads in the country at the time. Along its entire route, especially at Grafton, Clarksburg and Parkersburg it opened the way for a new era of larger opportunity and development. Even at points which did not feel its immediate touch it stimulated efforts to secure better communication* as a basis for new enterprise and industry. 7. THE CELEBRATION. The opening of the road on June 1, 1857 was simultaneous with the ¦opening of the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad (chartered 1847) and of the Ohio and Mississippi (chartered 1848 and constructed as a six- feet gauge) from Cincinnati to St. Louis. These openings, com pleting a through route from New York to St. Louis, were enthusi astically observed by the "great railway celebration" of 1857, begin ning with a triumphal progress from Baltimore to St. Louis, punc tuated by many stops and delays, and enlivened by the "long-winded" speeches of aspiring orators bursting with burning rhetoric which noth ing but the shrill shrieks of the starting whistles of the locomotive could control. After a program of feasting and fireworks at St. Louis, and on the return trip, the celebration closed with a Baltimore banquet attended by one thousand persons. The people of Parkersburg who had made such a long, hard fight to secure a road and therefore felt that they were entitled to recognition, were much disappointed that their town had not been selected as a place for the part of the celebration which was held in Cincinnati. Their dissatisfaction became increasingly serious by, the report that the Baltimore and Ohio, which had leased the Northwestern at its '*A projected railway from WilHamstown to intersect with the Baltimore and Ohio at Ellensboro, thirty-seven ¦ miles east of Parkersburg, was chartered by Vir ginia ; but construction failed ¥rom lack of capital. THE FIRST RAILROAD 125 completion, was diverting Northwestern traffic to the Wheeling route in order to force a failure of the new road so that its stock could be purchased for a trifle. Their complaints gradually died away coin cident with the stimulating oil development at Burning Springs and the new excitement which precipitated the civil war. 8. INFLUENCE OF THE ROAD. The completion of the Baltimore and Ohio railway, the horseless. rival of the great Northwestern turnpike which had scorned the pos sibility of competition, greatly facilitated travel between the Ohio Val ley* and the Atlantic coast. Although there were no conveniences such as the sleeping car, the buffet, and the chair car, the people were happy with the new mode of travel which made a trip east a sort of holiday long to be remembered by those who made it for the first time. Although for many years at least the road was not a financial suc cess if measured by its dividends to stockholders, it was an incalcu lable success if measured by the salutary effect on the country through which it passed and upon the city of Baltimore which gave it birth. It carried from western Virginia and Maryland great quantities of raw material which were converted into manufactured articles and shipped back for use in reducing the forests and spreading civilization along the route of the great highway. It benefited even the lower reaches of the Ohio by the improvement of transportation facilities, by which Baltimore became a good market for Cincinnati and Louis ville. Nor were its benefits economic alone. The parts of country which it touched it bound together into a closer social and political union than had before been realized. It was a large factor in deter mining the political destiny of West Virginia, the military strategy of the civil war. and the continued integritv of the American Union. •The Baltimore and Ohio company no longer looked to the Ohio river for all its traffic. Four years before the Northwestern Virginia* was completed a meeting of the engineers of this company and those of the Hillsborough and Cincinnati was held in Parkersburg to discuss plans for a bridge .across the Ohio. After considering four sites — Parkersburg, Blannerhassett's Island. Little Hockhocking, and Walker's brick house — the companies decided that the enterprise was too large to undertake at that time. When the road to Parkersburg was finished in 1857 connection with the Ohio road was made by boat to Marietta. Wheeling objected to the construction- of a bridge at Parkersburg on the ground that it would obstruct navigation. VI. Sectionalism: Political and Constitutional Development 1. INTRODUCTION. West Virginia, the only distinctively mountainous state of the Ap palachian region, and the only state whose formation represents a logical conclusion of the sectionalism which existed before the civil war in all the southern states from Pennsylvania southward to Florida, has -a constitutional history somewhat unique. Its destiny to form a sep arate state was largely determined by the flow of its rivers in an oppos ite direction to the flow of the tidewater rivers, and was foreshadowed in the different political ideas of the West — causing it to give a pro portionately larger vote than the East for the ratification of the na tional constitution in 1788, to oppose the Virginia resolutions of 1798, to antagonize the election of Jefferson in 1801, to favor the American ;.system as a national policy and to advocate the establishment of free ..schools and the further democratization of social and political insti tutions. Showing a growing influence in determining the constitu tional development of the mother state before the war, and a later de termination to fight the mother state in order to preserve the Union, the New Dominion still retains in its constitution many evidences of a surviving sentiment in favor of the institutions of the Old Dominion. 2. A HALF CENTURY UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REVOLUTION. The first constitution of Virginia was adopted on June 29, 1776 when there were within the limits of the present state of West Virginia only Hampshire and Berkeley counties and the district of West Au gusta. The constitution established an annual general assembly of two houses the members of which were elected by the limited number •of people who had the right. of suffrage. The house, of delegates, the members of which were elected each year, replaced the old house of burgesses and with slight exception* retained the old system of rep resentation : two representatives from each county, and two from the district of West Augusta, (and one each from Williamsburg and Nor folk). The general assembly was authorized to grant to each new •Jamestown and the college of William and Mary were no longer granted repre sentation. SECTIONALISM 127 -county which it might create two delegates, and to use its discretion in allowing representation to new towns; but there was a provision .for dropping the representation of any town whose population de creased until for seven consecutive years its voting population was less than one-half of a county. The senate was composed of twenty-four members chosen for a term of four years from twenty-four districts, and was made a rotating body by a provision for the election of six members each year. The appor tionment was purely arbitrary and without provision for future re form. The elective franchise remained as exercised after the law of 1736* and was confined to freeholders who had been in possession of their freehold at least one whole year before the issue of the writ for the election at which they wished to vote. With the election of the members of the general assembly the voice •of the voting population ceased. The governor, treasurer, the eight privy couneilmen, the secretary, the attorney-general, and the judges ¦of all the superior courts were chosen by joint ballot of the two houses of the general assembly; the governor and treasurer were chosen an nually; the privy council was subject to the removal of two of their number every three years by the "scratch" of the assembly ; the secre tary, the attorney-general and the judges served during good behavior. The people had little share in local government. The self-perpet uating county courts had general management of all local affairs. "These courts constitutionally appointed the sheriff, the coroner and the ¦ clerk of the county ; they had the statutory privilege of appointing all other civil officers of the county and all military officeis under the grade of brigadier-general, and of laying all taxes for county purposes and of expending them as they saw fit; and, with all these powers, they were responsible to no one for their actions. The development of West Virginia for the half century after the revolution produced new problems for the Old Dominion. Before the close of the eighteenth century the population in the region now known as West Virginia had begun to grow rapidly. In the Virginia conven tion of June 2, 1788, which was called to ratify or reject the federal constitution, it was represented by six new counties which had been formed from the district of West Augusta: Monongalia and Ohio in 1776, Greenbrier in 1777, and Harrison, Hardy and Bandolph in 1784, 1785 and 1786 respectively. This number of counties had in- •A freehold was one hundred acres of uncultivated land without a house, twenty- 128 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA creased to thirteen in 1800 by the formation of Pendleton in 1787, Kanawha in 1789, Brooke in 1796, Wood in 1798 and Monroe in 1799. These thirteen became sixteen in 1810 by the addition of Jefferson in 1801, Mason in 1804 and Cabell in 1809. To these counties four new ones were added before 1820 : Tyler in 1814, Lewis in 1816, Nichol as in 1818 and Preston in 1818. By the end of the next decade a total of twenty-three counties was completed by the formation of Mor gan in 1820, Pocahontas in 1821 and Logan in 1824. The white popu lation had increased from 50,593 in 1790 to 70,894 in 1800, to 93,355 in 1810, to 120,236 in 1820, and to 157,084 in 1830. During these years, and partly as a result of changing conditions, the defects in the constitution became very marked. These defects- were early noticed by Jefferson who desired a state constitutional con vention to remedy them. Commenting on the constitution, in 1872, he wrote: "The majority of the men in the state who pay and fight for its support are unrepresented in the legislature — the roll of free holders entitled to vote not including generally the half of those on the roll of the militia or of the tax gatherers. Among those who share the representation the shares are unequal." To show some of the in equalities which existed even at that early date between the four sec tions of the state from the coast to the Ohio he prepared the follow ing table : Fighting men Delegates Senators; East of river falls 19,012 71 12 Palls to Blue Ridge 18,828 46 8 Blue Ridge to Alleghenies 7,673 16 2 Trans-Allegheny 4,458 16 2 The inequality of the county system of representation is well shown by a comparison of the counties. In 1800, Warwick with a white population of 614 had two members in the house of delegates while at the same time Berkeley with a white population of 17,832 had but two members in the lower house. The inequality was equally notice able in the senate. In 1815, the entire West with a free white popu lation of about 233,469, or two-fifths that of the state, was represent ed by four senators; and, at the same time the East containing the other three-fifths of the white population, 342,781, was represented by twenty senators. Several attempts to secure ajustment were unsuccessful. In the house of delegates, in the May session of the assembly of 1784, a peti tion from Augusta county asking for a constitutional convention was the subject of a two days debate; and, although Madison strongly SECTIONALISM 129 advocated it, a bill for a convention failed — largely through the violent opposition of Patrick Henry. After 1790, petitions praying for a reform in representation and suffrage were presented at almost every session of the assembly. From the counties of Patrick and Henry these petitions were expected reg ularly at the commencement of each session. In the session of 1806, a bill for submitting to the people the proposition to call a constitu tional convention passed the house but was indefinitely postponed in the senate through the influence of prudent men who feared the polit ical bitterness of the times. In 1814, a constitutional reform bill which provided for extension of suffrage, reapportionment 0>f representation, and the reduction of the total number composing the house of delegates, was rejected in the house by a slight majority. The next year, a bill was introduced into the house providing for a rearrangement of the senatorial districts on a white basis. The fight was largely sectional.* The western mem bers unsuccessfully urged the passage of the bill. Eastern constitu tional lawyers in the house held that the districts, created by the same power that made the constitution, could be altered only by a constitu tional convention. This doctrine the westerners then determined to put into practice. On August 19, 1816, a convention composed of rep resentatives from thirty-six counties (twenty-four of which were from the region west of the Blue Bidge) met at Staunton and sent a memorial to the general assembly requesting the passage of a bill for submitting to the people the question of calling a constitutional convention. Though the house was successful in securing the passage of a bill calling a convention to change the constitution by amend ments which would extend the right of suffrage, equalize the land tax, and equalize representation on the basis of the white population, its program for securing a convention and larger western representation was frustrated in the senate. Then the legislature, reversing the doc trine held by the constitutional lawyers in 1815 passed a bill equaliz ing the senatorial districts according to the white population of the old census of 1810 which no longer represented the true population of the West. By this reapportionment, the West got nine instead of four senators, while the number from the East was reduced from twenty to fifteen. •In 1816 there was a proposition, previously suggested as early as 1796, that the state should be divided into northern r>nd southern Virginia by a line of the Rappanhannock, thence to the junction of the Greenbrier with the New and down the Kanawha to the Ohio. Winchester was suggested as the capital of the proposed new state. 130 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Though for a time public agitation ceased, by 1824* the equalization of representatives in the house of delegates on the white basis became the subject of newspaper controversy and general discussion which re sulted in a second meeting at Staunton, on July 25, 1825, attended by upwards of one hundred friends of reform. This convention passed resolutions in favor of several reforms: representation in the house according to white population; the reduction of the total number of delegates in the house; the extension of the right of suffrage; the abolition of the executive council, and a more responsible executive. These resolutions, forwarded to the general assembly, in the three fol lowing sessions were the subject of discussions which finally (in Jan uary, 1828) resulted in the passage of a bill for submitting the ques tion of a constitutional" convention to *a yote of the freeholders. The election returns showed that the convention was favored by the almost unanimous vote of the West and opposed by over one-half of the vote of the East. The inhabitants of this sparsely settled region of western Virginia hy 1829 looked with chagrin upon the emigrant wagons which passed over the Cumberland road and down the Kanawha to the. more prosr perous trans-Ohio West — and some oined the caravans and moved on into the farthest West, while others remained to fight the battles of reform in spite of retarded development, due to the inefficiency of the state as an agent for internal improvement. 3. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1829-30. The convention which met at Bichmond on October 5, 1829, was an august assemblage, composed of ninety-six of the most prominent men of the state (four members from each senatorial district)— eighteen of whom were from counties within the present limits of West Virginia. Its dominating spirit of sectionalism was largely due to the geographic and economic conditions which for years the defects of the old consti tution had aggravated. The two sections agreed on the acceptance of the bill of rights; but, with their radically divergent ideas, they clashed on the practical application of the principles of government. Practically all the time of the convention (October 5, 1829 to Jan uary 15, 1830, was consumed by debates on two questions: repre sentation and suffrage. On the question of suffrage the thirty-six •In 1823 a popular movement on the Potomac and in the northwest to encourage internal improvement by the federal government led to the surrender of the rights and interests of the Po tomac company, and to the incorporation of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal company bv an act of the Virginia assembly which at the time showed a disposition to abandon the internal improvements on the James and the Kanawha rivers. SECTIONALISM 131 delegates from the district west of the mountains stood solidly for white population as the basis for both houses, in opposition to the East which favored a representation based on white population and taxation combined. Madison, Marshall and Monroe defended the property basis on the ground that the state was the conservator of property. In the debates, when the eastern members demanded rea sons, based on facts and conditions, for what they termed "the most crying injustice ever attempted in any land" against property rights, the westerners continued to cite the bill of rights and the abstractions of Jefferson. In answer to the statement that nearly three-fourths of the tax had been paid by. the counties east of the Blue Bidge, the West asked who were the men who had fought the battles. When Judge Upshur from the Eastern Shore, in a speech lasting the greater part of two days, endeavored to show that the law of the majority came from no source — not from the law of nature, nor from the exigencies of so ciety, nor from the nature and necessity of government, nor from any constitutional source — Philip Doddridge of Brooke answered him by asking: If the' majority are not possessed of the right or power to govern, "whence does the gentleman derive the power in question to the minority?" When Bandolph, in a high key, exclaimed that if he were not too old to move he would never live under King Num bers, Campbell from the Ohio extolled King Numbers as the most dignified personage under the canopy of heaven. During the debate the white laboring farmers in the western part of the state were desig nated "peasants" holding the same place in political economy as the slaves of the tide-water East.' There were reports that the western members would secede from the convention. To allay sectional feeling Monroe urged mutual concessions and suggested a white basis for the house and a mixed basis for the senate. Thus the debate continued until finally a plan of apportionment by districts, based on no principle and opposed by the West, was adopted. The extension of suffrage was most strongly advocated by the western people who quoted Jefferson in favor of free manhood suffrage, but who were promptly notified by Bandolph that the East was "not to be struck down with the authority of Mr. Jefferson !" At this time, in Virginia (the only state of the twenty-four in the Union which still adhered strictly to freehold suffrage), in a total of 143,000 free white males there were 100,000 free white citizens paying taxes to the state — ¦ of which about 40,000 were freeholders and 60,000 were men who owned personal property. Having failed in the effort for manhood suffrage, the West fought 132 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA vigorously, but unsuccessfully, to extend the suffrage at least to tax payers. Several easterners, arguing that much of the land in the West, fit only for a lair of wild beasts, was not worth a mill per acre and would never be of any value, were determined to draw the line of suffrage restriction even closer by fixing a minimum value for a free hold. Throughout the East the feeling was pretty general that there should be some local attachment. Monroe said that the elective fran chise should be confined to an interest on the land, and Bandolph approvingly agreed that "terra firma" was the only safe ground in the commonwealth on which the right of suffrage could stand, "The moment you quit the land," said he, "you find yourself at sea without a compass, without landmarks, or polar star." The convention finally agreed to lessen the requirements of a free hold, and to extend the suffrage to leaseholders and housekeepers who paid taxes. Philip Doddridge, typifying the western democratic sentiment moved that the executive, unhampered by a council, should be elected by the people and responsible to them. Although at that time eighteen states elected their governors by popular vote, his motion was lost. Mr. Naylor of Hampshire proposed that the office of sheriff should be filled by the people instead of by the county court whose members were accustomed to give this office to themselves in rotation, the one receiving it selling it at public auction to the highest bidder; but this recommendation met the formidable and successful opposition of men as influential as Giles and Leigh who thought such an innova tion would disturb the county court system which to them was "the most valuable part of the constitution." In the convention there seemed to be an abhorrence of overlegislation and to remedy this Mr. George of Tazewell proposed that the assembly should meet but once in two years. The motion was lost, many perhaps feeling with Ban dolph that as the legislature of the United States met every year the Virginia assembly should meet annually also in order to watch it. Besolutions submitted by western members, looking toward the en couragement of public education, were opposed by eastern men, some of whom feared the adoption of a system by which the people of the East would be taxed for the education of the children of the West. Nor did the West, after failing to realize so many of its longed for re forms, have any prospect of realizing them in the early future. The proposition that there should be a constitutional provision for amend ment received but twenty-five votes. In opposing this proposUion John Bandolph declared that he would as soon think of introducing SECTIONALISM 133 a provision of divorce in a marriage contract; and although he was strongly against the constitution, he exclaimed : "If we are to have it, let us not have it with the death warrant on its very face." The completed constitution, a precedent for all later constitutions of the South before 1860, provided for several minor reforms. Under it the number of delegates was reduced from 214 to 134 (not to exceed 150), the county system of representation was abolished and repre sentatives were apportioned according to districts — which were so ar ranged that the apportionment was more nearly in accord with the respective population of the counties. Thirty-one of the represen tatives were assigned to the twenty-six counties west of the Alle ghenies. Of these thirty-one, the twenty-three counties now in West Virginia were given twenty-nine. However, as no reapportionment could be made before 1841, and then not unless two-thirds of the assembly agreed, and since the East had a large majority in the legis lature, the chances for a reapportionment were small. An age qual ification of twenty-five years was added to the qualifications of dele gates. The number of senators was increased from twenty-four to thirty-two, not to exceed thirty-six. The state was divided into two great senatorial districts separated by the Blue Bidge. The western district which contained the larger number of electors was given only thirteen members while the eastern district was given nineteen. The age qualification for senators was changed from twenty-five to thirty years. The right of suffrage was extended to all white male citizens twenty-one years of age who were qualified to vote under the old con stitution and laws,* to all who possessed a $25 freehold, a $25 joint tenantship, a $50 reversion, a five-year leasehold of an annual rental value of $20, and to all tax-paying housekeepers who were heads of families; but the right was granted in terms the interpretation of which proved very difficult. There was a provision for the viva voce vote — characteristic of the South. The term of the executive was increased to three years and he was ineligible for the next three years. Contrary to the constitution of 1776, which had left all qualifications of the executive to the general assembly, the new constitution contained several provisions requir ing that the executive must be thirty years of age, a native citizen of the United States-, or a citizen at the time the federal government was established, and a citizen of Virginia for five years next pre ceding his election. The executive council was a rotary body con- •The law of 1785 defined a freehold as twenty-five acres of improved or fifty acres of unimproved land. 134 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA sisting of three instead of eight members chosen by the assembly, and the senior councilman was authorized to act as lieutenant governor. This constitution, submitted to the people, in April, 1830, was rat ified by a vote of 26,055 to 15,563. The vote within the bounds of West Virginia stood 1,383 for ratification and 8,365 against it.* Naturally, the constitution of 1830 worked unfavorably for the West. The vast resources of West Virginia — forests of excellent timber, oil and natural gas, and 16,000 square miles of bituminous coal in workable seams — remained undeveloped because of the short sightedness of eastern leaders. The West with no railroads and no canals, solely needed improvements; but despite much public agita tion and vigorous struggles in the general assembly, it had to remain content with paltry appropriations for- turnpikes, obtained by log rolling, while vast sums were spent on badly managed improvements which were undertaken in the East* Under this constitution the present territory of West Virginia received no public buildings, had no representatives in the United States senate and had no opportunity to furnish the governor for the state before the appointment of Joseph Johnson in 1850. Under these conditions it is not surprising that equal representa tion on the white basis continued to be the Western cry ; but, after the indefinite postponement of the subject by the legislature, which had the power to reapportion the state after 1841, Westerners, with sec tional feeling more pronounced,** finally settled into a firm determi- *The trans-Alleghenny region refused to be reconciled to the constitution of 1829 and continued to talk dismemberment. A writer in the Wheeling Gazette of April, 1830, suggested that a convention in the West should be called to appoint commissioners "to treat with the eastern nabobs for a division of the state — peacably if we can, forcibly if we must." A series of essays appearing in many western papers urged that dismemberment alone could bring relief to the West. On October 1, 1830, citizens of Wheeling called a mass meeting to consider the expediency of measures to annex northwestern Virginia to Maryland (north of a line from the mouth of the Little Kanawha to Fairfax stone.) The Winchester Republican suggested that Virginia should let the disaffected population of the northwest go, and suggested that the southwest, deprived of its northern allies, would give up its desire for separation if the desired improvements in the southwest should be completed. Thomas L. Lees of New Jersey, president of Linsley In stitute, in some notes of 1831, wrote: "That part of Virginia which borders on the Ohio is rapidly improving in wealth and population ; its inhabitants have long been dissatisfied with the selfish policy and the usurpations of the eastern slave holders, whose influence in the legislative body has ever been exerted in the perpetration of an oppressive aristocracy. The people here are very different from those of the eastern part of the state. Industry is much more encouraged and respected ; slavery is unpopular, and the few who hold slaves generally treat them well. The time is not far distant when Western Virginia will either liberalize the present state government, or separate itself entirely from the Old Dominion." •Owning to conflicting reports in regard to the relative merits of railways and canals, Virginia in 1832 surrendered its interest in the James River Canal company to a joint company (the James River and Kanawha company) which was em powered to continue the work to the Ohio either by a railroad or a canal or by a combination of both. The work of the new company was postponed by lack of capital and the inability to secure it from the banks. In the meantime, the manage ment of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal had incurred the displeasure of the federal administration, and its president was removed through the influence of Jackson. ••Naturally, the west continued its fight for a greater share in the government. In 1842 talk of dismemberment was current in a meeting of delegates from ten counties held at Clarksburg. The Kanawha Republican proposed a new state, "Appalachia." SECTIONALISM 135 nation to endure the evils of the constitution until after the census of 1850, satisfied that the excess of white population west of the moun tains would be so great that the East could no longer with any show of justice refuse them their proper share in the general assembly. The basis of representation was" the most prominent question be tween the two sections. The Easterners, who affirmed not very rev erently that to the white basis they could not and would not yield, gradually advocated many of the reforms which had so startled them when proposed by Western members in the convention of 1829-30. They became willing to extend the suffrage to every free white man over twenty-one, allowing him to vote once where he resided and no where else ; they favored a reform of the county court and the judicial system, the election of the governor by the people, and a more rigid accountability of all the governmental departments. Through their newspapers, and through the governors' messages, ' they urged a con stitutional convention to bring about these reforms. On the other hand the westerners, who had favored these reforms for years, were unwilling to vote for a convention which was not organized on the white basis and which did not promise to equalize representation. In the legislature, the West was again defeated by the passage of a convention bill that adopted for the convention a mixed basis which gave the East a majority of seventeen in the convention (the white basis would have given the West a majority of thirteen) . In the West ern papers this defeat was attributed to the votes of Western members who were anxious to secure a convention on any basis. The feeling in the trans-Allegheny region, however, was strongly against "that abominable convention bill" as it was called in the Parkersburg Ga zette > and the people were urged to repudiate those traitors to the in terests of the West and to republican principles, who had voted for the bill with no provision for a white basis. Anti-convention meetings were held in many of the counties and the people were advised to vote against the convention. The Parkersburg Gazette, exhorting the West to present an unbroken front in opposition to the Eastern scheme to avoid the reform most needed, said that it would then remain to be seen whether the East would have the temerity to stake the integrity of Virginia upon her dogma of "might makes right." At the April elections, although the majority vote was in favor of the convention, most of the trans-Allegheny counties voted against it. In the August elections for selecting delegates to the convention the basis question was the issue. Not a member elected from the West favored the mixed basis and not a member elected from the East ex- 136 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA cept Henry A. Wise opposed it. Of the 135 members elected 34 were from the present state of West Virginia. 4. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1850. The convention which met October 14, 1850, and adjourned No vember 4, to await census data, reconvened on January 6, 1851. On February 6, the committee on basis and apportionment having found itself equally divided in opinion, submitted two reports. The one, favored not only by the Western members of the committee but by every Western delegate, advocated the white population as the basis for the apportionment of both houses; the other, having the almost equally unanimous support of the East, advocated white population and taxes combined as a basis for both houses (so that every seventy cents of taxes would have a representation equal to one white person.) Every day* from February 17 to May 10, in committee of the whole, the convention discussed the reports of this committee and the various substitutes; but no conclusion was reached. The East had the power to adopt its basis, but feared that if it should do so the West would se cede from the convention. Each side clung to its demands with .bull dog tenacity. Feeling was so high that on May 10 the convention was forced to adjourn until the following day. Then a compromise com mittee was appointed to prevent a split.* Finally, the West, un flinchingly refusing to consider any compromise which did not eventu ally provide for the white basis or for submitting the basis question to the people, partially gained its point. In the plan adopted the ap portionment for the house of delegates was based on the white popu lation according to the census of 1850 (giving to the West eighty-three delegates and to the East sixty-nine) . The apportionment in the sen ate was arbitrarily fixed giving thirty to the East and twenty to the West, but in the plan there was a provision that either the legislature should make a reapportionment on the white basis in 1865 or the gov ernor should submit the basis question to the people. Any qualified voter of twenty-five years of age, except a minister of the gospel, or an officer of a banking corporation, or an attorney for the commonwealth, was eligible for election to the general assembly. The delegates were elected biennially; half of the senators were elected every two years, and served for four years. •One session a day proved insufficient for the discussions. The reporter struck for higher wages, and the members enamored with their own verbocity agreed to his demands. •Various plans of compromise were proposed but the West declined any com promise until finally Mr. Chilton of Fauquier came forward with a modified com mittee report. SECTIONALISM 137 With the amicable settlement of the question which for so many years had been the great disturbing element, the convention was free to express that democratic spirit of the times which had been grad ually breaking down old barriers, and which Virginia had not been able to resist as is shown by the work of the legislature of 1849 which abolished imprisonment for debt and granted to women the right to make a will. The provision extending suffrage to every white male over twenty- one, two years resident in the state and twelve months in the district where he votes, not only greatly enlarged the number enjoying the elective franchise but abolished the crying abuse of double and treble voting. A man, who before could vote in every district in which he held real or pretended property which he could reach by fast driving or riding on election day, could now vote only in the district in which he resided. Although the method of voting was still viva voce, dumb persons were permitted the use of the ballot — a provision which was evidently suggested by the precedent in the Kentucky constitution of 1850. The executive council was abolished, the judicial system reform ed, and the county court reorganized. The governor, lieutenant gov ernor, for a term of four years), the twenty-one circuit judges (for a term of eight years), the five judges of the court of appeals (for a term of twelve years) and all local officers — the justices of the peace and attorney for the commonwealth (for a term of four years), the clerk of the court and the surveyor (for a term of six years) and the sheriff and commissioners (for a term of two years) — were elected by the people. Provision was made for the payment of jurors, who pre viously had been chosen from the loungers within reach of the sher iff's voice the day the court opened and who had served without com pensation. The spirit of the times was also reflected in restrictions on the leg islature, both houses of which were now for the first time given equal power of legislation. The general demand throughout the United States for less frequent sessions of the legislature was reflected in the provision that the general assembly should meet once in two years for no longer than ninety days, which, however, might be extended for thirty days by the concurrence of three-fifths of the members. To the old restrictions of 1829 — relating to habeas corpus, bill of attainder, ex post facto laws, impairing the obligation of contracts, freedom of speech and press, and religious freedom — were added several addi tional restrictions. The general assembly was forbidden to pledge 138 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the state for debts or obligations of any company or corporation, to grant charters of incorporation to any religious body, to authorize lot teries or to grant divorces,* to change names of persons or direct the sale of the estates of persons under legal disabilities. The attitude of the recently admitted states was reflected in the provision prohibit ing the legislature to form a new county of less than 600 square miles or to reduce an old county to a lower limit. One restriction, reflecting a phase of the slavery question, forbade the assembly to emancipate any slave or descendant of a slave. The constitution declared that taxation should be equal and uni form and that all property other than slave should be taxed accord ing to its value. All the resolutions, substitutions and efforts of western members failed to keep this exception out of the constitution. On every slave over twelve years of age was assessed a tax equal to- that assessed on land of the value of $300. Slaves under twelve were not taxed. A majority vote of those elected to the assembly might exempt other taxable property from taxation. A capitation tax equal to the tax on land of the value of $200 was levied on every white male inhabitant of twenty-one. One equal moiety of this- white capitation tax was applied to the purposes of education in primary and free schools. Many in the convention would have been delighted to have had a provision for a permanent system of schools- incorporated in the constitution, but Virginia was not yet ready for that.* As in Michigan the same year, the constitution provided for a sinking fund by directing the legislature to set aside seven per cent o'f the state debt existing on January 1, 1851. The constitution was ratified in October, 1851, by a vote of 75,74$ to 11,063. The only counties giving majorities against the consti tution were five eastern counties. In his speech at the close of the convention of 1851, after exhorting- the members on their return to their constituents to exert all their- influence to allay sectional strife and to promote a cordial fraternal feeling among the people of their beloved commonwealth, President Mason said : "Virginia united has ever been one of the noblest states- of the confederacy. I cannot contemplate what she would be if torn by intestine feuds or if frantically seeking her own dissolution. May •The general assembly granted two divorces from 1829 to 1831 and thirty-seven- from 1849 to 1851. •With the coming of New" Englanders and other "foreigners," the free schools. became a subject of great concern. The West continued to oppose the demands of the state university, and of various colleges and academies, for greater participation' in the benefits of the literary fund. SECTIONALISM 139 you long live to see this ancient commonwealth united and happy at home, honored and respected abroad." In spite of Mason's parting injunction, the rift between the East and the West continued to widen in the decade of political agitation which followed. The fierce controversy over slavery was driving the North and South farther and farther apart; and neither the Presi dent, nor Congress, nor the Supreme Court could suggest any middle ground which would satisfy both. Under the administration of Wise, the political hero of the West, efforts were made to conciliate the West and thereby to endeavor to bridge the chasm between sections. The West was exhorted to send her children to Virginian schools taught by Virginians, and various schemes for railroads and canals to connect the West and the East were proposed.* The interests of West Virginia, however, with less than four per cent of her population slave, were those of a northern state. Her sons continued to attend schools in free states rather than the schools across the Blue ridge. Her markets were in Pittsburg, Baltimore and the Mississippi river towns rather than in Norfolk. Her geographic conditions allied her interests with those of Pennsylvania and Ohio and her industries were those which called for white rather than slave labor. Her natural •After 1851 the scheme of connecting the western terminus of the James river canal with the Ohio river by a railroad was undertaken at state expense, and from 1850 to 1854 various turnpikes and railroad companies were incorporated with the privilege of constructing works of internal improvement in the West. Very liberal appropriations were also made to the western turnpike companies. In 1854 at a convention which met at White Sulphur Springs to consider internal improvements, the extension of the Covington and Ohio was urged as a measure to encourage direct trade with Europe, to free Virginia from the thraldom of northern monopoly, to unite her eastern and western interests and to enable her to get control of part of the commerce which was being diverted from the Ohio and the Mississippi to the northern cities of the East. The internal improvement legislation during the Wise administration was determined largely by a program for a United South. Hence the cherished scheme for completing the Covington and Ohio railroad to connect the James and Ohio rivers as a defensive measure, to tap the granaries of the Union and to divert the mineral resources of the mountains to Richmond. Under the intensified general belief that dismemberment of the Union was inevitable, the assembly of 1857-58 made liberal appropriations for completing the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad and incorporated numerous companies to build branches thereto. At the same time William B., Preston was sent to France as the agent of Virginia . to negotiate for the establishment of a steamship line between Norfolk and Nantes. The assembly of 1859-60 guaranteed the debt of the James river and Kanawha company, vested the entire control of the management in the stock holders, and authorized the company to borrow $2,500,000 to be used in continuing the canal. This action was partly due to the movement for a steamship line between Virginia and France and negotiations of C. J. Faulkner with certain French parties for the purchase by them of the rights and privileges of the James river and Kanawha company. The Bellot company of Bordeaux and several parties associated with them had become interested in the "Swan lands" which the assembly had relieved from the penalty of a forfeiture and vested in John Peter Dumas to hold in trust for the heirs and creditors of Colonel Swan, an officer of the American revolutionary army. In 1859, M. Bellot and the directors of the James river and Kanawha canal company entered into an agreement for the sale of the company's prop erty to certain French parties, and for the creation of a new company, the Virginia Canal company, with a capital stock of not less than $20,000,000. This uew company was to complete a continuous waterway to the Ohio within a specified time. Governor Wise made these French negotiations a prominent reason for calling into extra session the assembly which took the initial step to secession on the part of Virginia. 140 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA destiny and future loyalty to the Union, and opposition to secession, was clearly forecasted by Webster in his speech at the laying of the corner stone of the addition to the capital at Washington (in 1851). "And ye men of Western Virginia who occupy the slope from the Alleghenies to the Ohio and Kentucky," said he, "what benefit do you propose to yourself by disunion ? If you secede what do you secede from and what do you secede to ? Do you look for the current of the Ohio to change and bring you and your commerce to the waters of Eastern rivers ? What man can suppose that you would remain a part and parcel of Virginia a month after Virginia had ceased to be part and parcel of the United States."* •Early in 1860, Isaac N. Smith of Kanawha, speaking in the house of delegates on the Covington and Ohio railroad bill said : "As the lineal descendent of the first white man who planted his home in the wilderness of the Kanawha valley • • • I stand here to say that when Virginia forces the necessity upon us, we can and will fight our battles, without help from those who would refuse it now." I.A-W.CampbtzU 3.W.T.Wi//eyU.Fra Hcis HPieipont SArt/iur I Baramon. £>Chesttrl>.H«t>bard Yt Jam us ll. Brown. &.JamcsC, AlcGrew *?. tfacoo B ' . &/a i r 10. W. E Ste 1/ <¦ '** i u ns //, Dame/ ZufflA /X Pe far d. Von U'/n/t/e. Founders of West lfic^ini,ay. Birdseye View of Wheeling, 18G1. From a sketch made on the hills on the Ohio side of the river. The oval, which appears in the foreground of the island, represents the Northwestern Virginia Fair Association and was known as Camp Carlile during the war. VII. Formation of the New State 1. SECESSION CONVENTION. Ten years after Webster's significant utterance of 1851 the people of western Virginia found the occasion which furnished the oppor tunity for separation from the mother state. The secession of South Carolina and the other cotton states precipitated a crisis in which Virginia hesitated to act. Governor Letcher called an extra session of the legislature which met January 7, 1861 to determine "calmly and wisely what ought to be done.". This session authorized an election (on February-. 4) to choose delegates to a convention to determine the policy of Virginia in the impending crisis. In the West, in most of the counties, meetings were held vigorously protest ing against any convention to consider federal relations, and condemn- ing the act of the legislature which had called such a convention without previously submitting the question to the people.* In the convention which met February 14 and remained in con tinuous session until May 1, special commissioners sent from Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina urged secession. The secessionists strained every nerve to get the passage of the ordinance and gradually won over Union members. 'Although the convention hesitated for a time after the news of the fall of Fort Sumter it was induced by excited leaders to cast the lot of Virginia with the Confederacy. The decisive step was finally taken on April 17, largely through the dramatic speech of Wise who spoke with watch in hand, pistol in front of him, his hair bristling and disheveled, and his eye standing out with the glare of excitement. The ordinance of secession was passed by a vote of 88 to 55. The vote of western members stood 32 to 11 against it (4 not voting). Neither unionists nor secessionists waited for the popular vote on the ordinance which the convention provided should be taken May 23, the date for the regular election of members to the general assembly. The secessionists seized the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, and the custom-houses at Bichmond, Norfolk and Portsmouth, and put •There was a remarkable contest in Mercer county over the election of a delegate to the secession convention. The majority of the people of the county were strongly union. The contest was between brothers, W. H. and Napoleon B. French, both of whom had been Whigs until a short time before the election when W. H. left the Whig party and joined the Democrat party. At the time of the election. Napoleon B. was serving in the Virginia legislature as a senator from the district of which Mercer was a part. He won by a majority of over 300. 142 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Virginia under the control of the Confederacy, as if she had already become one of its members. 2. FIRST WHEELING CONVENTION. ¦ The West, deserted by Wise, its leader of the decade before, and seeking wiser leaders for the future, was soon largely under the general direction of John S. Carlile after his safe return from the Bichmond convention. A meeting* held at Clarksburg on April 22, urgently recommended that each county of northwestern Virginia should send at least five men to Wheeling on May 13 to determine what action should be taken in the emergency. In response to this recommendation, on the day appointed, over 400 men], pursued in some instances by confederate troops, flocked to Wheeling where amid great demonstrations, flags and banners flying, bands playing and people cheering, they assembled as a "mass convention" in Washing ton Hall, and promptly organized with all the machinery of a parliamentary body. The members of this irregular convention, al though they agreed upon the necessity of separation from Virginia and the formation of the. new state, were divided on the question of what should be done first. Their conflicting ideas and plans were disclosed in a torrent of resolutions. Many, led by Carlile, in sisted on the immediate formation of a new state by the simple edict of the convention without the delay and inconvenience which would result from adherence to constitutional provisions. The Wood county delegation carried a banner which bore the inscription "New Vir ginia, now or never." Others, led by W. T. Willey, were opposed to immediate action, feeling that the time called for thoughtful, guarded deliberation. They declared the execution of Carlile's plan would be "triple treason" — treason against the state, against the United States, and against the Confederacy if it. should succeed in maintaining it self. After a debate which lasted for three days, the "mass con vention" changed its mind on the Carlile plan, but reached the same object in another way. Hon. F. H. Pierpont came forward with some resolutions which were in the nature of a substitute for the Carlile plan, providing for a new convention to which delegates should be regularly chosen by all the loyal counties and which should devise •Similar meetings were held in a number of counties. One of the earliest meet ings was held at Morgantown, the home of Hon. W. T. Willey who had arrived fresh from the Richmond convention. The temper of the citizens of this locality expressed at this meeting was representative of the prevailing sentiment throughout the western section. Commending the firmness of western delegates in resisting the plans for disunion, they entered a solemn protest against the secession of Virginia, denounced such action as treason against the government of the United States, and declared that they would not follow Virginia, but would dissolve their civil and political relations with the East. FORMATION OF THE NEW STATE 143 such measures as the welfare of the people of the northwestern coun ties should demand. This proposition left the question and method of separation from the old state to be determined by the new con vention itself. This proposition met with the approval of the con vention, and it made a call upon all the western counties disposed to cooperate to send delegates to the new convention. Delegating the execution of the plan to a well-chosen executive committee, this re markable and historic convention adjourned amidst a blaze of enthusiasm accompanied by the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner." The recommendation of the committee that (if the ordi nance of secession should be ratified on May 23) there should be an election on June 4 to select delegates to a new convention to re organize the government, was put into operation. 3. SECOND WHEELING CONVENTION. On June 11 seventy-seven representatives from thirty-nine counties assembled at Wheeling. Two schemes were presented : that of imme diately forming a new state out of the counties represented in the convention, after the Carlile plan; and the other of reorganizing the Virginia state government and assuming that these counties repre sented in the convention were the state. The majority of the con vention soon shifted to the support of the proposition for reorganizing the Virginia government out of the loyal counties, vacating the offices and taking possession of the whole machinery under the name of the government of Virginia. By this method they controlled a state already recognized, and quite sure of the recognition of the Federal government in preference to that purporting to be the govern ment of Virginia at the city of Bichmond. The state of Virginia could be legally dismembered only by its own consent. If the people west of the mountains were the state, they could easily get the con sent for division. To this end, the convention adopted with great unanimity, and promulgated, an address or declaration of their motives and purposes, and a statement of the grievances which impelled them to this course. They framed and passed, without a dissenting vote, an ordinance which set forth in detail the scheme of the convention for reorganizing the state of Virginia: the appoint ment of a governor, lieutenant-governor, and attorney-general to con tinue in office for six months; the requirement of a test oath of all officers then serving under the Virginia government with a provision authorizing the governor to appoint successors to all incumbents who refused to take the oath; and an early meeting of the legislature to 144 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA provide for a speedy general election to fill all the offices of the government. Under this scheme, the convention elected Francis H. Pierpont, governor, Daniel Polsley, lieutenant-governor, and James S. Wheat, attorney-general. The convention then formally declared all ordinances, acts, orders, resolutions and other proceedings of the Bichmond convention illegal, inoperative, null and void. With a view of taking up in earnest the work of erecting a new state, the convention adjourned on June 25 to reconvene at the same place on August 6 following. At this time the people of western Virginia were without a judiciary, without sheriffs and without legal protection of life, liberty and property. In pursuance of the ordinance of the June convention, the first legislature under the reorganized government of Virginia met at Wheeling on July 1, 1861. Governor Pierpont sent an elaborate message, among other things informing the legislature that he had communicated to the President of the United States the purposes and acts of the convention and the people of the northwest counties in endeavoring to preserve the state of Virginia to the Union, and had received his assurance that they should have such assistance from the Federal government as could be given under the authority of the constitution. On July 9, the legislature of the two houses proceeded to com plete the organization of the government by filling the offices that were vacant. After appointing various state officers, it proceeded to choose successors to B. M. T. Hunter and James M. Mason who had vacated their seats in the United States senate and were engaged in the effort to overthrow the Federal government. To fill these vacancies it elected Waitman T. Willey and John S. Carlile who proceeded to Washing ton, presented their credentials from the Virginia government at Wheeling, and were duly admitted by the United States senate as senators from Virginia. The convention reassembled on August 6 and after much discussion concerning the legality of such an act, on August 20 passed an ordi nance providing for the formation of a new state and adjourned on August 21. On October 24, the people living within the boundaries of the proposed state ratified the ordinance by a vote of 18,408 to 781 ; and, at the same time, elected delegates to a constitutional con vention which met at Wheeling on November 26, 1861. On May 13, 1862, the legislature of the restored government passed an act giving the formal consent of Virginia to the erection of a new state out of her territory. This territory included forty-eight coun- FORMATION OF THE NEW STATE 145 ties of northwestern Virginia and made provision for including three more — Jefferson, Berkeley and Frederick — when they should vote to come in. The first two subsequently voted in favor of the proposition, but the county of Frederick never voted on it. The assent of these fifty counties by a formal vote to the formation of a new state led to steps preparatory to the formation of a constitution of the new state. 4. THE FIRST CONSTITUTION. The constitution framed by the Wheeling convention was far bet ter than the prejudices of many of the members as reflected in the debates might have indicated.* Unfortunately there was no official provision for the publication of the debates. Perhaps the reasons for this neglect are reflected in the remarks of three of the members. Chapman J. Stuart, representing Doddridge county, speaking with out historical foresight, said in the convention that to publish the debates which no one would ever read would be an unnecessary ex pense. James H. Brown of Kanawha, untrained in historical per spective, said that after the vital point, the success and excellence of the constitution, had been secured, the debates by which it had been attained were "immaterial and unimportant." Hall, a stickler for impromptu and informal discussion, opposed publication because he feared it would lead to "set speeches." The name selected for the new state was not the only one proposed. The name Kanawha which had been used in the ordinance for the formation of the state was rejected — probably because there was al ready in the state a county and a river by that name. Mr. Willey said that some of his constituents along the Monongahela thought that Kanawha was too hard to spell. There was objection also to the name of West Virginia. Many felt that as immigrants held the name Virginia in disrepute thousands believing that the Virginian policy still prevailed and would be kept away if that name were retain ed. Others feared that the soubriquet "west" would disgrace the new state in comparison with Virginia. The question was nally settled however by the sentiment of those who had long lived in the old Dominion and who revered the memories of its most honored citizens.** The question of boundaries was a source of considerable debate. •The stenographic notes of the debates, made by an assistant clerk of the con vention, Granville D. Hall, are in manuscript in the department of archives and history at Charleston. Upon these notes much of this narrative of the convention Is based. ••Harmon Sinsel, the eccentric member from Pruntytown was in favor of Virginia as part of the name because it reminded him of the Virgin Mary. 146 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA On the day that the convention assembled, the Wheeling Intelligencer urged that the people wanted a homogeneous state. Such they could not have by including the eastern valley where, contrary to conditions in northwestern Virginia, negroes were the staple, and where the people could not agree with the trans- Allegheny counties on the ques tion of prohibiting slavery in the new state. Yet several attempts were made in the convention to include the valley counties, together with additional counties in the southwest. Through the influence of the Baltimore and Ohio railway, whose officials were desirous of getting the road out of Virginia, the proposition was made to in clude, by a majority of the votes of each county, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson and Frederick.* The same day that this proposition was carried (February 11, 1862) Brown of Kanawha, who at first had contended that the Blue ridge should be the eastern boundary, moved to include, under like conditions, seven teen additional counties: nine in the southwest (Lee, Scott, Wise, Eussell, Buchanan, Tazewell, Bland, Giles and Craig), three between the Allegheny and Shenandoah mountains (Allegheny, Bath and Highland) to fill in the niche between Monroe and Pendleton counties, three extending along the Potomac to a point below Wash ington (Loudon, Alexandria and Fairfax), and the two counties of the eastern shore (Accomac and Northampton). The majority of the members of the convention, believing that if these counties were in cluded the new state movement would fail, disapproved and defeated Mr. Brown's motion. Important changes in the electorate and in the election were made. Desiring to accelerate the retarded development which had resulted from tide-water policies and the long-delayed execution of projected intra-state improvements in western Virginia, the new state made a jealous bid for thrifty immigrants by extending the rather liberal suffrage provision of the Virginia constitution of 1851. The residence qualifications for a voter, which had been fixed at two years in the state and twelve months in the voting district, were reduced to one year in the state and thirty days in the district. Viva voce voting, "that old aristocratic thumbscrew which had keep a large part of the voters of Virginia virtually slaves," and without which it was gen erally believed that Virginia could never have passed the ordinance of secession, was replaced by the ballot system. The date of elections was changed from May to October, which was considered a more con- ?Hardy county included Grant which was formed from it in 1SG6 ; and Hampshire included Mineral which was formed from it in the same year. FORMATION OF THE NEW STATE 147 venient time for farmers to meet, and which also was more suitable to the convenience of candidates and politicians. The legislative body, the name of which was now changed from "general assembly" to "legislature," was to meet annually for not longer than forty-five days unless three-fourths of the members con curred to lengthen the session. Annual sessions were favored on the ground that they would prove less expensive than the biennial ses sions which had been tried under the constitution of 1851. For the first time, representation in both houses was to be based on the white population. The delegates were to be elected for a term of one in stead of two years, and the senators (half each year) for a term of two years in place of four years. To the age and district residence qualifications for legislators, which remained as in the Virginia con stitution of 1851, was added the provision that a senator should be a citizen of the state five years next preceding his election or at the time of the adoption of the constitution. The clause of the constitution of 1851 which had debarred ministers and bank officers from seats in the legislature was dropped, but a provision was borrowed from the constitution of Indiana debarring any person who had been entrusted with public money and had failed to account for and pay over such money according to law. A new anti-duelling clause disqualified from holding office any person who had been concerned in a duel.* To the previous Virginia restrictions on the' legislature prohibiting it to authorize a lottery, to grant a charter to a religious denomination, -or to grant special relief in matters entrusted to the circuit court (to grant a divorce, to change the names of persons and to direct the sale of estates of persons under legal disability), or- to form- a new county of less than minimum size, were added other restrictions : the prohibition of all special legislation, and of any law which would make the state a stock holder in any bank, or grant the credit of the -state in aid of any county, city, town or township, corporation or person, or make the state responsible for their debts or liabilities, or -contract any state debt — except to meet casual deficits in the revenues, to defend the state, and to redeem a previous liability of the state (including an equitable portion of the public debt of Virginia prior to January 1, 1861.) In one instance, the convention, after much debate, increased the •The reason for inserting this disqualifying clause in the constitution was ex plained in the report from the committee. The constitution of 1851 had given the legislature the power to pass laws disqualifying persons concerned in a duel ; but the legislature, although it had passed such laws, had been accustomed to repeal u i(di*tcr,l87(i- S8%$\ His topic Bu ilalngs, Wn e e l(xg. FORMATION OF THE NEW STATE 151 for gradual emancipation, passed the senate on July 14, 1862 — al though opposed by Carlile. On December 10, after a term of post ponement, it passed the house (by a vote of 96 to 55) and on December 31 was signed by the President.* On February 12, 1863, the con stitutional convention reconvened and made the necessary provision for gradual emancipation; and on March 26, the amended consti tution was ratified by the people by a vote of 23,321 to 472. On April 20, the President issued his proclamation by which, on June 20; 1S63, West Virginia became the thirty-fifth state of the Union. The new state government promptly replaced the reorganized govern ment of Virginia, which folded its tents, moved from the new state and located at Alexandria. West Virginia entered upon her career as a separate state of the American union at the most critical period in the war of secession — two weeks before the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. After the President's proclamation of April 20, the new government was rapidly organized. Arthur I. Boreman for governor, and other state officers, nominated at a convention at Parkersburg early in May, were elected the latter part of the same month. Judges of the supreme court and county officials were elected at the same time. On June 20, the state officers began their duties. On the same day the first legislature (20 senators and 51 delegates) assembled, and on August 4, it elected two United States senators — Waitman T. Willey and Peter G. Van- Winkle, who after some formal objection were duly admitted. Soon thereafter, each of the three newly formed congressional districts elected delegates who were promptly admitted to the house of repre sentatives. •The bill as passed contained a condition requiring that the Willey clause which Congress had prescribed relating to slavery should be inserted in the constitution by the constitutional convention, and adopted and ratified by a majority of the voters, and that after this was done and duly certified the President of the United States could lawfully issue his proclamation by which the act should take effect and be in force on and after 60 days from the date of said proclamation. VIII. The Strategy of War 1. west Virginia's part in the civil war. In the war of secession, to which West Virginia owes her existence as a state, the West Virginians in proportion to their number and wealth did as much as the people of any other state. That they were not friendly to secession was shown by their vote of ten to one against the Virginia ordinance of secession. That the determined character of this opposition to the action of Virginia was underestimated by the authorities at Bichmond was shown by the persistent efforts of Vir ginia to secure control of her western counties and to collect forces therein for the Confederacy. Not until the failure of the Imboden raid was the true sentiment of West Virginia understood by the Confederates. To the Union army she furnished over 30,000 regular troops, exclusive of the 2,300 Home Guards consisting of 32 com panies organized to defend 32 home counties from invasion. For the Confederate service she furnished between 7,000 and 10,000 men, near ly all of whom enlisted before the close of 1861. The importance of West Virginia's contribution to the war can not be estimated alone by the number of men which she furnished. The failure of the Confederates to hold the territory and to secure the Baltimore and Ohio railway gave the Union forces a great advantage in the trans portation of troops between Ohio and the East. 2. CONTEST IN NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. At the opening of the war the strategic Monongahela region of West Virginia became the theatre of contending armies in a series of introductory episodes which were larger in significance than in size of forces engaged or extent of territory covered. The geographic position of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, crossing the region of the Monongahela drainage system and the eastern panhandle, and connecting Washington with the Ohio, made it of inestimable value as an aid in the military operations of the United States government throughout the war and at the same time determined to a large extent the theatre of Confederate operations, especially at the in ception of the war. The results of the campaign, in which the battle of Philippi occupied a prominent place, determined the control of THE STRATEGY OF WAR 153 northwestern Virginia including the western division of the Balti more and Ohio railway, contributed largely to the control of the re mainder of the Baltimore and Ohio route from the mountains east ward to Baltimore, encouraged the movement for the formation of a new state west of the mountains, and influenced the result of later important military events of the war. The secessionists very early in the war saw the importance of -establishing their lines along the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania which they hoped to make the battle ground. At the same time they underestimated the strength of the opposition which the people of northwestern Virginia would offer to the attempt to join them to the fortunes of the Southern Confederacy. They Especially desired to •control the Baltimore and Ohio railway which had a geographic position of great strategic importance, and by which they particularly hoped to prevent the concentration of federal troops on Maryland and Virginia. Therefore, on April 30, 1861, General Lee ordered Major Boykin, -of Wjeston, to call out volunteers and assume command at Grafton, and took steps to control the Ohio terminals of the main road at Wheeling and the branch road at Parkersburg. On May 4, he directed •Colonel Porterfield, of Harper's Ferry, to call out additional volun teers to rendevous at Grafton, to assume general- command over Boykin and others in the vicinity, to distribute 200 muskets which at the request of Boykin had been sent to Colonel Jackson at Harper's Ferry, and to issue requisitions for additional arms. On May ll, he ordered 400 rifles and ammunition from Staunton to Major Goff at Beverly to be placed at the disposal of Colonel Porterfield for use in ihe vicinity of Grafton. In the meantime Boykin had encountered great difficulty in as sembling a force in the vicinity and had made a request for com panies from other parts of the state — a request to which General Lee -did not think it wise to comply. On May 16, Colonel Porterfield reported from Grafton, stating that he discovered great diversity of opinion and much bitterness of feel ing and that he was seriously disappointed to find that Major Goff at Beverly had received no rifles and had no information that any had been sent. Both at Pruntytown and at Philippi he found a company -organized and awaiting arms; and he was assured of another com pany which was forming at Clarksburg, but which was without either arms or uniforms. He reported that two companies were marching ioward Grafton to aid him : that of Captain Boggess, of Weston, which 154 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA had only flint-lock muskets, in bad order and without ammunition;. and that of Captain Thompson, of Fairmont, which had better guns- but little ammunition. Although urging the need of the best rifles, he doubted whether there would be much use of the bayonet in the hills, and thought that the rifles which had been in the fire at Harper's- Ferry would do if fitted up. Ordered to advance to Wheeling, Porterfield, before he had time to act and while disappointed with the failure of his appeals to secure adequate arms and ammunition, found it necessary to fold his tents- and fall back toward Philippi before a superior force of troops from Wheeling — the vanguard of the army of MeClellan — under Colonel Kelly who proceeded to occupy Grafton without firing a shot. He had burned two bridges four miles east of Mannington; but failing in his plans to execute Governor Letcher's order to destroy the railroad at Cheat river, and blow up the tunnel through Laurel Hill, he was- unable to prevent the Baltimore and Ohio from falling into the con trol of the Federal forces, which thus obtained a great advantage in- the operation of the war. In the closing days of May, General McClellan's 20,000 troops had' crossed the Ohio at Parkersburg and Wheeling; and on June 1, about 4,000 of these under General Thomas A. Morris, of Indiana, reached Grafton. Early in the evening of the following day, 3,000 of these marched by two routes on Philippi (twenty miles southward) where Porterfield had halted with his poorly equipped forces to resist the further advance of the Federals. Just before the dawn of June 3,, the two columns converged upon the town, after a march over muddy. roads, and fired the opening guns of the first inland battle of the war. The heavy storms which had impeded their march and tested the physical endurance of the young army, had caused the Confederate pickets to retreat from their posts without order to find shelter at Philippi. The rapid race of the Federals to Philippi, succeeded by the brief battle in which not a single person was killed, was promptly followed by the precipitate retreat of the stampeded Confederates who aban doned their baggage in their narrow escape from capture on the Beverly road and left the Baltimore and Ohio free to transport armies for the preservation of the Union. On June 22, MeClellan crossed from Ohio with his official staff; and on June 23, he established his headquarters at Grafton. General Eobert S. Garnett, who superseded Porterfield, and rein forced his army to over 6,000 by troops from eastern Virginia, con> THE STRATEGY OF WAR 155 pletely failed with inadequate force to recover an important strategic position by plans to establish a base at Evansville in Preston county. Later (July 11), routed at Bich mountain (five miles west of Beverly) and at Laurel Hill (ISelington) where he had constructed fortified positions to prevent the union troops under MeClellan from moving south toward Staunton, he returned to Tucker county en deavoring to escape by felling trees across the road behind him; but at Corrick's Ford he was overtaken and killed while retreating from a battle which closed the campaign by putting to flight the remnant of his army. On July 14, MeClellan moved southward and occupied Huttons ville, followed by the line of military telegraph by which throughout his brief campaign he had been able to keep in touch with Grafton and to announce to the excited country the news of his victories — which, although small in comparison with many later victories of the war, were important as a preparation for some of those later victories, and were significant in their larger results which contributed to the integrity of the Union. In the following October, the Federal force under General Bey- nolds advanced across the Cheat river into Pocahontas county and attacked a Confederate force which soon fell back from the Green brier to the Allegheny mountain, from which they later moved east ward. Garnett in his report from Laurel Hill informed General Lee that the lack of enlistments and lack of aid to the Confederate cause in dicated that he was in a foreign country. After his retreat there were few Confederates in West Virginia west of the Alleghenies and north of the Kanawha valley. 2. CONTEST FOR THE KANAWHA. In the contest to gain and retain control of the Kanawha valley the Confederates also lost. The policy of Lee was to hold the valley by posting a force below Charleston. General Henry A. Wise, who was ordered to the Kanawha at the beginning of the war, experienced con siderable difficulty in raising and equipping soldiers in that region, but finally secured an army of 8,000 men (including about 2,000 mil itia from Baleigh, Fayette and Mercer counties) with which he planned an advance against Parkersburg. In July 1861, threatened by a Federal army under General J. D. Cox who advanced across the Ohio into the Kanawha valley, and by another which moved southward from Clarksburg, he fell back to the upper Kanawha. Late in 156 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA August, he attacked the army of General Cox near the mouth of Gauley but was defeated in the ensuing battle, and was pursued vigorously. A week later, his colleague General Floyd, who had recently established his army at Cross Lanes in Nicholas county, was attacked at Carnifex Ferry by Federal reinforcements advancing from Clarksburg under General Bosecrans, and he withdrew at night into Greenbrier after burning the bridge behind him to prevent pursuit. In the following November, he was defeated by Bosecrans at Gauley Bridge in a final battle of a campaign which left the lower valley in the hands of the Federals. After the defeat of Wise and Floyd in detail, facilitated by their own continual lack of concert and co operation, the Confederates were finally pushed over the Alleghenies in this region, and never again obtained a permanent foothold. In Fayette county, the people were largely in favor of the Con federate cause. In May, 1861, the county court at a special session appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of equipment and uniform for soldiers of the Confederacy. In June, it invited the peaceful resig nation of any member of the court who might feel friendly to the North. The county furnished a company, for the Union army, how ever. Federal forces which occupied Fayetteville, in the fall of 1861, remained until they were driven out, on September 10, 1862, by General Loring's forward movement from the Narrows ; and they returned, in May, 1863, to drive the Confederates out. During the war there was a general exodus of the citizens, and only four houses remained at the cessation of hostilities. After 1861, the Confederates never made a serious attempt to re cover or to hold the trans-Allegheny region of West Virginia. Al though, as late as 1863, certain politicians and generals in the Con federate service still believed the majority of the West Virginians were in sympathy with secession they had no shadow of a basis for any lingering hope after the great raid of Imboden which found few willing to grasp the opportunity to enlist in the Confederate service. 3. CONFEDERATE TRANS-ALLEGHENY RAIDS. Although by the campaign of MeClellan southward from Grafton to Huttonsville, the Confederates practically lost control of the en tire region of northwestern Virginia, which so largely controlled the Baltimore and Ohio railway, and although they found no subsequent opportunity to make a serious attempt to regain it, they made several subsequent raids which produced a feeling of uncertainty and in security in some sections and severely tested the alertness of the THE STRATEGY OF WAR 157 Federal forces and Home Guards. General A. J. Jenkins with 500 Confederates made a raid through Bandolph, Upshur and Lewis (and westward to the Ohio) in August, 1862. General John D. Imboden with 310 Confederates reached St. George in Tucker county in -November, 1862, and planned to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio bridge across Cheat at Bowlesburg, and some neighboring trestles, but at the news of approaching Federals he retreated to Pendleton county. In the following spring he directed a double raid — one division of which, led by General William E. Jones via Greenland Gap to Preston county, then via Albrightsville to Morgantown and Fairmont, and in Lewis and Upshur counties formed a junction with the main division under Imboden, which entering Bandolph had captured Beverly and moved through Barbour. From AVeston, Imboden moved southwesterly to sweep the Kanawha, and Jones ad vanced to the petroleum wells in the direction of Parkersburg. In June, 1863, Beverly was again attacked by General William L. Jack son with 1,200 Confederates, but they were driven back by General W. W. Averell's body of cavalry, largely composed of West Vir ginians, which proved better than the earlier infantry troops in pro tecting the region through which it moved. • Later raids were that of Colonel V. A. Witcher, in September, 1864, who started from Tazewell county and penetrated to Weston and Buckhannon, and two later attacks on Beverly — one under Major Hull in the -autumn of 1864, and the other under General Bosser in January, 1865. In their repeated raids, the Confederates were doubtless encouraged by the demoralization resulting from the divided sympathies of the people in several counties of the region visited. At the outbreak of the war, nearly all county officers of Barbour were Southern in sym pathies; and for several months after Colonel Porterfield was driven from Philippi, there was no execution of the law by the civil author ities, and Philippi was almost deserted. In the following September, under the Beorganized Government of Virginia, there was an elec tion to fill vacancies. In the winter of 1862-63, the new sheriff, Mr. Ttahem, was kidnapped from his home by a detail of Confederates, under orders from General Imboden (who was encamped in Augusta county), and was sent to Bichmond. Although he was released and allowed to return, his capture led to retaliatory acts against the Con federate sympathizers in the county. In the raids under Imboden and Jones, which occurred in the spring of 1863, Barbour was not as much concerned as other counties of the region. In several cases 158 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA records were carried away, and in Eandolph the sheriff (J. F. Phares) was shot. Later, near the close of the war, M. T. Haller in command of the Home Guard in Barbour county was killed in an ambush by a Confederate scouting party led by a Mr. Moore. In May, 1863, the Federal authorities adopted precautionary measures to lessen the dangers of any future Confederate invasion. General Averill was sent with a mobile force, drawing its supplies from Clarksburg, to patrol the region south of the railroad to the Kanawha, and to cooperate with General Kelley commanding on the line of the railroad, and with General Scammon commanding on the Kanawha and the Gauley. He was instructed to guard the passes and approaches via Cheat Biver Mountain on his left, and to be ready in an emergency to cross the mountains to aid in any movement in the direction of the Valley of Virginia. He was later assigned to the Kanawha valley. 4. CONTEST IN THE EASTERN PANHANDLE. In the eastern panhandle — beginning in April, 1861, by the swift seizure of Harper's Ferry whose strategic importance was largely determined by its railway connections westward and up the Shenandoah — Confederate operations occurred at irregular intervals until near the close of the war, and were usually along the route of the railway. After the Confederates realized that West Virginia had forever slipped from their grasp and that the Baltimore and Ohio could no longer be utilized in the earlier plans to fortify the banks of the Ohio, they became openly hostile to the road and sought to damage it so that it could not carry Union troops from the Ohio to the Potomac. Governor Letcher of Virginia said, "The Baltimore and Ohio rail road has been a positive nuisance to this state from the opening of the war till the present time; and, unless the management shall hereafter be in friendly hands, and the government under which it exists be a part of the Confederacy, it must be abated." In the raids under Jones, Imboden and Jackson, the officers had instructions to strike the Baltimore and Ohio wherever possible. Jackson at one time com plained to President Garrett that the eastbound trains disturbed the repose of his camp and requested a change of schedule. To this re quest President Garrett complied. During the war, many Baltimore and Ohio trains were captured; and, in some cases, the engines were transported for use on the "scantily stocked Virginia roads of the same guage." The bridge at Harpers Ferry was twice destroyed, and THE STRATEGY OF WAR 159 the extensive machine-shops and engine houses at Martinsburg were razed to the ground. Early in the conflict, the Confederates held the entire railroad in their grasp from Harpers Ferry westward to Piedmont, and over the mountains. In May, 1861, General "Stonewall" Jackson, by the practice of strategy between Martinsburg and Point-of-Bocks, caught many trains which after a run by steam to Winchester were removed by horse power to the railway at Strasburg — producing a loss to the Baltimore and Ohio which crippled it seriously for some time. The withdrawal of General Johnston from Harpers Ferry to Winchester, in June, 1861, gave the railroad company an opportunity, quickly .grasped, to rebuild the section of its road which had been ¦ destroyed. In May, 1862, Jackson, after his celebrated raid down the Shenan doah, pursued General Banks to Martinsburg and westward to Wil- liamsport, Maryland; but he soon retreated to Harpers Ferry and up the Shenandoah, followed above Strasburg by forces under General Fremont who had recently taken command of the Mountain Depart ment with headquarters at New Creek (subsequently at Petersburg and Franklin). In 1862-63, the railroad sustained severe losses — 42 locomotives and tenders, 386 cars, 23 bridges, 36 miles of track and telegraph, and water stations on a section over one hundred miles long. In September, 1863, the railroad was kept open by detachment of the Army of the Potomac while it transported a large army westward en route to Chattanooga to support Bosecrans. East of the mountains, the Federal authorities built a fort on the Potomac at the mouth of New creek (Later Keyser) which became an important strategic point, especially for the protection of the route -of the railroad eastward and for the South Branch country south ward and eastward. From this point, General Kelley directed the attack on Imboden in Hardy county on November 18, 1863, and completely routed him. From this point also advanced General Averill, in December, 1863, at the head of a femous expedition (2,500 ¦cavalry and artillery) under orders from General Kelley to cut the Virginia and Tennessee railroad at Salem, at all hazards, in order to prevent Confederate supplies from reaching Longstreet who was besieging Burnsides at Knoxville. Forward by the most direct route via Petersburg he and his men rode for five days and nights, through terrible storms or by swimming over flowing mountain streams, over terrible roads and for long periods without rest; and, after outfighting -and outriding 12,000 Confederates who tried to hem them into the 160 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA jaws of death, they returned in triumph. Eluding four Confederate armies which marched and counter-marched to cut them off, they reached Salem on December 16, performed the task assigned, strik ing a blow which was felt throughout the Confederacy; and, after- many hardships of a perilous retreat before the pursuing Confederates, found an avenue of escape across the Alleghenies into Pocahontas- county and reached Beverly without the loss of a single cannon. In. retaliation for this blow at Salem, General Fitzhugh Lee made an invasion of the South Branch valley, penetrating to Bomney after leaving his artillery at the eastern base of the Shenandoah mountain. In 1864, the Confederates made several attacks along the route of the railway. Late in January, 1864, General Early invaded the South- Branch and, after compelling the evacuation of Petersburg, sent a foraging party under General Bosser to collect cattle and destroy railway bridges east of Cumberland. In May, 1864, Captain J. H. McNeill with, sixty-one Confederates seized Piedmont and burned much railroad property. On July 4, 1864, Imboden made an attempt ' to destroy the railroad east of Cumberland. On August 1, 1864, Con federate forces, after burning Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, attacked' General Kelley at Cumberland, andk after a repulse, crossed the Potomac at Old Town, advanced to Ejmney and attacked New Creek, but were overtaken by General Averejpf(by order of Kelley) at Moore field and completely routed. Thereafter, Kelley was employed in defense of the railroad. In November, 1864, General Bosser with 2,000 Confederates attacked Keyser and captured much property. Throughout the war, the spacious walled highway of the Shenan doah, by its relation to the passes of the Blue Bidge flanking it on the east and to the northern route via Hagerstown (Maryland) and Chambersburg (Pennsylvania), was an important geographic factor in strategic military movements and diversions — enabling the two armies of Virginia, by marching and countermarching, to play a game of back-and-forth "hide and seek," furnishing the opportunity for unexpected dashes of attack or of support, and contributing strongly to the Confederate advantage until the Irish soldier Sheridan caused the peace of desolation to rest upon the valley, preparatory to- the grander peace which soon thereafter came to the entire reunited country. Kit^^S '*M B^:' ^r? tOUTOJV' "%i»>4'>^^/. ^ fw? & ¦%#-. . tjm N"17'J William SUwI.NWYoi-k. M65. T-i\4 :1^"'VU^;:;''^Sy;?fe f I t SV m .^-''Oii-R-, WM ,r -7"™ : 1. ... ..k. s\. ^^t*^?^ JPil g i *H< Wnill'l <' fl ' «o>i Ms ITT V- ....:£- ' S. *i' **¦'*.-• »«*«C.V W .F^r^t^-i :% i^>; JTO>>- fi E A i ,T ¦¦£• ¦£¦--=¦-¦- »*"*' -« ¦4r..>S- ' i 8OTKS «£ M I! M Uti',~F/> Ml *v Msfe ¦' -¦'¦• &k>y- _?^V> *;>v""S' f . "•. '7^'.-y>i'-J=,.',' vj»».<-'.*..iicJ "»Pr V* ?. . > .firrrKl MiifvBi ,'„' ,'r iivr.'ji-\.i A'->, - Va»sl— . ¦-, ) • — - ,- -a* .- iv i, .v ."N...,-".H l> I iife ¦•¦LV; ¦:#': ¦c'7u :t^1\_ r It /tt \ M »' ft fl^3fa; !W ^PsLiSKfe n. iJa it^iianSfei IX. Political Problems and Reconstruction 1. BORDER DISORDERS OF THE WAR PERIOD. The new state government, laying the foundation stones of state institutions and of future order and development, was confronted by many serious difficulties and obstacles — economic, social and political. The people, separated into many detached local groups by precipitous mountains and rugged streams, had not developed unity of action nor social and commercial identity except perhaps in the counties along the Ohio, and along the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The most serious immediate political difficulty was the sympathy for the Confederacy exhibited in various parts of the state. Although the Confederates had soon lost control of the larger part of the state, over 7,000 West Virginians had entered the Confederate army early in the war — about one-fourth of the number who enlisted in the Union army — and the Confederate raids and skirmishes into the state, at first to prevent separation from Virginia, were continued until the close of the war. Counties along the southern border of the new state were partially under the control of the Confederates until near the close of the war, and "were forced to pay heavy taxes to the Eichmond govern ment and to furnish soldiers for the Confederate army." Other counties along the border suffered from irregular "bands of guerillas and marauders" whom the state troops were unable to manage. In this sad state of disorder, the governor recommended that the citizens should organize to capture and kill the "outlaws" wherever and whenever found, and appealed to the Washington government which organized the state into a military district under command of Gen eral Kelley who scattered many irregular bands, and generally ren dered life and property secure; but, in some portions of the state, the civil authorities were helpless against lawlessness long after the close of the war. Under these conditions, the administration was seriously em- barra'ssed by lack of funds to meet ordinary expenditures. In 1864, the governor reported that one-half of the counties had paid no taxes, and that others were in arrears. In fourteen counties there were no sheriffs or other collectors of taxes "because of the danger 162 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA •incident thereto." The burdens of the counties which paid were aiecessarily increased. One of the earliest measures of the state government was an act (1863) providing for the forfeiture of prop erty belonging to the enemies of the state, including those who had joined the Confederate army, but such property was seized only in a few instances and the law remained practically a dead letter because the citizens of the state were usually unwilling to take advantage of the political disabilities of their neighbors. Although, in the election of 1864, there were only a few scattering votes in opposition to the officers of the state administration, there was no means of obtaining an expression of the people in some of the extreme southern counties where the governor reported that owing to the Confederate incursions and local conditions it was still imprac ticable to organize civil authority.* In some counties a large portion of the inhabitants denied that they were legally under the juris diction of West Virginia — stating that their county had never taken a vote to authorize anyone to represent them at the Wheeling con vention nor to ratify the constitution which was made there. It was late in the fall of 1865 before there was anything like a full restoration of civil government in Mercer county — partly be cause everything in the system of local government administered by townships, and by a county board of supervisors, was new and novel to the people who had always known nothing but the old Virginia county court system — a system under which one or more magistrates in each magisterial district was clothed with jurisdiction to try warrants for small claims and to sit as a court to administer county affairs. There was strong opposition to the board of county super- *In some counties there were geographical lines of division resulting in the formation of new counties : Mineral was formed from*, Hampshire in 1866 Grant from Hardy in 1866, and Lincoln from four older counties in 1867. In Grant county conditions, similar to those which caused its formation in 1866, also produced a series of county-seat contests. The county-seat was first at Mays- ville. Until the courthouse was completed at Maysville in 1866, court was held in an old building at Laurelton, about one mile west of Maysville. About 1870, the question of removal of the county-seat was submitted to a popular vote at a special election. The result was in favor of Petersburg. The legislature of 1872-73 passed an act which made a three-fifths vote necessary for the removal of the courthouse. In 1876, at the general election, the question was submitted again to popular vote. Maysville obtained a majority of the votes but not the necessary three-fifths. About 1880 the question was submitted again and was decided in favor of Maysville but a dispute arose in regard to the technical legality of the election, resulting 'in a decision against its legality by the supreme court. In 1895, Hon. A. C. Scherr, to gether with F. M. Reynolds (a member of the legislature from Mineral county) and the representative from Grant county, prepared a special bill which became a law, requiring only a majority vote for the removal of any county-seat which had been moved prior to the year 1872. As a result of this act, designed to apply only to Grant county, the county-court immediately ordered an election which gave Mays ville a majority vote, resulting in the removal of the county-set. Judge Armstrong of the circuit court then decided that the bill of 1895 was unconstitutional, and the supreme court confirmed the decision. Thereupon, Petersburg again became the county-seat. POLITICAL PROBLEMS AND RECONSTRUCTION 163 visors which at first was composed of men who could not write their names. At the close of the war, in which there had been much waste and destruction of property accompanied by arrested development in regions which had previously begun to feel the pulse of a larger in dustrial life, the people of the new-born state turned first to the work of material reconstruction and then to the larger economic utilization- and exploitation of rich but latent resources whose develop ment was possibly hastened by the separation from the Old Dominion. 2. TEST OATHS, DISFRANCHISEMENT, AND DISORDER. At the close of the war, there were still many sources of disorder and friction. The most prominent related to the political status of those who had joined or aided the Confederate cause. Although the larger number of the brave Confederate soldiers from West Virginia laid down their arms in good faith and without desire for revenge, and returned in peace to build up and start anew as useful citizens of the young commonwealth they were confronted with laws which denied them the privilege of suffrage. Notwithstanding that the con stitution had extended the right of suffrage to all white male citizens of the state, the first general election laws of West Virginia, passed in 1863, had provided for election supervisors and inspectors who were authorized to require, from all whose eligibility to vote was in doubt, an oath to support the constitution of the United States and of West Virginia. Naturally the Unionists considered that those who had supported the Confederate cause could not safely be entrusted with political power immediately after their return from the Confederate armies, and before they had proven their willingness to cooperate in maintaining the established order. This opinion was largely based upon conditions and events immediately preceding the close of the war, and Avas especially enforced by reports of various acts committed in Upshur, Barbour, Marion, Harrison and other counties. The action of a comparatively small number of lawless ex-Confederates provoked the enactment of new laws which were regarded as unjust to many law-abiding citizens. The legislature, however, could make no distinction, and, with partisan spirit increased, on February 25, 1865, passed the voter's test act, requiring from all voters an oath that they had neither voluntarily borne arms against the United States, not aided those who had engaged in armed hostility against the United States. On March 1, with some fear that the test-oath act 164 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA was not constitutional, the legislature also proposed an amendment* disfranchising those who had given voluntary aid to the Confederacy— of course with the intention of removing the disabilities in course of time. This proposed amendment, which required the concurrent ap proval of the subsequent legislature and ratification by popular vote before it was part of the constitution, further aroused the spirit of antagonism and insubordination in the minds of the ex-Confederates who, returning with a spirit entirely different from that of the Con federate raiders and law-breakers of an earlier date, were "impatient to repossess themselves of place and power." The test-oath act was opposed on the ground that in most cases it operated against persons who had accepted the results of the war and who claimed full recognition as citizens under President Lincoln's amnesty proclama tions. In the election of 1865, it was not strictly enforced; and, in s few places, it was entirely ignored. Many ex-Confederates, claiming that the law was unconstitutional, took a free hand in organizing the local government. In many parts of the state, they were sustained by local citizens who claimed that since the war was ended the re quirements of the law were unnecessary, unwise, unjust, and contrary to the American idea of government. In some places they ran for office, and in Greenbrier county two were elected — one to the state senate and the other to the house of delegates. In many instances, however, the oath was enforced — resulting in a large number of damage suits brought by persons who were denied the right to vote, either because of the refusal to take the oath or because of in ability to take it. In his message of January, 1866, Governor Bore- man, commenting upon the alacrity with which the ex-Confederates in sisted upon participation in politics, advised the legislature to enact a more efficient registration law, to require election officers to take a test oath, and to give the neccessary concurrence in the proposed disfranchisement amendment so that it could be submitted to the peo ple. The legislature, although some of its able leaders advised the cessation of proscriptive measures, promptly passed a registration law, authorizing the governor to appoint in each county a registration board consisting of three citizens who were given power to designate the township registrars, and to act as the court of last appeal in all elec- *The amendment was as follows : "No person, who, since the first day of June, 1661, has given or shall give voluntary aid or assistance to the rebellion against the United States, shall be a citizen of this state or be allowed to vote at any election held therein, unless he has volunteered into the military or naval service of the United States and has been or shall be honorably discharged therefrom." POLITICAL PROBLEMS AND RECONSTRUCTION 165 tioxi and voting contests.* It also concurred in the proposed "deciti- zenizing" amendment which was promptly submitted to the people at an election held in May 1866, under the operation of the new registra tion law, and ratified by them by a majority of about 7000 votes, there by disfranchising between 10,000 and 20,000 persons. By the exe cution of the registration law at this election, much bitter feeling was engendered, resulting in a determined, aggressive and hostile resist ance to proscription, by an increasing party which asserted that the ratification of the amendment had been illegally and unconstitution ally secured. Some threatened to move to Ohio, under whose laws they could exercise the rights of citizenship. Although there is yet considerable difference of opinion in regard to the wisdom of these measures, it is generally agreed that they were in part the natural result of conditions which seemed to threaten not only the politics of the administration but also the integrity and in dependence of the new state. Many of those who were disfranchised hoped to see West Virginia return to the control of Virginia. In Jefferson county, a large number of persons, stating that the transfer of the county from Virginia to West Virginia during their absence was illegal and void, refused to acknowledge that they were West Virginians and attempted to hold an election as a part of the state of Virginia; but they yielded when General Emory was sent to aid the civil authorities in maintaining the law. Virginia, too, tried in vain to secure the return of Jefferson g»d Berkeley counties, first by annulling the act of the Pierpont government which had consented to the transfer, and second (1866) by bringing a suit in the Supreme Court, which in 1871 was decided in favor of West Virginia. In 1866 while Pierpont was still governor of Virginia, the legislature of that state appointed three commissioners to make overtures to West Vir ginia for the reunion of the two states; but the legislature of West Virginia rejected the proposition in 1867, stating that the people of the new state were unalterably opposed to reunion. At the same time, the legislature, although it repealed the registration law of 1866 in order to thwart the argument of unconstitutionality which was urged against the proscription laws, was forced by circumstances in some of the southern border counties to enact in its place a more exacting regis tration law, requiring the applicant for registration not only to take the test oath but also to prove that he was qualified to vote. A state of insubordination existed in three or four counties. In some places •This act, which was regarded as necessary to the execution of the provisions of the proposed constitutional amendment, also denied access to the ordinary courts of justice in cases of persons bringing suit against election officers. 166 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA no elections were held in the fall of 1866, because of the fear 'of violence. The judge of the ninth district, including Greenbrier and Monroe counties, received anonymous letters threatening his life. In his message the governor stated that the ex-Confederates who caused the trouble were "learned men." The new registration law, which gave to registrars the power to identify those who had aided the secessionists in an'y form, increased the antagonism to the administration and the opposition to the laws. Prior to each election in 1867, 1868, 1869 and 1870, opposition to the execution of the law was heated and intense, resulting often in threats and menaces against the registrars and registration boards. During the campaign of 1868 there was much partisan excitement; and many, unable to take the iron-clad oaths which would enable them to vote, and perhaps further irritated by the adoption of the fourteenth amend ment, frequently attempted to intimidate public officials, and threat ened violence which in some places prevented elections and in others compeUed the governor to appeal for Federal troops to aid in the maintenance of law and order. Force was necessary to aid in the ex ecution of the law in the counties of Monroe, Wayne, Cabell, Logan, Bandolph, Tucker, Barbour and Marion. In some counties the re strictions were almost entirely disregarded. At Fairmont, in Marion county, proscribed persons who had in some way gotten their names on the registration books tried by intimidation to induce the board of registration to retain therrfthere. As might have been expected, in some instances disorders arose from the arbitrary refusal to register persons against whom there was no tangible evidence, or from unnec essary and unwise rigidity in administering the law. 3. REMOVAL OF SUFFRAGE RESTRICTIONS. Before the election of 1869, there was a vigorous discussion of the suffrage question in all its phases, accompanied by a bolder and more aggressive opposition to the enforcement of the registration laws. With the admission of negroes to the suffrage by the fifteenth amend ment, which was proposed by Congress, February 1869, and ratified by the West Virginia legislature in the same year,* the question of re moving the restrictive legislation which disqualified Confederates from voting became more and more prominent and was seriously considered by the more conservative wing of the party in power. A large num- •Henry G. Davis, striving to hold the majority party to its previous declaration of principles opposed to negro enfranchisement, urged that the fifteenth amendment should be submitted to a vote of the people. The action of the legislature in ratifying the amendment produced a reaction, causing many conservatives and liberals to unite with the Democrat party. POLITICAL PROBLEMS AND RECONSTRUCTION 167 ber of the liberal Republican's considered that a continuance of the test-oaths was inexpedient, and desired to adopt some policy that would terminate the bitter animosities of years. A majority of the legisla tors chosen at the hotly contested election of 1869 favored repeal or amendment of the proscription laws, but could not agree upon a defi nite plan. The legislature of 1870 repealed some of 1lio test oaths. Governor William E. Stevenson, a man of liberal as well as vigorous progressive views, earnestly favoring liberal legislation to encourage projects of internal improvement and industrial enterprise which. would engage the people of the state in the development of its re sources and terminate the quarrels over past issues, recommended an amendment of the constitution to restore the privileges of those who- had been disfranchised by the amendment of 1866. W. II. H. Flick in the house proposed the amendment* which, after acceptance by the legislature of 1870 and 1871, was ratified by a vote of the people by a majority of 17,223 and proclaimed by the governor in April 1871. Judging from the figures in the Auditor's report, it appears that many disfranchised persons voted for the constitutional amendment which determined their legal right to vote. In the meantime, in the election of 1870, the opposition pushed their claims to registration — often by intimidation of the registrars. In some counties the law was so far disregarded that every male of the required age was registered. This laxity in the enforcement of the more stringent features of the registration law, together with the op position to negro suffrage, resulted in a victory for the Democrats who elected John J. Jacobs governor by a majority of oveT 2000 votes and secured a working majority in both houses which they retained for a quarter of a century — largely by their conservative policy in fol lowing to completion the plans initiated by the Republicans. 'Each political party became divided on the proposed amendment, which required the sanction of another legislature and sanction by the people before it became effective. In the convention of 1870, it was the issue and subject of debate. Democrats refused endorsement because the word "white'-' was omitted. Republicans could give no enthusiastic and unqualified endorsement, because "Radical'-' opposi tion within the party was reluctant to lose very valuable election machinery. After the official announcement of the enactment of the Enforcement Act by Congress, in May, 1870, the Democrats raised the slogan of the "white man's party." At registration time, they claimed that under proper interpretation of the Enforce ment Act any voter who declared his intention to take the test-oath could not be denied the privilege of suffrage — and they circulated posters explaining their inter pretation. The party in power, however, refused registration on grounds mbre technical than before — its local officers requiring each person, whose right of suffrage was questioned, to prove that he was a voter. Democrats, who com plained that they were illegally denied the right to vote, appealed to Judge J. J. Jackson (a Democrat! of the Federal district court which had been given cognizance of all cases arising under the Enforcement Act. When Judge Jackson sitting at Clarksburg appointed federal election commissioners who began to arrest the offending election officials and registrars, the Republicans appealed to the Federal circuit court in the form of a habeas corpus proceeding before Judge Bond, who by releasing the prisoner in the case reversed Jackson's position and in struction of the previous August. Flushed with dawning victory, the Democrats continued to make arrests ; and, at the close of the hotly contested campaign, won a complete victory. 168 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 4. CONCRETE ILLUSTRATION FROM MERCER COUNTY. In Mercer county, where business after the war languished under po litical disabilities,* the struggle to overthrow the registration laws and to secure "home rule" was closely connected with a county seat fight, in which one party later charged that the board of supervisors, by its power to lay and disburse county taxes, squandered or stole or wasted a large amount of public funds. In the fall of 1865, Judge Nathaniel Harrison, recently elected judge of the circuit court of the seventh judicial district, including Monroe, Pocahontas, Nicholas and Greenbrier, and a man detested by ex-Con federates for his desertion from their cause, rode into Princeton to hold his court at the old county seat established in 1837,** but re ceiving no invitation to alight, he rode eastward and opened court at Concord Church on the Red Sulphur turnpike. At the close of his first term of court "in the forests" at Concord, the people of that sec tion, and of other sections of the county, began an agitation for the permanent removal of the county seat from Princeton to Concord. In the election which followed to settle the question of removal. Con cord failed to receive the requisite three-fifths! In a second election, however, she won by the decision of the board of supervisors, and soon began the erection of a court house which was never completed. A legislative act of 1867 (secured by Colonel Thomas Little) , which permanently located the county seat at Princeton was repealed in 1868 through the influence of George Evans, the representative from Mer cer. Then followed a fight of injunctions, obtained first by one fac tion and then by the other. In the fall of 1869, at a meeting of the board of supervisors, Mr. Benjamin White, sheriff of tke county and a resident of Princeton, in a strong and boisterous speech, urged that public records were no longer safe at Concord Church and should be removed at once to Princeton. His speech so alarmed two of the board that they retired from the meeting. The remaining three members of the board, on the question of removal, voted with Mr. White, who thereupon procured wagons in which the records were taken to Princeton. The removal aroused a feverish excitement which threatened collision. It was aided by Mr. George Evans who, after the tender of the promised sup port of Princeton in his anticipated candidacy for clerk and recorder of the county, abandoned his fight for Concord Church. •Judge J. II. Miller states that of a total 1.100 legal voters, less then 100 were **The court house built at Princeton in 1839 was burned by the Confederate* under Jenifer in 1862. POLITICAL PROBLEMS AND RECONSTRUCTION 169 In January 1870, a committee of safety, organized at Princeton to devise a plan by which the vexed county-seat question could be ter minated without danger of another removal, decided to secure from the legislature a special act submitting the question to the people of the ¦county for settlement by a mere majority vote. In order to get such a law passed, Mr. Benjamin White acting for the Princeton people who furnished the money to pay his expenses, quietly mounted his horse, pushed over the mountains to the Kanawha, took passage on •a steamboat to Wheeling by the Kanawha and Ohio rivers, accom plished his purpose, and returned before the people of Mercer learned ¦of his activities. After much dissension and discussion among themselves, the com mittee of safety determined to postpone the special election under the special law until September just before the regular state election, and /meantime to get control of the registration board and register all the ex-Confederates who would vote for Princeton, and thus also get their names on the eligible lists for the state election. Later the commit tee managed to get control of the board of registration by the resigna tion of one of the members who, after resisting previous attempts to •control him, fell into a trap set for him with the knowledge and aid •of a personal friend of the governor (Mr. George Evans) who at once proceeded to Charleston and secretly secured from the governor the ¦appointment of a successor in the person of Mr. Davis, a Democrat who had held office as a Bepublican. Thus constituted, with a majority favorable to Princeton, the board appointed liberal district registrars who actively hunted and registered all white male citizens over twenty- -one years of age. The people of Concord Church, aroused over the local question, and •over the misplacement of the book containing the names of the voters •of Plymouth district in which Concord was situated, were so anx ious to wreak vengeance on their opponents in the county seat ques tion that they were willing to put in jeopardy the chances of shaking ¦off their civil and political shackles. Apprehensive of the supposed plan to register every ex-Confederate and overthrow the Bepublican party they informed Major Cyrus Newlin (a partisan Bepublican law yer of Union) who instantly wrote to the governor inducing an in vestigation. Mr. A. F. Gibbons, whom the governor sent to investi- -gate, was met with open arms by the people in favor of Princeton, and was assured that all would vote for Stevenson if the books were not blotched with erasures. Although Mr. Gibbons was wary and forced the committee to eliminate about two hundred names of the most 170 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA prominent ex-Confederates from the lists, Princeton still had names enough for her purpose. In the meantime, the Concord Church people sent a messenger to the capital to secure an injunction prohibiting the officers from opening the election polls. Princeton sent after him their messenger who, start ing twenty-four hours later, outrode him by two hours. After the refusal of the judges to grant an injunction, the county seat question was easily settled at the election by a majority vote of over 400 in favor of Princeton. At the same time, the entire Democratic ticket -was elected.* The county authorities immediately began to erect on the old court-hourse foundation a new building which was completed in 1875. The feelings of the people at Concord were some what mollified by the establishment of a normal school there, by act of February 28, 1872. Closely related to the double struggle in Mercer county was the formation (in 1871) of Summers county — a child of necessity whose creation, first agitated as a result of the prospective completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, and urged, to relieve inconveniences of communication with the court houses of Greenbrier, Monroe and Fayette, was largely due to several selfish disputes of older settled com munities, and was strongly opposed by a large majority of its own or iginal citizens. It happily settled. the disputes of other counties. To- secure desired ends the Princeton committee of safety joined with men such as Hon. Sylvester Upton, who after election to the legislature- voted for the erection of the new county, which by including two dis tricts of Mercer forever destroyed the hopes and aspirations of Concord Church to become the county seat. Senator Allen T. Caperton of Union (the county seat of Monroe) also enlisted his influence in fa vor of the new county which- absorbed from his county some of the lower part which had long agitated the removal of the court house from Union to Centreville (now Greenville). The delegate from Fayette- was glad to contribute from his county a slice to weaken the upper end which for years had agitated the question of removal of the county- seat. Greenbrier, which had plenty of territory, was glad to get rid' of what was regarded as bare and isolated territory, forty miles from her court-house and not worth the expense of collecting the taxes and' enforcing the laws. "Meantime, in the legislature of 1870, charges were filed against Judge Harrison' and a petition presented requesting his removal from office on grounds of misconduct" and neglect of duty. The charges of misconduct included corruption, intoxication, gross licentiousness, and oppressive and vindictive use of his judicial power. The- trial, for which all preparations were made, was prevented by resignation of the-- accused, which was accepted by the governor. POLITICAL PROBLEMS AND RECONSTRUCTION 171 The failure to include part of Baleigh in the new county was due to an agitation to remove the Baleigh court-house from Beckley to Trap Hill, which might have won if the Richmond District (friendly to Beckley) had been added to Summers. The clause which Moses Scott inserted in the bill for organizing Summers, preventing the in clusion of any part of Baleigh, left the new county with less than the area of 400 square miles required by the constitution — although Evan Hinton and J. H. Ferguson arranged for extending the lines in Green brier and Monroe, leading to the legal territorial and boundary dis putes of 1894. The legislative provision locating the county seat of Summers at the mouth of the Greenbrier was later the source of a quarrel which was never settled by the courts. The first court house was the old log Baptist church two miles up New river from Foss. At the date of its formation, the county had but few roads. The most important were the Bed Sulphur and Kanawha turnpike, and a road leading up New river. Coincident with the formation of Summers county under the lead of Evan Hinton, there was a counter-movement to create a county includ ing practically the same territory with its county-seat at New Bich- mond. i X. The Constitution of 1872 MOTIVES IN CALLING THE CONVENTION. After the passage of the Flick amendment which accomplished the enfranchisement of the ex-Confederates, an object for which the Dem ocrats professedly had striven for five years, further amendment to the constitution seemed unnecessary to many. However, the strong reactionary elements within the Democratic party, interpreting the attitude of the liberal Bepublieans on the amendment as a sign of weak ness, desired to put the opposition party completely to rout—or, as the Wheeling Intelligencer said, they were not willing to wait until the corpse of the Bepublican party was decently buried '"but must admin ister on the estate at once" — and for this purpose demanded a consti tutional convention. Their strength is shown in the legislature which on February 23, 1871 passed a convention bill.* The most radical advocates of the convention, (many thought), were apparently resolved to restore pre-bellum conditions as far as possible. In their zeal to make war on the state constitution they constructed various ingenious complaints against it. The Wheeling Register first objected (July 26, 1872) to it on the ground that a reapportionment could not be made under it without diminishing the existing repre sentation of some of the counties, and later (August 11) on the ground that a new constitution was necessary to extend the time in which the Virginia debt should be paid. The Democratic papers and various stump speakers emphasized the point that the constitution of 1862-63 was adopted without the consent of the whole people — at a time when many were in the Confederate army; and when many others, refusing to recognize the reorganized state authority, had not participated in the election. Some, who were jestingly called "Democratic protection ists" were accused of wanting a convention to frame a constitution ?Among those most prominent in urging the need for a convention were Judge Ferguson, Colonel B. H. Smith who led a large meeting at the capital, and Hon. C. J. Faulkner who was the leading spirit of a similar meeting in Martinsburg. Among those who took the lead in opposing the convention by articles in the press was Granville Parker, who feared radical changes in the organic structure and believed that any needed change could best be accomplished by amendments. He especially opposed the proposition of politicians to knock out the existing judicial and township system, claiming that their abrogation would necessitate a com plete change of the new code which had been prepared at an expense of $100,000. He also feared that the radicals who proposed to abolish the free school system and the ballot would remove constitutional restrictions which prevented the legislative log-rolling that had bankrupted the old state under the pretext of making "internal improvements." He desired no radical changes which would lessen the good opinion and confidence of capitalists and business men who were so essential to the future ¦of the state. y^jjEft* op thf. CossrntmoNAU Cwmxwn OF ^I/e&t Vl(|l4\NU,; Wl!L List of Members of Constitutional Convention of 1872, with key numbers corresponding to those in accompanying reproduction from orignal photograph 19. 75. 6. 45.05. 64. .'17.40.30. 42. 11. 23.27.03. 10.50. 71. 50.38..'ill. 40. GO. 24. 41. 00. 57. S. 53. 20.43. 01. 00. Allen, Lewis. Armstrong, James D. Arnett, U. N. Atkinson, John II. Bassel, John. Bee, Isaiah. Boggs', Charles D. Brown, William G. Byrne, Benjamin W. Byrnside, James M. Calfee, James. Camfbell, Alexander. Core, W. G. II. Crim, Joseph N. B. Cri swell, Hanson. Cushing, Alonzo. Davenport, George 0. Dickinson, Hudson M. Farnr worth, Daniel D. Faulkner, Charles J. Ferguson, Charles W. Ferreli,, Thomas. Fitjhugi-i, Nicholas! Gallaheh, Jos. W. Hagans, J. Marshall. Hall, Septimius Harding, J. F. Haymond, Alpheus F. IIaynes, William. IIoge, John Blair. Holt, Homer A. Jackson, Blackwei.l. Jackson, J. M. Johnson, Daniel D. Johnson, Okey. Kantner, Charles. Knight, Edward B. Leonard, David H. Lurty, Beverly H. Martin, Benjamin F. Mast.tx, Thomas, 58. Mathews, Henry Mason. 46. McCleary, Andrew W. 47. McCreary, William. 51. Miller, Wm. W. 32. Moffett, George II. 14. Monroe, Alexander. 25. Morgan, William a. 07. Osbiirn, Logan. 44. Pannell, A. .7. 4. Tark, Thomas It. 10. Tate, William D. 7. Peerce, John T. 74. Pendleton, William FT. 30. Pipes, James N. 1. Trice, Samuel. 12. Prince, William. 31. Tugh, David F. 9. Eandolph, Jeptiia F. 48. Robinson, John .^. 20. Roberts, D. A. 54. Smith, Fontaine. 18. Snider, Joseph. 15. Staton, M. A. 20. Strickler, Jacob P. 13. Stump, Lemuel. 28. THAYElt, A. H. 33. Thompson, John .1. 17. Thornburg, Thomas. 70. Travers. William II. 3-4. Waggener, C B. 50. Ward, Evermont. 21. Wartii, John A. 70. Wheat, James S. 55. Willey, W. T. 73. Wilson, Benjamin J. 08. Woods, Samuel V. 78. Butcher, G. J., Secretary. 80. Cunningham, Jacob V., Sergeant- at-Arms. 70. Galligan, B. A., Assistant Secre tary. SI. Wetzel, Gf. F., Doorkeeper. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1812 173 which would provide protection against the consequences of engag ing in future rebellion. All the advocates of the convention were most emphatic in expressing their wish to abolish the township sys tem, which they claimed was a new and expensive importation from the northern states. They desired to restore the old county-court sys tem, and many proposed to abolish the ballot and to restore viva. voce voting. Some frequently hinted that too many people were voting, and that some property qualification should be adopted to dis franchise the negro population and some of the poor whites. Others,, who fiercely denounced the court of appeals which had sustained the constitutionality of the proscription laws, at the same time criticised the constitution because it gave to the legislature the power to re move judges. But perhaps the most unique argument in favor of a new constitution appeared in the Martinsburg Statesman whose edi tor, apparently unconscious that the thirteenth and fourteenth amend ments had preceded the fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, declared in bold type, perhaps only for negro consump tion, that under the existing state constitution slavery could still ex ist in West Virginia after the repeal of the fifteenth amendment by Congress, which he expected to be done soon ; and he undertook to in form the colored voters that if they should oppose the call for a con vention they would be voting to retain a constitution which still rec ognized them as slaves. On August 24, 1871, the people determined the question in favor of a new constitutional convention by a vote of 30,220 to 27,638 (17,- 571 not voting) . All the largest centers of population except Martins burg voted in the negative. The big majorities for the convention were from localities in which there was a large ex-Confederate ele ment, the counties of Jefferson, Hampshire, Hardy, Greenbrier, Lo gan, Gilmer and Braxton. The Democratic strength was again shown in the following Oc tober when the Democrats elected 66 of the 78 members of the con vention. The twelve Eepublican members were humorously called the "twelve apostles." WORK OF THE CONVENTION. CHIEF PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. Meeting on January 16, 1872, the convention remained in session for eighty-four days at Charleston, then a village with unpaved and un- lighted streets and shut off from the mails for three days at a time. It declined to accept the invitation to adjourn to Wheeling with free transportation. The radicals felt that nothing good in the shape of 174 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA constitutional reform could be accomplished in that "iron hearted city," in which had been framed the first constitution to which they were so strongly opposed ; and many no doubt were influenced by the fact that the "best livers of Charleston" had thrown open their homes to the members of the convention who would have been compelled to seek boarding houses in Wheeling.* Strong efforts made by the most radical reactionaries to keep West Virginia under the influence of the life and institutions of Virginia and the South were resisted by the more moderate members. On Jan uary 20, Mr. George Davenport, a liberal young Democrat from Wheel ing, wishing to indicate that the Union Democrats were unalterably opposed to the manner in which the ex-Confederates were "running the convention," presented a sarcastic resolution requesting that the names of Grant and Lincoln counties should be changed to Davis and Lee. A few days later, some radical members made themselves rather ridiculous by opposing the first provision of the constitution which declared that the constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. Ward, of Cabell, on this question announced that he be lieved in the reserved rights of states; and Col. D. D. Johnson of Tyler objected to the clause because it ignored the "heaven born right to rev olutionize." After the early sessions of the convention, the efforts of the more radical reactionaries were somewhat neutralized by the more liberal Democrats who feared that the ex-Confederate element of the party would force into the constitution provisions which might defeat it before the people. Some, observing how vigorously many members rode the hobby of economy, feared they would adopt a constitution in tended not so much to benefit the people as to save money. The rad ical as well as the economic spirit of the members was shown in the great "squabble" which arose 'on January 22 after Mr. Parnsworth of Upshur made a customary and appropriate motion that the United States flag should be placed over the convention hall while the conven tion was in session.* *A complete file of the Kanawha Daily (the only daily published in Charleston during the convention', containing the most complete account of the debates that can be found, is in the possession of the Department of Archives at Charleston. •After Farnsworth's motion, Ward, who it was jocularly said was perhaps best known for his magic ointment and scalpwash, moved to strike out "United States flag" and insert the "flag of West Virginia," arguing that his first allegiance was to his state. After a futile attempt to lay on the table, Farnsworth's motion was adopted, but the weighty question was reconsidered on January 24, and 25 when Col. Johnson wished to amend the resolution so that it would provide for inscribing on the flag the words "West Virginia rescued from tyranny." "In 1861," interjected Hagans, who rose from the opposite side. But while various members were debat ing over the probable expense which would be incurred by the purchase of a flag, Mr. Henry Pike who, looking after coal land in that region, happened to be present, solved the question by offering a flag as a gift to the convention. Whether or not Pike's -offer was made out of pure gennerosity or not, the convention accepted it, voted its thanks to Mr. Pike, and ordered the sergeant at arms to raise the flag THE CONSTITUTION OF 1872 17 5 The new constitution exhibited the marks of the period of partisan ship which preceded it. Due to this feeling was the insertion of Sec tion 3 of Article I which made martial law unconstitutional, the pro vision that no citizen should ever be refused the right to vote because his name had not been registered, and the clause prohibiting the leg islature from ever establishing or authorizing a board or court of reg istration. Several new sections, quoted from the Virginia constitu tion of 1851 and introduced into the bill of rights — consisting of glit tering generalities on the equality of man, the sovereignty of the peo ple, the inalienable right of the majority and the repugnance of test oaths to the principles of free government — were introduced as finger boards to denunciate and anathematize the proscriptive laws of the Republican party. The qualifications for suffrage under the clause of the constitution of 1862 was changed in two ways : (1) by the omission of the word "white" to make it conform to the fifteenth amendment, and (2) by increasing- the period of residence in the district from thirty to sixty days. The proposition to omit the word "white"* from the clause on suffrage called forth long debate before it was finally carried. Mr. Martin of Taylor, expressing the hope that his arm might be palsied in any attempt to strike out the word "white," said that, with the ex ception of those who had been re-enfranchised by the Flick amend ment, the legal voters were "carpet baggers, negroes, mulattoes, Chi nese, Dutch, Irish, coolies, Norwegians, -scalawags with a few of the native population of the country." It was his purpose, he said, to give the latter more protection. Mr. Thompson, of Putnam desired to cut off "that hideous tail" to the constitution (the fifteenth amend ment) ; and, to provide for an emergency remedy, lie urged the reten tion of the word "white." He did not consider that the negroes, who he said claimed every species of artificial rights in addition to natural rights, were quite as capable of self government as the buffaloes of the plains which had only their natural rights to protect. Different views in the convention, in regard to the best method for the expression of the popular vote, resulted in a peculiar provision which exists in no other state and which leaves the voter free to select open, sealed or secret ballot. The opposition to the secret ballot was strong. Ward asserted that the ballot system had given a great deal over the convention. On February 19, the flag arrived and, after it was seized upon frantically by the "twelve apostles," and kissed by some of them, it was hoisted over the convention hall. ?Although the constitution makes no distinction between white and colored in the exercise of the elective franchise, nor in the holding of office, it provides that white and colored children shall not be taught in the same school. 176 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA of trouble to the world. Samuel Price, of Greenbrier, lieutenant- governor of Virginia during the Cenfederacy and president of the con vention, joined Ward in declaring that the people of their counties fa vored the viva voce system of voting. Mr. Martin, with face toward the flesh pots of the East, lamented that although fifteen years before in old Virginia the right to vote had been regarded as the most sacred one known to man," now-a-days the voter sneaks up, drops a little slip of paper through a hole in a door and then goes away lively as though he had done something he was ashamed of." All, the more liberal Democrats however, fearing that a provision for viva voce voting would defeat the constitution, secured its defeat by a vote of 36 to 29. Twenty-four members insisted that at least the voter ought to be re quired to put his name on the back of his ballot, and were able -to se cure the compromise clause which was finally adopted. The legislature was required to meet in biennial sessions of not long er than forty-five days, unless two-thirds of the members concurred in extending the session. The members of the house of delegates were chosen for a term of two years; and the senators, half of whom were elected biennially, were chosen for a term of four years. Representa tion was based on population. Although in a few instances the con vention in laying out the senatorial and judicial districts was ac cused of gerrymandering, the larger state papers do not reflect any serious discontent. The list of persons debarred from seats in the legislature was enlarged by the inclusion of persons holding lucrative offices under foreign governments, members of congress, sheriffs, con stables or clerks of courts of record, persons convicted of bribery, per jury or other infamous crimes, and all salaried officers of railroad com panies. On the latter debarment, peculiar to West Virginia, there was much debate. The attitude toward railroads at Charleston had greatly changed in the ten years since the convention in Wheeling in which VanWinkle of Wood, advocating the dropping of bank officers from the disqualified list, had clinched his argument and won the convention by saying that it might just as consistently proscribe railroad officers as bank officers. The growth of railroad influence produced anti-rail road sentiment in some sections. It was sneeringly said that the state should be called the state of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Farns- worth, whose policy was to grant to big corporations no liberal fran chises which worked to the detriment of land owners, deqlared his fear that the entire state would soon be under the control of the Baltimore and Ohio railway which by means of its through connections, he said, THE CONSTITUTION OF 1872 177' diverted to the west the immigrants who otherwise might stop in West Virginia. Among those who opposed the disqualification of men who- had been active in improving means of locomotion was Mr. Hagans who — after recalling the times not so remote when the people of the trans-Allegheny region had carried deer skins on their backs to Phil adelphia and had drunk sassafras tea six months of the year because they could not get store tea — said that without railroads residence in West Virginia would be about as desirable as residence at the North Pole. The legislature was forbidden to pass special acts in a long list of additional cases including the following: the sale of church prop erty or property held for charitable uses ; locating or changing county seats; chartering, licensing, or establishing ferries; remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures; changing the law of descent; regulating the rate of interest and releasing taxes. The state, in addition to the pro hibition of 1863 which prevented it from holding stock in any bank, was prohibited from holding stock in any company or association in the state or elsewhere, formed for any purpose whatever. The only new power given to the legislature (a power which remained inopera tive for thirteen years) was that of taxing privileges and franchises of corporations and persons, which in the constitution of 1863 had been withheld largely through the fear that a corporation tax would dis courage corporate capital which was then so much needed to build up the new state. The governor and all the executive officers were to serve for four years; and, with the exception of the secretary of state, were to be elected by the people. No provision was made for a lieutenant-gov ernor. In case the governor was unable to act, the duties fell upon the president of the senate or the speaker of the house ; and, if neither of the preceding persons should be qualified, the legislature was given the power to appoint — unless the vacancy should occur in the first three years of the term, in which case an election by the people was required.* The judicial system, which was entirely reorganized, consisted of a supreme court of appeals, a circuit court, county and corporation courts and justices of the peace. The supreme court of appeals, a rotary body consisting of four judges elected by the people for twelve years, could render no decision which should be considered as binding authority upon any inferior court except in the particular case de cided unless the decision was concurred in by three judges. The number of circuits was fixed at nine and a provision forbade the ?This provision is peculiar to West Virginia. 178 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA legislature to increase that number until after 1880. After much. debate, in which Osborne humorously suggested that there was no way out of the difficulty but to put the office up to the lowest bidder, the salary of judges of the supreme court of appeals was raised from $2,000 to $2,250 and -of circuit udges from $1,800 to $2,000.* Abandoning the township system, the convention reestablished the old county-court system composed of a president and two justices with its police, fiscal and judicial powers. This court was eulogized by Mr. Haymond of Marion as the guiding star to younger members of the profession, the "theater upon which their youthful geniuses might disport with gay freedom before the assembled people." Hagans answered this speech by suggesting that it would be far better if these young lawyers were safely housed by the state in some law- school where they would not afflict the public with such a "fraud as the farce known as the county-court of the olden times." He con tinued by declaring that it was cruel, and almost criminal, to impose on men who had never read a law book in their lives the delicate and ¦difficult tasks of adjusting the complex questions that arise in the suits that come before them. He had learned, he said, that the hapless suitor whose attorney could not boast of gray hairs could al most copy the inscription over the inferno, "He who enters here 'leaves hope behind," and rewrite it at the threshold of the august foriim of the county court, for it mattered not how ably a case might be put by the young lawyer, nor how much law he might bring for ward to sustain it until it appeared as clear as a sunbeam, the "ven erable and foxy lawyer" had but to refer to the "youth and inex perience of his young friend" and close with a few well chosen and hackneyed expressions about the "good sense" and profound judgment of the court, when lo ! the heads went together for an incredibly short time and with a wave of the hand it was "Judgment for the defendant, Mr. Clerk." Although the question of the Virginia debt arose in the convention, and although Mr. Willey advocated the adoption of some addition to the clause of the constitution of 1863, relating to it so that there would remain no shadow of a question as to West Virginia's inten tion to assume her equitable proportion, the constitution omitted the entire clause. This was regarded by many as repudiation. The antiquated clauses of the constitution which relate to the for- ?In the convention of 1861-62 Harmon Sinsel, urging the strictest economy in the finances of the new state and stating that respectable families could live on $500 a year, advocated small salaries for judges partly on the ground that men liked the honor of the office. nTu majorities — *on cet/l for Const itutionalConveritioti, Tor [J J Iffo returnsf^ i\r -ml County majorities on 1'aZ/f/ca.Zion. of tAe. Constitution* of/872-. TV-".: O " Tie. vote in. 'Bcbrko%Lf , No report frAntTZftcAie io° r 7l9° . ' ¦ 7tf' THE CONSTITUTION OF 1872 179 feiture of land may be regarded as a monument to a mistake of the dead but living past.* Originating with a purpose to quiet titles and reduce litigation, they are still a prolific source of expensive liti gation; and lawyers familiar with the abuses and objectionable features of their operation have recently advocated their abolition in the interest of a less complex system of land laws, if this can be done with injustice to none and without unsettling land titles. The clause of the constitution of 1863, requiring that an amend ment proposed by one legislature must be approved by the next be fore it could be submitted to the people, was omitted from the con stitution of 1872. Although the new constitution, which was ratified by a majority of only 4,567 in an aggregate vote of over 80,000, made some wise changes — lengthening the terms of members of each house of the ?West Virginia at the beginning of her history inherited the confusion of land titles which had resulted from the mistakes made by the mother state in the early years of our national existence when she had urgent need of revenue to support her government. The earlier failure to secure either revenue or much desired barrier settlements in the west, by the statute of 1779 which placed public lands on the market at a fixed charge of forty pounds for each one hundred acres . (a price which proved too high for the hunter-farmer of the frontier, induced the legislature in December, 1792, with the expectation of increasing revenues from land taxes, to offer western lands for sale at the merely nominal price of two cents per acre — an offer which in the next decade resulted in the acquisition of almost all the territory of western Virginia, principally in large grants often reach ing a million acres in a single tract, by speculators who neither became residents on the land nor paid taxes thereon. Much confusion resulted from the methods by which the grants were located. Without adequate returns from the lands to enable her to supervise the location and survey of the lands sold, the state allowed every buyer to establish his own boundaries ( !) ; and later, when she reluctantly and gradually entered upon the policy of forfeiting titles for non-payment of taxes, she first found many boundary disputes and subsequently discovered that many tracts had never been entered upon the commissioners book for assessment. Finally, forced by the stern fact that the settlement of western Virginia by those who were willing to brave the dangers and bear the inconveniences of the frontier, was retarded by the fear of the insecurity of ownership of soil upon which settlers might erect their humble homes, the Virginia legislature in 1831, and in 1835, passed two acts which provided for the forfeiture of titles returned delinquent (and not redeemed) and for the protection of pioneer settlers — acts which were the lineal ancestors of sections three and six of article twelve of the West Virginia con stitution of 1872. The Virginia legislature, though it showed a growing tendency to forfeit titles for non-payment of taxes and to favor pioneer settlers who paid the taxes, hesitated to forfeit a title absolutely ; and from time to time it passed numerous acts granting former owners of forfeited lands additional time to redeem them, and it never transferred a title to a claimant who had no claim of title derived from the commonwealth. West Virginia iu her first constitution' adopted the growing policy of the mother state in regard to forfeitures, and again temporized with the delinquent tax payer, but made a distinct advance by a provision which for the first time showed a dis position to favor the owner of a small tract whose delinquent taxes did not exceed $20. In a statute of 1869 her legislature provided for the proper entry of all land and imposed forfeiture as a penalty for failure to enter land on the books for a period of five years, but allowed the owner to redeem it within a year. The members of the* convention of 1872 inserted in the constitution provisions which prevented any further temporizing with the question of forfeiture of tracts of un- assessed land containing 1,000 acres or more and extended the transfer of a for feited title to persons who had actual possession for a term of years and had paid taxes charged on the land for five years. In 1873 an act of the legislature (still in force) piovided for the forfeiture after five years of all tracts of non- assessed land of less than 1,000 acres. The tendency of this system to breed Iitgation is well illustrated by the fact that there were recently on the docket of the circuit court of McDowell county thirty -seven suits by the state for the sale of forfeited lands, and in the larger part of these suits there were from ten to thirty tracts of land involved. These suits frequently resulted from the efforts of in dividuals who took an' unfair advantage of the forfeiture clauses of the constitution in the litigation of their claims. They imposed upon the state the burden of proof. and they assumed no responsibility for the costs of the suits. The parties behind this litigation, in many cases, would have had no standing in court if forced into a suit in ejection. 180 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA legislature and providing for biennial legislatures — it contained sev eral restrictions and inhibitions and imperfect provisions which have retarded or prevented governmental adjustments, and have been criticised by leading men of both parties. Although some of these have been changed, others still remain. AMENDMENTS. Amendments have been submitted and ratified by the people at several different times. The first effort to appease the clamor for amendments was made in 1879 when the legislature proposed two amendments: (1) an entire revision of the article on the judiciary, increasing the number of circuit courts from nine to thirteen, author izing a further change in the number after 1885, increasing the num ber of terms of the circuit court in each county from two to three each year and abolishing the county court system but still retaining the name for its successor — a police and fiscal board of three commis sioners for the administration of county affairs; (2) a change in Section 13 of the bill of rights, providing for a trial by a jury of six in suits at common law before a justice when the value in controversy should exceed $20.* In 1883 the legislature submitted the amend ment, changing the time of state elections so as to coincide with the day on which the federal elections are held. With a hope of removing or reducing the many evils which still existed, the legislature of 1897 appointed a non-partisan (bipartisan) joint committee to suggest needed revisions of the state constitution. In an elaborate report, this committee suggested many needed changes, some of which have since been adopted. In 1901 the legislature pro posed amendments which were ratified by the people, limiting the invested school fund to $1,000,000, requiring the legislature to pro vide for the registration of all voters, making the office of secretary of state elective under the same provision as the other state executive officers, providing that the salaries of all these officers shall be estab lished by statute and that all fees liable by law for any service per formed by these officers shall revert to the treasury, **and increasing ?The working of justices' jury has not always been satisfactory. In 1897, after sundry decisions of the supreme court, the legislative committee on the revision of the constitution, in order to avoid the necessity of recording evidence in a jury trial before a justice or of taking bills of exceptions to the ruling and conduct of the justice, and with the idea that the judgment of a justice upon the verdict of jury should not be final and binding as the judgment of a court of record upon a verdict in such court, proposed to aid to Section 13 of the bill of rights a provision in such case for an appeal to the circuit court for re-trial, both as to law and fact, under such regulation as the legislature might prescribe. ??This turned a considerable sum into the treasury. The -fees derived from the office of secretary of state and auditor were variously estimated from $10,000 to $15,000 per year. The committee also suggested amendments providing for the THE CONSTITUTION OF 1872 181 the number of members of the supreme court of appeals from four to five — whose salaries, together with the salaries of the circuit judges, were to be fixed thereafter by statute instead of by the constitution. In addition to the adopted amendments which had been suggested by the legislative committee, the people in 1908 voted upon two proposed amendments — one of which proposed to increase the pay of commis sioners of the county court in order to secure more competent men, and the other to amend Section 4 of Article IV, of the constitution so that it would no longer prohibit the appointment to office (state, county or municipal) of persons (women) who are not citizens en titled to vote in the state. Both were rejected. In the election of 1910 another attempt to amend Section 4 of Article IV failed. At the same election an attempt to amend the constitution, increasing the number of members of the supreme court from five to seven was de feated. In 1912, an amendment to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicants in the state after July 1, 1914, carried by more than ninety-two thousand majority. In 1913, an amendment creating the office of lieutenant-governor *passed both houses of the legislature; but no statute was passed submitting this proposed amendment to the people, and unless later provision is made by a special session of the legislature it can not be submitted at the next election. The committee of 1897 proposed other desirable amendments; but as yet, although there seems to be a general demand for many of them, the legislature has not acted. Among these proposed amend ments, for which there seems to be a general demand, is one providing that legislators shall receive $4.00 a day for actual attendance for a period not to exceed sixty days, at a regular, and forty days at any special session; and another providing that, in order to secure more deliberate consideration of bills, no bill may be introduced into the legislature after the fortieth day of the session. The committee felt that the provision which limits the jurisdiction of inferior courts to election of a county treasurer to collect the taxes of the county, and for the pay- ,ment of salaries to the county officers in place of fees, which should then revert to the treasury. Those in favor of the abolition of the fee system in payment of . county officers urged that the fees amounted to more than a just compensation for the officer's services and more than he would receive if he were paid a fixed salary. they favored reduction in the cost of administering county government, which had become burdensome and oppressive to the people. The demand for reforms became so strong that the legislature in 1908 passed a county salaries bill. Notwithstand ing the name of this bill, the fee system in payment of county officers is not entirely abolished, and there is much demand for complete abolition of the abuses that exist under the present system. ?The absence of any constitutional provision for a lieutenant-governor, which was considered an unnecessary office by the makers or the constitution,. has several times caused much difficulty in the organization of the senate. The waste of time spent in balloting for a presiding office has been far more expensive than the smaller sum which would be necessary to pay the salary of a permanent presiding officer of the senate. 182 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA a single county should be made more flexible in order to meet the growing necessity of development. Therefore, it suggested that the creation of such courts should be left to legislative discretion and judgment. It also urged the adoption of a secret Australian ballot in order to prevent the great traffic in votes which has existed under the constitutional method of voting. To secure this it would be necessary to omit the antiquated clause which provides that "the voter shall be left free to vote by either open, sealed or secret ballot as he may elect." The committee also proposed to equalize taxation (1) by an exemption on real estate against which there was a lien for debt of purchase, (intended chiefly to benefit the farming class who were paying more than their fair proportion of the taxes), and (2) by giving the legislature power to tax "business" (in addition to privi leges and franchises) with the special purpose of reaching the in tangible property of corporations and large enterprises which had escaped taxation, or had paid only a small amount of their fair pro portion estimated on the basis of wealth. In recent years, there have been many expressions in favor of a con stitutional convention to prepare a constitution more adequately adapted to present conditions and needs. In 1903, Governor White, suggesting the need of such a convention, said : "Our constitution creaks at almost every joint." Governor Dawson especially urged the need of reform in the size of the senate, which can be most effectively accomplished by a constitutional clause providing for county repre sentation in the senate: There has been a growing feeling that the size of the senate should be increased so that each county may have a repre sentative, and that there should be some early change in the present system of choosing senators under which it is possible for eight coun ties to control the majority of the senate. Both the legislative and exe cutive branches of the state government have recognized the inadequacy of the present organic law as a means of solving modern economic problems relating to taxation and the proper regulation of public service corporations. Although the need of a new constitution has been more recently suggested by Governor Glasscock, and although' many recognize that a constitutional convention would be the cheapest and surest solution of the problem — especially social, economic and fin- cial — which have resulted largely from the recent rapid industrial de velopment of the state, many conservative leaders still prefer what they consider the less expensive method of "patchwork" amendments. XL The Industrial Awakening 1. GENERAL SURVEY. "The political revolution of 1872 could not check the steadily grow ing economic revolution which, through the peaceful process of time, changed the industrial character of the state." The vast resources* of West Virginia, whose development was so long delayed and retarded by lack of transportation facilities, have recently furnished the incentive for many new enterprises which have greatly changed the life of the region. The recent industrial develop ment had its origin largely in the increasing demand for timber, coal, oil and gas, and to the resulting inducements for the construction of railroads and the establishment of certain manufactures, such as glass, iron and steel for which a portion of the region furnishes a clean, cheap fuel. The development of agriculture as a skilled business in West Vir ginia was greatly retarded by the habits of the people, resulting from frontier conditions and long continued lack of transportation facil ities. There had been little concentrated or co-operative action for improvement of agriculture before the war. Except in a few counties the people, remote from stores and destitute of means, were satisfied with production for bare subsistence and gave little attention to production for exportation. In the decade after 1850, agricultural societies were formed in a few of the most progressive counties, such as Marshall, Monongalia, Jefferson, Cabell and Ohio. There were few dealers in farm implements even at the close of the war. Al though the first rude thresher made its appearance in 1840, and a thresher which separated the grain from the chaff appeared soon after 1850, the steam thresher did not come into use until about 1880. After 1880, there was a rapid introduction of all kinds of improved farm implements and machinery. Their value by the census of 1900 was over $5,000,000. While in the cultivation of wheat, which was once a very profitable ?In 1876, at an expense of $20,000, West Virginia prepared for the Centennial exposition at Philadelphia an exhibit of her resources, which attracted the attention Of the world and the investment of capital in the state. The West Virginia build ing was made entirely of the eighteen varieties of hardwoods of Marshall county. Among the many exhibits were large blocks and masses of bituminous coal, some of which had been hauled over fifty miles by ox teams before they could reach a rail way station for transportation to Philadelphia. 184 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA industry in the older counties, West Virginia finds it difficult to com pete in the markets of the world with the great wheat producers of the northwest, she can continue to increase her production of both wheat and corn for an ever increasing home market. Since 1891, considerable advance in agriculture has been made through the influence of farmers' institutes, better communications, .and various associations. In 1891 the legislature passed an act creat ing a state board of agriculture*, consisting of one member from each ¦congressional district, appointed by the governor for a term of four years. It also adopted the policy of making annual appropriations to aid in conducting farmers' institutes and other work for promoting ¦agricultural interests and industries. One of the earliest state asso ciations for encouraging any branch of the farming industry was that ¦of the West Virginia Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers, which was organized at Parkersburg in 1879. Several active associations, repre senting different branches of agriculture have recently been organ ized : the West Virginia Horticultural Society in 1894, the West Virginia Live Stock Association in 1901, the West Virginia State Poultry Association in 1901 and the West Virginia Dairy Association in 1904. The recent preparation of conditions requisite for the full develop ment of agriculture point to far greater advance in the near future. Several counties annually ship many car loads of cattle for beef to eastern markets, and Harrison and Lewis export some of their finest cattle to England. At the close of the war an awakened interest in the latent mineral resources of the region, and the investments of capitalists, indicated the beginnings of a new era of development. Coal mining companies were formed and coal mining operations were begun in Putnam, Boone, Wayne, Mason and Monongalia counties by 1869, in Marion in 1870, and in Sewell Mountain on New river in 1873. Operations were extensive in these counties and in Fayette, Harrison and Ohio by 1880, and at the same time embryo operations were begun in the coke in dustry which steadily increased after 1880, and especially after 1890 when machines were introduced for mining. In June, 1883 the first coal was shipped from the Flat Top Field. The valuable Pittsburg vein of coal was easily accessible along the Monongahela, especially cropping out above the water level in Monongalia, Marion, Harrison ?The board was organized in 1891 with T. C. Atkeson as president. In 1892 it began the publication of the Farm Bulletin which was soon suspended and in 1893 was succeeded by the West Virginia Farm Reporter which in 1898 was changed to the West Virginia Farm Review. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 185 and Lewis counties. In 1903 there were 530 mines inspected in the state, and the total production was 24,000,000 long tons, of which nearly 19,500,000 tons were shipped to market. Coke burning which began in a small way as early as 1853 did not begin its rapid develop ment until 1902. In 1911 West Virginia ranked second in coal pro ductions. Her production of coal for the year ending June 20, 1912 was 59,581,774 gross tons, whose total value was $56,602,685.30. In the same year she produced 1,992,697 gross tons of coke with a value of $o,605,781.57. Petroleum, first obtained in large quantities in 1860 on the Little Kanawha near Parkersburg, developed a thriving business which, al though ruined by the Confederates in 1863, was revived in 1865* and .greatly extended by operations in Wirt, Wood and Pleasants counties. From 1876 to 1889 there was little extension of productive area, but the yearly production which steadily declined in these years rapidly in creased in the following decade — rising from 544,000 barrels in 1889 to 16,000,000 barrels in 1900, surpassing both Pennsylvania and New York. In 1910 West Virginia produced 11,753,071 barrels of oil, ranking fourth in production in the United States. In 1911 she pro duced 9,795,464 barrels, ranking fifth in production. The specula tion in oil, although it ruined some, built fortunes for others. By means of a series of pumping stations constructed after 1890 the product was forced through pipe lines over the mountains to the sea- hoard cities. After 1882, by the opening of new gas wells, and the discovery of new gas fields, the practical use of gas became a large factor in the industrial and social development of the state, furnishing the induce ment for the location of many manufacturing establishments seeking •cheap fuel. It also attracted immigrants desiring a clean and con venient fuel for their homes. As early as 1821 a window glass factory was erected at Wheeling. In 1864 the cost of glass manufacture was reduced by one-half by the ?While excitement was high along Fishing creek in Wetzel county and in Tylor county, oil speculators and well-borers had already been attracted by indications of gas and oil along the tributaries of the West Fork in Lewis county and along the Pennsylvania boundary of Monongalia. Even in the Cheat river valley in Preston they were prospecting and purchasing with expression of confident ex pectations which materially increased the value of undeveloped tracts of land. Harrison county was affected by a strong show of oil on the head waters of Cabin run (a tributary of Hughes river) in Ritchie county, and became excited by an oil strike at a depth of 200 feet at Clarkeburg which resulted in the beginning of oil leases on town lots, cultivated farms and wild lands. In Taylor county, too, an ¦oil strike was reported at a depth of 300 feet. Fortunately the mania for buying "shares" in unknown companies had somewhat subsided. Except in a few instances of wild investment in untested petroleum lands, prices continued to rise. In Monongalia county considerable excitement caused by the expectation of striking a rich oil field in the spring of 1861, and quieted by the intense excitement of the ¦war, was revived in 1865. 186 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA discovery of a new process which is regarded as the second great im provement in this industry. As early as 1879 gas was used for fuel in the glass works at Wheeling. In 1900 it was used almost exclu sively in all the glass works of the state. As a fuel in the manufac ture of glass it has no equal. In 1870 there were in the state (at Wheeling) six glass works employing 860 persons with products ex ceeding $600,000 per annum. In 1890 there were seven establish ments employing 1371 persons and with products valued at $945,234. In 1900 the number had increased to sixteen employing 1949 per sons and with products valued at $1,871,795. In 1911 there were 28 flint glass factories employing 6033 persons and producing annual ly a product valued at $6,854,187; and 21 window glass factories em ploying 3153 persons and with an annual production valued at $3,467,622. The timber industries became prominent by 1885. For many years- after the civil war large rafts of logs were floated down Cheat and the Monongahela to Brownsville and lower points. Portable steam saws, introduced in some cases about 1860, became more numerous after the- construction of railroads. The cross-tie industry had been prominent for many years. Lumbering (the lineal descendant of the earlier cut ting and rafting of tan bark, hoop-poles and logs), although it dev- veloped little before 1865, ranked among the foremost industries in many parts of the state in 1900 and even at the close of the decade- following. Among other recent industries are brick works and tile works. In 1903 the Buckhorn Portland Cement company began the shipment of cement from a mill, with a capacity of 1200 barrels a day, located at" Manheim on Cheat two miles below Rowlesburg. More recently ce ment mills have been established at Martinsburg and other points. New forms of wealth are beginning to emerge in the opportuni ties for valuable water-power, which was scarcely utilized before 1870" except for grist mills and saw mills, and which in sections remote f rom- rail or from navigable streams did not until recently enhance the- value of the surrounding lands. Bank facilities have been established on unusually good founda tions. During the period of financial stringency in 1893 and 1907" the depression was not seriously felt in West Virginia. The large- number of investments in the region, and the circulation of money- necessary for their development, made money usually plentiful. Both the census of 1900 and that of 1910 indicate a remarkable- Vourtc.su oj W. va. (Jeoiotjical Survey. Electric Water Power Plant on the Potomac (Morgan County). THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 187 development of material wealth — including farm property, farm products, manufacturing plants, manufactured prdducts, timber products, coal and coke production, bank resources and bank deposits and steam railways. Industrial progress has been greatly influenced by corresponding development of means of transportation. When the state began its separate existence there were few facilities for communication in the larger part of its territory. Of the few turnpikes, the most important were the James river and Kanawha, the Winchester and Parkersburg. ("Northwestern") and the Staunton and Parkersburg* which had been begun by Virginia to silence the rising murmurs of popular dis content west of the Alleghenies. South of the Great Kanawha, roads of any kind were few and in bad condition. Steamboat navigation except on the Ohio was confined to a few miles on a very few streams and was not yet satisfactory. There was but one railroad, the Balti more and Ohio, whose immediate influence affected only a narrow strip of territory across the northern border of the state. In 1873 Congress made small appropriations for sluice and wing dam improvement on the Great Kanawha, and two years later began appropriations for permanent lock-and-dam improvements which after a quarter of a century were completed to Montgomery above Charles ton at a cost of over $4,000,000. In 1887 beacon lights were establish ed on the Ohio and soon thereafter on the Great Kanawha. In 1872 Congress began appropriations by which slack-water improvements have been extended up the Monongahela to Fairmont. The new government promptly took steps to encourage the con struction of railroads. Of the many proposed railways chartered after 1864, several were completed by 1885. In 1871 the Baltimore and Ohio railroad purchased the old Hempfield railroad, in operation be tween Wheeling and Washington, Pennsylvania, and completed it to Pittsburg. In January, 1873 the Chesapeake and Ohio was completed westward from Sulphur Springs to Huntington. A decade later, other new railway lines were in progress of con struction. La 1884 the Kanawha and Michigan, a continuation of the Ohio Central, was opened from the Ohio river to Charleston, and ?A number of jointstock turnpikes had also received some appropriation from Virginia. The new 'state, relinquishing all rights in the chartered turnpikes in which Virginia had held an interest, turned them over to the counties for super vision and repair. While such turnpikes added to the facilities for travel in the most densely settled parts of the state, much expense and work was required to maintain them in good condition. The turnpike from Point Pleasant to Charleston was in a very bad condition at the close of the war. The Guyandotte and Covington turnpike via Charleston and White Sulphur springs was kept in fairly good condition for the daily stage line. 188 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA later it was extended to Gauley Bridge. In 1886 a line designed to connect the north central part of the state with Pittsburg was com pleted from Fairmont to Morgantown, from whence it was later (1895) extended to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, where it connected with a main line of the Baltimore and Ohio from Cumberland to Pittsburg. The Ohio river railway was completed from Wheeling to Parkersburg in 1885, and continued to Point Pleasant in 1886 and to Huntington in 1888. In 1892 the Norfolk and Western was open ed to the Ohio, and in 1893 the Charleston, Clendennin and Sutton was put in operation up the Elk river from Charleston to Sutton, from whi-;h a new line was extended to Elkins by 1906. During the most active period of railroad construction in West Virginia, from 1896 to 1902, sixteen roads or branches were built, and by 1904 rail roads penetrated fifty-one of the fifty-five counties of the state. After 1900 the rapid development of productive industries, and of transpor tation facilities was accompanied by great changes in every phase of life, industrial and social, political and educational. It caused a phe nomenal growth of many towns, and great improvement of the condi tions of life. 2. EVOLUTION OF RAILROADS AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. The development of railway systems in recent years created an in dustrial revolution, and the beginning of a great material development which is still in its infancy. The railroads opened communication with the markets of the world, and attracted capital to exploit rich coal fields and valuable timber lands. Every delay in securing trans portation facilities postponed the day of prosperity. Every extension of railroads has resulted in great industrial and social changes, in cluding large increase in the permanent population. PROJECTED RAILROADS THAT FAILED. In the decade after the war there were many projected railroads which failed through lack of capital. In 1864, the West Virginia Central was projected from the Pennsylvania Central line either via the Monongahela or via Brandonville, Grafton, Buckhannon, Sutton and Charleston to the mouth of the Big Sandy. In 1865, coincident with the revival of projects for a railway along the New river and the Kanawha, the Monongahela and Lewisburg railway company was in corporated to build a road beginning at the Pennsylvania state line and passing through Morgantown, and via Fairmont, Clarksburg and THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 189 Buckhannon to intersect with the proposed Chesapeake and Ohio and to give connection with the mineral deposits of the Virginias and the cotton fields of the South. Other roads projected in rapid succession were: the Monongahela Valley (1868) from the Pennsylvania state line to Fairmont; the Uniontown and West Virginia (1869) crossing the Cheat near Ice's Ferry, thence via Morgantown; the West Virginia Central (1870) from the Pennsylvania line of Preston county to Charleston; the Pittsburg, Virginia and Charleston (1870) via Morgantown, to con nect with the Baltimore and Ohio at Grafton; the Northern and Southern West Virginia (1870) from the Pennsylvania line via Clarksburg and Charleston to Wayne county; the Pittsburg, West Virginia and Southern Narrow Guage (1878) from Washington, Pennsylvania via Mt. Morris and Morgantown to Grafton; the West Virginia and Pennsylvania (1881) between the Pennsylvania state line and Clarksburg; and the Blacksville and Morgantown Narrow Guage (1882). The Pittsburg, Virginia and Charleston railway, originally chartered as the Monongahela Valley, reincorporated under the new name in 1870, was opened to Monongahela City in 1873, ab sorbed the Brownsville road (from Mt. Braddock) in 1881, opened the Redstone branch in 1882, but never reached West Virginia. In 1887 it was leased by the Pennsylvania railroad company which still operates it. Much of the earlier activity in connection with projected railways in the northern part of the state was largely related to the interests of Monongalia and Preston counties, and especially to the interests of Morgantown, which had already obtained telegraphic communica tion with the world by a line erected between Pittsburg and Fairmont in 1866. In 1871 the legislature authorized the extension of the Iron Valley railroad (which was constructed from Hardman's, on the Baltimore and Ohio via Three Fork creek to Irohdale). This exten sion was projected via Decker's creek to Morgantown and the Penn sylvania boundary. The legislature authorized another line from the Baltimore and Ohio near the mouth of Racaoon creek via Martin's Iron Works, the mouth of Green's run, Bruceton and Brandonville to the Pennsylvania boundary on the Big Sandy. In 1873 the legis lature appropriated $1,000 for a survey in the general direction of the latter line with a view to connection with the Pittsburg, Washington and Baltimore railroad, but plans for financing the construction of the road failed. The county court of Preston, at that time prosecut- 190 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA ing an expensive suit against the Baltimore and Ohio for taxes, re fused to submit to the people the question of a county appropriation to aid in building the road. After the improvement of the financial ¦condition of the county in 1876, by the acceptance of $18,000 by compromise with the Baltimore and Ohio, interest in the proposed road declined. In 1877, the county court of Preston voted to submit to the people the question of subscribing to the capital stock of the proposed narrow gauge railway from the Baltimore and Ohio via Kingwood to Morgantown, but friends of the enterprise decided not to submit the proposition. In 1878, public meetings were held in Mon ongalia to encourage the construction of a railroad from Morgantown to Grafton.* After a period of "hard times" the earlier idea of a rail way following Decker's creek from its mouth, and connecting Morgan- town and Kingwood** with the Baltimore and Ohio at the point where the short railway from Irondale furnace tapped it, was revived in 1881 and a route surveyed. In July, 1882, Monongalia voted down, by a majority of 32, a< prop osition to take $150,000 of the capital stock of the Iron valley and Morgantown railroad. A later proposition to apportion part of the subscription to a narrow gauge road from Morgantown to Blacksville was also lost by a large vote. ' In the meantime, Grant and Cass dis tricts, which had been influential in defeating the railway projects devised by others, proposed, December 27, 1882, a plan for a railroad of their own from the Pennsylvania line via Grantsville and up Davis run to the Marion county line — a plan which received only 114 votes at a special election called in the two districts. Construction on the Iron valley and Morgantown road was begun at Morgantown March 22, 1883, but was discontinued a few days later. At a meeting held at Fairmont in the fall of 1884, the at tempts of the directors of the West Virginia and Pennsylvania1 rail road, to get aid in the construction of that road, also failed. At other points there were rumors of approaching railroads which ?In her efforts to secure railway connections, Morgantown was partly influenced by lack of adequate facilities for river navigation. Lock "Number 9," although its completion in 1879 was celebrated by 1,500 people gathered from surrounding points, proved ineffective until the completion of lock "Number 8" in 1889, after a delay of ten years during which steamers could not ascend the river above New Geneva. ?*In 1882 the Kingwood railway company was organized to construct a narrow- gauge railway from Kingwood to Tunnelton. Kingwood especially felt the imme diate need of railway connection. She had already endeavored to hold her position as the county seat by neighboring improvements. Additional development of re sources in the vicinity necessarily awaited the coming of the railway. Promoters and prospectors were already active in preparation for new industries. In 1882 the Preston company was incorporated to traffic in minerals and timber lands, to mine and manufacture minerals and to contract for the construction of railways, telegraph lines and bridges. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKEING 191 vanished before they arrived. In 1872, Charleston also expected a terminal railway from Parkersburg via Two Mile creek, Tupper's creek and Pocatalico. In 1873 the Shenandoah and Ohio was pro jected from the Shenandoah valley via Franklin. In 1873 the Wash ington and Ohio railway was projected through the heart of West Virginia via Winchester, Capon Springs, Moorefield, Petersburg, Buckhannon, Weston, Glenville, Sandyville and Point Pleasant. In 1895, the Chesapeake and Western was projected via the South Branch valley. Later paper lines were the Seaboard and Great Western of 1899 and the C. and I. in 1902. CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILROAD. The first actual railway construction after the war was across the middle of the state from east to west along the general route of the old James river and Kanawha turnpike. The Chesapeake and Ohio railway traversing one of the most pic turesque regions of West Virginia is the successor of the Covington and Ohio railroad, which was organized as an extension of the Vir ginia Central (incorporated 1850) the successor of the Louisa rail- ¦ road which obtained its charter in 1836. The Virginia Central re ceived its charter under the influence of a state policy to link Chesa peake Bay and the Ohio river by a railway, and construction was pros ecuted by state appropriations until 1861 when the line was in opera tion to Jackson's river (ten miles east of Covington). It was operat ed to Covington in 1867. Work on the Covington and Ohio, abandon ed in 1861, was resumed in 1868 under charters of incorporation se cured from the legislature of both Virginia and West Virginia in 1865, and under later acts of 1867 which conferred additional privi leges. Commissioners, appointed by the two states to co-operate in enlisting the interest of capitalists and . the early completion of the road, experienced great difficulty in securing the financial aid neces sary to meet the heavy expense of construction. In August they finally contracted with the Virginia Central railway company which undertook the construction. Under this arrangement the name of the road was changed to the Chesapeake and Ohio. Its president, General William C. Wickham, succeeded in attracting the interest of CoUis P. Huntington and his associates who in November, 1869, made a contract which insured the successful completion of the road. On June 9, 1870, the new road acquired from Virginia the title to 192 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the Blue Ridge railroad, which Virginia had constructed through the mountains. The new road was aided by the state through an act of 1868 which authorized townships to hold special elections to determine whether they would purchase stock. It also received aid from the sale of pub lic land. The policy of th i state to aid the road created much opposi tion, to which railroad men actively replied. In the Greenbrier Independent in 1872 appeared articles opposing the road on the ground that it carried whiskey, killed chickens and cows, scared the horses, and threw teamsters out of employment. Construction westward to Huntington was pushed vigorously. From 1869 to 1873 engineering corps and contractors were busy in the Alleghenies, in the Greenbrier valley, along the canyon of New river and the bottom lands of the Kanawha, and across Teay's valley, until continuous rails completed the new link between East and West. The full story of the work done would tell of hardships and dangers bravely borne, and of the faith and patience of skill and intelligence. The materials for construction were brought over land in wagons or down the Greenbrier river in bateaux. The labor used in construc tion was largely furnished by colored laborers from Virginia. The employees for several years were principally Virginians. On January 29, 1873, the last spike was driven on the New river bridge at Hawk's Nest, and the special Richmond train of President Wickham proceeded westward to Charleston and to Huntington. At Charleston the event was celebrated by appropriate display of speeches, terminating in a great display of fireworks. At Huntington the union of opposing waters by bands of steel was celebrated by pouring into the Ohio a barrel of James river water brought from Rich mond. The president, in his speech, emphasized four great ad vantages of the road: (1) shortness of route between the Ohio and Norfolk harbor; (2) its easy grade and reduced number of curves; (3) the mild climate along the route; (4) the short distance of its Huntington terminus from Cincinnati. The service of the road for several years was very inefficient and the tonnage very light. Only local passenger trains, and only a few freight trains were operated. The first engines were fired with cord- wood. The earlier success of the road was restricted both by loose methods of management and the provincial prejudices of many people resid ing along the route — some of whom had originally worked on the THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 193 road. The company charged high freight rates for slow transporta tion; and at the same time, conductors, baggage men and other subordinate officials, in some instances managed to secure free trans portation for country produce which they purchased for almost noth ing and sold at good prices at Richmond and other eastern points. Various people, inscrutably and mysteriously peculiar or jealously prejudiced, objected to the collection of fares, or at least objected to paying their fares in money. Some seemed to regard the railroad as the visible representative of a magic fund of wealth upon which the people should draw as heavily as possible at every opportunity. To maintain telegraphic connections at first was rendered difficult by the depredations of the natives who cut the wires and appropriated them for domestic purposes. The later effect of the road may be traced in the increasing price of land, the rise of many new industries, and the changed character of the population. Speculators and promoters promptly arrived to survey the resources of the country and to prepare for the new era of greater activity in opening the wealth which had so long remained dormant. Many who came to work on the railroad, or in some re sulting industrjr, later married or sent for families left behind, and bought a small farm along the route of the railroad, or contributed to the growth of new towns'. The mingling of newcomers from many older communities was conducive to the formation of new ideas and the stimulation of a larger and more vigorous life. On November 1, 1873, the Chesapeake and Ohio found itself un able to meet the interest on its mortgage bonds. On October 9, 1875, after strenuous efforts to effect a settlement with the creditors, the road passed into the hands of a receiver appointed by the United States circuit court. After sharp litigation, on January 21, 1879, it passed to another receiver, General Wickham, appointed by the state courts of Virginia and West Virginia, and by him on July 1, 1878, it was sold and conveyed to C. P. Huntington and others by a scheme of reorganization which simply allowed time for further de velopment of the business of ' the road without any diminution of the bonded indebtedness. In 1880 the road was extended to Newport News and westward from Huntington to the Big Sandy and across the bridge, thus con necting with the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy railroad. Unable to meet the heavy fixed charged provided in the plan of reorganization, on June 15, 188.6, the road was leased to the Newport News and Mississippi Valley company with hope of greater returns. 194 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA After the annulment of this lease, and as a result of suits brought by Mr. Huntington to recover advances of money, the road again passed to the receivership of General Wickham; and, in September, 1888, it was reorganized, through the co-operation of the powerful house of Drexel, Morgan & Co., and placed under control of M. E. Ingalls, who was also president of the "Big Four" system. In 1889, under charge of H. E. Huntington, the line was finished to Cincinnati. Under the new management, branch lines were pushed into the coal fields up the tributaries of the New river and the Kanawha, in cluding a branch from Cabin creek to Kayford, one from Gauley to Greendale, one from Thurmond to Stewart and one from Roneevert to Winterburn. The Loup creek branch, begun in 1892, was completed to Macdonald by September, 1893. Later the Greenbrier branch was completed to Durbin* and a line was constructed up the Guyandotte to Logan. To meet the demands for extension, and for increasing traffic, exact ed high intelligence and forethought and much outlay of money. The entire road was relaid with heavier rails and furnished with the most modern equipment. From a single track line laid with light rail upon a road bed unfit for modern traffic, the road has grown into a double-tracked, well-equipped line, with grades and curves much re duced by changes in alignment. To avoid expensive litigation resulting from accidents, which were quite frequent for fifteen yeaTs after the completion of the road, the ¦company finally inaugurated the block system. From a line battling for its corporate existence before 1890, it later became a legitimate competitor of the other great trans-Appa lachian carriers. From 1890 to 1909, the mileage increased from 215 to 600', the number of locomotives from 237 to 672, the number of freight cars from 9707 to 35,700 of larger capacity, the number of ?Even before the construction of the Greenbrier branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio, Marlinton, with faith in her future growth, aspired to be the county seat. At a special election, held in December, 1891, to decide the question of relocation of the county seat, Marlinton won by a vote of 940 against 475 for Huntersville. In 1894, Huntersville, hoping to secure removal from Marlinton back to the old location, secured a new election at which she again lost. The construction of the railroad in 1898-99 emphasized the wisdom of the removal. Under a law of 1899, the Finey branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio, starting from Prince station on New river, was surveyed (in 1898 and 1899) and partly constructed (fourteen miles) by 1900 [to Raleigh station,' about three miles from Ealeigh Court House 1. Thence the survey if ollowed Piney southwest and up Soak creek, thence across the Winding Gulf, a tributary of the Guyandotte, which it followed to its mouth, and then on the Guyandotte to Pineville. In the same year the survey was changed to Slab Fork of the Guyandotte. In August, 1902, at Jenny'.s Gap on the ridge between the waters of the New river and the Guyandotte this proposed extension came into conflict with the extension of the Deepwater railway, starting at Glen Jean (or Loup creek) and running across the divide to the waters of Guyandotte and thence across the mountains to the OBluestone river. The decision in the Raleigh circuit court in favor of the Chesapeake and Ohio was later reversed by the supreme court of appeals, and the extension was never completed. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 195 passenger cars from 155 to 300, the total annual tonnage from 3,760,- 577 to 18,511,362, the annual coal shipment to seaboard from 682,551 tons to 4,800,000 tons, the total coal tonnage from 1,454,856 to 12,795,786 (including coke), and the total revenue from $7,161,949 to $26,630,717 Along the line, towns and cities vigorously sprang into existence. From a village of three houses, which owed its birth to the con struction of the railroad, Ronceverte on the Greenbrier evolved into a good business town. Its. growth was largely determined by its timber industries, its convenient access to a good agricultural region, and its location at the junction of the Greenbrier branch line. Hinton was built on land purchased by Mr. Huntington, who later trans ferred it to the Central Land company, which he organized and of which he was president. Its growth was influenced by its selection as the end of the Huntington division, and as the headquarters of the division since the construction of the road. The development in Fayette county is reflected in the incorporation of the following towns: Fayetteville, 1883; Montgomery, 1890; An- sted, 1891; Mt. Hope, 1895; Powellton, 1897; Glen Jean, 1898, Scarbro, 1901; Thurmond, 1903; Oak Hill, 1903; Kilsyth, 1903; Macdonald, 1904 and Stuart, 1906. . Of these, Montgomery, a shipping center for twenty-six coal opera tions, is the largest town. Until 1890 the station was called Cannel- ton, which at the completion of the railroad was the name of the postoffice on the opposite side of the river. From 1876, the town was called Coal Valley Post Office, through the influence of the Coal Valley Coal company which began to operate a coal mine there, platted the town, and changed the name from Montgomery's Land ing to Coal Valley. The number of stores in the town increased to four or five by 1880, but the rapid growth did not begin until about 1895.. The later growth was influenced by the construction of the Kanawha and Michigan on the opposite side of the river, the erection of the new bridge across the river, and the connection of the Virginia railway with the Chesapeake and Ohio. Its future is assured by vast tracts of neighboring coal land still undeveloped, including a tract of 10,000 acres belonging to the C. P. Huntington estate. The proposition to relocate the county seat at Montgomery was submitted to the voters in 1892 and rejected by a vote of 1894 against 2,257. Ansted, two miles from the main line of the Chesapeake and Ohio, began its progressive history in 1873 with the organization of 196 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the Gauley-Kanawha Coal company which acquired lands through the agency of Col. G. W. Imboden and completed a narrow-gauge rail road, later (1889) converted into a broad gauge. Thurmond is located at the mouth of Dun Loup creek at the junc tion of the Loup creek branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio, where a mountain side was cut away to make a train yard for the hundreds of cars of coal that arrive daily from the mines along the branch. Through it in 1910 the road secured nearly one-fifth of its entire revenues and about 45% of the earnings of the Hinton division. It handled in that year 4,283,641 tons of freight producing a revenue of $4,824,911.49. Mt. Hope, around which mines opened in rapid succession after the opening of the Loup creek branch, grew steadily until March, 1910, when it was largely destroyed by fire. The growth of Glen Jean resulted largely from its location at the junction of the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Kanawha, Glen Jean and Eastern, and the White Oak railways. In relation to the railroad, Charleston had the disadvantage of location across the unbridged Kanawha which, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer had "the poorest excuse of a ferry that was ever allowed to cross a stream." The Intelligencer, referring to the uncertainties of the ferry, predicted that the town, whose facilities for modern travel were restricted to a "John boat" controlled by a lazy oarsboy impervious to the appeals and signals of. beckoning passengers, would become a mere "S witch ville." In this forecast, the oracle of Wheeling was mistaken. Charleston rapidly rose on field and swamp and soon became the state capital. In 1892, it secured improved facilities of access to the railway station by the erection of a toll-bridge under the auspices of a private corporation. Its later growth was assured by its loca tion in the center of a region of unexploited wealth of timber and minerals, and by its selection as the permanent seat of the state government. Naturally, it became a center of banking, wholesale mercantile business, and industrial manufacturing plants. Its re cent development was also influenced by improvements in river nav igation, and by increased facilities of railway connection with the northwest, northeast and southeast. At. St. Albans, the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad company, in 1871, erected a saw mill to cut lumber for the railway which was then under construction and which later attracted the mills and factories which created a prosperous "lumber town." Several great timber Coal Fleet on the Great Kanawha River (Near Charleston). View or River Front, Charleston. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 197 companies located up Coal river, down which they rafted their prod ucts. St. Albans was retarded in growth by the policy of the Central Land company which, alt-hough it held lands at St. Albans, devoted all its attention to the development of Huntington. Later the prep aration for a greater city was made by Grant Hall, who, after pur chasing the lands of the Central Land company, graded the streets and laid cement walks. These foundations were soon followed by the inauguration of a system of lighting and water-works, and more re cently by other municipal improvements including trolley car con nections with Charleston. In 1900 contracts were made for the construction of the Kanawha, Pocahontas and Coal river railway along Coal river. The charter, granted in 1896, provided for a route via the junction of Marsh and Clear forks, thence via Marsh fork to the Norforlk and Western in Mercer county. The road was constructed from St. Albans through Boone, and into Lincoln county, in 1905-07. It leads to rich coal fields and lumber regions. Huntington was planned by C. P. Huntington, who, after an irri tating experience at Guyandotte, was firmly convinced that his mis sion was to locate a new town. It was planned for orderly growth and development. It was also favored by its location at a natural gateway between different regions, its excellent shipping facilities, and its vicinity to a territory rich in timber and mineral wealth. Other factors in its later growth were the convenience of cheap fuel and the construction of the Camden Interstate Electric Line which connects with important neighboring towns. The life of the town has also been influenced by the state normal school. BALTIMORE AND OHIO BRANCHES. Although the earlier post-bellum activities to secure additional rail roads in the Monongahela valley were most prominent in the lower counties, Monongalia and Preston, the first actual construction re sulting in the opening of new lines of railway in this region was far ther south along the valleys of West Fork, Buckhannon and Tygart's. The construction of a railroad from Clarksburg to Weston, authorized by act of 1866, which also gave the Baltimore and Ohio directors pos session of the road from Grafton to Parkersburg, was the beginning of a system of short lines converging at Clarksburg and Grafton— often originally built by independent companies and sometimes con structed with narrow-guage which was later widened into standard gauge — furnishing connections to Buckhannon, Pickens, Sutton, Rich- 198 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA wood, Philippi and Belington, opening vast coal fields and timber regions, and penetrating some of the best farming sections. The first movement resulting in this remarkable development ap parently originated at Weston, the county seat of Lewis, which, already becoming a center of local trade before the war, was stimulated to a larger growth at its close, first by securing the location of the' asylum for the insane, and later by securing transportation facilities which tapped its resources and encouraged industrial development. In January, 1875, the citizens of Lewis, determined to secure an out let to the world, incorporated the Weston and West Fork railroad to connect Weston with Clarksburg, and at Weston began the construc tion of a narrow gauge line. Three years later this uncompleted line was leased to the newly incorporated Clarksburg, Weston and Glen- ville transportation company. Under the direction of the energetic J. N. Camden, who was elected president of the new road in 1878, the work begun at Weston was completed to Clarksburg in 1881, and steps were taken to develop the section along the route. In April, 1882, a movement was begun to connect WTeston with Buckhannon by the incorporation of the Buckhannon and West Fork railroad. This was soon leased to the newly formed Weston and Cen- treville railroad company, and the combination emerged as the Weston and Buckhannon railroad which was promptly constructed as a narrow gauge, partly by county levy, and opened for traffic in 1883 or 1884. Its superintendent was Dr. A. H. Kunst who in 1888 was elected president of the road, (and who was also president of the Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville road). In 1889, this line was changed to a standard gauge as a result of its increased earnings and increasing traffic, and especially to meet the plans of Senator Camden who had purchased large mineral rights on the east bank of the Monongahela for which he proposed to get an outlet to Pittsburg by constructing the Monongahela river railroad as a broad gauge from Clarksburg to Fairmont. In April, 1889, the Weston and West Fork, and the Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville railroads were merged into the Clarksburg, Wes ton and Midland railroad which allowed the stockholders 5 per cent of the stock held in either of the other companies, and later in the year absorbed the Weston and Elk river railroad on the same terms. On July 20, 1889,- following the last merger, the Buckhannon river railroad was incorporated to run to Pickens. The Clarksburg, Weston and Midland, after absorbing the Buck- THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 199 hannon and West Fork and the Weston and Centreville in September, 1889, and the Buckhannon river railroad in February, 1890, was reorganized as the West Virginia and Pittsburg railroad which was changed to a standard gauge road with Senator Camden as president, and Dr. Kunst as vice president and general manager — and soon be came a branch of the Baltimore and Ohio. This road extended from Clarksburg via Weston and Buckhannon to Pickens in Randolph. A branch was extended from Weston to Sutton in Braxton county via Flatwoods (Lane's Bottom), from which a side branch was extend ed to Camden-on-Gauley, in Webster county, and later to Richwood. Each branch terminated in a region previously unopened, but quickly responsive to the touch of capital.* In making the road a broad gauge Senator Camden seems to have contemplated a connecting link between the Pittsburg region and the south by extension of the line to the Chesapeake and Ohio at Coving ton, Virginia. Weston received a wonderful forward impetus by the construction of the early narrow gauge system to Clarksburg, by the later extension and change to broad gauge, by securing the location of railway offices and repair shops, by the opening of mineral and timber resources, and by the establishment of large manufacturing industries. From about 1875 to 1890 many poplar logs, obtained at a low price, were floated on the West Fork and its tributaries by R. T. Lowndes and others who manufactured them on circular-saw mills at Clarks burg. The larger part of the timber of virgin forests not removed by the river was cut by portable stave and circular-saw mills which found an opportunity for most active operations in the Collins settle ment and other territory in the southern and southwestern parts of the county. In many instances the product was transported by wagon ?Sutton, settled by descendants of the original trans-Allegheny pioneers, received a new impetus from the advent of the railway branch which brought new blood and new industries. The chief resources of its growth were the large lumber plant erected by the Pardee-Curtin Lumber company and the advantages resulting from the facilities of shipment for a large surrounding region including all of Clay county. Camden-on-Gauley is largely a child of the lumber industry which was developed in this region by the Gauley Lumber company under the management of J. N. Camden and C. K. Lord (a vice-president of the Baltimore and Ohio). The industry resulted from the purchase of an immense tract of timber-land (140,000 acres) in Webster, Pocahontas and Nicholas counties by Camden, who connected it with the West Virginia and Pittsburg railroad. The machinery for the first large lumber plant costing $140,000 was hauled from the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, a distance of forty miles — so that the plant could be completed and ready for work coincident with the completion of the branch railway from Flatwoods. Within eighteen months the place became a thriving business town of considerable mer cantile trade. Its later growth was influenced by its healthful and scenic sur roundings. Richwood, located in Nicholas coounty, at the end of a later extension of the branch railway from Camden-on-Gauley, became the foremost lumber town in the state. Its rapid growth was due to extensive saw-mills, a paperpulp mill, a tannery, a clothespin factory, a hub factory and other prosperous woodworking industries. 200 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA for twenty or twenty-five miles to reach railway shipping points. The timber of commercial value has now largely been cut and sold. Prac tically all the poplar and the greater part of the best oak has disap peared. At the beginning of the new century, industrial development in the western end. of Lewis county received a new impetus by the opening of the rich oil fields on Sandy Fork of the Kanawha, in a region once known as the Camden-Bailey-Camden lands and largely settled by humble Irish who, after a period of day-labor on the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio in West Virginia, decided to invest their small earnings in small farms. From Weston, eastward over the narrow gauge (changed to a broad gauge by 1890), Buckhannon was first reached by passenger train in 1883. Later it was entered by the West Virginia and Pittsburg rail way which in 1891 was extended by its new owners, the Baltimore and Ohio, up the Buckhannon into the unbroken forests to the site of Pick ens at which was erected a large lumber manufacturing plant around which grew the town. Surrounded by a fine agricultural region and favored by a good country trade, Buckhannon had already grown to be an important place even before the advent of the railroad which greatly increased its development. Better transportation facilities gave it new manu facturing plants and made it the home office of several industries, such as the Newlon Coal works, and the A. J. G. Griffith Lumber plants, which extended their influence through the counties of Upshur and Randolph and even into Webster and Nicholas. The first steam saw-mill in Upshur was operated on Cutright's run. The commercial lumber industry, begun about 1883 as a result of the construction of the railroad to Buckhannon, increased with its later extension up the river. The Buckhannon Boom and Lumber com pany operated large mills at Buckhannon and Ten-Mile. Buckhannon received many logs from river floats, and both logs and lumber from Ten-Mile by tramroad. Other logs were brought by railroad after the extension of the West Virginia and Pittsburg line to Newlon in 1891. In 1893 about half of Upshur county was still covered with timber, which, however, was rapidly taken out thereafter. Buckhannon soon showed the results of the new development. In 1887, it obtained the location of a woolen mill built by Parke brothers. In 1888, it had its first electric light plant. In 1889, it had a tan nery; and, in 1902, it had a glass plant in operation. By 1894, the town contained a population of about 2700 with a strong tendency to- THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 201 ward further increase which later became stronger by the completion of new railroad lines, especially by the construction of the short line from Tygart's Valley Junction by the Baltimore and Ohio in 1904 in order to compete with the Coal and Coke. Below Upshur, on Tygart's Valley river, Philippi, the county seat of Barbour also began to feel the spirit of new industrial life. Incor porated in 1871 by the legislature, by 1884 it became a terminal of the Grafton and Greenbrier railroad, a narrow gauge road which had projected plans for extension to Charleston, and which was widened to a standard guage a few years later and extended up Tygart's to Be lington. With its completion began the steady progress of portable saw-mills from the line of track toward the heads of streams, produc ing increasing quantities of lumber which found shipping points at Moatsville, Belington, Philippi and Clements. At the beginning of this new industry much timber along the river was drifted to Grafton where it was manufactured into lumber at Curtin's band mill. The development of Grafton, which had begun before the war, was .considerably stimulated after the war by timber industries depending upon the surrounding region, and especially upon the supply of timber from Tygart's Valley river. By 1870 the manufacture of lumber on a large scale by a large circular-saw mill was begun east of Grafton at Westerman and a large water-power saw-mill was operated at Valley Falls. The latter at first received timber over wooden tramways and later from the river rafts floated from points as high as Philippi. Later a large band mill, constructed by Captain G. W. Curtin at Graf ton, received its supply of logs chiefly from points on Tygart's above the boundaries .of Taylor. In 1872, Grafton seemed to have had aspirations to become the capital of the state. A convention of "delegates from six or eight counties, and citizens of Grafton," held at Grafton in the early part of the year, and presided over by ex-Governor Johnson, drafted a set of resolutions instructing the delegates of the counties at the constitu tional convention at Charleston to submit to the people of the state the question of removing the capital from Charleston. Although the A short line of the Baltimore and Ohio has been planned to extend from the mouth of French creek to connect with the Richwood branch in the vicinity of Holly Junction, or Centralia, avoiding the heavy grades on the old route between Buckhannon and Weston. When completed it will greatly benefit Buckhannon and the people along the line. It is expected that it will haul all the heavy freight, from the region between Holly Junction to Richwood, which will be greatly in creased by the development of mining lands of the Baltimore and Ohio in that region. By avoiding the heavy grade between Weston and Buckhannon, great expense will be saved. By the construction of the new branch, the freight from Richwood can reach Grafton by a gradually descending grade for almost the entire distance. 202 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA town failed to secure the capital, it was successful in the contest for the county seat in 1878.* After the construction of the Grafton and Greenbrier branch to Philippi (later extended to Belington), Grafton received large quan tities of dairy and farm products for shipment east. The earliest projects of a railroad along the Monongahela to inter sect the earlier Baltimore and Ohio lines between East and West, were revived under more favorable auspices and under more favorable con ditions — including the completion of the line from Weston to Clarks burg. The construction of the road, by sections which were later combined into a single line, was a great stimulation to industrial and social development in each county through which it passed and also in parts of Preston. Clarksburg, which had become the terminus of the line constructed from Weston, became the starting point of the Monongahela line to Fairmont; and later it was made the eastern terminal of the short line constructed to the Ohio at New Martinsville. The town, steadi ly growing under the earlier impetus which it had received from its location on the Parkersburg line of the Baltimore and Ohio, had also- been favored by the traffic of the turnpike which served as a prominent thoroughfare from Fairmont up West Fork and to Sutton in Braxton county — and by the limestone soil and the earlier development of set tlements which at the opening of the war had made Harrison probably the most improved of the inland counties of West Virginia. The county had total valuation of live stock exceeded only by Hampshire and Greenbrier counties, and a corn production exceeded only by Hampshire and Jackson counties. By the close of the war the town was the center of a good coal trade. It received large additional pros perity from the construction of lines later combining to form the West Virginia and Pittsburg railroad, which penetrated southward to the richest coal and timber lands in the heart of the state and northward through great coal fields to the metropolis at the head of the Ohio. In 1888, seven years after the completion of the Western line to Clarksburg, the Monongahela River Railway company was organized to build a road from Clarksburg to Fairmont. It was incorporated by J. N. Camden and others, beginning with a capital of only $5,000 which ?In November, 1878, at a special election, Grafton was chosen as the county seat by a large majority of the popular vote. It promptly arranged to remove the archives and office equipments from Pruntytown to Brinkman's Opera House. The county court at its next meeting at Pruntytown authorized the use of the opera house as a court house, and adjourned to meet at Grafton in the afternoon. Into wagons which were ready the records and equipment were quickly carried under the direction of John W. Mason who on his bay horse proudly led the procession to Grafton, which enthusiastically celebrated her rising fortunes while Pruntytown mourned the beginning of her decline. Pruntytown was later conciliated by political negotiations which secured for her the location of the reform school for boys. Plant and Town of Enterprise, Harrison County. (Consolidated Coal Company. Courtesy of W. r« Geological Surrey THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 203 was later increased. Opened for traffic in 1889 and completed in 1891, it became the property of the Baltimore and Ohio in 1897. It opened rich coal fields, especially contributing to the success of the large plants of the Consolidated Coal Company which produces an enormous tonnage both of coal and coke. It also increased the im portance of Clarksburg as a commercial and industrial center. The short line connecting Clarksburg with New Martinsville was incorporated by H. H. Rogers, T. Moore Jackson and others who sold the franchise to the Baltimore and Ohio. Completed by 1902, it opened rich coal fields and timber regions which have contributed to the wealth of Clarksburg and the entire region. Favored by geographic situation, rich resources, and increasing rail road facilities, the old town of Clarksburg found itself in a state of development exceeding all expectations and exciting larger dreams of future prosperity and greatness. Municipal improvement follow ed each prominent industrial advance. Illuminating gas was intro duced in 1871. Natural gas for heat and light was piped from Dod dridge county in 1891. An electric light plant was erected in 1887, and water works were established in 1888. Great changes followed the discovery of oil and gas — in the western end of the county in 1889 —which also increased the growth of Salem. Better lighted and bet ter paved streets and the construction of new business houses soon in dicated the advent of new prosperity. A street car line was construct ed in 1900. By 1903, the city was heated by gas from one of the larg est wells in the world, and shortly thereafter its facilities as a business center were increased by the construction of the Waldo hotel which ranks as one of the best modern hotels in the state. The Monongahela River Railroad connecting Clarksburg with Fair mont, completed in 1888 and opened for traffic in 1889, was an im portant link and a determining factor in the combined Monongahela system. It opened valuable mines in a rich mineral field, including those at Monongah, and gave an industrial stimulus which resulted in the rise of several towns. It supplied coal for both eastern and west ern markets — and also for local use in Upshur and Lewis. It gave a more direct route for passenger traffic from Clarksburg to Wheeling, and stimulated the construction of the line from Morgantown to Un iontown by which a continuous direct connection was secured with Pittsburg — in each case superseding the elbow routes via Parkers burg or Grafton. Fairmont, like Clarksburg, felt the flow of a new life awakened by the construction of connecting lines of railway which opened new in- 204 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA dustries. Even in the earlier post-bellum period, it began to feel a larger prosperity resulting from the return of the soldiers and others to work on farms which in some cases had long been idle. Its revival of industrial development in a larger sense really began about 1870 by the purchase of large tracts of land by capitalists interested in the mineral resources of the county. Three mines, opened in quick succes sion by eastern 'companies, soon began to make large shipments of coal, and produced a development in population and wealth which was only retarded by the panic of 1873 and the high freight rates charged by the Baltimore and Ohio. An era of improvement began in 1876, after a fire which destroyed a large part of the principal business sec tion of the town in spite of the efforts of the primitive voluntary "bucket brigade" (of men, women and children) which at that time and place had not been superseded by the modern fire-engine. With some additions to the insurance money which largely covered the losses, the owners of the destroyed buildings were able to replace them with better structures and to secure better street grades. With the new era of development came the demand for the extension of Monongahela slack-water improvement to Fairmont — which Captain Roberts (who made the government survey from Morgantown in 1875) regarded as the head of the navigation of the Ohio. By 1881, enterprising citizens of the town actively participated in cooperative effort through county committees and public meetings, to test the sense of the people on the question of the construction of a railroad up the Monongahela through Monongalia, Marion, Harrison and Lewis counties. With, the construction of sections of railway con necting the town with Morgantown in 1886 and with Clarksburg a few years later, enterprising citizens, seizing opportunity by the forelock organized the "Fairmont Development Company" which contributed greatly to the rapid growth of the town by offering inducements to new industrial plants which were seeking a location. The town was also favored by other advantages such as schools and hotels, and more re cently it has been benefited by the construction of electric lines con necting it with Clarksburg and Mannington. Fairmont has shared in the prosperity arising from the oil wells in the western part of the county which caused a rapid increase of pop ulation at Mannington after 1889. Two years before the Camden line between Fairmont and Clarks burg was built, Morgantown secured connection with the Baltimore and Ohio at Fairmont by a line later extended to connect with the Bal timore and Ohio line via Connellsville and Pittsburg. Even as early THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 205 as the latter part of 1883, while the Pennsylvania interests were still endeavoring to secure the construction of a branch line into West Vir ginia along the Monongahela, the Fairmont, Morgantown and Pitts burg Railroad company was organized — apparently backed by the Bal timore and Ohio — to extend the Baltimore and Ohio line from Fair mont to Morgantown and also to connect with its line at Uniontown. Construction was delayed by contests with the West Virginia and Pennsylvania over the right of way — in 1884 at Fairmont, and later at Point. Marion and along Cheat where there was room for only one road. The new line, operated by the Baltimore and Ohio, was opened to South Morgantown by January 30, 1886 and to Morgantown a few days later. Three years later, Morgantown secured satisfactory steam boat communication with Pittsburg by the completion of "Lock Num ber 8" after a delay of ten years. The first boats which arrived at the wharf in 1889 were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd which the cap tain entertained by a display of an electric searchlight, the first that many of those present had ever seen. The extension of the. railroad from Morgantown to Uniontown, on which grading began in the spring of 1892, was' practically completed early in 1894; and, after some delay occasioned by the bridge across Cheat at Point Marion, was opened to traffic in the following summer — soon resulting in the opening of rich coal fields in Monongalia county. In 1895, the authorized capital of the road which under the incorpora tion of 1893 had been $1,000,000 was increased to $2,740,000. At first inadequate for the vast freights which it carried, in 1907 the road was improved by equipment with new 85 pound rails and by a double track over part of its route. The completion of railway connections with Fairmont revived the projected rail way up Decker's creek. Grading for this road was begun in -the spring of 1887 under the direction of the West Virginia Railway Company which proposed to complete a line via Masontown. Reedsville and Hardman's Furnace to Independence on the Baltimore and Ohio eleven miles east of Grafton, but on the failure to dispose of its bonds, suddenly collapsed, producing much anger among its unpaid Italians laborers and resulting in considerable friction in the settlement, of its affairs. In the early nineties, the right of way and other properties belonging to the bankrupt company were purchased by George C. Sturgiss at public auction. Coincident with the collapse of the Decker's creek line, the Tunnelton. King- wood and Fairchance narrow gauge, surveyed in 1882 and graded in 1883, was completed from Tunnelton to Kingwood (in 1887). Originally constructed largely for transportation of timber, it was changed into a broad guage bv .T. Ami Martin in 1896 in order to facilitate shioments of coal to the East. With this road is largely associated the growth of Tunnelton which until 1873 contained less than a dozen families. A new era of industrial development for the town began with the advent of the Merchant's Coal company in 1895. About 1891 the old expectation of the construction of a mad np the west side- of the river in Monongalia was temporarily revived. Stephen B. Elkius who visited Morgantown in 1890-91 to secure options on large tracts of coal lands od the west side of the Monongahela contemplated for awhile the purchase of the old West Virginia and Pennsylvania rights by the Davis-Elkins interests but negotiations failed largely on account of the price's demanded by the promoters. The previous projects of a railway up Decker's creek were revived by Hon. George C. Sturgiss in 1898. The Morgantown and Kingwood railroad was chartered in January. 1899, with a capital stock of $200,000. The new company opened an office at Morgantown and construction was begun on July 5. 1899, under the superintendence of J. Ami Martin. By November, 1900, the road was completed to 206 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the Preston county line over eleven miles from Morgajntown. From this point, after waiting in vain for expected local aid, the road was completed to Masontown in 1902. At this time there were several projects for extensions westward. In 1902 the road passed to the control of Senator Stephen B. Elkins and his sons who also purchased the property of the Cheat River and Pittsburg railroad and determined upon eastward extension to connect with the Baltimore and Ohio at Rowlesburg and with the Cheat Valley railroad. The line was completed to King- wood in 1906 and to Rowlesburg in 1907. This short line road has proven a very valuable factor in the industrial develop ment of the region through which it passes, opening up valuable coal and timber lands and carrying heavily laden trains of lumber, coal and coke for shipment via the B. & O. at Morgantown and Rowlesburg. The Decker's creek valley became a bee-hive of modern industry with daily shipments of products equal in value to the entire products of the valley for years previous to the construction of the road. At Sabraton, near Morgantown, is located a large plant of the American Sheet and Tin Plate company. The chief coal companies in operation along the line are the Connellsville Basin Coal and Coke company and the Elkins Coal company both of which make large daily shipments. Coincident with the railroad development, solving problems of transportation on which depended the larger usefulness of the vast' resources so long stored away in her neighboring hills, Morgantown expanded beyond her ancient boundaries. In the decade after 1900, besides smaller establishments of various kinds, seven new glass man ufacturing plants were added to the single Seneca glass factory of the . preceding decade. With new industrial development came many other changes — changes in population, property, prices, public problems and prosperity. At the opening of the second decade of the new, century, the bright prospects resulting from the continued growth of establish ed business and population were increased by the extension of electric lines beyond the immediate vicinity of the town and the construction of the "Buckhannon and Northern" railroad on the west side of the river, completed in 1912 between Fairmont and the Pennsylvania line, and ballasted in 1913. In the eastern panhandle, in addition to the Shenandoah branch, the Baltimore and Ohio railway has a branch chartered in 1871 and opened in 1884 from Green Spring to Romney. An extension line, the Hampshire-Southern railroad, was organized in 1906, begun in 1909, and opened from Romney to Moorefield in April 1910, and to Petersburg in the following October. It furnishes facilities for ship ment of large quantities of export cattle, haTdwood timber, and lime stone. It has also given a vigorous impetus to the business of fruit growing along the South Branch. RAILWAYS ALONG THE OHIO. In the upper panhandle, and southward along the Ohio, the touch of new industrial enterprise has set its mark at many points. Among the chief new industrial factors which contributed to the development were the production of oil and gas, and the establishment of glass and steel manufactures. Farther south, the timber industries were more Down the Monongahela from Morgantown. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 207 important. The extension of railroad lines was also a determining feature. To connect Wellsburg with Wheeling, the Panhandle railway com pany was incorporated in 1868, at the iniative of Wellsburg, to con struct a line from Holliday's Cove via Wellsburg to Wheeling. By act of 1871 the road was designated as the Pittsburg, Wheeling and Kentucky ("Pe-wi-ky") railroad, but it was -never built southward from Wheeling. The original company began grading in 1870. The new company, aided by a subsidy voted by Ohio county in 1872, com pleted the grading and bridging by 1874; but was compelled by the hard times to abandon further work. In 1876, the Pittsburg, Colum bus and St. Louis, securing a ninety-nine year lease on the property and franchise, laid the rails, and ran the first trains. By 1890, the line was extended from Steubenville Junction in Hancock county to New Cumberland.* In September 1890, the completion and opening of the terminal bridge from north Wheeling across the Ohio above Martin's Ferry — an importantaehievement which marked the end of forty years of striving — gave Wheeling a direct outlet to the West without depending upon the Bellaire bridge or the Steubenville bridge. The Wheeling Bridge and Terminal company was organized in 1882 as the Wheeling and Harrisburg railway company. In 1888 it received a subsidy of $300,- 000 and began construction. In the same year the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway company, organized in 1886, was also voted a subsidy of $300,000 by Wheeling, and by 1889 it built its road from Bowerston to the Ohio at Portland station from whence it entered Wheeling by the Terminal Bridge line. By 1890 it was completed to Toledo, and over it the first train ran on August 2, 1891. The Terminal Bridge railway was purchased by the Pennsylvania system at a forced sale in 1905. Between Bellaire and Martin's Ferry, four great bridges now span the Ohio. The great "steel bridge," at Eleventh Street, begun in 1891 under a city franchise of 1890, rests on great piers of masonry at an ?The people of New Cumberland even before the arrival of the railway believed their town was the most convenient location for the court house and offered to donate the grounds and brick to erect a building. At a special election held October. 1884, to determine the question of the relocation of the court house, New Cumberland was selected as the county seat by a vote of 747 against 401. In vain did the people of Fairview employ lawyers to resist the relocation by application to the supreme court for an injunction to prevent the removal of the records. The removal to temporary quarters was accomplished on December 24. A permanent building was promptly constructed, and a special night expedition secured for it the bell of the old court house at Fairview (now Pughtown). In 1905, Chester, the residence of the sheriff, aspired to be the county seat ; but. at a special election held April 25, was only able to secure 917 votes against 926 for ¦ New Cumberland. Several Fairview leaders urged the removal to Chester. Recently there have been suggestions of the possibility of later removal to Wierton, at which a large steel plant was established in 1911. 208 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA elevation safely above any of the tall chimneys which decorated the Pittsburg boats of the fifties. ' At Wheeling, street cars were introduced in 1866, and by 1880 con nected the extremities of the city and furnished a means of communi cation with all towns lying within a radius of five miles from its center. Until about 1880, when a labor strike contributed to the decline of the industry, the city was a great nail manufacturing center. Later its interests were diverted to iron and steel manufactures. In the last quarter century it has undergone great changes resulting from the cpmbinations of mills and the strengthening and expansion of in dustry in the whole Wheeling district — including establishments, at Martin's Ferry and Steubenville, in which Wheeling capital dominates, and in Bellaire which may be regarded as tributary to Wheeling.* Be sides the works owned by the United States Steel Corporation, there are several large independent companies. In the various manufac turing establishments of Wheeling proper (176 by the census of 1910), are employed about one-fourth of the entire population of the city. In trade and business relations, the city by excellent electric trans portation facilities links to itself the population of Benwood, McMe- chen, Glendale, Moundsville, Elm Grove, Wellsburg and Follansbee. Already a movement toward prospective unification of several commu nities under one government has begun to take form.** Favored with great natural shipping facilities, the city is a great commercial and jobbing center. Its increasing future advantages are indicated by the prospective canalization of the Ohio and the open ing of canal traffic with Lake Erie. Within the last five years, Wheeling has been much benefitted by the construction of freight and passenger terminals and the elimina tion of grade crossings in the city. The New York Central, through the Lake Erie, Alliance and Wheel ing which was constructed to Dillonville, Ohio by 1911, has recently striven to enter the city. - ?In 1887, about .10 per cent of Wheeling's manufnciured goods was conveyed to market via the Ohio (12 per cent up-river and 18 per cent down-river), and 70 per cent by rail (25 per cent over the Baltimore and Ohio to eastern cities and 80 or 35 per cent to western markets and the remainder over the Pittsburg, Wheeling and Kentucky and the Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling railways). Imports arrived by the same routes in about the same proportion. ??Wheeling is governed under a modern charter which vests great powers in a board of control, consisting of a mayor and two elective members with a council composed of ward representatives. The municipality owns several pnnlic utilities — including water-works, a gas plant, an electric light plant and incinerator. It has a lower tax rate than any other city of its size in the country. The first attempt at municipal regulation of milk supply was made in 1906, and was followed by more effective legislation under a new charter in 1907. The Wheeling Milk Com mission was organized in 1909 and began the certification of milk in 1910. The sewage system of the city is still antiquated and inadequate, and the method of sewage disposal is open to grave criticism. Birdseye View of Wheeling, 1913, Courtesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. B. & O. Railroad Bridge over the Kanawha (Point Pleasant). THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 209 A factor of no small importance in the industrial growth of Wheel ing, and other cities southward along the Ohio, was the Ohio River railroad which supplemented the declining commerce of the river and furnished a more rapid means of transportation. This road, a con necting link between the great Pennsylvania system and the Chesa peake and Ohio, was first chartered in 1881 as the Wheeling, Parkers burg and Charleston railroad ; but was chartered in its later name in 1882. The road was opened for traffic from Wheeling to Parkersburg on June 15, 1884, from Parkersburg to Point Pleasant an January 1, 1886, from Point Pleasant to Huntington on April 1, 1888, and from Huntington to the Big Sandy in 1893. A branch was constructed from Millwood to Ripley in Jackson county in 1888, and another from Ravenswood to Spencer in Roane county in 1892.* A connecting branch from New Martinsville to Clarksburg was completed in 1902, and another from New Martinsville with a view to connection with Salem was completed to Middlebourne in 1913. An electric line was com pleted from Sistersville to Middlebourne in 1913. Moundsville, at the junction of the new road with the Baltimore and Ohio, received a new stimulus to growth. New Martinsville felt the beginning of a new life which was further stimulated by manu facturing plants and the oil industry. Sistersville and St. Mary's re ceived their largest stimulus from the oil industry. Sistersville grew rapidly after the oil - discoveries on Polecat run in 1892. .Williams- town later felt the influence of closer relations with Marietta by bridge connection across the river. Parkersburg, which owed much of its prosperity to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and the magnificent bridge by which it was con nected with the Cincinnati railway, also received a new Impetus by the railway connection north and south. In 1887 it had three petroleum refineries, with an annual product of 300,000 barrels which was ship ped largely by rail (only 20% by down-river navigation). From Elizabeth and other points it received large quantities of grain. It still received some flat-boat traffic of other native products from the Little Kanawha, and especially rafts of logs of hardwood for the Park ersburg mills. Its interests were benefitted by the passage of the in terstate commerce act in 1887. Its river trade was threatened with reduction by the construction of the railway from Zanesville to the ?About the same time (1890) a narrow gauge railroad from the Parkersburg branch of the B. and O. at Cairo in Ritchie county, a successor of the earlier "Calico Railroad" (of wooden rails) built to the Ritchie mines in 1877, was extended from Rutherford to Melin and then to McFarlan. 210 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA mouth of the Muskingum, but its railway facilities gave it a com pensating increase for any reduction in other directions.* Between Parkersburg and Huntington, several towns obtained new advantages for growth. Point Pleasant especially received a new stim ulus to growth which was reinforced by the completion of the Kanawha and Michigan along the Great Kanawha to Charleston in 1884, and later by the construction of a railway bridge over the Ohio in 1885 and another over the Kanawha in 1887. The decline of river traffic at various points, coincident with the extension of railway competition, was not indicative of commercial de cay at such places. WESTERN MARYLAND AND COAL AND COKE RAILWAYS. Another important line of railway, constructed up the North Branch of the Potomac from Piedmont and later supplemented by a line up the Elk from Charleston, pierced, a region centering at Elkins in Randolph and on the upper Cheat above Parsons in Tucker. Perhaps the most remarkable industrial changes which have been made in any of the counties of the northern part of the State since the war have appeared in Tucker and Randolph, especially since the first penetration of the railroad into the Upper Cheat and Tygart's Valley country in 1885. In these counties, in 1870, there was a waste of valuable timber which in dicated the economic wisdom of the speedy construction of an outlet to the nearest navigable point on Cheat or at Tucker Court House twenty-five miles above Rowlesburg station of the Baltimore and Ohio. In 1870, Diss Debar, the state commissioner of Immigration, who issued a handbook to exhibit the various resources of the state, proposed a fifty-five mile double track tramway from the Staunton turnpike to Tucker Court House, or St. George, via the Laurel Fork of Cheat — an enterprise which he said would promote the development of a rich timber region large enough to form a. separate county. About the same time (1869) the Randolph, Tucker and Preston Turnpike was projected with a proposed termination at West Union or Chisholm's Mills. Randolph, although settled a century earlier, remained so inaccessible that few people had settled in its borders. The families of the earliest settlers in many instances still occupied the property of their pioneer an cestors. Although Tygart's Valley region was fairly well settled and prosperous, other regions were in a wild and unsettled condition — resulting from the difficulty of making mountain roads and the distance from rail road connection. The streams as a rule were not navigable for boats and were too swift for any use except to float timber. From 1865 to 1895 many logs were floated on Cheat to Rowlesburg and Point Marion, and on Tv- gart's to Grafton (largely to the Purdee and Curtin Lumber Company). From 1888 to 1896, much spruce timber was floated from Shavers Fork (almost at the head of Cheat) to Point Marion. The steam saw mill in dustry began in 1878 with the appearance of a portable mill brought from ?The Little Kanawha railway, chartered in 1896 to connect Parkersbure- and Burnsville, was begun in 1897 and opened to Palestine above Elizabeth in 1898. It. is now operated by the B. and O. railway company. .Along the survey of the Wabash system, considerable grading was done between Palestine and Grantsvill" and as far up as Glenville but construction suddenly ceased in 1903, for financial reasons. Later there were rumors of a prospective line from Parkersburg to Charleston via Elizabeth, Spencer, Walton, down Two Mile and up the Great Kanawha. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 211 Virginia to Dry Fork. The more active industry followed the arrival of railroads which made accessible the great coniferous and hardwood for ests and, after 1894, encouraged the increase of the lumber business by the use of many huge band mills supplemented by the smaller portable saw mills. Canaan Valley in Tucker and the surrounding plateau country remain ed practically undisturbed until the fire of 1863 destroyed the spruce on a large area, and some parts were undisturbed until the storm of 1877 swept a path through the spruce belt. The lumber industry, which had begun by the erection of a saw mill on Cheat as early as 1830, was stimu lated by the gradual introduction of steam mills after the close of the civil war, especially after the completion of the railroad through the tim ber to Davis and westward to Parsons. For over a decade after the close of the civil war period, although the settlement of the tillable parts of the county developed mope rapidly than in the period before the war, Randolph was neglected while the tide of investment and immigration passed by to the far west. By 1880, however, it began to receive new accessions by immigration In 1879 the main body Of a thrifty Swiss colony artfully decoyed into the wilderness of woe by land agents, crossed Shaver's Mountain to Alpina. Food was high, for Webster was then the nearest milroad point and difficult to reach by wagon. Instead of burning spruce-pine logs as the earliest settlers had done, they sawed them into lengths suitable for lumber in hope of placing them on the market — only to find that there was no accesible market. The construction of a railroad from Piedmont up the North Branch to tap the undeveloped resources of Randolph county was proposed long before it was accomplished. The Potomac and Piedmont Coal and Railroad Company, incorporated by the legislature in 1866 and be gun in 1880, secured a new charter in 1881 in its new name, the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railroad Company, which was organ ized with H. G. Davis as President. Passing over the divide beyond the headwaters of the Potomac, the new road continued south of the Great Backbone Mountains to Davis in the heart of the hard wood' forests by November 1884. Early in 1889 the main line of the road, following the waters of the wild and picturesque Blackwater Run, was completed down the Dry Fork through the mountain gap to Parsons on the main branch of the Cheat ; and, later in the year, after turning up Shaver's Fork for a short distance, it crossed to Leading Creek .and reached picturesque Elkins (previously known as Leadsville) which was established as a town with terminal facilities, and has had a steady growth partly due to the proximity of the exhaustless Roaring Creek coal fields. From Elkins (by gradual extensions) one branch follow ed up the Valley River (sending off a smaller branch at Roaring creek five miles west of Elkins) and another returned eastward to Shaver's Fork which it ascended until finding a way through Shaver's Moun tains, crossed to Glady Pork, ascended it to the divide and descended the West Fork of the Greenbrier to Durbin in Pocahontas. Another line was contemplated from Belington to Clarksburg to connect with the West Virginia and Pennsylvania Railroad that had been surveyed 312? SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA from Clarksburg to Brownsville, but was abandoned. By 1891, trains were running on extensions to Beverly, and to Belington, where con nection was made with a Tygarf s Valley branch of the Baltimore and Ohio from Grafton. By 1904 connections were made at Durbin. The new road, after passing .through Mineral and grant, pene trated the vast coal fields of Tucker and Randolph. It carried in to the silence of the primeval woods the hum of modern industry, and expressed its material usefulness in gigantic lumber plantsi and rich coal mines, and in newly made and growing towns — living monuments to men such as Windom, Blaine, Gorman, Bayard, Wil son, Fairfax, Davis, Douglas, Hendricks and Elkins. The opening of mineral and timber resources created towns such as Bayard, Thomas, Davis, Douglas, Hendricks, Bretz and Parsons in Tucker; such as Montrose and Elkins in Randolph; and such as Belington in Barbour. Bayard received its earliest stimulus from the large Buffalo Lum ber company and the Middlesex Leather company. Another factor in its growth was the North Branch Coal and Coke company whose principal office was located there. At Thomas were located the large Davis-Elkins Coal and Coke works. Six miles eastward on the branch from Thomas, the coal works and manufacturing industries to gether with a tannery and lumber plants soon supported a population of 1500 forming the town of Davis, with quite a mercantile trade in- increased by that of the surrounding country. Elkins, located in a lovely valley, bordering the northwestern bank of Tygarf s Valley riv er, received its first stimulus to growth from the construction of en gine and car shops by the railway company and the erection of homes for many operatives of the road. The resulting activity attracted a good class of merchants who increasingly attracted trade from the sur rounding country. The completion of the railroad through the timber to Davis and be yond furnished an outlet for the timber in the eastern and central sec tions and admitting portable and stationary saw mills which have since continued to operate. The later construction of the Dry Fork Railroad and its branch to Laneville opened a new field of operations. Everywhere, temporary railroads were forced into the heart of the woods followed by saw mills, tanneries, pulp mills, and lumber camps, to aid in the campaign of conquest and destruction of the previously unmolested forests — leaving behind the desolating tracks and unsight ly debris of their triumphant march. In 1905, along much of the old Fishinghawk pack-trail of early days ^P*'V: 4£& Courlesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. Waterfall along the Western Maryland Railroad (near Douglas). Pulp Mill at Davis (Tucker County). Courtesy of W. Ya. Geological Survey. r ggsaagggeg Tannery at Gormania. Courtesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 213 from Beverly via Files creek and Fishinghawk to the Sinks of Gandy, the axe of the lumberman just beginning to break the primeval soli tude, and steam whistles were heard both on west and east sounding the death knell of West Virginia's greatest primeval forest. On the forty-three miles of the Coal and Iron railway between Elkins and Durbin there were forty-nine saw mills. The wilderness had been cut in two by the railroad, and again further east by the Dry Fork, and again by log roads, one of which was twenty miles long. At the same time lumbermen were advancing from the waters of Greenbrier to attack the mighty forests from that side. With the rapid disappearance of the timber, there emerge the problems of conservation and replanting. The West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company is already making extensive plantations of spruce on its cut-over lands near the head of Shaver's Fork of Cheat. The industrial changes following the railroad resulted in demands for relocation of the court houses in three counties. The first contest resulted from a demand for the removal of the county seat from old St. George to the more convenient location at Parsons. At a special election regularly held on April 28, 1 893 to determine the question, the vote stood in favor of removal but was thrown out on a technicality. At another! special election held July 15, 1893, the returns were again in favor of removal. Thereupon William E. Cayton, county clerk, and Nige Parsons, a lawyer, both of St. George secured an injunction against the action of the county court, but before the penal bond could be secured the court ordered the records, safes and everything pertaining to the court house in St. George removed to Parsons, August 7. To prevent the incon veniences of a long suit in the courts and to circumvent further technical proceedings from the officers and lawyers at St. George, the leaders along the railroad decided upon a course of successful action. A contract for the removal was given by the court to James Poling of Parsons, for a very meager sum but every person who had wagons and teams in the immediate vicinity joined the movement and assisted Mr. Poling without pay. The work was undertaken under the leadership of Mr. Ward Parsons and his deputies with about seven hundred men, twenty-five wagons and teams, and a number of saddle horses. The party rendezvoused in Parsons, im mediately after the arrival of the 7.00 p. m. Cumberland train, which brought in about four hundred men from Canaan Valley, Davis and Fairfax district. The roads leading to St. George were carefully patrolled. The work was accomplished that night without any resistance by the St. George people although they had made great preparations to prevent the removal and set off some dynamite as a signal for the collection of their forces. The opposition, disheartened by reports of their pickets, did not appear in force on the scene of action. Everything was removed from the court house with as little damage as possible. If there had been resistance the affair might have had serious consequences. It was suspected that men on both sides were prepared for battle. After the removal of everything to the Wamsley farm, about three miles south of St. George on their way to Parsons, the party camped while some of the men went to Parsons to secure rations prepared by the anxious wives and daughters and weak- kneed men who had remained in town waiting the hazardous return of the expedition. The following day (August 8) the work was completed. The heavy safes and records were placed in the new temporary court house in Parsons. In vain did the St. George people renew the contest in the cir cuit court on the ground that the county court had broken the injunction. Judge Hoke sustained the county court. When the circuit court con- 214 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA vened at Parsons after the removal, the county officers who resided at :St. George were very reluctant to attend. Thereupon, A. M. Cunningham, prosecuting attorney of Tucker county, who lived in Parsons, served notice on William E. Cupp, sheriff, William E. Cayton, county clerk and C. W. Minear, ciiicuit clerk, to attend court and take up their duties as officers in the new county seat, or their offices would be declared vacant, and would be filled according to law. Every officer obeyed the notice, and later pur chased property and located at the new county seat. Elkins became the county seat of Randolph county after a spirited con test, or rather a series of contests, against Beverly at which a new court house was begun in 1892 and completed in 1894. The town, on August 30, 1897, made a proposition to furnish a court house and jail and requested an election to determine the question of removal. The county court at first ordered an election for October 5, but later delayed action (September 6) and finally declined to take action. In 'the elesction of Oetobtr, Beverly won. The contest was renewed when the county court, on April 29, 1898, ac cepted a bid for the construction of a new court house at Beverly on the site of the old building which had been burned. Strong interests at El kins began injunction proceedings to prevent the construction. In No vember 1898, the question of removal was again submitted to the people, Elkins again agreeing to furnish grounds. Elkins, which received three- fifths of the vote cast on the question, but not three-fifths of the total vote, demanded a recount which the county court refused to grant. On Feb ruary 4, 1899, she obtained a mandmus from the supreme court of appeals ordering a re-canvass of the vote. On March 28, the county court made a re-count, recording only the total number of ballots returned by dis tricts. It entered objections to- the returns form Roaring creek district on the ground that the election officers had not been sworn. On March 29, the total vote was announced: 2145 in favor of relocation, 1320 against and 312 blank. The court finally decided that the 312 blank ballots should be counted as part of the total number of votes cast, making a total of 3777 — of which less than three-fifths had voted for removal. Elkins again appealed to the supreme court of appeals, which reversed the decision of the commissioners.* The county court then released citzens of Elkins from * While awaiting judgment of tbe supreme court there were frequent rumors of impending hostilities between the two towns, only six miles apart. The tension reached a high pitch. Elkins people avoided visits to Beverly and Beverly people avoided intercourse with Elkins. For awhile, few ventured to travel on tbe turn pike between the towns after dark unless armed. Rumors that the Elkins citizens were arming preparatory to a march to Beverly to storm the court house and capture the records caused intense excitement through the county, and attracted rural sympathizers to each town to aid the townsmen in a prospective light. At Elkins military organization and drills were frequent at evening after the men had quit their work in the shops and factories. The Elkins forces were encouraged and directed principally by John T. Davis, James Fosten, W. G. WiIsod (sometime speaker of the House of Delegates), Jesse Goddin and other leading citizens. /? Meanwhile, the supporters of Beverly were not idle. Apprehensive of imminent danger of attack, the citizens of Beverly banded together under the leadership of Major J. French Harding of Confederate fame ; Lieutenant William H. Wilson, the present county clerk, F. A. Rowan and others who had experienced active military service. They threw up around the court house a line of intrenehments, designed to protect the clerks' office. Armed squads stood guard over the vaults contain ing the records. Over a hundred armed men were drilled by Major Harding and ready to occupy 'the intrenchment at the first signal of danger. Among these men were many mountaineers, expert .shooters, armed with Winchester rifles. The towns men were chiefly armed with shot guns loaded with buck shot. Beverly had an advantage through the support of the county officials whose influence was almost. solidly in favor of the old county seat, from which it was popularly believed the records could never be taken. She also had another advantage over Elkins which although she had twice as many men in arms felt her disadvantage as the attack ing party. Determined to resist an attempt at attack, she placed pickets at a. distance of one-half mile, one and one-half miles and two miles down the pike and along the right of way of the railroad. The crisis was reached one night when Squire John DeWitt, an Elkins shoe maker and a famous county character, whose sympathy for Beverly could not be suppressed even by a shower of rotten eggs, rode into Beverly out of breath, and excitedly and dramatically announced that the "Hessians" were coming. At the same time all communication by telephone or telegraph between the two towns was cut off by Elkins sympathizers. Within a half hour after DeWitt's arrival one THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 215 their proposition to furnish a site for buildings, and by order of July 5, 1900 proceeded to purchase grounds at Elkins on which the new court house was soon erected. The rapid growth of Belington and the ambitions of its property owners, together with the local sectional feeling in the two ends of Barbour county, in 1903 produced a county seat contest in which the adherents of Philippi and of Belington spent considerable effort and money. After a strenuous campaign, in which Belington especially opposed the methods of the "court house ring" at Philippi, the people by their votes at a special election decided against removal of the county seat. Very recently the industrial activity and prospective future of the regions along the upper Monongahela, and along the Elk, have re ceived new promise of importance by the construction of an important outlet. The Coal and Coke railway was incorporated and begun in 1902, and completed in 1906 under management of Senator Henry G. Davis and Senator Stephen B. Elkins, in cooperation with the Wa bash interests. Its authorized capital was $10,000,000. Conceived as a means in the development of vast coal and timber properties, it fortunately became a connecting link between great trunk lines — es pecially by the acquisition of the Elk Eiver division of the old Charles ton, Clendennin and Sutton railway (begun at Charleston, 1893) with its old established and valuable Charleston terminals adjacent to those of the Kanawha and Michigan, with which track connection was former. Favored by its geographical location, the road has good connections with both eastern and western markets for coal and coke produced along its line. At the south, it reaches the middle and west ern states by the Kanawha and Michigan and the Chesapeake and Ohio lines. At the north it has connections with the lakes and the eastern seaboard by the Wabash (Western Maryland) and Baltimore and Ohio systems. The company owns carefully selected coal lands and coal rights along the route of the road in four counties drained by the Mo nongahela — Eandolph, Barbour, Upshur and Lewis — and ako in Gil mer and Braxton. The Pittsburg vein in this region is regarded as hundred and fifty Beverly patriots armed to the teeth were prepared to defend the site of their ancient seat of local government, and advanced to the breast works at the foot of Mt. Iser where but thirty years before Imboden's cohorts had been intrenched. At Elkins a special train stood at the railway station awaiting the order to carry to Beverly five hundred armed Elkin supporters who thronged the streets. Plans were completed to leave at 9 p. m. Older heads discouraged the expedition and probably prevented serious conflict. At a quarter of nine the band began to play on the corner in front of the Elkins National Bank and attracted the awaiting crowd. The late attorney C. Wood Dailey (a brother of Judge Dailey of Moorefield), the chief counsel of the West Virginia Central, now the Western Maryland, mounted the bank steps, obtained the attention of the throng, and began a most remarkable speech, pleading for law and order, and urging his hearers to await the verdict of the supreme court before prosecuting their rash action. He spoke of the certainty of bloodshed ; and as he continued his speech, which was over an hour in length, his eloquence reached a high pitch which served to dampen the arder of the crowd before him. When he closed, the crowd disbanded quietly, and hot headed leaders sought a retreat. Orders we're given that the special train was not wanted. A few days later, the decision of the court was announced and the removal of the records was accomplished quietly and legally. 216 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA a better coal than its type in the Fairmont and Clarksburg districts — being harder and yielding a greater per cent of large blocks. Along the entire line of the road many .villages and towns are be ginning to emerge. The chief towns along the Elk are Gassaway in Braxton, Clay in Clay, and Clendennin in Kanawha. A branch line extends from Gassaway 'to Sutton, and a timber road extends from Clay up Buffalo. Clendennin has received a new stimulus from oil operations. ALONG THE ROUTE OF THE NORFOLK AND WESTERN RAILWAY. In no part of the state has the railroad created a greater transfor mation than that which has recently occurred along the southern border, and through the interior between the upper Kanawha and the upper Bluestone. The Norfolk and Western railroad of Virginia emerged in 1881 as a result of the foreclosure sale of the unsuccessful Atlantic, Mississ ippi and Ohio railroad, which had been formed in 1870 by the consol idation of the Norfolk and Petersburg, the Southside, and the Vir ginia and Tennessee railroads. Organized primarily to develop coal, iron and other resources, and especially attracted by the discovery of good coal near the site of Pocahontas in Virginia, it began its exist ence by the purchase of the proposed New river railroad* — projected as a narrow-gauge to connect with the Chesapeake and Ohio at Hin ton, but completed as a broad gauge which, ascending East river from New and passing along the valley of the Bluestone, penetrated the great Flat Top coal-field of Pocahontas coal. This New river division terminating at Pocahontas, selected partly with a view to later ex tension to the Ohio, was constructed in 1881-82, resulting in large shipments of coal by 1883. The Flat Top mountain extension down the Bluestone and up its western branches, begun in 1884, greatly increased shipments. The original five-feet gauge of the western extension was changed •General Gabriel C. Wharton, an ex-Confederate of Montgomery county, Virginia who had become impressed with the commercial value of the Pocahontas coal, by observing its outcrop on Flat Top mountain in 1872, secured from the Virginia legislature a charter incorporating the New River Railroad, Mining and Manu facturing company to construct and operate a railroad from New river depot in Puluski county on the line of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio railroad to a point at or near the head of Camp creek in Mercer county and with provisions for build ing branch roads in Mercer and other counties. In 1875 experimental lines were surveyed from New river depot down the New river to Hinton on the Chesapeake and Ohio road. Shortly thereafter Colonel Thomas Graham of Philadelphia, who through friends got control of the majority of the stock and began work to secure all the coal land in the Pocahontas region, prepared to push the railroad which he decided to construct as a narrow gauge. He succeeded in securing the Virginia state convicts to assist in the construction. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 217 to 4 feet 9 inches on May 29, 1886, and the gauge of the main line was also changed on June 1, 1886. The Elkhorn tunnel, following the famous coal vein through Flat Top mountain was begun in 1886 and completed in 1886. The original northwesterly route to the Ohio, surveyed in 1886, via Elkl^rn creek, Pinnacle creek, Clear fork, Coal creek and Mud riv er, was regarded unsatisfactory and was abandoned in 1888. The route adopted for the Ohio extension followed down Elkhorn to Tug, thence to Pigeon, thence up Pigeon and Laurel fork and across the divide to Twelve Pole, which was followed to its mouth at Ceredo. The difficult construction of this extension was begun in 1890, and the road was opened on November 12, 1892 by the completion of the Hat field tunnel, eight miles east of Williamson. The Ohio river bridge was completed in 1891. Meantime, in 1890, the purchase of. the Scioto valley railroad and the Shenandoah Valley railroad furnished additional terminal facilities. The engineering problems, met and successfully solved in accom plishing the strategic purposes of the railway directors, resulting in the opening of vast previously secluded regions to the larger life of the works, were many and complicated. As the earlier problems were solved, subsequent ones arose in the necessity of perfecting the origi nal road to meet the demands of increasing traffic. A large portion of the original line of extension to the Ohio was remote from other railways, and, therefore, required cross-country transportation for men, sustenance and construction materials. From a financial standpoint, the venture was hazardous; and, therefore, the route was first located with considerable curvature to secure immediate economy of construction. From the necessity of revising both grades and curvatures the road was later practically rebuilt; and branches, sidings and double tracks were added to meet new demands. In constructing the original line across from Naugatuck on Tug fork to Dingess and down Twelve Pole, the purpose of the manage ment was to locate as near as possible to the Ohio a coal of good quality which could be easily transported to Kenova for shipment down the river on barges. Later, finding the earlier service too uncertain for the steady movement of traffic westward, and confronted with the ne cessity of a second track for the economical and prompt movement of the vast traffic resulting from the great development of the Pocahon tas fields and the increasing growth of traffic toward the Northwest, the directors of the railroad decided to construct a second track along 218 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the line of the Big Sandy which furnished a better grade for heavy traffic. This line, planned for an established and growing traffic, was constructed with less attention to the immediate economy illustrated in the numerous curves of the earlier route. It largely supplanted the old line, both for passenger traffic and for heavy freight traffic. The use of the old route is largely confined to local traffic, and t^through trains of returning "empties."* Branches were extended as follows: North Fork branch, 1894; Briar Mountain branch, 190'2 ; Crane Creek branch, 1903 ; Low Grade line along the Big Sandy (Naugatuck to Kenova), 1904; Tug Fork branch to Gary, 1904, with extensions in subsequent years; Clear Fork branch, 1905; Widemouth branch, 1905; Dry Fork branch, 1906, with extensions in subsequent years; Spice creek branch, 1909; Pop- law creek branch, 1909; and Sycamore branch, 1911. The influence of the road on the undeveloped regions through which the route was surveyed was remarkable. Eegions, in which the managers of the road at first were unable to secure proper police protection, were developed into law-abiding communities by the in fluences resulting from the influx of people and the establishment of schools, churches and other social institutions. In the entire region traversed by the surveyors, from the Elkhorn tunnel to the Ohio, in 1887-88 there was no village, excepting a small settlement at the mouth of Pond creek opposite the site of William son. Between the tunnel and the site of Welch there were no roads larger than a bridle-path or a sled-path, and thence along Tug fork to the site of Williamson the path was very poor. Throughout the region the population was scant and scattered, and the dwellings in ferior. The development in the vicinity of Williamson together with the inconvenience of communication with the county seat at Logan logic ally led to the formation of Mingo county from the southern territory of Logan in 1895. In McDowell county, Welch was located on practically wild lands acquired in 1885 by John Henry Hunt and transferred in 1889 to Cap tain I. A. Welch, J. H. Bramwell and J. H. Juring who laid out the town, and in 1893 transferred the larger number of lots to the Welch Land and Improvement company. The arrival of the railroad in 1891, gave the town a steady growth and soon stimulated the old life and created a new life in the entire county, which was without bridges *A proposition to remove the county seat of Wayne to a point midway between Ceredo and Kenova was defeated at a special election on February 6, 1906, by a vote of 2,566 against 1,148. THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 219 and wagons until 1880 and still had little more than bridle path com munication in 1891. Land, which had only been worth $1.00 per acre, increased rapidly in value. The meagre exports of furs and ginseng were soon supplanted by vast exports of coal. The simple life of widely separated homes was rapidly disturbed by the increasing ap pearance of the evidences of modern highly-developed community life. Taxes, which in 1892 were only $±000.00 for the entire county, rose in proportion to the demands for the conveniences supplied through the agency of government. The development along the railway in McDowell county deter mined the removal of the county seat* from Peeryville to the village of Welch. At the popular election held September, 1891, the question of relocation at Welch was settled by an overwhelming vote of 1455 against 145. The removal was delayed for another year by an injunc tion awarded George W. Payne to restrain and prohibit the removal of the county records to Welch. After bitter litigation for a year, the injunction was dissolved, and in October, 1892- the records were re moved to a two-story house which was offered rent-free for two years. A commodious and substantial court house was built in 1894, and an annex was added in 1910. In 1902, at Gary, the United States Steel Corporation completed one of the largest operating plants in the world, and subsequently built two branch lines of railway connecting with the Norfolk and Western in the Flat Top field. On the crest of the Alleghenies, Bluefleld, "the gateway to the Poca hontas coalfield," has had a phenominal growth fostered by substan tial business conditions. In 1888 it was a mere flag station on the farm of John B. Higginbotham. In December, 1889, it was incor porated as a town, with Joseph M. Sanders as its first mayor. Its population increased from 600 in 1890 to 4,644 in 1900 and 11,188 in 1910. Its post-office, established in September, 1887, was ad vanced to first-class rank in 1911. It has exceptional railway trans portation facilities, and has promising prospects of becoming the cen ter of a series of important electric lines. It is the official seat of the Appalachian Power company which owns five separate power sites on New river near Pulaski, Virginia, aggregating a total fall of 275 feet (75000 horse power). ?The first court in McDowell was held at the house of G. Washington Paine immediately below the site of Peeryville on Dry Fork. During the civil war, through the Republican influence of the Elkhorn side of the county, the county seat was removed to the Tug river, five miles above the site of Welch, and near the site of Wileoe where the first court house was built. In 1872 it was relocated at Peeryville (now English). 220 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA The industrial awakening around Bluefleld naturally produced some agitation in favor of removing the county seat from Princeton to the center of greater activities. In November, 1898, on petition of 1257 persons residing principally at Bluefleld, Bramwell and neigh boring places, the question was submitted to popular election, resulting in the defeat of the proposition by a large majority (882 for relocation and 2373 against). In March, 1906, the question was again sub mitted to election, resulting in a vote of 2098 for removal and 5174 against removal. The development of the country traversed by the Norfolk and Western railway i'a indicated by the following table showing the growth of passenger business at certain West Virginia stations located on the road : Passengers Forwarded 1893 I 1912 Passengers 1893 f Received 1912 Bluefleld Bluestone Coper Bramwell Simmons •Mora •Matoaka Maybeury Elkhorn North Fork Keystone Eckman Vivian Welch •Wilcoe •Gary Davy Iaeger •Berwind Devon Thacker Matewan Williamson •Chattaroy Naugatuck •Fort Gay Wayne Kenova — Local .... Kenova — Connection 51,167 6,070 24,50723,419 18,061 20,063 18,941 9,196 20,625 7,2109,931 14,489 2,822 2,747 1,347 2,224 3,857 7,446 2,274 7,790 14,312 1,948 163,461 61,38514,127 30,56617,27512,20421,44226,847 38,369 128,449 79,029 15,342 64,590 132,590 16,90431,993 23,870 36,427 12,636 10,257 16,436 24,864 88,04418,786 . 14,311 16,863 12,50761,309 6,339 48,035 5,531 20,42120,90422,815 24,438 22,017 8,024 17,921 6,366 12,255 14,598 2,847 2,719 1,6532,094 4,269 6,921 "2,229' ' 7,294 " 14,860 2,550 153,591 61,649 17,954 27,87819,813 13,64121,341 29,53337,894 124,805 69,562 20,007 ' 67,417 133,525 17,977 45,15225,679 32,94910,29010,639 18,101 25,677 87,40120,737 16,69316,693 10,719 54,441 8,429 •Not in existence in 1893. THE VIRGINIAN RAILWAY. Within the last decade, the wild region between the upper Kanawha and the upper Bluestone has been penetrated by the Virginian rail way, which in West Virginia was begun in 1894 by the construction of a little five-mile road south from Deepwater on the Kanawha to serve certain lumber interests in the region. In 1902, the extension of this line toward the coal fields* was begun on a more careful plan •The original certificate of incorporation of the Deepwater (January 28, 1898) called for a route from Deepwater up Lower Loup, across the divide and down White Oak creek and Dun Loup to its mouth at Glen Jean. Early in 1902, the management conceived the idea of a southeasterly extension through coal fields, from Glen Jean across the divide to Piney creek and up Piney to Flat Top mountain thence across to Camp creek and to Bluestone. This route was later changed (April, 1902) farther west, through Jenny's Gap and Clark's Gap in order to reach better coal territory. Finally, a preliminary survey was run con necting with Jenny's Gap (August 30). On the same day surveyors of the Chesa- THE INDUSTRIAL AWAKENING 221 of construction, with a straighter alignment and lighter grades. In 1907, the ambitious and far-reaching plan of the release of the vast coal domain to the tide water came to fruition by the consolidation of the Deepwater railway of West Virginia and the Tidewater railway of Virginia, which were built together by the same management and in corporated as the Virginian railway. The road was built by Mr. H. H. Eogers and his associates to se cure the best possible line regardless of expense, or of connecting rail ways, or of adjacent towns. It was not built to get the revenue of im mediate traffic but with a view to future possibilities inherent to the terminal and intermediate territory. Its main objective points were to penetrate the heart of the New Biver— Pocahontas and Kanawha coal fields which were not thoroughly served by existing roads, and to se cure facilities for unloading coal at the tidewater terminal. Its course was selected by engineers who had a free hand to select a route, and to produce a line having the most economical grades and curves from the standpoint of operation. Its location and grades were determined only after the completion of five or six thousand miles of field surveys, and after the careful consideration of various ruling factors. Over much of its route from Deepwater to Princeton, the road has a succes sion of heavy cuts and fills, with many tunnels and high steel viaducts. Its easy grades toward the east were selected with a view to the heavier freight traffic in that direction. In March 1907, its head of travel was Mullens. On July 1, 1909, it was in operation throughout its entire course. Its efficiency was as sured by many improvements, and by the increased equipment which rapidly followed. Its assembling yard was located at Princeton, from which long trains of coal are drawn eastward behind huge Mallet lo comotives. At Pax, twenty-seven miles from Deepwater, it has a six-mile con nection with twelve mines, by the Kanawha, Glen Jean and Eastern peake and Ohio appeared in Jenny's Gap, but the Deepwater projected their survey through the gap and staked off their line September 1 and 2, although the north end of the line, between Jenny's Gay and Glen Jean, had not yet been surveyed, nor had the Deepwater ordered or agreed to make the extension beyond either termini fixed by the articles of incorporation. On September 2, however, a meet ing of directors passed a resolution of extension which was filed in the office of the secretary of state. On September 8, maps were filed. From the date of the contract with the Chesapeake and Ohio engineers, the Deepwater railway engineers and officials pressed the work of the location of the entire line and completed it on February 27, 1903 — filing maps as fast as data could be procured and prepared. The Chesapeake and Ohio, completed the survey of a route to connect with the old survey of 1899 and on September 11, 1902 filed a map of the projected location and on the same day filed a map of the old survey of 1899. On November 1, 1902, it completed the actual location of the new road. On October 2, it secured deeds to land in Jenny's Gap and about December 30, began the work of construction on the disputed strip, and prosecuted it at the cost of $8,500 until June, 1903, when the court of Raleigh county decided that the Chesapeake and Ohio had paramount right of appropriation. The Deepwater, by a writ of error, obtained from the court of appeals a reversal of the decision of the lower court. 222' SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA railroad, owned and operated by William McKell. At Bishop, it con nects with the White Oak railway from Glen Jean which is operated by the large New river company and carries the production of four mines. At Page, it receives the large exports of the mines of the Loup Creek Colliery company. At Mullens, it connects with the important Winding Gulf branch, along which are many important mines. It re ceives the shipments of large lumbering operations at Maben, Herndon and Gardner. At Deepwater, the company planned at first to build a bridge across the Kanawha and Michigan in order to secure additional facilities for shipping coal. XII. Social and Institutional History 1. POPULATION. The character of the population has greatly changed since the civil war. The original settlers, whose ancestors were generally English or Scotch Irish or perhaps Pennsylvania German, were contented with a life of rural simplicity and hospitality whose economy was in many cases mere subsistence. Their descendants usually lived amiably with their neighbors, maintained their urbanity and self possession in the presence of strangers and, beyond the efforts necessary to secure the necessaries of life, were often disposed to leave improvement of things to time and chance. Always possessing intellect and sagacity capa ble of high development under favorable conditions, they have grad ually responded to the progressive spirit of enterprise and of the stren uous life which received its greatest impulse from immigration from other states and from the increased opportunities for communication and intermingling of the people. The development of the vast re sources, especially in coal and oil, has caused a large influx of popula tion, at first largely average American citizens from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio, and later an increasing number of foreigners from Europe. The population far more than trebled in the fifty years from 1860- 1910. It increased from 376,688 in 1860 to 422,014 in 1870, to (118,457 in 1880, to 762,794 in 1890, to 958,800 .(499,242 males and 459,558 females) in 1900, and to 1,221,119 (644,044 males and 577,075 females) in 1910, In 1869 and early in 1870 erroneous reports represented that the population and wealth of the state was decreasing. The census of 1870 showed that while there was a gen eral increase of over 20% in the population of the state, there was a slight decrease in a few counties. There was a decrease of 794 in Greenbrier, 752 in Hampshire and Hardy combined, 615 in Marion, 169 in Nicholas, and 30 in Brooke. All the other counties showed an increase and every county at each census after 1870 until 1910 con tinued to show an increase. In the decade from 1890 to 1900 the population increased over 24 per cent. The counties in which it increased most rapidly were McDowell (156.8 per cent), Tucker (108 per cent), Webster (85 per cent), Clay (77 per cent), Marion (56.5 224 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA per cent), Fayette (55.7 per cent), Tyler (52.6 per cent)l and Eandolph (51.9 per cent). The counties in which the counties in creased most slowly were Jefferson (2,5 per cent), Hampshire (3.4 per cent), Berkeley (4.1 per cent), Pendleton (5.2 per cent), Monroe (5.6 per cent), Mineral (6.6 per cent), Lewis (6.8 per cent) and Grant (7 per cent). Of the population in 1900 the colored numbered 43,567 (including 56 Chinese and 12 Indians). The negroes were located principally in Berkeley, Cabell, Fayette, Greenbrier, Harrison, Jefferson* Kanawha, McDowell, Mineral, Ohio and Summers. Of the 247,970 males of voting age, only 14,786 were negroes. Of the illiterate voters 23,577 (11 per cent) were white and 5,583 (38 per cent) were black. The foreign born numbered 22,451 (principally Germans, Irish. Italians, English and Scotch) located principally in Marion, Marshall, Ohio, Tucker and Wood counties. Excluding foreigners, the larger number of immigrants came from Virginia (61,508), Ohio (40,301) and Pennsylvania (28,927). After 1900 the immigration greatly increased, especially in the mining and manufacturing regions of the northern and southern parts of the state. The rapidity of the growth of towns may be illustrated by Morgantown whose population increased from less than 2,000 in 1900 to 10,000 within the city limits in 1910. In the decade from 1900 to 1910, the population of the state increased over 27 per cent. It increased most rapidly in the following counties : McDowell (155.3 per cent), Logan (108.1 per cent), Ealeigh (106.1 per cent), Harri son (74.7 per cent), Pocahontas (72 per cent), Mingo (71.1 per cent), Mercer (66.7 per cent), Fayette (62.3 per cent), Cabell (59.6 per cent), Hancock (56.4 per cent), Nicholas (55.2 per cent), Brooke (53.7 per cent), Kanawha (48.9 per cent), Eandolph (47.3 per cent), Tucker (39 per cent), Lincoln (32.8 per cent. In the follow ing counties there was a decrease: Pleasants (13.6 per cent), Wirt (12 per cent), Tyler (11.2 per cent, Jackson (8.8 per cent), Dod dridge (7.4 per cent), Eitchie (5.4 per cent), Mason (4.7 per cent), Gilmer (3.3 per cent), Hampshire (.9 per cent), Monroe (.6 per cent), Jefferson (.3 per cent). It will be observed that the area of decreasing population includes some of the best agricultural counties of the state — indicating the demand for better roads and other improvements of rural conditions which will stimulate increased local production of the food materials now too largely imported for consumption within the cities and towns of the state. SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 225 The composition and characteristics of the population, as shown by the statistics of the census of 1910, present some interesting features. Color and nativity. — Of the total population of West Virginia, 1,156,817, or 94.7 per cent, are whites, and 64,173, or 5.3 per cent, negroes. The corresponding percentages in 1900 were 95.5 and 4.5. In 42 of the 55 counties less than 5 per cent of the population are negroes ; in only 4 counties does the proportion of negroes exceed 12.5 per cent, the maximum percentage, 30.6, being that for Mc Dowell county. Native whites of native parentage constitute 85.3 per cent of the total population of the state, and 90.1 per cent of the white population. Native whites of foreign or mixed parentage and foreign-born whites each constitute only 4.7 per cent of the total population. Of the urban* population, 74.8 per cent are native whites of native parentage; of the rural, 87.8 per cent. The corresponding proportions for native whites of foreign or mixed parentage are 11.6 and 3.1 per cent, respectively. The percentage of foreign-born whites is 6.9 in the urban population and 4.2 in the rural; the percentage of negroes is 6.7 in the urban and 4.9 in the rural. Sex. — In the total population of the state there are 644,044 males and 577,075 females, or 111.6 males to every 100 females. In 1900 the ratio was 108.6 to 100. Among the whites there was 110.5 males to 100 females ; among the negroes, 132.8. Among native whites the ratio is 106.1 to 100, as compared with 261.8 to 100 for the foreign- born whites. In the urban population there are 104.2 males to 100 females, and in the rural, 113.4. State of birfh. — Of the native population — that is population born in the United States — 80 per cent were born in West Virginia and 20 per cent outside the state; of the native white population, 17.8 per cent were born outside the state, and of the native negro, 57.6 per cent. Persons born outside the state constitute a larger pro portion of the native population in urban than in rural communities. Foreign nationalities. — Of the foreign-born white population of West Virginia, persons born in Italy represent 30.3 per cent; Austria, 14.6; Germany, 11.1; Hungary, 10.4; Eussia, 9; England, 6.1; Ireland, 4; Scotland, 1.9; all other countries, 12.5. Of the total white stock of foreign origin, which includes persons born abroad and •Urban population, as defined by the Bureau of the Census, includes that of air incorporated places of 2,500 inhabitants or more, the remainder being classified as rural. 226 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA also natives having one or both parents born abroad, Germany con tributed 21.7 per cent; Italy, 18.5; Ireland, 11.5; Austria, 9.5; England, 9; Hungary, 6.6; Eussia, 6.4; Scotland, 2.9. Voting and militia ages. — The total number of males 21 years of age and over is 338,349, representing 27.7 per cent of the population. Of such males 93.2 per cent are white and 6.7 per cent negroes. Native whites represent 83 per cent of the total number and foreign- born whites 10.3 per cent. Of the 34,687 foreign-born white males of voting age, 7,263, or 20.9 per cent, are naturalized. Males of militia age — 18 to 44 — number .275,048. \ Age. — Of the total population, 13.8 per cent are under 5 years of age, 22.8 per cent from1 5 to 14 years, inclusive, 20.2 per cent from 15 to 24, 27.4 per cent from 25 to 44, and 15.5 per- cent 45 years of age and over. The foreign-born white population com prises comparatively few children, only 6.9 per cent being under 15 years of age, while 69.9 per cent are 25 years of age and over. Of the native whites of native parentage 40.9 per cent are 25 and over, and of the negroes 46.5 per cent. The negro population comprises a somewhat smaller proportion of children under 5 than the native white of native parentage. The proportion under 5 is greatest among native whites of foreign or mixed parentage. The urban population shows a smaller proportion of children than the rural and a larger proportion of persons in the prime of life. Migration to the city explains this at least in part. Of the urban population, 33.2 per cent are from 25 to 44 years of age, inclusive, and of the rural population, 26.1 per cent. School attendance. — The total number of persons of school age — that is, from 6 to 20 years inclusive — is 393,818, of whom 259,971, or 65.5 per cent, attended school. In addition to these, 3,544 children under 6 and 3,896 persons 21 and over attended school. For boys from 6 to 20, inclusive, the percentage attending school was 64.9 ; for girls, 66.2. For children from 6 to 14 years, inclusive, the per centage attending school was 82.5. The percentage for children of this age among native whites of native parentage was 83; among native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 82.9; among foreign- born whites, 66.1 ; and among negroes, 76.2. The percentage attend ing school for children of that age was 85.1 in the urban population, and 82.1 in the rural. Illiteracy* — There are 74,866 illiterates in the state, representing •The Census Bureau classifies as illiterate any person 10 years of age or over who is unable to write, regardless of ability to read. SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 227 8.3 per cent of the total population 10 years of age and over, as compared with 11.4 cent in 1900. The percentage of illiteracy is 6.4 among native whites, 23.9 among foreign-born whites, and 20.3 among negroes. Among native whites of native parentage it is 6.7 and among native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 2. Illiterates are relatively fewer in urban than in rural communities, the percentage being 4 in the urban population and 9.4 in the rural. For each class of the population separately, also, the rural percentage is higher than the urban — decidedly higher for the foreign-born whites and for the negroes. For persons from 10 to 20 years of age, inclusive, whose literacy depends largely upon present school facilities and school attendance, the percentage of illiteracy is 4.1. Marital. — In the population 15 years of age and over, 38.9 per cent of the males are single and 28 per cent of the females. The percentage married is 56.4 for males and 63.3 for females, and the percentage widowed 3.7 and 7.9, respectively. The percentages of those reported as divorced, 0.3 and 0.5, respectively, are believed to be too small, because of the probability that many divorced persons class themselves as single or widowed. That the percentage single is so much smaller for women than for men is due partly to the excess of males in the total population, but mainly to the fact that women marry younger. Thus 15.5 per cent of the females from 15 to 19 years of age are married, as compared with 1.3 per cent of the males; and 57.9 per cent of the females from 20 to 24 years are married, as compared with 25.8 per cent of the males. In the next age group, 25 to 34 years, the difference is less marked, the percentage being 80.4 and 66.7, respectively, and it is inconsiderable in the age group 35 to 44. Among those 45 and over the percentage married is higher among the males. That there is a larger proportion of widows than widowers may indicate that men more often remarry than women, but, since husbands are generally older than their wives, the marriage relationship is more often broken by death of the husband than by death of the wife. For the main elements of the population the percentages married among those 15 years of age and over are as follows : Native whites of native parentage, 58 for males, 63.1 for females; native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 56.6 both for males and for females; foreign-born whites, 53.6 and 76.6; negroes 45.7 and 62.2 These percentages by no means indicate the relative tendency of the several classes as regards marriage. To determine that, the 228 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA comparison should be made by age periods, since the proportion married in any class is determined largely by the proportion who have reached the marrying age. Similarly, the proportion widowed depends largely on the proportion past middle life. The percentage married, both for males and females, is higher in rural than in urban communities. Dwellings and families. — The total number of dwellings in- West Virginia is 239,128, and the total number of families 248,480, in dicating that in comparatively few cases does more than one family occupy a dwelling. The average number of persons per dwelling is 5.1, and the average number per family is 4.9. The growth of population since 1860 is indicated by decades and by counties in the following table : 1860 1870 1880. 1890 1900 1910 County Formed 13,91312,525 13,048 22,42212,211 13,790 9,8644,990 6,164 16,151 5,494 11,046 10,757 14,535 9,173 8,020 6,517 7,999 4,627 13,312 3,732 3,958 4,938 8,306 5,997 12,937 4,9926,819 12,722 6,747 8,958 6,847 8,463 5,2033,7596,703 4,840 6,301 3,7514,4453,3672,8612,9457,2922,5021,7875,3811,428 1,535 1,555 7,613 14,90013,54728,83111,41716,714 5,5185,5636,455 22,349 5,464 19,000 11,124 13,21915,978. 6,4297,832 10,175 4,458 14,555 4,3154,069 5,124 10,300 6,647 14,941 6,4807,064 12,107 7,852 10,312 9,0559,3677,0764,3388,559 4,5537,7944,804 4,363 3,6733,1713,0128,0232,930 2,196 7,232 1,907 1,952 1,730 6,332 4,467 5,053 10,336 17,380 14,985 37,457 15,060 20,181 6,7948,1028,022 32,466 6,013 25,006 11,501 15,005 22,296 13,744 11,073 13,269 7,223 19,091 5,777 5,591 7,329 16,312 11,56018,840 9,787 7,467 17,19814,739 11,870 13,47411,455 10,552 7,108 13,896 5,824 11,375 7,1044,8827,3674,322 6,256 10,249 6,072 3,460 12,184 3,1513,0743,207 8,6305,542 8,739 9,033 11,419 18,702 15,70541,55718,03421,919 7,567 11,633 8,711 42,756 6,660 28,612 12,429 15.55322,86323,595 11,962 15,895 9,307 20,335 6,7446,814 11,101 19.02120,542 20,73513,928 16,002 20,72118,652 12,70216,62112,147 12,183 9,746 16,841 6,885 14,342 9,411 6,414 9,597 6,2477.539 12,714 8,155 4,659 15,303 6.459 7,300 4,783 12,085 6,802 11,24613,117 11,806 19,46919,04948,024 20,683 '27,690 8,449 17,670 9,167 54,696 7,219 34,452 13,130 15,935 24,142 29,25218,252 16,980 11,40322,727 7,292 8,5726,955 22,987 31,987 26,444 18,904 23,023 32,430 23,619 14,198 18,901 14,978 13,68911,762 22,880 8,194 17,330 10,284 6,693 12,436 8,380 9,345 14,696 10,266 8,248 19,852 13,433 18,747 8.862 12,883 7,275 15.434 16,26511,359 11,694 21,999 24,334 57,574 24,833 48,381 9,163 26,028 9,349 81,457 11,098 38,001 13,05515,889 23,019 46,68516,211 18,281 17,699 26,341 7,848 14,74014,476 20,956 51,903 32,38823,023 38,37142,794 24,081 15,858 17,875 16,554 12,67211,379 23,855 10,331 18,587 9,047 10,465 25,633 10,392 8,074 16,629 11,258 10,233 21,543 18,675 47,856 9,680 16,674 7,838 20,491 18,42019,431 HampshireBerkeley . . Monongalia Ohio Greenbrier Harrison . . Hardy Randolph . , Pendleton . Kanawha . Brooke Wood Monroe . . . Jefferson . . Mason Cabell Tyler Lewis Nicholas . . Preston . . . Morgan . . . PocahontasLogan Jackson . . . Fayette . . . Marshall . . Braxton . . MercerMarion . . . Wayne Barbour Ritchie . . . Taylor . . . Doddridge . Gilmer .... WetzelBoone .... Putnam . . . Wirt Hancock . . Raleigh . . . Wyoming . Pleasants . Upshur . . . Calhoun . . Clay Roane .... Tucker . . . McDowell . Webster . . Mineral . . . Grant .... Lincoln . . . Summers . . Mingo .... 17541772 17761776 177717841786 1787 17881789 179717991799 180118041809181418161818 1818 182018211824183118311835183618371842 18421843184318441845 1845 1846 1847 18481848184818501850 1851 1851 18551856 18561856185818601866186618671871 1895 376,888 442,014 .618,457 762,794 958,800 1,221,119 Total SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 229 The growth of population in towns (of 2,000 or more) for the same period la indicated in the following table : •Wheeling Huntington Charleston Parkersburg .... Bluefleld Martinsburg .... Fairmont Clarksburg Morgantown .... Moundsville .... Grafton Elkins Benwood Wellsburg Keyser Hinton Williamson Chester Richwood Princeton McMechen Mannington .... Sistersville Charlestown Davis Thomas Buchannon Weston New Martinsville Salem Beckley Roncevert Monongah Piedmont Point Pleasant . . Keystone Follansbee New Cumberland 1910 1900 1890 1880 1870 41,640 38,874 34,522 30,737 19,280 31,161 11,923 10,108 3,174 22,996 11,099 6,742 4,182 3,162 17,842 11,703 8,408 6,528 5,546 11,188 . 4,644 10,698 7,564 7,226 6,335 4,863 9,711 5,655 9,201 4,508 2,802 2,517 9,150 2,300 8,918 5,362 2,688 7,563 5,650 3,159 3,030 5,260 2,016 4,973 4,511 2,934 4,189 2,588 2,235 3,705 2,536 2,165 3,656 3,763 2,570 3,561 3,184 3,061 3,027 2,921 2,672 2,684 2,979 2,662 2,392 2,287 2,016 2,615 2,391 2,615 2,126 2,225 2,212 2,560 2,143 2,176 2,169 2.161 2,157 2,089 . 2,054 2,115 2,045 2,047 2,031 1,807 2,198 2,305 13,986 2,433 3,014 •The population of Wheeling for the earlier decades was as follows : 914 in 1810 ; 1,567 in 1820; 5,221 in 1830; 7,885 in 1840; 11,179 in 1850. 2. EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. In 1863 West Virginia had no state institutions, no social organs to secure general welfare,' no common school system, no normal schools and no university. Before 1863 the few schools which were maintained at public expense were primarily for indigent children.* The people who had so long agitated the question of free schools for all,** influenced by Mr. Battelle who said that people were leaving •Mi-. Johnson of Taylor county, speaking in the house of delegates in 1850, cast the blame for the ignorance of the youth of the state on the East. **In the constitutional convention of 1829-30, resolutions submitted by western members for the encouragement of public education were opposed by eastern men, some of whom feared the adoption of a system by which the people of the East would be taxed for the education of the children of the West. Morgan of Monongalia submitted a resolution that a tax of 25 cents per annum, levied on every free white man of twenty-one, together with an equal amount set aside by the legislature, should constitute a fund, the interest of which should be used for elementary education. Mr. Henderson remarked that at that time Virginia made provision for the partial or indifferent education of only one-eighth as many children as were provided with adequate education annually by the small state of Connecticut. Alexander Campbell also introduced a resolution for the encourage ment of free schools and seminaries. But not one word on the subject of education was inserted in the constitution. The Kanawha Banner, commenting on the general mortification which the West felt in securing none of her desired reforms, named three things which in its opinion 230 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the state because there were no public schools, and consistent with the policy of the West, in 1863 inserted a clause in their constitution providing for their establishment, and promptly secured from their first legislature a law for efficient free schools supported by the in terest of an invested school fund. In 1865, the state superintendent reported that there were 431 schools and 387 teachers in the state. In 1866 and 1867, provision was made for colored schools where the number of colored children was sufficient. The constitution provided that white and colored children should not be educated in the same schools. The new school system encountered many obstacles. The law was opposed by many of the ultra-conservatives, who urged the people to disregard it and refused to cooperate with the authorities. In some thinly-settled counties of the interior and along the southern border the people were not able to build school houses. In several counties the superintendents were too ignorant to examine the incompetent teachers. In order to supply the great need for trained teachers, the legislature, in 1867, established normal schools at Huntington, at Fairmont and at West Liberty. In 1872, three additional schools were established at Shepherdstown, Athens and Glenville. By 1869, the school system was better organized; but, as late as 1872, over half of the county superintendents failed to submit reports, and the state superintendent reported that in many districts there had been no schools for two years while in many others the attendance con tinued to be poor. In many instances progress was hindered by misuse of funds by the school boards who voted themselves a liberal compensation for their services. In several counties, the sheriff often postponed the payment of the salary of teachers until they were com pelled to sell their orders at great sacrifice to the curbstone broker, often a confederate of the sheriff. In spite of laws to prevent, this abuse continued for more than a quarter of a century. Examinations in many counties continued to be conducted so loosely and so dis honestly that incompetent teachers found little difficulty in securing would not greatly postpone a renewal of the contest between the two sections, and the first of these was the demand of the West for "a good system of education." By 1840 the subject of popular education was much agitated in the West. A remarkable educational convention which met at Clarksburg on September 8-9, 1841 was attended by 130 delegates. Its object was to induce the general assembly to establish a system of free district schools, to be supported by the literary fund and a tax on property. Throughout the West, by the time of the election for members of the constitutional convention of 1850, newspapers and candidates pledged themselves in favor of a constitutional system of education under which rich and poor should meet on an equality, and for the establishment of some form of an equitable system of common school education. But despite this fact and the resolutions of Martin, Faulkner and Carlile in favor of a constitutional provision, the new constitution was adopted without the mention of education. o H CJ a HH W hfOOHo CO M o 2 V- - • ;,.'.'«HB fl ;-,'¦- -ff^ZMM pK~'"'^pB9 .-<;'" 1*5 - ' wiv '¦ \ " XX'-" . * View of the Campus, W. Va. University. Old Woodburn Seminary. Library, West Vircinia University. President's House, "W. Va. University. SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 231 certificates. Finally, the widespread jobbery in teachers' certificates was almost terminated, in 1903, by the adoption of the uniform examination system. In many counties, supervision of schools by the county superin tendent remained a fraud and a farce for decades. An effort to secure more efficient supervision was made in 1901 by forbidding the county superintendent to teach, and in 1907 by increasing the salary of the office. To secure better attendance the legislature in 1901 passed a com pulsory school law which was made more effective in 1908. The opposition* to these laws, which was very strong at first, has gradually declined — although in many instances they are still disregarded or evaded. Although progress was slow for so many years, it has been more rapid in recent years. High schools have increased in number and improved in character. The normal schools, whose work has been largely that of the high school, have begun to give more attention to the purpose for which they were formed. A state board of edu cation, created by the revised school law of 1908, is empowered to prepare a course of study for the public schools of the state, and to - unify and increase the efficiency of the school system by defining the relations of the different kinds of schools, and by securing better articulation of the school work. Teachers' institutes, summer schools, school libraries, better wages and better teachers are also aiding the progress of education. West Virginia University since its foundation in 1867 has exerted a gradually increasing influence in the development of the education and other activities of the state. At first it was little more than a classical high school. For many years the growth of the new insti tution was very slow and uncertain. This retarded growth was due to many causes. Among these causes may be enumerated the partially local foundation, the sectional jealousies, the post-bellum political questions and partisanships, the lack of a satisfactory system of secondary schools, the divided responsibility and laissez faire policy of administration, and the lack of means of communication with *In 1897, when the subject was strongly agitated, the Logan County Banner published editorials in opposition. "We are so confident that the parent is the proper guardian for his child, that we hope never to see the day when the state shall assume such guardianship except in extreme cases,." said the editor. "Pro fessor Lewis (who knows nothing about privations of parents in country dis tricts) recommends that the schools be filled up by force, that the sacred precincts of an humble home be entered by the officers of the law, and children half-clad torn from their mothers. This is what compulsory school law means and we are heartily opposed to compulsory education !" 232 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown, the seat of the institution. Gradually the power and importance of these causes were reduced by changing conditions. In dustrial progress has been a prominent factor in the transformation of the earlier school into a real college or university. One may smile now at the earlier bickerings and driftings. The admission of women to the collegiate departments in 1889, and to other departments in 1897, was a great land mark in the educational history of the state. v Although many in the state do not now realize it the University is an institution of high rank — recently ranked by the Carnegie Foundation as better than the University of Virginia from the stand point of entrance requirements. The growth of the University has been greatly aided by the develop ment of better secondary schools. The normal schools have partially solved the problem of suitable preparatory schools. A preparatory school at Montgomery, opened January, 1897, was established by an act of February 16, 1895. Another was established at Keyser by an act of 1901. To supply the demand for state institutions where colored people could receive special or more advanced academic training, the colored institute at Farm (Kanawha county) was established in 1891, and the Bluefleld colored institute (in Mercer county) was established in 1895. 3. INSTITUTIONS FOR DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES AND DELINQUENTS. ' West Virginia at the beginning of her statehood had no charitable or reformatory institutions within her boundaries — all such state in stitutions having been built east of the mountains. The new state, without any permanent home or suitable buildings in which to con duct the work of its government, and in the face of so many other difficulties, was compelled to make temporary arrangements until she could provide something permanent. Many of the insane, who were already at Staunton, remained there until an asylum could be com pleted, but the county jails were filled with all kinds of unfortunates, the insane, convicts, and juvenile offenders of both sexes. For seven years arrangements were made with other states for the care of the blind. The hospital for the insane at Weston was opened in 1866, but it did not furnish sufficient accommodation, and. some of the insane were •confined in the jails until the second hospital was opened at Spencer in 1893. There is still need of additional room for the colored insane. o JJx OS > SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 233 A school for the deaf and the blind was opened at Bomney at the close of 1870. Since 1901 efforts have been made to induce the legislature to provide a separate school for the blind in some larger city of the state. In 1897 an asylum was established at Huntington for such incurables as epileptics, idiots, insane and others whose dis orders affected their minds. The legislature of 1911 created a tuberculosis sanitarium, located near Terra Alta on the top of the great Cheat Mountain range. The necessity o'f establishing a state prison was urged by Governor Boreman, but the legislature first authorized negotiation with other states for the use of their prisons, and (when this proved unsuccess ful) then authorized the governor to use the county jails, until in 1866 it was finally induced, by the escape of prisoners, to provide for a state penitentiary constructed in part by convict labor. In 1899 the unpleasant notoriety given to the state by exaggerated reports of the sickly details of a public hanging in Jackson county, which ap peared in the yellow dailies of New York and other cities, caused the legislature to enact a law against public executions, requiring that all hanging should be conducted within the penitentiary and in the presence of a limited number of witnesses. In 1890, twenty years after Governor Stevenson first protested against the necessity of confining youthful offenders (of both sexes) with persons whose lives had been given over to crime, the legislature •established at Pruntytown a reform school for boys, the name of which was changed to The West Virginia Industrial School for Boys, by act of the legislature in 1913. In 1897, after further urg ing, it provided for a similiar industrial home for girls at Salem. The usefulness of this home is greatly lessened, however, by the great number of feeble minded girls who are kept there. Two years later, it established the West Virginia Humane society, one aim of which is to improve the condition of children under fourteen years of age who are abandoned, neglected, or cruelly treated. In 1901, it passed an additional act increasing the powers of the society. In 1899, it also provided for the construction and maintenance of three miners' hospitals (at Welch, McKendree and Fairmont) to which any person injured in a coal-mine or on a railroad is admitted free of ¦charge. The growing feeling that there should be some means pro vided to prevent the imprisonment of youthful offenders in jails with ¦other prisoners was recently expressed by Governor Glasscock, who also suggested the need, in some West Virginia cities, of juvenile ¦courts with large discretionary powers. 234 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Before West Virginia separated from Virginia, the care of her poor was directed by a board of overseers appointed from the various districts by the county court. From 1863 to 1873, the overseers, though really agents of the county board of supervisors, were elected by the people of each township. Following the constitution of 1872, the Virginia plan was revived. In 1881 the county court was authorized to provide a county infirmary, workhouse, farm, and other things necessary for the use and benefit of the poor. Since 1903, the messages of the governors have recommended measures to prevent abuses connected with the care of the poor, such as the assignment of their maintenance to the lowest bidder — a practice which still exists in some counties, and was strongly criticised in the last biennial message of Governor Glasscock (1913) who also said that in many instances the jails and almshouses of the state are a disgrace, re ferring especially to the unsanitary conditions which endanger the health and lives of the inmates. 4. INSPECTION AND REGULATION. Executive agencies for inspection and regulation were developed rather slowly. In 1863 there was only a board of public works, con sisting of the executive officials of the state, whose principal duties then related to state turn-pikes and taxation of railroads, but whose work has continued to grow with the development of the state. To relieve this over-worked board, Governor White in 1905 recommended a railroad commission, and in 1907 Governor Dawson recommended a commission of corporations to act with the state tax commissioner as a state board of assessors. An act of 1913 created a public service commission. In 1864, a commissioner of immigration was provided by law, but without adequate compensation; and in 1871 the legislature, which was unfriendly to immigration, refused to make an appropriation for the commissioner and transferred the work of the bureau to the board of public works, without satisfactory provision for its contin uance as an active agency. The governor reported in 1880 that foreign immigration into West Virginia for permanent settlement had "already commenced," and that several prosperous colonies were already founded. The first organized movement to promote immi gration to the state, launched through the efforts of the Wheeling chamber of commerce, was begun on February 29, 1888, by the organization of the West Virginia Immigration and Development Association with plans for the organization of an auxiliary in every SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 235 county. Mr. John Nugent who at present — without compensation from the state — holds a commission to foster immigration of miners, has recently found his efforts blocked at New York and at Washing ton. Although from 1863 there was a vaccine agent, and beginning with 1873 the law provided for three vaccine agents who were required to furnish vaccine matter to all who desired it, there was no provision for state control or regulation of health until 1881 when the legis lature created the board of health to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery, and to enforce general sanitary measures for preventing, checking and confining epidemics and contagious diseases. The wisdom of this delegation of power has been proven often — notably at Mason City in 1892 in successfully dealing with what threatened to be an epidemic of smallpox. Although this board has sufficient authority, its efficiency has often been impaired by lack of sufficient funds. An act of March 15, 1882 made additional provision regulat ing the practice of medicine and surgery, by requiring genuine evi dence of graduation from a reputable medical college or a regular examination before the state board of health, or an affidavit that the applicant has practiced in the state for ten years. Its enforcement was later contested on the ground that it violated the bill of rights and was unconstitutional so far as it interfered with the vested rights in relation to the practice of medicine. A practitioner at Newburg (in Preston) failing to procure the certificate required under the law was arrested on an indictment of the grand jury and found guilty in the circuit court (April 1883). On a writ of error he carried the case to the supreme court of appeals which affirmed (November, 1884) the judgment of the lower court on grounds of police regu lation, asserting that "The doctor equally with the lawyer requires a special education to qualify him to practice his profession, and that the community is no more competent to judge of the qualifi cations of a doctor than of a lawyer and is liable to be imposed upon by imposters and quacks professing to practice medicine." Later he appealed to the United States supreme court which in January, 1889, decided against him on the ground that "the law of West Virginia was intended to secure such skill and learning in the profession of medicine that the community might trust with confidence thoso receiving a license under authority of the state." In 1891 a commission of pharmacy was established (without pro vision for expenses), and the governor was authorized to appoint a board of dentistry (which by an act of 1907 is required to make a 236 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA report to the governor) . A state board of embalmers was created in 1899. In 1885, the legislature. passed an act to prevent the manufacture and sale of mixed and impure butter and cheese. In 1907, it also enacted an inadequate law to protect the people against impure foods, which for years had been shipped into the state and sold. Although the law in itself is good it is rendered ineffective by the failure to appoint an inspector. A proposition to submit to the people a prohibition amendment passed in the house by a vote of 59 to 14, in 1883, but was rejected in the senate by a vote of 15 to 11. In 1885 a similar proposition passed in the senate but failed in the house by two votes. In 1888, the question was submitted to the people and voted down. Finally, in response to the popular demand for elimination of the liquor in terests from, pernicious lobby politics, the legislature in 1912 sub mitted to the people, at the regular state and presidential election, a prohibition amendment which they ratified by a majority vote of over 92,000.. In 1882 an inadequate law for regulation of weights and measures was put on the statute book, providing for its execution through the county courts, fixing the legal weight of certain commodities, and establishing "Scribneris rule." In 1897 the section which provided that the adjutant-general should be ex-officio superintendent of weights and measures was repealed, and since that time there has been no provision for a superintendent. Except in a few instances, no attempt was ever made to enforce the law ; and the outfit furnished by the Federal government, after a long residence at the state capitol, has recently been deposited with the department of physics at the state university where it has been tested for accuracy and mounted for use. A bill for more efficient state regulation of weights and measures received the approval of the house at the session of the legislature in February, 1913, but failed to reach the calender for consideration in the senate. On this subject there is much heed of an efficient law providing for inspectors with not only power of supervision over local authorities, but also with power to enforce the law whenever local authorities fail to act. The office of sealer of weights and measures should be one of the most important in the public service, affording a protection alike to the honest dealer and to the purchasing public. To secure efficiency in whatever law is passed, there should be some general system of administration and reports of inspectors, to prevent the chief office SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 237 from degenerating into a sinecure whose holder is paid a salary to see that no one runs away with the standards. These inspectors should visit every part of the state to test the official weights and measures and to instruct the local authorities. These officials should have power both to work in cooperation with the local authorities and, in case of emergencies which demand promptness of action, to enter the field of the local officials and to make inspections and arrests without waiting for local action. The need of a more efficient organization of the militia of the state was felt long before the militia law of 1889. Soon after the close of the war, the law requiring muster and drill was abolished. In 1872, the legislature prohibited enrollment. In 1872, the duties of the adjutant-general were assigned to the state superintendent of education, who refused to exercise them. In 1877, the duties were transferred to the state librarian. In the summer of that year, the condition of inefficiency was forcibly illustrated in connection with the strike at Martinsburg, resulting from a reduction of ten per cent in wages by the railroad companies. The brakemen and firemen of freight trains stopped work and drove off the men sent to replace them. The police were powerless to cope with the situation. Of the three militia companies in the state, the company at Martins burg was in sympathy with the rioters, one from Wheeling arrived but was fired upon and driven back, and one at Moorefield (38 miles distant from Martinsburg) was armed with a type of musket for which the state had no ammunition. The governor, seeing the hope lessness of controlling the situation with his. slender militia forces, and the impossibility of assembling a legislature in time to take any action in the emergency, requested the aid of the national govern ment, which was promptly given. Though several volunteer com panies were organized after this disturbance, the state librarian and the' governor urged that no efficient organization was possible with out more adequate state provision for uniforms, target practice and encampment. Under the act of 1889, complying with an act of congress of 1887, a brigade organization of the National Guard was effected in 1890. Beginning with 1879, as a result of industrial development, the legislature passed several important laws providing for regulation and inspection. In that year it passed an act providing regulations for the transportation of petroleum or other oils and liquids by rail road companies or transportation companies, and another for regu- 238 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA lating coal mines and the protection of miners. In 1883, it passed acts to prohibit timber obstructions in streams, to suppress prize fighting, to provide for fire escapes and other safety devices on hotels, and to provide for a -mine inspector. In 1887, legislation was enacted to provide for the removal of dams from the lower part of the Elk and Guyandotte rivers; to prevent the employment in factories, manufactories, or mines, of minors under twelve who can not read or write; to regulate the working, ventilation and drainage of coal mines, to authorize the appointment of two mine inspectors, and to secure to laborers in mines and manufactories fortnightly pay ment of wages in lawful money. In 1889, legislation provided for a commissioner of statistics and labor, who as a result of his in spection of industrial establishments has continued to urge additional legislation providing for arbitration, an efficient child labor law, an eight hour day, payment of wages in lawful money, efficient factory inspection and regulation, safety appliances and other improvements or reforms in the general interest of labor. An act of 1890 created the office of chief mine inspector, who now has five assistants to aid him in visiting the numerous mines of the state. An act of 1891 created the office of state bank examiner, (now state commissioner of banking) to inspect and supervise the banks, which had been in creasing rapidly in number and in amount of business, and had been entirely free from state regulation. A later act of 1907 authorized the commissioner of banking to extend his duties of supervision to the building and loan associations. The incorporation of these asso ciations had first been provided by act of 1887, and the supervision of them had been urged by the governors and auditors since 1891; but they virtually operated without inspection before 1907. Inspection of hotels was provided for in 1913. The legislature of 1879 enacted a statute imposing a heavy penalty on persons transacting the business of insurance without authority. In 1882 Governor Jackson urged the legislature to protect the people against criminal life insurance companies, known as "graveyard" or "death rattle" companies which took unusual risks. Governor Mac- Corkle (in 1897) and subsequent executives recommended a provision for an insurance commissioner to secure better control of the ope rations of insurance companies, which after the inefficient laws of 1872 and 1879 obtained their certificates from the state auditor; but in every instance the legislature failed to act. An act of 1875 providing for inspection of tobacco was repealed in 1879. The legislature which met in January, 1879, enacted a law •Speciman Map of the Topographical Survey (Reproduced from Charleston Quadrangle)." SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY 239 to protect farmers against spurious and adulterated fertilizers and provided for analysis of samples by the professor of chemistry at the University. The creation of the state board of argiculture in 1891 has proved beneficial to the development of the agricultural interests of the state. Although a fish commission had been created in 1877, and a hatchery had been established at Eomney and the game law revised in 1887, the first practical steps toward the preservation of the fish and game of the state was taken by the legislature of 1897 through a law for a state fish and game warden and subordinate local wardens. Considering the intimate relation of geological knowledge to the vast resources of the state, it is surprising that the geological and economic survey— although urged by Governor Boreman in 1864, by Governor Stevenson in 1870,* by Governor Jacobs in 1875, and by successive governors — was not created until 1897, and that the first appropriation was only $3,000. Dr. I. C. White, the state geologist, a man of wide reputation, has continued to do the important work of the office without compensation from the state, but he receives liberal appropriations to support the work of the survey conducted under his direction. Among the most recent offices created were those of state tax com missioner (1904) and highway inspector (1907). The former in spects the work of the assessors, justices, prosecuting attorneys, clerks of courts, sheriffs, constables and collecting officers, and has power to remove them from office for failure to do their duty. The ap pointment of the state highway inspector was the first practical step taken by the state to improve West Virginia roads, which have so long been repaired by the wasteful system of employing men who know nothing of the principles of road building.* The office was abolished in 1911; but several counties have taken a step toward better roads by the employment of a trained road engineer. The legislature of 1913 created a bureau of roads, consisting of chief Toad engineer employed at the University, the director of the state agricultural experiment station, and two other members appointed by the Governor. The law provides that the services of the chief ?Stevenson urged that at least a partial survey should be made to correct «rroneous reports in regard to the decrease of the population and wealth of the state. •In 1869, the commissioner of immigration said that the roads of the state were the most powerful incentive to emigration from the state. In 1896, the governor stated that the few good roads in the state were located in only five counties. 240 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA engineer may be obtained by county courts which make application.** In 1879 an act was passed authorizing the use of convicts on works of public improvement, including railways; and an act of 1913 pro vided for the employment of convicts to construct roads in the counties of the state. Largely through the need of historical data for use in the Vir ginia debt case, the department of archives and history at Charles- tion was created by act of 1905, and considerable documentary ma terials were collected in subsequent years — resulting in the stimu lation of the historical spirit, and possibly preparing the way for the future creation of a library reference bureau and pther means of utilizing the past to aid in the practical solution of present legis lative and administrative problems. **The bureau has general supervision of all public roads, prescribes regulations as to duties of county engineers, enforces all laws and regulations relating to public roads and bridges, and especially their enforcement by road officials, aids and advises county engineers, collects, compiles statistics and disseminates information and analyzes road materials. It may require monthly reports of local road authorities and it may prepare maps showing location of roads. It is required to give instruction at least 10 days each year to county road engineers who are required to visit the office of the bureau to receive the instruction, at the expense of their respective counties. It has authority to establish and maintain stone quarries, crushers and brick kilns and to employ state convict road force. The chief engineer, appointed by the Governor, receives $3,500 a year for giving instruction in road building and for the performance of other duties assigned by the bureau ; and his services are available to all county courts which request them. In addition to his salary he receives no fees except expenses when called to consult with county courts or to aid county road engineers. By approval of the bureau he may select such assistants as may be necessary. Their compensation is fixed by the bureau. •suss? D.D.T.FARNSWORTH 1869- W.E.STEVENSON I869-IS7I Governors of West Virginia. (All Deceased) Governors of West Virginia. (All living at time of Golden Jubilee, June 30, 1913.) XIII. Political History 1. UNDER EARLY REPUBLICAN CONTROL. In the election of 1864 there was no division of .parties. There were only a few scattering votes in opposition to the officers of the state administration and to Republican candidates for Congress. Boreman was reelected without opposition, by a vote of 19,192. In 1866 he was again reelected by a vote of 23,802 against 17,158 for Benjamin H. Smith, his oppenent. In the election of 1868 William E. Stevenson, defeated J. N. Camden, in the race for governor, by a majority of 5,000. He was a man of liberal and vigorous progressive views, and continued the constructive policy of his predecessor, en deavoring to remove the deeply rooted prejudices against immigration and earnestly favoring liberal legislation to encourage projects of internal improvement and industrial enterprise which would engage the people of the state in the development of its resources and termi nate the quarrels over past issues. 2. UNDER DEMOCRATIC CONTROL. In 1870 although somewhat disconcerted by the adoption of the Flick amendment the Democrats elected John J. Jacobs to the guber natorial office by a majority of over 2,000 votes over Stevenson and secured in both houses a working majority which they retained for a quarter century. Although his usefulness was somewhat restricted by certain limited views, Governor Jacobs was conservative and moderate in his policies. In 1872, he was supported by independent Republicans and reelected by a majority of 2,363 votes over J. 1ST. Canlden the regular Democratic candidate, in a campaign of caustic personal abuse. He devoted much attention to measures relating to the material development of the state. In 1873, the governor came into serious conflict with the legis lature in regard to the appointing power of the executive department ' and the power of the legislative department to pass the act of January 14, 1873, creating the board of public works with appointive powers. At one time the conflict threatened serious public disturbance. It specifically arose from the action of the board in appointing (under 242 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA act of April 1, 1873) Mr. William L. Bridges as superintendent of the penitentiary to succeed Thomas P. Shallcross who held the place by appointment of the governor. Having been duly qualified, the new superintendent in company with the board of directors presented himself at the penitentiary on May 1, the day fixed by law, and formally demanded possession of the place. He and the directors were met at the gate by Mr. Shall cross who refused to admit them; and on being asked the reason of his refusal, he produced a written document signed by the governor, "directing him to act as superintendent until further orders." He added that "he had received verbal orders to exclude all persons." Upon the threat of the board of directors to make their entrance notwithstanding his refusal, Mr. Shallcross warned them by declaring that, if they attempted to enter forcibly, he was prepared and re solved to use force on his part to prevent it, and to keep them out. At this they retired. A suit was soon instituted before the supreme court of ,the state, on complaint of Bridges against Shallcross to compel the latter to surrender the penitentiary to the complainant. The design of this action was not so much to decide the contest be tween the parties in the litigation as to determine whether the acts of the legislature out of which this contest acrose were constitutional and valid or unconstitutional and void. The matter came before the court in the July term of 1873. By the judgment rendered, Mr. Shallcross was ousted and by instruction of the governor obeyed the judgment in order to avoid conflict of authority. During Jacobs' administration, prosperity was restricted by lack of a permanent location of the seat of government. To secure greater convenience of access, the capital, which on April 1, 1870 had been removed from Wheeling to Charleston, returned to Wheeling by act of February 20, 1875 which became a law without the signature of the governor. In the exciting election of 1876 the Democratic state ticket oi eight persons, seven of whom had been in the Confederate army, was elected by a majority of from 12,000 to 16,000. H. M. Mathews, who defeated General Nathan Goff (the popular Republican candidate) ' for governor, was a patriotic, broad and liberal minded ex-Confederate who had fully accepted the results of the civil war and was well- fitted to lead in meeting living issues. His administration has been characterized as an era of good feeling in which the state began to show new signs of awakening life — especially in industrial develop- State Capitol. Capitol Annex. POLITICAL HISTORY 243 ment. He adopted a liberal and sensible policy of appointing on administrative boards members from both political parties — a wise policy which unfortunately was abandoned by some of his immediate successors. During his administration a committee of inquiry in vestigated the question of discriminating freight rates .of the Balti more and Ohio railway and reported (January 15, 1879) that the Camden Consolidated Oil company had received especial advantages by a system of rebates. Governor J. B. Jackson, who succeeded Governor Mathews in 1881, was an honest but partisan Democrat of the old school who in the election of 1880 received a plurality of 16,139 over George C. Sturgiss, the Republican candidate. [Jackson, 60,991; Sturgiss, 44,855; French (Union Labor), 13,027]. Jackson favored the enactment of laws that would encourage immigration, manufactures, and the development of the material resources of the state. He also attempted to secure reforms in taxation and state finance, by directing that all property not exempted by the constitution should be listed for tax ation, and by the appointment of a tax commission (1883). During his administration, a period of general prosperity and happiness (ex cepting the calamitous results of the great floods of February, 1884), steps were also taken to revise the laws, some of which were in definite and inconsistent. Soon after the inauguration of Willis Wilson, who was elected in 1884 by a majority of 5,289 (in a total vote of 137,587) , the capital was removed from Wheeling to Charleston — which became the per manent capital from May 1, 1885 (as determined by popular election of August, 1877). Under Wilson's administration, there was a con tinuation of the agitation for the revision of the tax laws in order to secure equality of taxation, and the governor also proposed legislation to reform the election laws, to prohibit oppressive trusts and com binations, and to prevent the distribution of railway passes to officers of the state and delegates to political conventions. The administration waged a fierce and relentless war against the trunk line railroads which, the governor said, had discriminated against the people of West Virginia in freight and passenger rates. To secure regulation of railway rates the governor called a special session of the legis lature which, after heated debates and a close vote of 19 to 19 in the house (27 absent and not voting), dropped the further consider ation of the subject and decided to await the result of the operation of the new national interstate-commerce law which had just passed congress and was approved by a joint resolution of both houses of 244 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the legislature, and soon proved beneficial to West Virginia shippers. The legislature, of 1887, attempted to elect a successor to J. N. Camden in the United States senate, but, after repeated ballots, adjourned without a decision and without passing the usual appro priation bills. • The governor, on March 5, appointed Daniel B. Lucas to fill the vacancy in the United States senate; and, on April 20, called an extra session of the legislature which passed acts prohibiting the use of free railway passes by public officers and providing for the punishment of corruption and bribery at elections. Although the election of a United States senator was not included in the call, both houses on May 3 voted to ballot for a choice. After seven ballots without choice, beginning with Camden and Flick in the lead, on the eighth Charles J. Faulkner obtained 48 votes (against 23 for Flick) and was declared elected; and later, he was admitted to the United States senate, although Governor Wilson refused to sign his certificate of election. Among the duties of the legislature which met on January 9 was that of counting the returns of the state election for governor, trans mitted through the secretary of state from every county except Kanawha — in which they were held back by an injunction issued by the circuit court on application of the Democrat candidate who there by would have received a small majority. The injunction having been declared invalid by the supreme court on January 12, the secretary of state on January 14 submitted the Kanawha returns, resulting in a majority of 110 for Nathan Goff (Goff, 78,904; A. B. Fleming, 78,798). The senate was unable to choose a presiding officer until January 21, after 126 ballots. Robert S. Carr, the Unions Labor senator, aided by the support of one Republican, Senator Minear, held the balance of power in the deadlock, and on the final ballot was elected president. Against the vigorous protest of the Republicans the complete re turns of the gubernatorial election were referred to a joint legis lative committee which was authorized to take testimony and report at a special session. The legislature having adjourned on February 21, without any declaration of the results, Governor Wilson at the expiration of his term (on March 4) claimed the right to retain the office until his successor could be determined, and refused to retire at the demand of General Goff who had promptly qualified by taking v the oath, or at the demand of Robert S. Carr (the president of the senate) who also claimed the office and demanded to enter upon its duties. .POLITICAL HISTORY . 245 Mandamus proceedings in the state supreme court were at once begun against Governor Wilson by the other two claimants. The case of General Goff was decided on March 12, the court holding that the joint legislative convention of the legislature alone had power1 to determine the result of an election, and that General Goff was not the legal governor. The case of President Carr was decided on March 14, the court declaring that there ex isted in the office no such vacancy as under the constitution would author ize the president of the senate to succeed to the duties of the governor. The joint committee completed its work in December. The majority report declared, by counting out 300 votes, a plurality of 237 for Fleming. This was signed by the three Democratic members. The minority report found no such frauds as charged by the majority, and gave a plurality of 140 to Goff. On December 18, Governor Wilson issued his proclamation calling an extra session for January 15. At this session the majority re port, by a strictly party vote, was accepted and Fleming was declared elected. The governor in his biennial message of 1889 emphasized the need of a registration law to remedy the fraudulent and corrupt votingj which had been common in almost every county in the state.* In 1890, following the charges of bribery and fraud made by each party in the contested gubernatorial election, a special session of the legis lature (called to consider thirty-seven specified subjects) enacted a law designed to prevent the purchase of votes, or other forms of bribery at elections, and to prevent baHot box frauds. The senate voted for an Australian ballot bill, which failed in the house (Demo cratic). Governor Fleming continued the policy of his predecessor, who as a result of the contest had continued to act as executive for nearly a year beyond "the term for which he was elected. He urged the) taxation of the property of the Pullman company and other foreign car companies, and of the business of foreign telegraph companies operating in the state. He also recommended a general policy of legislation to preserve the resources of the state from monopoly, to foster agricultural interests, and to diversify the various industries of the state. Governor William A. MacCorkle, who defeated Thomas E. Davis (the Republican candidate) by a plurality of about 4,000 (Mac Corkle, 84,585; Davis, 80,663) in the election of 1892, was regarded as a liberal young leader. He urged legislation for the adjustment of state taxation, liberal appropriations to support the growing in stitutions of the state, and proper regulative machinery to meet the changing conditions. He cordially cooperated with the spirit of the * "The, capitations of 1884 were 133,522; and the entire vote after the most active political campaign ever made in the state was 137,527. The capitations of 1888 were 147,408, and the vote 159,440. The difference in the capitations and the vote in 1884 was 4,065. In 1888 it was 12,032. This shows an increase (in four years) of 21,853 votes — which, if legitimate, would indicate a population of 900,000, and an increase in four years of much more than 100,000. It is' certain that no such increase had taken place." 246 . SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Republican legislature in favor of reorganizing the old partisan boards of state institutions and securing needed reforms "to give to the institutions the greatest degree of efficiency free from the in fluence of politics." 3. LATER REPUBLICAN ASCENDENCY. The Democratic majority, which had reached its highest point in 1880, had steadily declined after that date until it became the minority at the close of MacCorkle's administration. In the election, of 1896, the entire Republican state ticket was elected. George W. Atkinson defeated Cornelius C. Watts for governor by a plurality of 12,070 votes (Atkinson, 195,629; Watts, 93,559). The legislature! had already elected one Republican senator (S. B. Elkins) in 1895; and, in 1899, it proceeded to elect another (N. B. Scott). Governor Atkinson advocated policies for the improvement of the public schools, the improvement of roads by some system of permanent road build ing, the improvement of conditions of iabor by state regulations, a radical amendment of the election laws, the encouragement of immi gration, and other measures to meet the new and phenomenal in dustrial expansion in the state — which continued to influence political problems and policies in subsequent administrations. In the election of 1900 Albert B. Wlhite, Republican, defeated John Homer Holt for governor by a plurality of 19,516 (White 118,798; Holt, 100,228). In 1904 William M. O. Dawson, Republican, de feated J. J. Cornwell by a plurality of 9,083. At the same time, the plurality for president was nearly 32,000, and for other state officers was nearly 25,000. Under both White and Dawson the extension of state regulation and the reform of tax laws furnished the largest questions' in politics. For a quarter of a century, although the constitution provided that . taxation should be equal and uniform throughout the state, there was much complaint of the inequalities and injustice of the tax laws. A tax commission, created by the legislature of 1883, scathingly criticised and condemned the laws but without practical results. Al though, in 1885, the legislature, which had never before exercised its powers under the constitution of 1872 to tax privileges and franchises, finally enacted a law taxing corporations, little was realized from it. In 1887, the legislature provided for an inheritance tax (2%%), but a defect in the law rendered it of little value. 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Mmao £ . £1 ilSllfi _«*.>> co ;-* f, £J p o ee 5 .a e. o « § f 'PTS'o qj ^ ^ CJ c3 oKKKPHMo-pair.ayEHrHi-HrHa^rHi-ifeamaaPMraBo-iPM at*ao3 Appendix B : Social Statistics 279 4. POPULATION OF TOWNS, 185C-1 .70. Formed Codnty. Tows. 1850 1860 1870 17541772 1776 1776 1777 1784 17891799 17991801 1804 1809 1814181618181820 182418311835 1842 1843 18441845 184618481851185518561866 Hampshire Romney Berkeley Martinsburg (with tp.) . Monongalia Morgantown Ohio West Liberty Clinton So. Wheeling Triadelphia Fulton "Wheeling Greenbrier Lewisburg (with tp.) . . . Harrison Clarksburg Kanawha Charleston Wood Claysville Parkersburg Williamstown Monroe Union Jefferson Smithfleld Bolivar Charlestown Harper's Fer""" Shepherdstow Mason Hartford New Haven Point Pleasant Clifton Mason West Columbia Cabell Barboursville Guyandotte Tyler • • • Middlebourne Sistersville Lewis Weston Preston Brandonville Morgan Bath (Berkeley Springs! Logan Aracoma Jackson Ravenswood Ripley Marshall Elizabethtown Moundsville Marion Barracksville Fairmont .Tohnton Boothsville Farmington Worthington Mannington Palatine Barnettville Fairview Rivesville Houltown Newport Winfleld Ritchie Harrisville Taylor Grafton Gilmer Glenville Stumptown Wetzel Neiv Martinsville Putnam Buffalo Upshur Buckhannon Calhoun Arnoldsburg Roane Spencer Mineral Piedmont 2,190 219213 1,071 242 260 11,435 1,050 1,2 IS 377 444 1,054 1,507 1,7471,561 496445 683 228 569 3,364 741 280 2,6:10 258311 14,083 895 1,520 114 2,493 209 t290 1,130 1,3761,339 1,219 915 519 ' i.oYe1 714 341538247 351820 165 298104 571515 91 704 559589 120241 452 69 54 46 72 63 891 398100 268 427 39 196 482 •1.863 797 251 257 3,158 239 333 19,280 8.57 ' 3,162 123 5,546 282 419 361 ' i,'593 ' 1,389 918 489 773 693 1,182 778 371 427 182364 1,111 100 407 43 362226 ** 1,500 114 621 55 125 85 127411 558 54 72 63 33 68 47 140 1,987 174 ' ' '260 321 475 22 143 1.366 *Clty of Wheeling comprised the townships of Center, Webster and Washington. tNo colored population given in 1860. ••Incorporated with Moundsville in 1863. Clay, Madison, Union, Appendix C, Important State Papers A Declaration of the People of Virginia Represented in Convention at the City of Wheeling Thursday, June 13, 1861. The true purpose of all government is to promote the welfare and pro- ~vide for the protection and security of the governed, and when any form ¦or organization of government proves inadequate for, or subversive of this purpose, it is the right, it is the duty of the latter to abolish it. The BUI •of Rights of Virginia, framed in 1776, reaffirmed in 1830, and again in 1851, expressly reserves this right to a majority of her people. The act of the General Assembly, calling the Convention which assembled at Rich mond in February last, without the previously expressed consent of such majority, was therefore a usurpation; and the Convention thus called has not only abused the powers nominally entrusted to it, but with the con nivance and active aid of the executive, has usurped and exercised other powers, to the manifest injury of the people which, if permitted, will inevitably subject them to a military despotism. The Convention, by its pretended ordinances, has required the people of Virginia to separate from and wage war against the government of the United States, and against citizens of neighboring States, with whom they have heretofore maintained friendly, social, and business relations: It has attempted to subvert the Union founded by Washington and his co-patriots, in the purer days of the republic which has conferred unex ampled prosperity upon every class of citizens, and upon every section of the country: It has attempted to transfer the allegiance of the People to an illegal confederacy of rebellious States, and required their submission to its pre tended edicts and decrees: It has attempted to place the whole military force and military opera tions of the Commonwealth under the control and direction of such con- federcy for offensive as well as defensive purpose: It has, in conjunction with the State executive, instituted, wherever their usurped power extends, a reign of terror intended to suppress the free expression of the will of the people, making elections a mockery and a fraud. The same combination, even before the passage of the pretended ordi nance of secession, instituted war by the seizure and appropriations of the property of the Federal Government, and by organizing and mobiliz ing armies, with the avowed purpose of capturing or destroying the Cap ital of the Union : They have attempted to bring the allegiance of the people of the United States into direct conflict with their subordinate allegiance to the State, thereby making obedience to their pretended ordinances, treason against the former. We, therefore, the delegates here assembled in convention to devise such measures and take such action as the safety and welfare of the loyal citizens of Virginia may demand, having maturely considered the prem ises, and viewing with great concern the deplorable condition to which this once happy Commonwealth must be reduced unless some regular ade quate remedy is speedily adopted, and appealing to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the rectitude of our intentions, do hereby in the name Appendix C: Important State Papers 381 and on the behalf of the good people of Virginia, solemuly declare that the preservation of their dearest rights and liberties and their security 1n person and property, imperatively demand the reorganization of the government of the Commonwealth, and that all acts of said Convention and Executive, tending to separate this Commonwealth from the United States, or to levy and carry on war against them are without authority and void; and that the offices of all who adhere to the said Convention and Executive, whether legislative, executive or judicial, are vacated. 2. An Ordinance for the Reorganization of the State Government. (Passed June 19, 1861.) The people of the State of Virginia, by their Delegates assembled in Con vention at Wheeling, do ordain as follows: 1. A governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general for the State •of Virginia, shall be appointed by this convention, to discharge the duties and exercise the powers which pertain to their respective offices by the •existing laws of the state, and to continue in office for six months, or until their successors be elected and qualified; and the general assembly is re- •quifed to provide by law for an election of governor and lieutenant-gov ernor by the people as soon as in their judgment such election can be properly held. 2. A council, to consist of five members, shall be appointed by this convention, to consult with and advise the governor respecting such mat ters pertaining to his official duties as he shall submit for the consider ation and to aid in the execution of his official orders. Their term of ¦office shall expire at the same time as that of the governor. 3. The delegates elected to the general essembly on the twenty-third day of May last, and the senators entitled under existing laws to seats in the next general assembly, together with such delegates and senators as may be duly elected under the ordinances of this convention, or existing laws, to fill vacancies who shall qualify themselves by taking the oath or affirmation hereinafter set forth, shall constitute the legislature of the State to discharge the duties and exercise the powers pertaining to the general assembly. They shall hold their offices from the passage of this ordinance until the end of the terms for which they were respectively •elected. They shall assemble in the city of Wheeling on the first day of July next, and proceed to organize themselves as prescribed by existing laws, in their respective branches. A majority in each branch of the members qualified as aforesaid, shall constitute a quorum to do business. A majority of the members of each branch thus qualified, voting affirm atively shall be competent to pass any act specified in the twenty-seventh •section of the fourth article of the constitution of the state. 4. The governor, lieutenant-governor, attorney general, members of the legislature, and all officers now in the service of the state, or of any county, city or town thereof, or hereafter to be elected or appointed for such service, including the judges and clerks of the several courts, sher iffs, commissioners of the revenue, justices of the peace, officers of the city and municipal corporations, and officers of militia; and officers and privates of volunteer companies of the State, not mustered into the serv ice of the United States, shall each take the following oath or affirmation before proceeding in the discharge of their several duties : "I solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, as the su preme law of the land, anything in the constitution and laws of the ¦state of Virginia, or in the ordinances of the convention which assembled at Richmond on the thirteenth of February, eighteen hundred and sixty- one, to the contrary notwithstanding; and that 1 will uphold and defend the government of Virginia as vindicated and restored by the convention which assembled at Wheeling on the eleventh day of June, eighteen hun- idred and sixty-one." 282 Semi-Centennial History op West Virginia 5. If any elective officer, who is required by the preceeding section to take such oath or affirmation, fail or refuse so to do, it shall be the duty of the governor upon satisfactory evidence of the fact, to issue his writ declaring the office to be vacant; and providing for a special election to fill such vacancy at some convenient and early day to be designated in said writ; of which due publication shall be made for the information of the persons entitled to vote at such election; and such writ may be directed, at the discretion of the governor, to the sheriff, or sheriffs of the proper county or counties, or to a special commissioner or commis sioners to be named by the governor for the purpose. If the officer who fails or refuses to take such oath or affirmation be appointed by the governor, he shall fill the vacancy without writ, but if such officer be appointed otherwise than by the governor or by election, the writ shall' be issued by the governor, directed to the appointing power, requiring it to fill the vacancy. Arthur I. Boreman, President. G. L. Cranmer, Secretary. 3. An Act Giving the Consent of the Legislature of Virginia in the Formation and Erection of a New State Within the Jurisdiction of This State. (Passed May 13, 1862.) 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That the consent of the Legislature of Virginia be and the same is hereby given to the formation and erection of the State of West Virginia, within the jurisdiction of this State, to include the counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie,. Doddridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Mercer, McDowell, Webster, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier,. Monroe, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire and Morgan, according to bound aries and under the provisions set forth in the constitution for the said State of West Virginia and the schedule thereto annexed, proposed by the convention which assembled at Wheeling, on the twenty-sixth day of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. 2. Be it further enacted, That the consent of the Legislature of Vir ginia be, and the same is hereby given, that the counties of Berkeley, Jefferson, and Frederick, shall be included in and form a part of the State of West Virginia whenever the voters of said counties shall ratify a,nd assent to the said constitution, at an election held for the purpose, at such time and under such regulation as the commissioners named In the said schedule may prescribe. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall be transmitted by the executive to the senators and representatives of the commonwealth In congress together with a certified original of the said constitution and schedule, and the said senators and representatives are hereby requested to use their endeavors to obtain the consent of congress to the admission of the State of West Virginia into the Union. 4. This act shall be in force from and after its passage. 4. Act for the Admission of West Virginia Into the Union and for Other Purposes. Whereas the people inhabiting that portion of Virginia known as West Virginia did, by a convention assembled in the city of Wheeling, on the twenty-sixth of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, frame for themselves a constitution, with the view of becoming a separate and inde pendent State; and whereas at a general election held in the counties Appendix C : Important State Papers 283 composing the territory aforesaid; on the third day of May last, the said constitution was approved and adopted by the qualified voters of the proposed State; and whereas the Legislature of Virginia, by an act passed on the thirteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, did give its consent to the formation of a new State within the juris diction of the State of Virginia to be known by the name of West Virginia, and to embrace the following named counties, to- wit: Han cock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie Doddridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Up shur, Randolph, Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Mercer, McDowell, Webster, Poca hontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Monroe, Pendleton, Hardy, Hamp shire and Morgan; and whereas both the convention and the legislature aforesaid, have requested that the new State should be admitted into the Union, and the constitution aforesaid being Republican in form, Con gress doth hereby consent that the said forty-eight counties may be formed into a separate and independent State; Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the State of West Virginia be, and is hereby, declared to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and until the next general census shall be entitled to three members in the House of Representatives of the United States; Provided, always, That this act shall not take effect until after the proclamation of the President of the United States here inafter provided for. It being represented to Congress that since the convention of the twenty-sixth of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, that framed and proposed the constitution for the said- State of West Virginia, the people thereof have expressed a wish to change the seventh section of the eleventh article of said constitution by striking out the same and inserting the following in its place, viz.: The children of slaves born within the limits of this State after the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be free; and that all slaves within the said State who shall, at the time aforesaid, be under the age of ten years, shall be free when they arrive at the age of twenty -one years; and all slaves over ten and under twenty-one years shall be free when they arrive at the age of twenty-five years; and no slave shall be permitted to come into the State for permanent residence therein:" Therefore, Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever the people of West Virginia shall, through their said convention, and by vote to be taken at an election to be held within the limits of the said State, at such time as the convention may provide, make and ratify the change afore said, and properly certify the same under the hand of the President of the convention, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to issue his proclamation stating the fact, and thereupon this act shall take effect and be in force from and after sixty days from the date of said proclamation. Approved December 31, 1862 Bibliography Alden, George Henry. New Governments West of the Alleghanies before 1780. Madison, Wisconsin, 1897. Aler, F. Vernon. History of Martinsburg and Berkeley County. Hagers town, 1888. Ambler, Charles H. Cleavage Between Eastern and Western Virginia (18 pp.), 1910. Ambler, Charles H. Sectionalism in Virginia. Chicago, 1910. Ambler, Charles H. Disfranchisement in Virginia. In Yale Review, 1905. Asbury, Francis. Journal of. (3 vols.). N. Y., 1852. Ashe,. Thomas. Travels in America performed in 1806, for the purpose of exploring the Rivers Monongahela, Ohio & Mississippi. Reprint Newsburyport, 1808. Atkinson, George W. History of Kanawha County. Charleston; 1876 Atkinson, George W. and Alvaro F. Gibbens. Prominent Men of West Virginia, Wheeling, 1890. Baldwin. C. C. Early Indian Migrations in Ohio. Cleveland, O., 1888. Baldwin, C. C. The Iroquois in Ohio. Cleveland, O., 1888. Barrey, Joseph. The Annals of Harper's Ferry. Martinsburg, 1872. Bartlett, Mrs. M. H. Early History of Parkersburg, 1903. Barton, Dr. Thomas H. Autobiography, Including a History of the Fourth Regiment, West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Charleston, 1890. Beltzhoover, George M., Jr. James Rumsey, the Inventor of the Steam boat. Charlestown, 1900. Bishop, Cortlandt F. History of Elections in the American Colonies. Columbia College, 1899. Boyle, Lieutenant. Journal of General Wayne's Campaign, 1794. Brackenridge, H. M. History of the Western Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, commonly called the Whiskey Insurrection, 1794. Pittsburg, 1859. Brigham. A. P. From Trail to Railway. New York, 1907. Brock, R. A. Virginia and Virginians. Toledo, .1888. l Brooks, A. B. Forestry and Wood Industries. In West Virginia Geological Survey, vol. V., 1911. Brown, Captain John. The Invasion. An authentic History of the Harper's Ferry Tragedy and a full account of the trial. Boston, 1860. Browning, Meshach. Forty Years of the Life of a Hunter, c. 1859. Bruce, Thomas. Heritage of the Trans-Alleghany Pioneers. Baltimore, 1894. Bruce. Thomas. Southwest Virginia and Shenandoah Valley. Richmond, 1891. Bruce, Philip Alexander. Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, 2 vols. New York, 1896. Bruce, Philip Alexander. Social Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century. Richmond, 1907. Butterfield, C. W. Washington-Irvine Correspondence. Cincinnati, 1882. Butterfield, C. W. The Crawford Letters. Being the Correspondence be tween George Washington and William Crawford from 1767 to 1781, concerning Western lands. Cincinnati, 1877. Bibliography 285 Butterfield, C. W. History of the Girtys. Cincinnati, 1890. Butterfield, C. W. Dickinson-Harmar Correspondence 1784-1785. Albany, 1885. Butterfield, C. W. Journal of Captain Jonathan Hart, during a march to Fort Pitt in 1785. Albany, 1885. Callahan, James Morton. University Studies in West Virginia History. Morgantown, 1909. Callahan, James Morton (with B. L. Butcher). Upper Monongahela Valley. 3 vols. New York, 1912. Callahan, James Morton. West Virginia, 1863-1909. In South in the Mak ing of the Nation. Vol. I. Richmond, 1909. Callahan, James Morton. The Government of West Virginia. In Cyclo pedia of American Government. Vol. III. Philadelphia, 1913. Callahan, Maud Fulcher. Evolution of the Constitution of West Virginia. Morgantown, 1909. Campbell, J. W. History of Virginia from its Discovery till the year 1781. Philadelphia, 1813. Carpenter, T. The Trial of Aaron Burr. Washington, 1807. 3 vols. Chandler, J. A. C. Representation in Virginia. Baltimore, 1896. Chandler, J. A. C. History of Suffrage in Virginia. Baltimore, 1901. Cooke, John Esten. Virginia. A History of the People. Boston, 1885. Cox, Gen. J. D. Campaign in West Virginia in 1861, printed in the "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War." Craig, Nelson B. (Editor). The Olden-Time Monthly Publication. Vols. MI. Pittsburg, 1846-1848. Cranmer, G. L. History of Wheeling and Ohio County. Chicago, 1902. Cranmer, G. L., Jepson. J, L. (et aV). History of the Upper Ohio Valley. 2 vols. Creigh, Alfred. History of Washington County, Pennsylvania. First under Virginia as Yohogania, Ohio or Augusta County, until 1781. and subsequently under Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, 1871. Croghan, Colonel George. Journal. 1831. Outright, W. B. History of Upshur County. Morgantown, 19"07. Cyclopedia of Monongalia, Marion and Taylor Counties, West Virginia. Philadelphia, 1895. Dandridge, Mrs. Danske. Historic Shepherdstown. Charlottesville, Va. 1910. Debar, J. H. Diss. West Virginia Hand-Book. Parkersburg, 1870. De Hass, Wills. History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia. Wheeling, 1851. Dinwiddie, Gov. Papers from 1753 to 1761. 2 vols. Doddridge, Rev. Joseph. Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Part of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Wellsburg, 1824. Re print, Albany, N. Y, 1876. Doddridge, Rev. Joseph. Logan, the Last of the Race of Shikellemus, Chief of the Cayuga Nation. Reprint, Cincinnati, 1868. Dodge, J. R. West Virginia: Its Farms and Forests, Mine.s and Oil Wells. Philadelphia, 1895. Dunnington, George A. History of Marion County. Fairmont, 1880. Dyer. Index to West Virginia Land Patents. Eagle, W. H. History of Pennsylvania, 1883. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Biography of West Virginia. New York, 1894. "286 Semi-Centennial History op West Virginia Edwards, Richard (Editor). Statistical Gazetteer of Virginia. Richmond, 1855. , ¦Ely, Wm. The Big Sandy Valley. Catlettsburg, 1887. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Biography of West Virginia. New York, 1894. Fast, Richard Elsworth. Centennial Celebration of the Founding of Morgantown, 1785-1885. Morgantown, 1902. Fast, Richard Ellsworth (with Hu. Maxwell). History and Government of West Virginia. Morgantown, 1901. Fast, Richard Ellsworth. Laws and Ordinances for the Government of the Town of Morgantown. Morgantown, 1890. Fernow, Barthold. The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. Albany, 1890. Finley, Rev. James B. Life Among the Indians. Personal Reminiscence among the Wyandot Indians. Cincinnati, 1857. Fiske, John. Old Virginia and Her Neighbors. 2 vols. Boston, 1897. -Flint, Timothy. Daniel Boone. Valuable for his life and exploits in the Kanawha Valley. , There are other biographies of Boone just as valuable for this purpose. Cincinnati, 1849. Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia, historical and biographical. First series, Philadelphia, 1850; second series, Philadelphia, 1855. Forman, Samuel S. Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90. With a memoir. Cincinnati, 1886. Garner, W. Scott. The Industrial and Commercial Growth of Tunnelton. 1903. Gibbens, Alvaro F. Wood County Formation. Century of Progress- Morgantown, 1899. Gibbens, Alvaro F. Wood County Annals. Parkersburg, 1899. •Gibbens, Alvaro F. Historic Blennerhassett Home. Parkersburg, 1899. Gibbons, J. A. The Kanawha Valley — Resources and Development. Charleston, 1872. ^Griffin, H. L. Evolution of Transportation in West Virginia (Ms.). Grigsby, Hugh Blair. Virginia Convention of 1829-30. Richmond, 1854. Hagans, John Marshall. Sketch of the Formation of West Virginia, with brief biographies of the judges of the first Supreme Court of Appeals. Prefixed to volume one, West Virginia Reports. Hale, John P. (et al). History of the Great Kanawha Valley. 2 vols. Madison, Wis., 1891. Hale, John P. Some Local Archaeology. Charleston, 1898. Hale, John P. Scraps of History, Tradition and Facts, etc. Charleston, 1899. Hale, John P. Trans-Allegheny Pioneers. Cincinnati, 1886. Hall, Granville D. The Rending of Virginia. Chicago, 1902. Hall, Granville D. Stenographic Notes of the Debates of the Wheeling Constitutional Convention, 1862 (MSS). Harding, Benjamin. A Tour of the Western Country in 1818-19. London, 1819. Hayden, Rev. Horace Edwin. A Brief History of The Soldiers' Medals issued by the State of West Virginia. Wilkes-Barre, 1881. Haymond, Henry. History of Harrison County. Morgantown, 1910. Hensley, J. L. The United Brethren Church in West Virginia. Ms. Hildreth, Samuel P. Pioneer History. Cincinnafc, 1848. Hildreth, A. E. Biographies of the Physicians of Wheeling for the Last Hundred Years. Wheeling, 1882. Hoke, Joseph T. The Boundary Line between West Virginia and Maryland. Kingwood, n. d. Hough, Franklin B. Journals of Major Robert Rogers, 1754. Albany, 1883. Bibliography 287 Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of Virginia. Charleston, S. C, 1845. Hulbert, A. B. Historic Highways, vols. 2, 10 and 12. Cleveland, 1902 and 1904. Hulbert, A. B. Washington and the West (Washington's Diary of Sept., 1784). New York, 1905. Hutchins, Thomas. A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsyl vania, Maryland, and North Carolina. Comprehending the Rivers Ohio, etc., the mountain roads, etc. Boston, 1778. Huntt, Henry. A Visit to the Red Sulphur Springs of Virginia during the Summer of 1837. Boston, 1839. Hutchinson, J. A. Land Titles in Virginia and West Virginia. Cincinnati, 1887. Imboden, Gen John D. History of the Civil War. Ingle, Edward. Virginia Local Institutions; the Land System; Hundred, Parish, County, Town. Baltimore, 1885 (J. H. U. Studies). Isaacs, I. J. Industrial Advance. Wheeling, 1889. Jacob, John G. Brooke County. Wellsburg, 1882. Jacob, J. G. Life and Times of Patrick Gass. Wellsburg, 1859. Jacob, John J. A Biographical Sketch of the Life of the late Captain Michael Cresap. Reprint, Cincinnati, 1866. Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia. Baltimore, 1800; Philadelphia, 1825; Boston, 1829. Johnson, Charles. A Narrative Attending his Capture, etc., by the Indiana on the Ohio River in 1790. New York, 1827. Johnston, David E. A History of Middle New River Settlements. Hunt ington, W. Va., 1906. Jones, Rev. David. A Journal of Two Visits made to some Nations of Indians on the west side of the Ohio River in the year 1772-1773. New York, 1865. Kennedy, John P. Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt. Philadelphia, 1849. Valuable so far as it treats of the trial of Burr and Blenner- hassett. Kercheval, Samuel. A History of the Valley of Virginia. Winchester, 1833; Woodstock, 1850. Kirk, Edmund (J. R. Gilmore). Workingman's Paradise; West Virginia as a Home. New York, 1879. Knight, Doctor, and John Slover. Narrative of their Perils and Sufferings among the Indians during the Revolutionary War. Cincinnati, 1867. Laidley, W. S. The First Settlement in West Virginia. Charleston, 1900. Laidley, W. S. History of Charleston and Kanawha County, Chicago, 1911. Lang, Theodore F. Loyal West Virginia. Baltimore, 1895. Leech, Samuel V., The John Brown Raid into Virginia. Morgantown, W. Va., 1900. Lanman, Charles. Letters from the Alleghany Mountains. New York, 1849. Lewis, Virgil A. History of West Virginia. Philadelphia, 1889. Lewis, Virgil A. Life and Times of Anne Bailey. 1891. Lewis, Virgil A. History and Government of West Virginia. Chicago, 1896. Lewis, Virgil A. Original Indiana Territory (31 pp). n. d. Lewis, Virgil A. (Handbook of) West Virginia; Its History, Natural Resources, Industrial Enterprise and Institutions. Charleston, 1904. Lewis, Virgil A. How West Virginia Was Made. Charleston, 1909. 288 Semi-Centennial History oe West Virginia Lewis, Capt. Charles. Journal, 1755, relating to the South Branch and vicinity. Lough, Myron C. Early Education in West Virginia. 1900 — manuscript. Lowther, Minnie K. History of Ritchie County. Wheeling, 1911. MeClellan, Gen. G. B. McClellan's Own Story. McEldowny, J. C, Jr. History of Wetzel County. 1901. McKnight, Charles. Old Fort Duquesne, or Captain Jack, the Scout. Pitts burg, 1873. A romance containing much fact. Interesting for young readers. McKnight, Charles. Simon Girty. 1880. McKnight, Charles. Our Western Border. Philadelphia. McMechen, James B. Legends of the Ohio Valley. Wheeling, 1881. Mannington Municipal Code and Charter, 1905. Martin, Joseph A. Gazetteer of Virginia. Charlottesville, 1835. Maury, M. F. and Wm. M. Fontaine. Resources of West Virginia. Wheel ing, 1876. Maxwell, Hu. History of Tucker County. Kingwood, 1884. Maxwell, Hu. History of Barbour County. Morgantown, 1899. Maxwell, Hu. History of Randolph County. Morgantown, 1898. Maxwell, Hu, and Howard L. Swisher. History of Hampshire County. Morgantown, 1897. Mayer, Brantz. Tah-Gah-Jute, or Logan and Captain Michael Cresap. Meade, Bishop. Old Churches and B^amilies of Virginia. 2 vols. Phila delphia, 1878. Meyers, R. C. V. Life and Adventures of Lewis Wetzel. Philadelphia, 1889. Miller, J. H. History of Summers County. Hinton, 1908. Miller, T. C. (Editor). History of Education in West Virginia. 1907. Mooney, James. The Siouan Tribes of the East. 1894. Morgan, Benjamin S. and J. F. Cork. Columbian History of Education in West Virginia. Charleston, 1893. Morton, O. F. A History of Pendleton County. Franklin, W. Va., 1910. Munn, S. W. Information for Oil Men. Mannington, W. Va., 1900. Navigator. A Concise Description of the Towns and Settlements of the Ohio 1818. Nestor, Ira F. Admission of West Virginia to the Union (Ms.). 1909. Newton, J. H., G. G. Nichols and A. C. Sprankle. A History of the Pan- Handle. Wheeling, 1879. Norris, J. E. (Editor). History of the Lower Shenandoah. Chicago, 1890. Parker, Granville. The Formation of the State of West Virginia. Wells burg. Parkman, Francis. The Conspiracy of Pontiac. Parkman, Francis. A Half Century of Conflict. 2 vols. Parkman, Francis. Frontiers of France in the New World. Pencil, Mark, Esq. The White Sulphur Papers or Life at the Springs of West Virginia. New York, 1839. Peterkin, G. W. A History and Record of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia. Charleston, 1902. Peyton, J. Lewis. History of Augusta County, Virginia. Staunton, 1882. Peyton, J. Lewis. Over the Alleghanies and across the Prairies. London, 1870. Bibliography 289 Price, Wm. T. Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County. Marlinton, W. Va., 1901. Pritts, J. Mirror of Olden Time Border Life. Abingdon, 1849. Rauck, George W. The Traveling Church. An account of the Baptist Exodus from Virginia, 1781, Louisville, 1891. Little of importance to West Virginia. Reader, Frank S. History of the Fifth West Virginia Cavalry (formerly 2nd Va. Inf.) and of Battery G. First W. Va. Light Artillery. New Brighton, Pa., 1890. Richardson, Robert. Memoirs of Alexander Campbell. Philadelphia, 1868. Reeves, Dr. James E. The Health and Wealth of the City of Wheeling. Baltimore, 1871. Roosevelt, Theodore. The Winning of the West. 1896. Royall, W. L. History of the Virginia Debt Controversy. 1897. Ruffner, Henry. An Address to the People of Virginia by a Slaveholder of West Virginia. Reprinted, 1862, at Wheeling. Safford, William H. The Life of Harman Blennerhassett. Cincinnati, 1853. Safford, William H. The Blennerhassett Papers. Cincinnati, 1864. 1853. Sanborn, Frank B. Life and Letters of John Brown. Boston, 1885. Schweinitz, Edmund de. The Life and Times of David Zeisberger, the: Western Pioneer and Apostle of the Indians. Philadelphia, 1870. Schuricht, H. History of the German Element in Virginia. 1898-1900. Semple, R. R. Baptists in Virginia. 1810. Reprint, Richmond, 1894. Sharpe, Gov. Correspondence from 1753, to 1761. 2 vols. Published 189* by the Maryland Historical Society. Shaw, S. C, Historical Sketches of the Life and Character of Hon Jacob Beeson, an Early Pioneer of Wood County, and his Decendants. Parkersburg, 1881. Shaw, S. C. Captain Joseph Cook, one of the Early Pioneers of Woodi County. Parkersburg. Shaw, S. C. Sketches of Wood County, W. Va. Parkersburg, 1878. Smith, Wm. P. A History and Description of the Baltimore and Ohio* Railroad. 1853. Sparks, Jared. Letters of Benjamin Franklin. 8 vols. Contains infor mation of Political movements, Indians, etc., bearing on West Vir ginia History. Sparks, Jared. Letters of Washington. 8 vols, containing references to West Virginia affairs.. Stearns, Frank P. (Editor). John Brown. By Dr. Hermann Von Hoist. Boston, 1889. Stobo, Major Robert, of the Virginia Regiment. Memoirs. Pittsburg, 1854. Strickland, W. P. Autobiography of James B. Finley; or Pioneer Life in the West. Cincinnati, 1867. Strother, David Hunter. Blackwater Chronicles. New York, 1853. Strother, David Hunter. (Porte Crayon), Virginia Illustrated. New York. 1871. Strother, David Hunter. The Capital of West Virginia, and the Great Kanawha Valley. Summers, George W. The Mountain State (Description of Resources). Charleston, 1893. Summers. Judge Lewis. Journal of a Journey performed in 1808. Re published in Southern Historical Magazine, 1892. 290 Semi-Centennial History op West Virginia Sutton, J. J. History of the Second Regiment West Virginia Cavalry Volunteers. Portsmouth, O., 1892. Taylor, James B. Lives of the Virginia Baptist Ministers. Richmond. 1858. Thwaites, R. G. Afloat on the Ohio. Chicago, 1879. Thwaites, R. G. (and Kellogg). Dunmore's War. Madison, 1905. Thwaites, R. G. (Editor). Western Travels. In vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13 and 22. Cleveland, 1904-1907. Toner, J. M. Journal of George Washington to the West, 1754. Albany, 1883. Toner, J. M. Journey of George Washington Over the Mountains, 1747-8. Albany, 1892. Turner, Frederick J. Western State-Making in the Revolutionary Era. In American Historical Review, vols. I and II. Turner, Frederick J. Rise of the West. New York, 1906. United States. Census Reports from 1790 to 1910. United States. Reports and Bulletins of the Ethnological Bureau. They give valuable data concerning the Indians who formerly occupied the region embracing West Virginin. United States. Geological Survey. United States. Records of the Rebellion, published by the War' Depart ment. They contain official reports of Federal and Confederate officers, and are valuable as a record of occurrences affecting West Virginia during the Civil War. 106 volumes. Especially series I, vols. II, III and V. United States. Forest Trees of North America, 1890. Van Meter, Isaac. Journey to Ohio in 1800. Manuscript. Veech, James. The Monongahela of Old. Pittsburg, 1858-1892. "Venable, W. H. Footprints of the Pioneers in the Ohio Valley. Cincin nati, 1888. Waddell, Joseph H. Annals of Augusta County. Wade, Alexander L. A Graduating System for Country Schools. Boston, 1881. Walker, Dr. Thomas. Journal of an Exploration in the Spring of 1750 in Western Virginia, etc. Boston, 1888. Warner, Zebedee. The Life and Labors of Reverend Jacob Bachtel. Day ton, 1808. A good account of ministerial work in West Virginia in early times. , Washington, George. Tour to the Ohio in 1770. Washington. George. Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 1784. Washington and the West (Diary of Sept., 1784). New York, 1905. Webb, Richard D. The Life and Letters of Captain John Brown. London, 1861. Weekly, W. M. Twenty Years on Horseback; or Itinerating in West Virginia. Dayton, 1907. White and Allen. Laws and Ordinances of the City of Wheeling. Wheel ing, 1891. White, Israel Charles. Origin of the High Terrace Deposits of the Monon gahela River. From the American Geologist, Vol. XVIII, Dec, 1896. White, Israel Charles. The Mannington Oil Field and the History of its Development. Bulletin of the Geological Soc. of Am. Rochester, 1892. White, Israel Charles. The Pittsburg Coal Bed. Salem, Mass., 1897. White, Israel Charles. West Virginia Geological Survey. Morgantown, 1899-1913. " Bibliography . 291 White, H. A. Life of Robert E. Lee. Contains information concerning the Cheat Mountain campaign in 1861. WhitehiU. A. R. History of Education in West Virginia. Washington, 1902. Wiley, Samuel T. History of Monongalia County. Kingwood, 1883. Wiley, Samuel T. History of Preston County. Kingwood, 1881. Willey, William Patrick. An Inside View of the Formation of West Vir ginia. Wheeling, 1901. Willey. Waitman T. The Redintegration of Virginia (An Open Letter). Washington, 1866. Willey, Waitman T. Life of Philip Doddridge. A sketch. Morgantown, 1875. Willey, Waitman T. Speech Delivered in the Constitutional Convention of 1850-51. Richmond, 1851. Willey, Waitman T. Addresses (Bound Pamphlets), 1862-1863. Willey, Waitman T. West Virginia and Our Final Struggle for Statehood. In West Virginia School Journal, June, 1897. Winsor, Justin. The Mississippi Basin.* Winsor, Justin. The Westward Movement. Wise, Barton H. The Life of Henry A. Wise. New York, 1899. Withers, Alexander S. Chronicles of Border Warfare. Edited by R. G. Thwaites, Cincinnati. Whittlesey, Charles.' The Grave Creek Inscribed Stone. 1879. Whittlesey, Charles. Discovery of the Ohio River by La Salle. Cleveland, 1888. Wingerter, C. A. (Editor). History of Greater Wheeling and Vicinity. 2 vols. Chicago, 1912. Wright, George F. Terraces of the Upper Ohio River District. 1890. Young, J. R. Visit to the Oil Regions of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsyl vania. Philadelphia, 1864. PUBLICATIONS OF SOCIETIES. Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly. 3 vols. Columbus, 1888-91. Ohio Valley Historical Association, 1908, 1912. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Philadelphia, 1887. Pennsylvania Archives. Trans-Allegheny Historical Magazine, 2 vols., 1901-1902. Virginia Historical Society, Collections. Richmond, 1882. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Richmond, 1893-1913. West Virginia Historical Society Proceedings. Vol. I, part I. Morgantown, 1871. West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, Charleston. Southern Historical Magazine. Vol. I, i-vi; II, i. Charleston, 1892. West Virginia Historical Magazine (Quarterly), 1901-1905. West Virginia Bar Association. Reports, 1887-1912. 292 Semi-Centennial History oe West Virginia State Documents Hening, William Waller. The Statutes-at-Large being a collection of all the Laws of Virginia (1619-1792). 13 vols. Philadelphia and New York, 1823. Shepherd, Samuel. The Statutes-at-Large of Virginia, 1792-1806. 3 vols. Richmond, 1836. Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia 1806 to 1861. Richmond. Ordinances of the Convention at Wheeling, 1861. Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia. 4 vols. Wheeling, 1861-1863. Sundry Journals, Messages and accompanying documents of Virginia from 1776 to the present time. Reports of Board of Public Works, of Virginia. 1816 — . Reports of James River and Kanawha Canal, 1835 — . Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 1781-1869. 11 vols. Richmond, 1875. WEST VIRGINIA. See Bibliography of State Publications of West Virginia, 1863-1900. New York, 1911. Messages and Documents, 1863-1913. Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1863-1913. Journals of Constitutional Conventions, 1862 and 1872. House Journals, and Documents, 1863-1913. Senate Journals and Documents, 1863-1913. Adjutant-General's Reports, 1865-6. Reports of Auditor. Biennial Reports of State Department of Archives and History. Charles ton, 1906—. J Documents Relating to the Virginia Debt and the Relation of West Virginia Thereto. 1866, 1867, 1871, 1882, 1907, 1909. MISCELLANEOUS. United States Supreme Court Reports. United States Census Reports. Congressional Globe, 37th Congress. Poore, Ben Perley. The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Char ters and Other Organic Laws of the United States. 2 vols. Wash ington, 1877. (Enlarged addition edited by F. N. Thorpe in 7 vols. Washington, 1909.) Revised Statutes of the United States, and Supplements. Report of the Commission to Locate the Sites of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. 2 vols. Harrisburg, 1896. Report on Internal Commerce of the United States (pp. 420-430). 1887. Report of Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water. 1909. Maps of West Virginia in the Library of Congress. Records in Offices of County Clerks. Proceedings and speeches of the Internal Improvement Convention, White Sulphur Springs, August, 1854. Richmond, 1855. Elliott, W. M. (and W. A. R. Nye). Virginia Directory and Business Register for 1852. Richmond, 1852. Railroad Reports. Niles' Weekly Register. Baltimore, 1811-49. Annual Cyclopedia, 1861-1902. Bibliography 293 Newspapers In the preparation of the earlier part of this volume the author has obtained data from the following newspapers for the years indicated after the name of each paper: Pittsburg Gazette (1786); The Monongalia Gazette (1803, 1805) ; Martins burg Gazette (1813) ; Farmer's Repository, Charles Town, (1815, 1816, 1826); Independent Virginian, Clarksburg (1819- ); Western Courier, Charleston, (1823); Monongalia Chronicle (1825, 1828); West Virginian and Kanawha County Gazette (1826) ; The Republican, Morgantown, (1829); Potomac Pioneer, Shepherdstown, (1830); The Kanawha Banner (1830-34); The Monongalian, Morgantown, (1831); The Parkersburg Ga zette (1845); Richmond Enquirer (1849); Monongalia Mirror (1849,1850); Wheeling Intelligencer (1852- ) ; Kanawha Valley Star (1856-61). The latter two volumes were especially valuable for the study of the decade preceding the Civil War. The Intelligencer is a valuable source of historical material for subsequent periods. For the ante-bellum period, the Richmond Enquirer and Niles' Register were valuable. For the period of the war, in supplementing the information furnished by the Intelligencer and the Annual Cyclopedia, the author has obtained data from files of the Baltimore Sun, the Cincinnati Commercial, the New York Tribune^, the New York Herald, the New York Times and Harper's Weekly. For data relating to the Constitutional Convention of 1872, the Kanawha Daily (Charleston, 1872) is especially useful. In collecting facts relating to the recent, industrial development the writer has been especially aided by various historical industrial editions of newspapers, such as that of the Fayette Journal (1911). 294 Semi-Centennial History op West Virginia Say not the struggle nought availeth, The labor and the wounds are vain, The enemy faints not, not faileth, And as things have been they remain. If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars ; It may be, in yon smoke concealed, Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers, And, but for you, possess the field. • For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, Seem here no painful inch to gain, Far back, through creeks and Inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main. And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright. — Arthur Hugh Clough. INDEX Academies, early, 57, 66, 69, 81, 86, 119. Administrative boards : adoption of bipartisan, 243,245 ; board of public works, 234,241 ; board of control, ,247 ; public service commission, 234, '248 ; board of health, 235 ; board of regents, 231 ; board of education, 231 ; minor boards, 235. Agriculture : development of, 48, 50, 183, 184 ; effect of turnpikes on, 100 ; board of, 184, 239 ; legislation to regulate, 245. Admission to the Union, act of, 282. Almshouses, unsanitary, 234. Alpina, 211. Amendments, constitutional, 179, 180, 181 : (for disfranchisement) 164. See Constitutions (Virginia and West Vir ginia). Ansted, 195. Arbitration : proposed in Maryland boundary dispute, 250 ; proposed by Virginia for adjustment of Virginia debt question, 252. Archives and history, department of, 249, 255. Asbnry. Francis, 35. Atkinson, G. W., 246. Atkeson, T. C, 184. Averell, Gen. W. W., 157, 158, 159. Awakening, industrial. See Industrial awakening. Ballot : adopted, 146, 161 ; opposed, 173, 175-76 ; proposed Australian. 245. Baltimore and Ohio railroad : earlier conception, 110 ; proposed Kanawha route, 96 ; restrictions and conditions, 110, 263: beginnings and early diffi culties, 111-112 ; determination of western terminus. Ill, 113, 114, 263 ; Wheeling-Parkersburg struggle for, 114 ; extension from Harpers Ferry to Cumberland, 112 ; selection of route to the Ohio, 115, 263 ; counteracting policies of tide-water Virginia, 115; transallegheny construction, 115-116 ; ("race" against the Pennsylvania, 268) ; influence, 117, 118, 119, 120, 125 ; celebration of completion, 122, 268, poem of victory over Pa., 270 ; western connections and problems, 122, 270 ; Pittsburg opposition to, 270 ; Benwood bridge connection with Ohio, opposed by Wheeling, 271 ; Par kersburg branch, 123 ; great railway celebration of 1857, 124; Political and military importance, 125 ; in fluence in determining eastern bound ary of W. Va., 146 ; in war of secession, (strategic importance) 153, (losses) 159 ; opposition to in con stitutional convention of 1872, 176 ; evolution of later branches of, 197, 198, 199, 202, 204, 205, 206; pro posed French creek and Holly short- line, 201 ; freight rates of, (high) 204, (discriminations) 243. Banks : 61, 72, 73, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86 ; urged, 66 ; state prohibited from hold ing stock in, 177 ; recent facilities of,. . 186 ; commissioner of banking, 238. Barbour county, 73. Barboursville, 97. Barter, early, 49, 52. Batts, Thomas, (explorations of) 18. Bayard, 212. Beckley, 88. Belington, 215. . Belleville, 39, 82. Bennett, '.T. M., 253. Bennett, Louis, 247. Berkeley county : annexed_to W. Va., 145 ; oposition to W. Va. jurisdiction in, 165. Beverly. 36. 76, 214. Bibliography, 284-93. Bishop, 221. Blannerhassett, Herman, 42. Blind (and deaf), school for, 233. Bluefleld, 220, 249. Bluefleld-Graham litigation (sewage), 249. Board of control, 247. Boards, administrative. See Adminis trative boards. Board of public works, appointing power of (1873), 241. Boat yards, 24, 64, 69, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85. Boone, Daniel, 33. Boone county, 88. Boreman. Arthur I., 151, 241. Boundary disputes : with PennsyTvania, 26. 34, 249 ; with Maryland revived, 119, 240-52. Also see Interstate re lations. Braxton county, 62. Bribery and fraud at elections, 245, Bribery, convictions of legislators for, 257. Bridges. 53, 54, 64. 75, 77, 79, 86 96, 103, 105, 106, 116, 121, 125, 196, '207, 210, 217, (first across the Ohio) 262- 296 Index 73, (at Steubenville) 271, (at Ben wood) 271. Bridges vs. Shallcross, case of, 245. Buckhannon, 75, 200. Buckhannon and Northern railroad, 206. Buffalo, 85. Building and loan associations, state regulation of, 238. Bulltown, 62. Callahan's, 99, 101. Camden, J. N., 198, 199, 202, 241, 243, 244. Camden Consolidated Oil company, 243. Camden-on-Gauley, 199. Cameron, 121. Campbell, Alex., 131. Canaan valley, 77, 109, 211. Canals : C. and O., 61 ; projects of, 65, 139, 208; Pa. system of, 261. Capital : aspirations of Grafton, 201 ; removal to Charleston, 242 ; return to Wheeling, 242 ; prosperity affected by unsettled location of, 242 ; final loca tion at Charleston, 243. Carlile, J. S., 142, 144, 150. Carr, Robt. S., 244. Cattle raising. See Industries. Cement, 186. Ceredo, 89. Charities and corrections, 232. Charleston, 33, 85-86, 196. Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, 191 ; origin, 191 ; construction, 192 ; ad vantages, 192 ; early looseness of management, 193; later effects of, 193 ; reorganization, 193 ',~ extension, 194 ; conflict with Virginian, 194 ; im proved equipment, 194 ; growth of towns along the line, 195. Churches: statistics of (1850), 59; early organizations of, 62 ; earliest buildings (in Wetzel). 81; (at Ravenswood) 83 : (at Winfield) 85 ; (at Charleston) 86. Clarksburg, 35, 41-42, 69, 71, 197, 202, 203. Clendennin and Sutton railroad, 215. Coal company, Consolidated, 203. Coal mining, 68, 86-87, 88. 118. 184- 185, 203, 204, 205, 212, 216, 219. Coal and Coke railroad, 215. Coalsmouth, 85. Colored population (1860), 272. Commerce : with the east, 49, 64, 70, 95 ; with the Ohio, 49, 70, 82. 83, 264, 265, 270 ; on the C. and O. canal, 61 ; strategy for control of western, 96 : question of control of interstate, 267, 272-73. Commerce act, Interstate, 209,_243. Commercial relations, determined by geology, 8. Communication, expansion and improve ment of, 4-5. Community life, 48. Concord, in court house contest, 168. Conditions, changed economic and social, 5. Conestoga wagons, 92. Confederate operations in northwest Va. : purpose, 152-54 ; lack of local aid, 155 ; lack of local sympathy, 156; raids, 157. Confederates, proscriptive legislation against, 162, 163, 164 ; (repeal of, 166, 167). Conservation, 5, 8. Convicts, use on roads, 240. Cooperation, neighborhood, 48. Constitutional conventions, 2, 126, 130, 136, 142. 172, sea.; need of (since 1872), 182, 248. Constitutional convention of 1872 : motives, 172 ; opposition to, 172 ; democratic strength in, 173 ; reac tionaries in, 174 ; anti-railroad senti ment in, 176 ; work of, 174. Constitutional development, ante-bellum, 126-40 passim. Constitutions of Va. : of the Revolution, 126, (defects) 128, (changes ur,ged) 129 ; of 1830, (minor reform of) 133 ; of 1850, 136. Constitutions of W. Va. : first, 145-49, (opposition to, 172) ; second, 175-79, (amendments, 179, 180), (amend ments proposed, 181), (inadequate to new conditions, 182). Cornwell, J. J., 246. Corporations (foreign), proposed meas ures to curb, 243, 245. Counties : first settlements of, 16 seg. ; formation of, 18, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 30, 42, 45, 61, 62, 63, 66, 68, -69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 81, 87, 88, 89, 119, 162, 170, 218; increase of, 51, (to 1830) 128 ; increase of population of (statistics), 55. 228, 278; nativity of population of, 276. County courts : early self-perpetuating, 127 ; reorganized, 137 ; abolished, 148; reestablished (1872), 178; evils of, 176. County seat contests, 42, 43, 81, 87, 88, 162, 168-71, 195, 202, 207, 213-15, 218, 219, 220. Court house contests. See County seat. Cox, Gen. J. D., 155. Cranberry Summit. See Terra Alta. Cumberland, 113. Cumberland road, 53, 71 : origin, 90 ; influence, 91 ; strategic commercial importance of, 262. Customs, neighborhood, 48. Davis, 211, 212. Davis, H. G., 61, 166, 211, 215. Davis, T. E., 245. Dawson, W. M. O., 246. Deadlocks, legislative, 244, 248. Deakins line, 249, 250 ; recognized as western boundary of Md., 251. Debt dispute with Virginia, 4, 252-55 ; incentive to collection of historical data, 240, 255. Debt. W. Va., 178. Deepwater railroad, 220-21. Defectives, care of, 232, 233. Delinquents (dependents, defectives and), See Charities and corrections. Democrats : strength of in constitutional convention of 1872, 173 ; defeat of, 246. Development (industrial) : coal, 86-87, 88, 118, 184-85, 203, 204, 205, 212, 216, 2191 gas, 185; oil, 82, 185, 200, Index 297 204, 209. Also see Agriculture, Rail roads, etc. Development companies (town), 195, 197, 204. Disfranchisement, (test oaths) 163, (amendments) 164 ; (restrictions re moved) 166. Disorder, 161, 162, 164. Doddridge, Philip, 131, 132. Drovers : on National pike, 91 ; on the Kanawha, 93, 100. Durbin, 211. Education: statistics of (1850), 57, (1900) 226 ; debated in constitutional conventions, 132, 138, 149 ; develop ment of, 229-32 ; improvements (free schools), 230; influence of University on, 231 ; institutions for colored, 232 ; school for blind and beaf, 233 ; .in dustrial schools, 233 ; legislation for improvement of, 246 ; board of edu cation, 231. Election disorders, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 214, (irregularities) 245. Elections : contested gubernatorial, 244- 45 ; bribery and fraud at, 245 ; notable senatorial, 244, 248 ; pro posed reform of, 243, 245, 246. Elizabeth, 209. Elkins, 211, 212, 214. Elkins, S. B., 205, 215, (senator) 246. Executive. See Governor. Executive council, 133, (abolished) 137. Expansion, first impetus, 15. Exploitation (unregulated), 4, 8, 48, 256. Fairfax (Lord) : land dispute, 16 ; land grant, 16, 17. Fairfax stone, 249, 250. Fairmont, 35, 68, 120, 203-04. Fairview, 207. Farm implements, improved, 50, 72, 73, 74, 82. Farms : clearing of, 48 ; early products of, 52. Farnsworth, D. D. T., 174, 176. Faulkner, C. .T., 172, 244. Fayette county, 87, (in war) 156, (de velopment) 195. Fayetteville, 62. Federal troops, called to preserve order, 166, 237. Fee system, reforms of needed, 181. Ferguson, C. W., 172. Ferries, 52, 65, 72, 83, 85, 93, 96, 101, 262. Fertilizers state regulation as to, 239. Finances, centralized management of, 247. Fish and game warden, 239. Flag, presentation to constitutional con vention of 1872, 174. Flat Top coalfield, 216. Fleming, A. B., 245. Flick, W. H. H., (suffrage amendment of) 167, (candidate for senate) 244. Floods, (1837) 103, (1852) 106, (1884) 243 Floyd, Gen., 156. Fontaine's journal, 15. Forests, 1, 8, (exploitation of) 212-13, (question of conservation of) 213. Forts, in French and Indian war, 21. Franklin, 60. Free School system : origin, 149 ; early agitation for, 229 ; early obstacles to, 230 ; recent development of 231. Freight rates, (high) 204, (discrimina tion) 243. Fremont, Gen., 159. French and Indian war : forts of, 21 ; defensive measures of, 20 ; Indian depredations in, 21. Frontiersmen. See Pioneers. Fruit-growing, 206. Game (fish and) warden, 239. Garnett, Gen. R. S., 154-55. Gary, 219. Gas development, 185. Geographical conditions, 6 seg., 126. Geological history, 7. Geological survey, 239. Germanna, 14. Germans, 16, 49, 50. Glasscock, W. E., 247-48. Glass manufacture, 185-86, 200, 206. Glen Jean, 196. Goff, Gen. Nathan, 242, 244. Government, local, (lack of in civil war) 157, 161, 162. Government regulation, 5, 246. Governor : conflict with legislature as to appointing power, 241 ; contested elections of, 244-45 ; refusal to re tire at close of term, 244 ; mandamus proceedings against, 245. Grafton, 120, (in war) 153, 197, (aspirations for the capital) 201, 202. Grant county 162. Greenbrier county, 32. Guyandotte, 84, 97. Hagans, J. M., 177. Hampshire county, 18. Hampshire Southern railroad, 206. Hancock county, 81. Hangings, regulation of, 233. Hardy county, 30. Harper's Ferry : 15, 59, 113 ; seizure by Confederates, 141, 159. Harrison county, 35. Harrisville, 82. Hatfield, H. D., 248. Hatfield-McCoy feud, 249. Haymond, A. F., 178. Health : board of, 235 ; state regu lations relating to, 232, 233, 235, 236, 238. Hempfield railroad, 123. Highways, historic, 90 seq. See Roads, and Turnpike's. Hinton, 195. History (state), study of stimulated by Va. debt case, 240. Hite, Joist, land dispute with Lord Fairfax, 16. Holt, J. H., 246. Hospitals : for insane, 232 ; for incur ables, 233 ; for miners, 233. Hotels: 63, 82, 85, 93, 101, 109, 203; state regulation of, 238. Humane society, 233. Huntersville, 62. Hunting, bear, 88. Huntington, 197. 298 Index Huntington, C. P., 191, 195, 197. "Indiana" company, territory of, 17, 22. Illiteracy, (1850) 58, (1910) 226. Imboden, Gen. J. D., 157. Immigration, 224, 234, 235, 243, 246; (nativity of) 274, commissioner of, 234. Indians : trails of, 9 ; relations with, 18, 20, 22, 26, 31. Initiative and referendum, need of pro vision for, 248. Insane hospital, 72, 232. Industrial schools, 233. Industrial and social development, ante bellum, 2, 48, 76 : in eastern pan handle, 60 ; along middle New river, 62 ; along the Monongahela, 63 ; along the Ohio, 78 ; along the Great Kanawha, 79 ; in the southern in terior, 87 ; along the Big Sandy. 89. Industrial awakening, post-bellum, 183- 222 : earlier dream of, 78 ; origin of, 183 ; general survey of, 183-88 ; evo lution by railroad routes, 188-222 ; proposed policies to meet problems of, 245, 246. See Railroads. Industries : early, 49 ; home, 74 ; cattle raising. 49, 68, 74, 76, 93, 109, 119, 206 ; distilleries, 80, 84 ; sheep rais ing, 74 ; iron manufactures, 49, 51, 65, 67, 68, 81, 118; lumbering, 68, 73, 77, 84, 85, 119, 121, 186, 196, 199, 200, 206, 210-11, 212 ; manu facturing, 64, 67, 68, 69, 79, 80, 185, 196. 206; mining, 68, 86, 184 (See Coal mining) ; salt making, 51, 63, 70, 74. 83, 85, 86. 89, 94 ; woolen manu factures, 51, 68. Inspection and regulation, state, 4, 234- 40. Institutions of state, development of, 4, 223-40, 248. Insubordination, 165. Insurance companies, state regulation , of, 238. Internal improvements : need of, 49 ; urged, 45, 64 ; effects, 50, 54 ; urged to terminate old quarrels, 167 ; move ment for federal, 130 ; by Pennsyl vania, 262, 266 ; state rivalry in, 267, 269, 270. Interstate commerce, question of con trol (in Wheeling bridge ease) 266, 272-73. Interstate commerce act (influence on W. Va.), 209. 243. Interstate relations, 249-55. Iron, manufacture of. See Industries (Early). Isolation of communities, 161, 210. See Retarded development. Jacobs, J. J.. 167. 241. Jackson, J. B„ 243. Jackson, J. J., 167. Jackson. Gen. Stonewall, 159. Jails, unsanitary, 234. James river and Kanawha company : debt guaranteed, 139 ; plans to sell to a French company, 139. Jefferson county (and Berkeley) : annexation of, 4, 145, opposition to W. Va. jurisdiction in, 165. Johnson, D. D., 174. Jones, Gen. W. L., 157. Judicial : reforms, 137 ; reorganization of system, (1872) 177, (amended, 180). Jury, justices', 180. Justice, problem of social and indus trial, 256. Juvenile courts, suggested, 233. Kanawha and Michigan railroad, 210. Kanawha (Little) railroad, 210. Kanawha turnpike (James river and), 92 : evolution, 92 ; tolls on, 93-94, 95-98 ; federal aid requested, 94 ; con struction,, 94, 96 ; purpose and in fluence 96, 99-100 ; advantages of, 96, 99-100 ; difficulties relating to, 96, 97, 103 ; scenery along, 99 ; stage con nections, 99 ; incentive to other roads, 102 ; decline, 103. Kelley boat yards, 24, 93. Kelley, Gen. B. F., 154, 158, 159, 160. Keyser (New creek), 61, 15D. Kingwood, 67, 68, 118, 205. "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe/' 15. Labor : commissioner of statistics and, 238 ; state regulation as to, 238. Labor problems, 61, 95, 105, 116, 117, 120 237 245, 246, 247. Lands : forfeiture of, 179 ; speculation in, 44, 50, 84 ; cheap'er in Ohio, 84. Land grants : to companies, 19, (pro posed Vandalia) 22, (Savage) 47; Va. policy of, 22 ; basis of litigation, 21, 44, 45, 75 ; transallegheny re strictions of George III, 21. Land grant records, transfer from Rich mond. 249. Land titles : defective, 84 ; contusion of, 179. Law, social control through, 256. Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, 160. Lee. Gen. Robert E., 153, 155. Legislation : anti-monopoly, 245 ; to en courage and regulate industries, 145 ; •social control through, 256. Legislature : constitutional restrictions on, 137, 147, 177 ; constitutional in crease of power of, 177 ; conflict of with executive, 2^41 ; deadlocks in, 244, 248 ; legislative reference library (bureau) suggested. 240. 255 ; mem bers convicted for bribery, 257. Lewis. Gen. Andrew, 28. Lewisburg, 45, 62. Lewis county. 71, 200. Libraries, (1850) 57, 86; legislative ref erence library suggested, 240. Lieutenant governor : office abolished, 148 ; no constitutional provision for, 177 ; proposed amendment to create office, 181. Lincoln county, 162. Local government : lack of in civil war, 157, 161. 162; inefficiency of authorities in. 248. Logan county, 187. Lucas, D. B., 244. Lumbering. See Industries. MeClellan, Gen. G. B., 154, 155. MacCorkle, W. A., 245. McCullough's traders' trail, 11. MeNeill, Capt. J. H., 160. Index 299 Mannington, 121. Manufacturers: (glass) 185-86; (ce ment) 180; (steel) 206, 207, 208, 219. See Industries. Marion county, 66, 69. Markets, change of, 49, 68, 76, 80. 87, 89, 126. Marlinton, 194. Marriage : regulation of, 48 ; statistics of, 227. Martial law, first use of, 247. Martin, B. F., 175. Martinsburg, 30, 61. Maryland, border conflicts of jurisdic tion with, 250. Mason and Dixon's line, 26, 34. Mason City, 83. Mason, J. W., 202, 255. Mathews, H. M., 242. Maysville, 162. Medicine, 79, 86, (regulation of practice of) 235. Mercer county, 62 ; (struggle for home rule in) 168-70. Middlebourne, 43, 209. Militia, organization of, 237. Mills, early, 51, 69, 72, 73, 76, 80, 85, 86. 87. Mineral county, 61, 162. Mineral resources, awakened interest in, 184. Miners' strikes (1913), 247, 249. Mingo county, 218. Mining, conditions of (report of state commissioner), 247. See Coal min ing. Mining regulations, 238. Moorefield. 25, 30. Monongalia -county, 33 : counties formed from, 63 ; railway projects in, 189, 205. Monroe county, 45, 62. Montgomery, 87, 195. Morgantown. 25, 34, 63, 205 ; efforts to secure railroad connections, 190. 205. Morgantown and Kingwood railroad, 205. Moundsville, 37, 81, 209. Mullens, 221. Municipal development. 63, 70, 71, 79, 195, 197, 203, 204, 206, 208. Nativity of population by counties (1870), 276. Navigation. See River navigation. Neal's Station, 10, 42, 69. Nemocolin's path, 11. New Cumberland, 37, 81, 207. New England influence, 39, 74, 75. 89. New Martinsville 37, 81. 209: (Short- line railroad to, 202, 203, 209). New river, 6, (explored) 18. See Set tlements. Newspapers, 52, 63. 68, 69, 73, 82, 86. Nicholas county, 32, 62. Norfolk and Western railroad : origin, 216 ; construction, 216-17 ; branches, 218 : engineering problems. 217 ; in fluence of, 218-20 ; growth of pas senger business of, 220. Normal schools, 230. Northwestern Virginia railroad, 123 ; counteracting projects, 123. Northwestern turnpike, 71, 106-109 : inception, 106 ; rival of National road, 107 ; commercial significance, 107 ; construction, 107 ; route, 107- 108 ; connections, 108 ; influence, 108- 09 ; decline, 109. Ohio river : railroads along, 206, 207, 209 : connection of Pa. transportation with, 261 ; Pittsburg- Wheeling rivalry for headship on, 262-73 ; first bridge across (at Wheeling), 263; question of sovereign authority on, 266,_.272- 73. Oil development, 82, 185, 200, 204, 209. Osburn, Logan, 178. Packhorse caravans, 49. Page, 221. Parkersburg, 37, 82, 113, 124, 209. Parkersburg (Staunton and) turnpike, 104-106 : inception, 104 ; construction, 105; difficulties, 106. Parsons, 212, 213-14. Party control, 4. Pax, 221. Peerysville, 88, 219. Penitentiary, 233 : contest as to appoint ment of warden for, 242. Pennsboro, 82. Pennsylvania : strategic internal im provements of. 261, 268. 269, 270: sale of public works by, 270. Pennsylvania railway, early rivalry with B. and O., 269. Petersburg, 162. Petroleum development, 82, 105, 200, 204, 209. Peytonia, 85, 88. Philadelphia centennial, exhibit of W. Va. at, 183. Philippi, 73, 154. 201, 215. Physical basis, 6. Physicians, 78. 84. 86, (state regu lation of qualifications), 235. Piedmont, 61. Pierpont, F. II.. 3, 143, 144, 151. Pike, Henry. 174. Pioneers : influence of, 1, 2 : character, 2, 88 ; stories of endurance of. 31 ; ideals of, 4-5, (changes in, 5. 256) ; race elements. 9; as rear guard of the Revolution. 30. Pittsburg and Steubenville railroad, 123. Pittsburg, Wheeling and Kentucky rail road, 207. Pittsburg : rivalry with Wheeling for hegemony on the Ohio. 261-72 : oppo sition to the Wheeling-Belmont bridge. 262, 263. 264, 269. Point Pleasant. 28, 31, 83, 210; battle of. 28 (significance) 29. Politics : ante-bellum development in. 126-40 : early post-bellum problems in, 161-71 : under early Republican control, 241 : under Democratic con trol. 241-46 ; under later Republican control. 246-48 : railroads in. 176, (high freight rates) 204, (discrimina tions) 243 : Virginia debt question an isue in, 252 ; progressive principles in, 248 ; present problems in, 256. Poor, care of, 234. Population : increase of, 2 ; growth of 300 Index to 1860, by counties, 55 ; statistics of composition in 1850 by counties and towns, 56 ; composition in 1860 (by counties), 278; growth of towns (1850-70), 275; nativity of (1870, by counties), 276; post-bellum changes in character of, 223 ; statistics of growth since 1860 ; 223- 24, 228-29 ; statistics of composition of in 1900, 224 ; statistics of com position of in 1910, 225-28. Porterfield, Col. G. A., 153. Postoffices, earlier, 52, 62, 63, 69, 78, 81, 86, 87, 88, 93. Post roads, 52, 63, 66, 69, 78, 87, 90, 92, 93, 98, 102, 262, 267-68. Potomac : "first source" of, 249 ; boundary settled, 251, 252. Potomac Spring, Maryland's claim to, 250, 251. Preston county, 68. Price, Samuel, 176. Princeton, 168-70, 220. Problems : later, 4, 5 ; present, 256. Progressive policies, 248. Prohibition or regulation of intoxicants, 148, (amendment) 181, (amendment) 236. Proscriptive legislation, passed against Confederates, 162, 163, 164, repeal of, 166, 167. Prospect, Retrospect and, 256. Pruntytown, 119, 233. Public service commission, 234, 248. Pulp and paper companies, 213. Pure food laws, 236. Putnam, Herbert, poem of, 258-61. Railroads : early projects for, (up North Branch) 78, (on the Guyan dotte) 85, (via the Shenandoah and the Kanawha) 96, 110, (on the Kanawha) 103, (policy of tidewater Virginia) 110 ; strategy of, 123, 205, 215, 263, 268, 269-70; Va. policy in regard to the West, 139 (Also see B. and O. railroad) ; in W. Va. politics, 176, 204 ; encouraged by W. Va., 187 : influence of. 188 : projected lines which failed, 188 ; taxation of. 190 ; development along chief routes, (B. and O.) 110, (C. and O.) 191, (B. and O. branches) 97, (Ohio river lines) 206, (W. Md. and Coal and Coke) 210, (N. and W.) 216, (Vir ginian) 220 ; high freight rates of, 204 : discriminations of, 243 ; passes, 243 : relative value of eomDared with water transportation, 266-67. Railroad, the first. 2, 110-25 (See B. and O. railroad) : celebration (of 1857) 124; effect of, 54. Rainfall and winds. 6. Randolph county, 36, 210. Ravenswood. 44, 83. Reconstruction, 161-71. Referendum, initiative arid, need of, 248. Reform schools, 233. Regulation (state), extension of, 234- 40. 246. Registration laws : struggle to over throw, 166-70, passim; opposition to (in constitutional convention of 1872), 175; need of, 245. Reorganized government of Virginia, 3, 143-44 ; ordinance for, 281. Representation : early inequalities of, 127, 129 ; debated 1829, 130-31 ; in 1851, 136 ; in 1862, 146, 147 ; in 1872, 176. Republicans : divided on Flick amend ment, 167; defeated, (1870) 167; victorious, (1896) 246; policies to meet problems of industrial expan sion, 246 ; increasing power of, 247 ; party dissentions, 247. Resources : geological origin of, 7 ; mineral (awakened interest in), 184; exhibit of at . Philadelphia (1876), 183. Retarded development, 43, 44-46, 76-77, 83, 87, 161, 210. Retrospect and prospect, 256. Revolution, rear guard of, 3. Richwood, 199. Ritchie county, 39. Rivers, 6. See Streams. River traffic, 49, 70, 82, 83, 264, 265, 270 ; decline of, 210. River improvement, 53, 54, 65, 66, 70, 84, 88, 121, 187, 204, 205, 261. River navigation 78, 79, 86, 120, 187, 205, 209, 264-65, 266, 269, 271; dis pute as to head of, 114 ; affected by Wheeling-Belmont bridge, 262. Rivesville, 68. Roads : early, 39, 48, 52, 62, 64, 65, 66, 72, 75, 87, 88; National, 53, 71, 90; later development, 66, 69, 72, 74, 75, 80, 87, 88 ; influence of first rail way on, 118 ; proposed legislation for improvement of, 246 ; highway in spector, 239 ; bureau of roads, 239-40 ; chief road engineer, 240 ; use of con victs on, 240 ; plans for improve ment, 148. See Turnpikes. Rogers, H. H., 220. Romney, 18. Roncevert, 195. Rosecrans, Gen., 156. Rosser, Gen., 157, 160. Rumsey, James, 60. St. Albans, 85, 196. St. George, 212. St. Marys, 81. Salaries amendment, 181. Salem, 70, 233. Salem (Va.) expedition, 159. Salt making. See Industries (early). Sawmills, 48, 73, 76, 83, 85, 199, 200, 201. 210-11. School system, free (1862), 149, 246. Scotch Irish, 17. Scott, N. B., 246. Secession : convention of 1861, 141 ; threatened by Brooke and Hancock counties, 269. Sectionalism in Virginia, ante-bellum, 126-40 : determined by geographical conditions, 126 ; western demands for constitutional reforms, 129, 130, 134, 136 : inequalities of taxation, 138 ; relation to later schemes for internal Index 301 improvements, 139 ; natural result on destiny of W. Va., 139-40. Sectionalism in W. Va. : opposition to statehood, 162 ; insubordination, 165. Senate, need of reform in size of, 182. Senatorial elections, notable, 244, 248. Settlements (early, 1, 2), evolution of. 14 seq. : in eastern panhandle, 16, 30 ; (encouraged by Gov. Spotswood, 15) ; on South Branch, 17, 30 ; transallegheny, first stimulus, 18 ; first decade of advance, 20 ; prohi bition by George III, 21 ; along mid dle New river, 19, 23, 30; on the Greenbrier, 19, 24, 32 ; on the Monongahela, 19, 20, 25 ; on Tygart's, 24, 35-36 ; on Buckhannon valley, 25 : on upper Cheat, 36 ; situation (in 1754) 20, (in 1774) 23 ; tomahawk rights, 22 ; affected by Indian at tacks on the Kanawha, 24, 33 ; in Fayette, 33 ; in Preston, 25, 34-35 ; at Wheeling, 25 ; along Big Sandy, 32, 46, 47 ; on Guyandotte, 46 ; in Nicholas, 32 ; along the Ohio, 37 ; on Little Kanawha, 38, 39, 42 ; expan sion after Wawne's victory, 40 ; of north interior, retarded, 43 ; of > in terior south of Kanawha, 44, 45, 46 ; along the lower Ohio, 47 ; material advances, early signs of, 50 ; local ization, 54; retarded, 76, 77, 87, (by Washington's will( 83, (by absentee land lords) 83. Sheep, 74. Shenandoah valley, strategic importance in civil war, 160. Shepherdstown, 16. Sheridan, Gen., 160. Short-line railroad, 202, 203, 209. Sistersville, 37, 43, 81, 209. Slavery, in constitution of 1862, 149. Smith, B. IT.. 172. Smithfield, 82. Social conditions : post-bellum, 161, 162, 223-28 ; changed, 256. Social control, through law, 256. Social development, 2, 223-40. Social legislation, 137, 147. Social statistics, 56-59, 223-29, 275-79. South Branch, Maryland's claim to, 250. Spencer, 43. Spotswood, Gov. Alexander, 14. Spotswood expedition, influence of, 15. Stage lines, 66, 71, 92, 97, 99. State rights, question raised in Wheel ing bridge case, 266, 267, 271. (Also in Steubenville and Pittsburg rail road case, 270). State papers, 280-83. Statistics and labor, commissioner of, 238 Statistics, social, 56-59, 223-29, 275-79. Staunton convention, (1816) 129, (1825) 130. Steam boats: Rnmsey's, 60; on the Monongahela, 65; on the Ohio, 82. Steam navigation, 86. See River navi gation. Stevenson, W. E., 167, 241. Stores, 51, 74, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88. Streams, state protection of, 238. Strothers, D. H. ("Porte Crayon"), 109. Sturgiss, G. C, 205, 243. Suffrage, 127, 130, 131-32, 137, 163-64, 173, 175, 182. Summers county, 170. Sunday schools, 86. Supreme court of appeals, opposition to, 173. Sutton, 63, 199. Swiss colony at Alpina, 211. Taxation, 177, 182, (of railroads) 190: adjustment of needed, 138, 148, 243, 245, 246 ; commission on (1883) 246, (1901) 247; reforms, 246, 247; com missioner, 239, 247 ; new tax laws, 247. Taylor county, 119. Telegraphs, 64, 79, 86, 189, 192. Terra Alta, 119, 233. Test oaths, 163, (removed) 166. Thayer, Eli, 89. Thurmond, 196. Timber industries, development of, 186. Tobacco, inspection of, 238. Topography, 6. Towns: (in 1850), 56; emergence and growth of, 51, 75, 87, 195, 211-15, 216, 218, 219, 220, 224; growth of population of, 229, 275 ; development companies, 195, 197, 204, (hostilities between) 214. See Municipal develop ment. Township system, introduced, 149, abolished, 173, 178. Trails : old Indian, 7 ; (blazed) 72. "Transmontane order", 15. Transportation : early development, 52,; on turnpikes, 91, 100 ; relation to industrial progress, 187 ; relative im portance of water and railway, 265- 66 ; state regulation as to, 237. Travel : old Indian routes of, 9 ; early routes, (Kanawha) 12, (to Kentucky) 31, 67, 69, 94; to the Ohio after 1794, 40; description of (early), 40- 41, 84 ; on National pike, 91 ; along the Kanawha, 99-100. Treaties, with Indians, 18, 22. Trouts Hill (Wayne), 89. Tuberculosis sanitarium, 233. Tucker county, 77-78. Tunnels, (Kingwood) 1)7, (Board Tree) 120, (Elkhorn) 217, (Hatfleld) 217, (on Virginian) 221. Tunnelton, 117-18, 205. Turnpikes, 2, 54, 60. 61, 62, 66, 67, 72, 75, 80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90-109, 101, 118, 120, 139, 171, 187, 210. Union. 45, 62. University : earlier retarded growth, 231 ; recent progress, 230. Upshur county, 75. Vaccine agent, 235. " Vandalia company. 17. Vandalia, proposed colony of, 22. Vandalia, early village of, 62. Vaucluse, 81. Virginia : ante-bellum sectionalism in, 126-40 ; ante-bellum constitutional conventions of, 126, 130, 136; dis memberment of suggested, 134 ; in equalities of taxation in. 138; pro- 302 Index jects of internal improvement between James river and the Ohio, 139, 266, 269 ; dismemberment of foreseen by Webster, 140 ; "Reorganized govern- • ment'-' of, 3, 143-44, 281, (formal consent for separation of W. Va.) 144, 282, (removal to Alexandria) 151 ; attempt to secure return of Jef ferson and Berkeley counties, 165. Virginia debt question, 252-55 : negotia tions of Va., 252, 253, 254 ; debt com missions of W. Va., 252-53, 255 ; de cision of W. Va. legislature on, 253 ; funding of the debt by Va., 253 ; be fore U. S. supreme court, 254 ; his torical aspect and influence, 255. Virginian railroad, 220-22 : origin, 220 ; conflict with C. and O., 220-21 ; chief purpose, 221 ; construction, 221 ; as sembling yard at Princeton, 221. War in W. Va., strategy of, 152-60 : importance of W. Va. in, 152 ; im portance of B. and O. railroad in. 152-53 ; regional contests, (North west) 152, (Kanawha) 155, (eastern panhandle) 158 ; effect on local government, 157 ; irregularities, 1.58, 161. Ward; Evermont, 174, 175. Washington, George : surveyor, 17 ; land grants, 23, 39, 85 ; interest in in ternal improvements, 64, 92, 106 ; will as to western lands, 83 ; in W. Va., 106. Water-power, (advantages) 7, 186. Water-power companies, regulation of, 248. Waterway connection between the James river and the Ohio; 139, 266. Watts, C. C, 246. Wayne county, 89. Wealth, development of, 187. Weights and measures : regulation of, 236. 248 ; need of state inspectors of, 237. Welch, 218. Wellsburg, 37, 80. West : gateways to, 9, 197, 261 ; early routes to, 11, 94. Western Maryland railroad, 210 : origin, 211 ; construction, 211 ; influence, 212 213-14. Western Virginia : struggle for posses sion, 4 ; evolution of settlements in, 14 sea. ; demands for constitutional reforms, 126-40, passim; suggestions of dismemberment of Va., 134 ; efforts of tidewater Va. to conciliate (after 1850), 139; destiny of foreseen by Webster, 140. West Liberty, 37. Weston, 71, (industrial) 198. West Virginia history : importance of, 1 ; poem on, 258-61. West Virginia : formation of, 141-152 ; sectional basis for separation from Virginia, 126-40 ; separation from Vir ginia inevitable, 2, ¦ 8 ; course ana process of separation, 3, (plans for) 142-43 ; first constitution, 3, 145-49 ; basis of obligation to pay part of the Va. debt, 252 ; question of boundaries of, 145-46; conditions in the new state, 3 ; final steps to statehood. 150- 51 ; recognition by Congress, 4 ; in the war of secession, 152, 157, 158, 161 ; early problems of, 3, 4 ; in tegrity threatened, 3, 162, 165 ; sec tional differences in, 3, 162, 165; relations with neighboring states, 249- 55 ; changed conditions, 4, 256 ; poem on, 258-61 ; state papers of, 280-83. West Virginia debt, 178. Also see Vir ginia debt question. Wetzel county, 81. Wheeling, 25, 37, 78, 113, 208 : effect of Cumberland road on, 262 ; strategic importance of B. and O. railroad to, 263, 264, 270; bridge cases, 262-73 passim. Wheeling-Belmont bridge : evolution, 262 ; failure to secure aid of Congress, 262 ; Va. charter for, 263 ; injunction against, 264, 271 ; decision of supreme court against, 266-67 ; legalized by Congress, 268 ; final decision of supreme court, 271-72. Wheeling conventions, 141, 143, (plana of separation in) 142-43, (declaration of) 280. Wheeling and Lake Erie, railroad, 207. Wheeling-Pittsburg rivalry for com mercial headship on the Ohio, 262-73. Wheeling Terminal bridge, 207. Whiskey insurrection, 65. White, A. B., 246. White Sulphur Springs, 102. Willey. W. T., 142, 144, 150, 151, 178. Williamson, 218. Williamstown, 38. Wilson, Willis, 243, 244-45. Winfield, 85. Wise. Gen. II. A., 155. Witcher, Col. V. A., 157. Woman's suffrage, advocated, 248. Wood county, 37, 82, 209. Woolen manufactures, 57, 68, 74. Workmen's compensation law, 248. Wyoming county, 88. Special Contributed Articles ON Development and Resources of West Virginia LIST OF ARTICLES WITH NAMES OF CONTRIBUTORS Page Transportation and Eailroads 305 By Hon. Henry G. Davis. Improvement op Public Highways 309 By Charles P. Light Postal Development 310 By A. B. Smith. Development oe Telephone Service 316 ' By the Editor. Commercial Organizations in West Virginia 319 By Eoy Benton Naylor. The Forest and Timber Industries 322 By A. B. Brooks. Fish and Game 328 By J. A. Viquesney. Development of Agriculture 331 By Prof. T. C. Atkeson. Development of Horticulture in West Virginia 342 By Prof. W. H. Alderman. Industrial Statistics 346 By Hon. I. V. Barton. Coal. Oil and Gas Development 352 By the Editor. Mineral Besources 359 By Dr. I. C. White. Water Power Besources 391 By A. H. Horton. Colonial Origins of West Virginia's Political Institu tions 437 By Dr. Oliver Perry Chitwood. 304 special articles. Page Government of West Virginia 445 By Dr. J. M. Callahan. Political Development 448 By Hon. George E. Price. Legislative Development 473 By Judge George W. Atkinson Judicial Origins and Development 491 By Judge John W. Mason Development of Taxation and Finance 500 By Hon. Wm. P. Hubbard Municipal Development 516 By Hon. George I. Weal Church Development 522 Baptist— By Eev. L. E. Peters 522 Methodist— By Hon. W. B. Mathews 525 Presbyterian — By Dr. James H. Flanagan 532 Episcopalian — By Bishop G. W. Peterkin 534 Catholic— By Eev. Father Edward E. Weber 536 Development of Medical Practice and Public Health . . . 538 By Dr. C. A. Wingerter. Development of Journalism 551 By Col. John E. Day. Educational Development 556 By Supt. M. P. Shawkey. Development of Literature 563 By Miss Mary Meek Atkeson. The Study of Local History 569 By the Editor. The Semi-Centennial Celebration 577-89 The State Seal 590-93 By Stuart F. Seed, Secretary of State. The Railroads in the Development of WesT: Virginia By Hon. Henry G. Davis (formerly senator). That the railroad is a necessary factor in the development, and the most important agency in the commercial expansion of a state, is an admitted truism, and it is particularly emphasized in the history of West Virginia. This state stands pre-eminently at the head of all the states in. the Union, not only as a priority, but also as to the physical strength, financial standing and commercial importance it has attained through this agency. West Virginia, a hill state seemingly impassable, unexplored and sparsely settled, with a determination to engage in the commerce of the country, was a pioneer state in inviting a project of railroad building, when it joined hands with Maryland in assisting the construction of the first railroad in the New World. It has continued to co-operate with railroads in proposed construction, and as a consequence ranks high as one of the most important commercial states in the Union in every line of industry and agriculture. The first method of communication between West Virginia and the eastern coast was by means of the old National Pike which ran be tween, Baltimore, Cumberland, Md., Uniontown, Pa., and Wheeling, W. Va. Baltimore at that time — between 1805 and 1852 — was the eastern market for West Virginia and Ohio, and commerce was conducted by mean of long trains of Conestoga wagons, for which the rates of service were high. Wheeling, by means of its geographical location on the Ohio River, was the principal river town west of the Alleghenies and one of the leading centers of trade of the vast country now comprising the Central West. Its greatest business however was confined to the river traffic between Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis. In 1827 the Legislature of Maryland passed an act to incorporate a joint stock company, styled the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, the building of which was begun on July 4th, 1828, with the Ohio river as an objective point. West Virginia soil was first reached at Harper's Ferry on December 1st, 1834. The great struggle of crossing the almost impassable moun tains began at that point; and in 1836 the city of Wheeling was officially- considered the most suitable western terminal from a commercial point of view, and surveys were completed through this portion of Virginia. The State of Virginia (the commonwealth of Virginia was not sepa rated into two states until June 20th, 1863), subscribed to the building of the line through the state, as did also the city of Wheeling, and it was. 306 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA determined to hurry the completion of the through line by building east ward from Wheeling to meet the line coming west. This line was prac tically completed to Fairmont in 1S52, its progress being slow because all materials had to be hauled from eastern mills through unbroken mountains. On December 24, 1852, the two lines were officially united at Roseby Rock, West Virginia, and the first through train from Baltimore to Wheeling left the Maryland city on January 10, 1853. The wedding of the Ohio River with the Chesapeake Bay was the oc casion of a great celebration, for it meant to Northern and Western Virginia the dawn of a new era in business. It placed the territory in direct communication with the markets of the country, and the superior transportation facilities over wagon methods encouraged the investment of capital in the development of West Virginia industrially. The railroads in sixty years covered 3556 miles, growing at the approxi mate rate of CO miles a year. While these figures are startling, another feature should be considered at the same time; when these railroads were built, the money came into the state from points outside the state; the railroad property be ing in the state became assessable to the state for taxes, showing a double profit to the state. It should further be considered that the railroads naturally gave employment to the people in the state. From the Auditor's report of the taxable property of railroads in the State of West Virginia for 1912, the total amount paid to the state on such property was $1,401,092.32. As a matter of record, the following list of steam railroads in West Virginia with the mileage and assessed value of each, is appended : Miles of main Assessed track in State Value 1. Alexander & Eastern Railway Co 14.50 $ 25,000 2. Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad Co 19.00 100.000 3. Benwood & Wheeling Connecting Railway Co 60,000 4. Belington & Northern Railroad Co 4.06 30,000 5. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. System 1,071.61 77,650.000 6. Big Sandy & Cumberland Railroad .30 2,000 7. Beaver Creek Railroad Co 6.25 15.000 8. Cranberry Railroad Co 12.00 50.000 9. Cairo & Kanawha Railway Co 15.91 60.000 10. Campbell's Creek Railroad Co 13.33 135.000 11. Cumberland Valley & Martinsburg Railroad Co 24.48 500.000 12. Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad Co .21 18.000 -13. Coal & Coke Railway Co 196.75 4.900,000 14. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co. System 641.52 35,000,000 15. Dry Fork Railroad Co 29.86 500.000 16. Erbdon & Summersville Railroad Co 6.00 20,000 17. Elk & Little Kanawha Railroad Co 21.00 250,000 18. Glady & Alpena Railroad Co 18.00 80,000 19. Guyan, Big Ugly & Coal River Railway Co 10.00 40.000 20., Gle'nray & Richwood Railroad Co 9.00 40.000 21 Hampshire & Southern Railroad Co 38.R0 425,000 22. Iron Mountain & Greenbrier Railroad Co 26.59 50.000 23. Island Creek Railroad Co 6.77 375.000 24. Kanawha & West Virginia Railroad Co 37.38 550.000 25. Kanawha & Eastern Railroad Co .75 3.000 26. Kanawha Central Railroad Co 4.70 30.000 27. Kellys Creek & Northwestern Railroad Co 6.35 60.000 28 Kanawha, Glen Jean & Eastern Railroad Co 14.20 300.000 29. Kanawha & Coal River Railroad Co 12.00 50,000 30 Kellys Creek Improvement Co 6.16 36.000 31. Kanawha & Michigan Railroad Co. 99.44 4,750.000 32. Lorama Railroad Co 14.00 55.000 33 Longdate Iron Co. (Mann's Creek R. R.) 9.00 16,050 34 Little Kanawha Railroad Co 30.44 200.000 SPECIAL ARTICLES : KA1LR0ADS 307 35. Lewisburg & Ronceverte Railway Co 5.75 37,550 36. Loop & Lookout Railroad Co 5.00 35,000 37. Meadvale & Somerville Railroad Co 11.00 20,000 38. Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad Co 48.74 1,000,000 39. Marlinton & Camden Railroad Co 10.50 78,000 40. Norfolk & Western .Railway Co. System 437.77 32,500.000 41. Pickens & Hackers Valley Railroad Co 16.50 45,000 42. Pickens & Addison Railway Co < 19.00 45.000 43. Panther Railroad Co 7.00 5,000 44. Pittsburg, Wheeling & Kentucky Railroad. Co 28.02 2,000,000 45. Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Rwy. Co. . . 29.30 1,308.695 46. Preston Railroad Co 14.00 30,000 47. Pocahontas Railroad Co 7.00 20,000 48. Piney River & Paint Creek Railroad Co 6.36 125,000 49. Randolph & Pocahontas Railroad Co 19.00 100,000 50. Raleigh & Pocahontas Railroad Co 1.25 100,000 51. Sewell Valley Railroad Co 21.00 125,000 52. Stroud's Creek & Muddlety Railroad Co 6.00 811,000 53. Valley River Railroad Co 11.00 45,000 54. Virginian Railway Co 139.60 5,500,000 55. Wabash-Pittsburg Terminal Railway Co 4.85 550.000 56. West Virginia Midland Railroad Co 42.06 140,000 57. West Virginia & Southern Railroad Co 3.10 40,000 58. West Virginia Northern Railroad Co 10.97 110,000 59. Winifrede Railroad Co 7.43 150,000 60. Wheeling Terminal Railway Co 7.28 800,000 61. Western Maryland Railway Co 197.05 10,000,000 62. Walkerville & Ireland Railroad Co 6.25 15,000 63. White Oak Railway Co 1 0.44 225.000 64. Winding Gulf R. R. Co 2,500 TOTAL 3,556.98 $181,666,795 Another fact to be considered is that railroads are compelled to lay out such an enormous amount of money in building, that it takes years to begin getting anything like a reasonable return on the money, as compared with any other business. It is not generally known but it in a fact nevertheless, that every railroad in West Virginia, fifty miles or more in length, with probably one exception, has been in the hands of receivers at sometime. Whether or not such receivership was occasioned through the ex travagant expenditure of the railroad's money, the state has been benefitted by this expenditure. The first' commodity that West Virginia had to offer to the country was its bituminous coal, and to make this of any value, railroads were built into the coal fields to get it to the market. The coal being of a de sirable quality, the market demand was great. In the year 1912 there were 65,000,000 tons of coal shipped out of the state and at the average price of $1.00 per ton at the mine, the state became $65,000,000 richer. Just what influence and effect railways have upon values is illustrated in the following table of comparison of property values of certain coun ties in West Virginia, all of which were without railways in 1880; since which time railways were built in two of them: Property Values Property Values Total Per COUNTIES WITHOUT RAILWAYS 1880 1912 Increase Cent. Hardy $2,428,122 $5,267,456 $2,839,334 116 Pendleton 1,587,953 4,420,715 2,832,762 177 4,016,075 9,688,171 5,672,096 141 308 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VLRGINIA COUNTIES WITH RAILWAYS Randolph 1,102,474 22,497,425 21,394.051 1,940 Tucker 479,702 13,688,517 13,208,815 2,753 1,582,176 36,185,942 34,603,766 2,187 The assessed value of railways alone in the latter two counties in 1912, was as follows: Randolph , $4,770,632 Tucker '. 2,510,737 While the percentages of increase in Randolph and Tucker counties, which have only a few miles of railways, over the percentages of in crease for Hardy and Pendleton counties that have no railways, is enormous, the proportion of increase in other counties that have more railways is even greater. Railroads bring not only wealth, but also enlightenment and convenience to the communities through which they run. Compare for instance the hardships, inconvenience and loss of time when traveling by stage coach, with the cheapness, comfort, and dispatch of the modern train. A very small percentage of the traveling public ever stops to make a comparison between the swiftly running train of today and the stage coach of not so many years ago. Just think what it would mean to the business man of this generation if he had to go from New York to San Francisco in a prairie schooner to keep a business engagement. Today a man may conclude his business in Chicago, leave in the after noon, comfortably settle himself in a palatial train and be in New York, a thousand miles away, for business in the morning. And think of the comforts he may enjoy enroute. Meals served in attractive dining cars; the use of a well stocked library; barbershop; bath; stock market re ports; stenographer; valet service and nearly all the comforts of a hotel. Notwithstanding all this, the cost of the trip is far less than it could have been made for in the stage coach days. Such a journey could not have been made with a team in fewer than twenty five days at a cost many times in excess of the present day service afforded by railroads. And yet there are those who delight in anathematizing these great common carriers without which we would not have our present day de velopment and progress. Apropos of the way in which the railroads annihilate distance, it may be interesting to the reader to insert here a time table of 1835-36, for the winter arrangement of a stage line well known in those days: "The Mail Pilot Line leaves Columbus for Wheeling, daily it six a. m., reaching Zanesville at one p. m., and Wheeling at six a. m., the next morning. "The Good Intent Line leaves Columbus for Wheeling, daily at six p. m. through in twenty hours to Wheeling (127 miles) in time for stages for Baltimore and Philadelphia." But, let us take a simpler example of the great benefit of the rail roads. Let us suppose that a farmer wished to visit a point sixty miles SPECIAL ARTICLES : PUBLIC HIGHWAYS 309 away. Before the days of railroads it would have required at least three days to go and come, and transact his business while there. He would have had to supply himself with nine meals; his team with the same, count the wear and tear, to say nothing of losing the use of his team on the farm or figuring his own time. How different now! He boards a train after breakfast, reaches his destination in an hour and a half, transacts his business and is home again for supper in the evening — all at the cost of a trifle as compared with the old way. Surely the people are indebted to the railroads, and West Virginians are no exception. Considering these facts showing what the railroads have been to West Virginia in the past sixty years, how much more important they must be for the state's future under the present tremendous business activity. West Virginia as a mineral and agricultural state has recently proved its claim that it affords more opportunities in these directions than any other state; and bids fair to become one of the leading fruit producing states in the Union. The manufacturing possibilities of the state with its cheap fuel — coal and gas — are beyond computation. Therefore it stands to reason that new railroads will have to be built, and as has already been pointed out, the cost of building and maintaining a railroad in such mountainous country as West Virginia, is infinitely more than in a level country, it will require a large investment of capital. However, where the con struction of new lines is warranted by the laws of supply and demand, the capital will be forthcoming. Just so long as the railroads prosper, so will the state prosper, and the reverse of this statement is equally true. Improvement on Public Highways By Charles P. Light, Field Secretary, American Highway Association. There are few economic questions at the present time that command the attention of the thinking public quite so much as that of highway improvement. A striking evidence of this is to be found in the great number of good roads conventions that are being held throughout the country. They are as popular now as debating societies and quilting parties were twenty or thirty years ago. As a result of this agitation, the majority of the states have organized state highway departments after the commission plan, or with a single commissioner in charge of road work. It will only be a few years until each state will have such a department, in order that proper and continuous attention may be given to road construction and maintenance. It is impossible to emphasize the subject of maintenance too forcibly as it is the most important feature of highway work at the present time. 310 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA It comes very near being criminal to spend money for the construction of highways and then not maintain them properly. How best to main tain the various types of roads comes largely as a result of experience, and experience is increased greatly by tenure in office. It is to be hoped that an efficient and competent man may be appointed chief road engineer of the recently created State Road Bureau, and that when once appoint ed he may be permitted to develop, along with his work. Highway conditions will not be permanently bettered until a majority of the tax payers of the state realize that there must be a well organized state highway department removed from all partisan political influences so that it may not be subjected to the whims and fancies of so-called statesmen. Better roads will come as soon as a majority of the people want them badly enough to have them. It is not nearly so much a question of securing money to have better roads, as it is in spending the money now being raised, wisely and economically. We must not forget that improved roads will bring better schools and greater attendance, better health and quicker medical attention, better farms and more cultivated land, better crops and cheaper trans portation, better economic conditions and more producers, better social conditions and less isolation, better church attendance and better citizens. The desire for cheaper transportation facilities on the part of the great mass of our people will have much to do in the future toward se curing improved highway conditions. Bad roads have a great deal to do with the high cost of living. Improved highway conditions will not only have a tendency to keep young men on the farms but will give those who are there, a greater profit on their various farm products, because of the cheaper transportation brought about by good roads. Postal Development in West Virginia By Arthur Boreman Smith. Postal service, established in the colony of Virginia as early as 1692, was first extended to the trans-Allegheny territory of Western Virginia In 1794 by the creation of post offices at Morgantown and Wheeling. The first later official reference to improved mail routes in what is now West Virginia occurs in a report on the " finest" route in the coun try, from New York to Cincinnati. Railroad service extended to Cum berland, Md., thence to Wheeling by four-horse coach daily, at a "run ning speed" of seven miles an hour. Troubles seemed to center at Wheeling. The Postmaster-General' complained that "this important mail was always detained at the ferry of the Ohio River some ten or twelve hours," because "the proprietor of the ferry could not be induced to encounter the danger of crossing the mail stages in the night." He regrets that "the General Government, while expending much money in SPECIAL ARTICLES ; POSTAL DEVELOPMENT 311 constructing the Cumberland road east and west of the Ohio, omitted to construct a bridge over that stream." There was a controvery with Virginia as to tolls at the toll-gate east from Wheeling. The General Government had ceded the National road to the states through which it passed, reserving the right to its use as a post road free from toll. Virginia reserved the right to alter the conditions of the cession at will regardless of Congress. The cession appears to have been made in 1832 and in 1836 Virginia receded and pro ceeded to charge toll. The toll for each mail coach was eighty-eight cents and the contractor refused to pay. Mail from the east, when stopped, returned to Triadelphia and remained there until the Wheeling postmaster supplied the necessary cash. There was much correspond ence, but the records fail to disclose how the matter was adjusted. It may be interesting to note that the "running time" from New York to Wheeling in 1835, was 83 hours; in 1837, 67 hours; in 1885, 18 hours- and 15 minutes, and in 1913, 17 hours and 45 minutes. The first Post-Office Directory obtainable was included in the report of the Postmaster-General for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1841. At that time there were 206 post-offices within the limits of the present State of West Virginia, embraced in 28 counties, as follows: Berkeley, 7; Braxton, 4; Brooke, 4; Greenbrier, 10; Hampshire, 16; Hardy, 6; Harrison, 14; Jefferson, 7; Kanawha, 13; Logan, 4; Marshall, 6; Mason, 5; Nicholas, 3; Ohio, 3; Pendleton, 7; Pocahontas, 5; Preston, 6; Randolph, 6; Tyler, 7; Wood, 13. Hampshire headed the list with 16 offices, while Mercer had but one, Princeton, the county seat. Jefferson paid her postmasters $1,584.96, and afforded $3,818.49 revenue to the Department. Ohio county came next paying postmasters $2,1C2.49, leaving but $2,589.30 "nett proceeds." The salary of the postmaster at Wheeling was $2,000. The Postal Guide for 1912 reports 2,117 post-offices in the State, two- thirds of which have money-order facilities. About 600 offices have been discontinued by rural delivery. Post-offices of the first class are Blue- field, Charleston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Huntington, Parkersburg and Wheeling. Those of the second class are Buckhannon, Charles Town, Elkins, Grafton, Hinton, Keyser, Mannington, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, New Martinsville, Piedmont, Richwood, Sistersville, Welch, Wellsburg, Weston and Williamson. There are 76 third-class offices; in all, 101 Presidential post-offices in the State. Postal development during the past fifteen years has been phenomenal. West Virginia has kept pace with her most progressive sisters and has distanced many of them in the race. Transportation of the Mails. Stupendous difficulties were encountered during the early settlement of the State in carrying the mails Jo the widely scattered communities. The Ppstal Regulations require that all county seats shall have mail service. The hardy pioneers believed in law and order, and county government received prompt attention. It was incumbent upon the Post-Office Department to find the county seat and place it in com- 312 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA munication with the General Government, which accounts for the letters "C. H." after the names of many offices. A future city had been born but not named. Roads were few and rough; great mountains and vast forests interven ed; numerous bridgless streams must be crossed, but the trusty carrier, at risk of life and limb, made his way "with safety, certainty and celerity" undaunted by the perils that beset him. A glance at an outline of a few of the routes as advertised in 1850 will give an idea of the dis tances and difficulties encountered, yet the routes at that time were not comparable to those of forty to fifty years earlier. Some roads had been constructed, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad skirted the northern border, and villages, with accommodations for man and beast had come into existence. Following are a few of the routes: From To Miles. Times a Week. Winchester Williamsport, Md 42 2 Winchester Harpers Ferry 34 6 Romney , . . . Clarksburg 109 3 Morgantown. .... .Wheeling 67 1 Clarksburg Uniontown, Pa 66 6 Clarksburg Parkersburg 85 3 Clarksburg Beverly 57 1 Lumberport Middlebourne 40 1 Wheeling Parkersburg 95 3 by steamboat when possible. Parkersburg Beverly 134 3 Weston Braxton C. H 48 1 Staunton Lewisburg 103 6 Staunton Beverly 106 3 Lewisburg Kanawha C. H 104 3 Lewisburg Huntersville 59 1 Lewisburg Fayetteville 60 1 Kanawha C. H. .. .Guyandotte 48 3 Kanawha C. H. . . .Point Pleasant 55 3 Kanawha C. H. .. .Glenville 76 1 Kanawha C. H. . . .Logan C. H G4 1 There were numerous other routes equally difficult; , but those given afford a fair idea of distances traveled and the character of the servvice 63 years ago. The records do not disclose the_ cost of the service, but that it was upon the lowest cash basis is a safe assumption and then there were stiff fines for failures. There are now 812 star, special-office, mail-messenger, railroad, steam boat and electric-car routes in the State; length, 8,288.57 miles; dis tance traveled per annum, 7,045,665.88 miles; annual rate of expenditure, $517,703.23. Every portion of the State is covered with service so complete that the most remote section is in constant communication with the whole world. With but few exceptions, service ranges from six- times-a-week in country districts to several times a day on railroad lines. City Delivery. Fifteen years ago, but four cities, Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg and Wheeling had city delivery. Service is now extended to Bluefleld, Buckhannon, Charles Town, Clarksburg, Elkins, Fairmont, Grafton, Hin ton, Keyser, Mannington, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Sis tersville, Wellsburg and Weston — 20 cities. There are several other cities in which service will be possible within a short time, among which are, Alderson, Cameron, Lewisburg, Marlinton, Montgomery, Pied- SPECIAL ARTICLES: POSTAL DKVELOPMENT 313 mont. Point Pleasant, Princeton, Richwood, Roncevert, Salem, Spencer and Sutton. In order to show the relative standing of West Virginia as to city de livery among other states, the following are named: Alabama has free delivery in 17 cities; Florida, 17; Kentucky, 23; Louisiana, 11; Maine, 23; Nebraska, 18; Oregon, 17; Tennessee, 15; Virginia, 20. It is evident that West Virginia is abreast of the times in this particular branch of the service. Government Buildings. Wheeling was the first city in the State to be granted a building in which to house her post-office. That building, however, was known as the "Custom House." The post-office was merely incidental. The original building has passed away and has been replaced by a splendid, commodious structure. Charleston, Clarksburg, Parkersburg and Mar tinsburg came next. Charleston, like Wheeling, has out-grown the original structure and a magnificent new building is nearing completion. Government buildings have also been erected in Bluefleld and Hunting ton. The Parkersburg and Huntington buildings have become so crowd ed as to necessitate extensions or else new buildings. Buildings are in course of construction or ordered by Congress in Buckhannon, Elkins, Fairmont, Grafton, Hinton, Keyser, Mannington, Morgantown, Moundville, Sistersville, Wellsburg and Weston. But few states are making greater progress in this respect than West Virginia. Considering area, even Oklahoma and Texas, the two states developing most rapidly, have scarcely excelled. Registered Mail. It is a safe assertion that but few persons have an idea of the im mense amount of registered mail matter handled by the post-offices of the State. The latest available report is that of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911, which shows 486,444 domestic letters and 41,934 parcels; 34,990 foreign letters and 3,199 parcels, and 40,993 official free letters and parcels, a total of 607,560 registered letters and parcels originated dur ing that year. The fees amounted to $56,656.70. In this respect West Tirginia ranks with Indiana, Iowa, Virginia and Wisconsin. Rural Free Delivery. To West Virginia belongs the honor of being the State selected for the first experiment in rural free delivery. The first rural service in the United States was installed at Charles Town, Jefferson County, October 6, 1896. Hon. William L. Wilson was Postmaster-General, the only West Virginian to hold that position. A. W. Machen the Superintendent of Free Delivery was intrusted with the task of installing the service. The matter had been passed over for two years by Mr. Wilson's pre decessor, and it can truthfully be said that he was not favorably inclined, fearing the cost. Supt. Machen detailed his chief clerk and instructed "him to proceed to Jefferson county and arrange the service, as a com- 314 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA pliment to Mr. Wilson. The recommendation was for three routes at Charles Town, one at Halltown, and one at Uvilla. Carrier Gibson, Route No. 1, Charles Town, is still in the service and is Carrier No. 1, United States of America. Salaries of carriers were fixed at $200 the year. Service was crude but highly appreciated by the people. It is rather singular, but a fact, that West Virginians did not readily appreciate the advantages of the service. The five routes in operation June 30, 1897, increased to six the next year, to 16 in 1899, 27 in 1900, 37 in 1901, 52 in 1902, 70 in 1903, 136 in 1904, 163 in 1905, 221 in 1906, 270 in 1907, 312 in 1908, 348 in 1909, 364 in 1910, 367 in 1911, 370 in 1912, and 375 January 31, 1913. There have been 566 petitions for service of which 45 are now pending. But three routes have been discontinued, of which two "Were merged in other routes. It would thus appear that 133 applications have been refused by the Department. The refusal by the Department to install service was due in most instances to opposition by local postmasters- and star-route contractors. It is also a fast that representatives in Congress have been lax in many instances, fearing to incur the dis pleasure of parties who protested against changes in the existing service. Rural delivery emanates from 200 post-offices, located in 36 counties. There have been remarkably few changes in the service. Occasional extensions and revisions due to opening of new roads comprise the bulk of the changes. There should be at least 1,000 routes in the State and would be were proper efforts made. An inspector can only report facts. His recommendation, even if adverse, is not final. Establishment depends-- wholly upon the wishes of the senators and representatives. Complete county service is in operation in but two counties, Marion and Wood. There are many other counties in which complete service is possible, namely all of those bordering on the Ohio River, all west of the Allegheny Mountains and north of the Great Kanawha, and several in the eastern section. It may be interesting to note that oh Christmas Day, 1909, 67,313 pieces of mail were handled by the 364 carriers then in service, an average of nearly 200 pieces per route. During March, April and May, 1909, the amount of mail handled was: Delivered Collected Registered letters and packages 4,549 5,906 Letters , 941,207 611,967 Postal cards 579,937 407,339 Newspapers 1,787,225 3,921 Circulars and packages . : 510,886 17,615 TOTAL 3,823,798 1,046,748 Applications for money orders 14,916 Value of stamps on mail collected by carriers $17,208.16 Value of stamps sold by mail carriers $17,211.19- Following is the result of a count of mail handled during May, 1911, and SPECIAL ARTICLES: POSTAL DEVELOPMENT 315 October, 1912. Attention is directed to the remarkable increase in the amount of mail handled during a period of eighteen months: May, 1912 Delivered Collected First Class , 530,758 297,816 Second Class 716,787 2,039 Third Class 239,475 1,821 Fourth Class 23,180 1,782 TOTAL 1,510.200 303.348 October 1912 Delivered Collected First Class 666.739 317,334 Second Class .' 85:!. 572 3,239 Third Class 295,641 3,325 Fourth Class 26,064 1,737 TOTAL 1,841,016 321,659 Per Cent, of Increase 22.6 6.03 March 1, 1908, carriers reported 412 miles of macadam road and 6,196 miles of gravel, earth and sandy roads, the total mileage being 6,607 miles, giving an average length of 22 miles per route. The amount expended for up-keep of roads was $246,857. The average increase of farm values was 18 per cent. In addition to the rural free delivery ser vice, star route carriers delivered and collected mail free of cost to patrons, but the service is not satisfactory to any who have had the rural delivery service. Much has been written about the excessive cost of rural delivery. Latest reports show that the average rate of cost per mile of length was $42.22 for star routes, and $41.67 for rural routes. The inferior service is most expensive and subject to the additional cost of maintaining post offices on the star routes. Aside from the value of rural free delivery to the direct patrons, no other agency has developed so healthy a sentiment for good roads. Every carrier is a daily reminder of the importance of good roads to at least 100 farmers. In Jefferson County, the county engineer made an earnest effort to improve the roads covered by rural routes, and Jefferson has the best roads of any county in the state. The same incentive has produced most satisfactory results in Marion and Wood counties. Postal Savings. The Postal savings feature of the service has been in operation but a short time. It is scarcely possible to arrive at what might be termed a satisfactory development of that branch of the service. On June 30, 1912, there were 720 depositors, with $48,924 on deposit. The amount of bonds issued to depositors, January 1, 1912, was $9,570. There are now 136 post-offices in the State designated as depositories, as follows: First class offices, 7; second class, 18; third class, 75; fourth class, 35 these offices are located in the more important cities and towns where banks exist. It is expected deposits will rapidly in crease when the service is extended into the country districts Total deposits to June 30, 1912, were $84,761; withdrawals, $35,837; leaving a balance, as stated above, of $48,924. Deposits increased to $61,485 by September 30, 1912. 316 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA There is no accurate data available as to operation of the parcels post which went into effect January 1, 1913. NOTE. — It is a source of regret that it is almost Impossible to glean from the records of the Post Office Department a comprehensive and continuous account of postal development. Practically all of the records were destroyed by fire in 1836. Such scraps as remain nave been stored and are inaccessible to a large degree. Officials of the Department were most courteous and gave all possible assistance. Printed documents are scarce, but little more than summaries are published. It is a source of regret that there is no history of the , Department. The time at my disposal, after receiving the request to write a chapter on Postal Development in West Virginia, was somewhat limited, which is my only excuse for not making it more elaborate. A. B. S. Development of Telephone Service By the Editor. The first step toward a telephone system in West Virginia was the establishment of a telephone central office in Pittsburg on January 1, 1879, by the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company. The first telephone exchange in the state was established a.t Wheeling by the Central District company on May 15, 1880. An office was established at Parkersburg in 1882. Later, offices were established at Moundsville, Wellsburg and New Cumberland — and, gradually, at all the most im portant points in the i state. For several years each exchange was isolated. No connection was afforded from one office to another. The telephone horizon was but little broader than the horizon of vision. In a short time, however, just as demands had been made for a switch-board, the necessity for com munication between various cities and towns arose. As a result, toll lines were built connecting various cities and gradually forming a net work of wires by means of which it is now possible to communicate with anyone within a radius of two thousand miles. The first toll line in West Virginia was constructed in 1883 and con nected Wheeling with Pittsburg. It practically followed the course of the Ohio and, consequently, when the next year the record flood came much of it was washed away and had to be rebuilt. This line was only the beginning in West Virginia. Wheeling was soon connected with Steubenville, Ohio, and Parkersburg; Morgantown was given a northern outlet through Uniontown Pennsylvania; Clarksburg and Parkersburg, and Fairmont and Clarksburg, and Fairmont and Morgantown were all connected, and by the year 1900 the state was a system of "highways for talk." In the territory of the Central District Telephone Co., toll lines con necting the exchanges mentioned below were built at the dates given: ' 1895 — Wheeling, W. Va. — Steubenville, O. 1805 — Morgantown, W. Va. — Uniontown, Pa. 1896 — Wheeling, W. Va. — Parkersburg, W. Va. 1896 — Moundsville, W. Va. — Cameron. W. Va. 1899 — Cameron, W. Va. — Fairmont, W. Va. 1899 — Clarksburg, W. Va. — Parkersburg, W. Va. 1899 — Clarksburg, W. Va. — Grafton, W. Va. 1900 — Morgantown. W. Va. — Waynesburg, Pa. 1900 — Clarksburg, W. Va. — Fairmont, W. Va. 1902 — Fairmont, W. Va — Morgantown, W. Va. SPECIAL ARTICLES : TELEPHONE SERVICE 317 The early development of telephone service in southern West Virginia was begun by the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph company by the establishment of exchanges at Charleston and Huntington about 1888 or 1889. No other development was undertaken until 1896, when a toll line was constructed between Charleston and Montgomery, West Virginia, a distance of twenty-seven miles. About 1898 the company pur chased an existing line owned by an independent company from Charles ton to Saint Albans, and Winfield, a total distance of twenty-five miles. The American Telephone and Telegraph company constructed the Cuyahoga Falls-Charleston line through to Charleston about 1897. From this time until the later part of 1901 there was no development by any of the Bell or associated companies, but from 1895 or 1896 until 1901 the independent companies were very active through southern West Virginia and many exchanges were constructed, including Charleston, Huntington, Point Pleasant, Spencer, Weston, Buckhannon, Sutton, Hin ton, Alderson, Ronceverte and Lewisburg; also Elkins and surrounding territory. Many toll lines were also constructed in different sections of the state by independent companies. In the summer of 1901 the Ameri can Telephone and Telegraph company constructed what is known as the Petersburg-Georgetown line which was completed early in 1902. In 1901 the Southern Bell company constructed exchanges in Point Pleasant and Montgomery, West Virginia, covering the New River coal fields and the greater part of Fayette county. During the year 1903 the Point Pleasant-Ravenswood-Belleville toll line and the Ravenswood-Spencer toll line were constructed, connection being made at Belleville with the Central District and Printing Telegraph company; making a through line from Point Pleasant to Parkersburg. In 1904 exchanges were constructed at Ravenswood and Ripley, and the exchange at Spencer, which was constructed several years previous by a local company and sold to the Central District and Printing Telegraph company, was purchased by the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph, company. In 1903 construction work was started on the Charleston-Sut ton-Weston line which was not completed until in 1904. Another con nection was established with the Central District and Printing Telegraph company at Jane Lew, West Virginia, giving a through route from Char leston to Clarksburg. Exchanges were constructed at Weston and Buck hannon in 1904. In 1903 the Southern Bell company purchased the property of the West Virginia Telegraph and Telephone company, which included Hinton, Alderson, and Beckley exchanges and a number of Farmers' lines. Dur ing the same year the exchanges at Alderson and Hinton were entirely reconstructed new plants being installed; and early in 1904 the Beckley exchange was completely reconstructed, a new plant being installed. In 1905 the Sutton-Richwood and also the Hinton- Bluefleld line were constructed. Connection was established at Bluefleld with the Blue- field Telephone company which had been operating in Bluefleld and be tween Bluefleld and Welch for a number of years. The Richwood ex change was constructed during 1907. Construction work on the Huntington-Logan Toll Line was started in 318 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 1904 and completed in the early part of 1905. The Logan Exchange was completed during the latter part of 1905. The Spencer-Weston Toll Line was constructed in 1909. The Huntington, W. v£,-Pikeville, Ky., Toll Line was completed in 1906. The Charleston-Madison Toll Line was constructed in 1909, the Madison exchange being opened in the early part of 1910. The Southern Bell company purchased the Huntington Mutual Tele phone company's property in January, 1910, and during that year the properties at Huntington were consolidated, which included toll lines from Huntington to Hurricane. In December the same year the Southern Bell company purchased the property of the Charleston Home Telephone company, which included the Charleston, East Bank, Montgomery, and Clendenin opposition exchanges, and also toll lines connecting same and extending to Hurricane and Buffalo, W. Va. These properties were con solidated with the Bell Plants during the summer of 1911. In 1912 the Southern Bell company transferred its West Virginia property to The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone company, and in October, 1912, The C. & P. company purchased the property of the Point Pleasant Telephone company, and this property was consolidated with the Bell property May 1, 1913. In the period from 1901 to 1910, a number of small exchanges were opened at various points on the toll lines indicated above. In January, 1901 there were only two Bell exchanges in the southern part of the state (Huntington and Charleston) ; while there are now twenty-four. On January 1, 1901 the Huntington exchange had about 230 stations and the Charleston exchange ' about 715, with no connecting stations. There are now 10,537 stations in the twenty-four exchanges, with 14,310 serviee and connecting stations, making a total of 24,847 stations. At Charleston and Huntington, the plants owned by the company have been rebuilt, and a large amount of underground work done. A new B central office equipment was installed in 1906 and 1907. As indicated, the southern section of West Virginia was rather ex tensively developed by independent companies before the Bell company started to develop there; but the Bell either by purchase or connecting agreements has utilized their lines. There are now only seven exchanges in which there is duplicate service: Beckley, Ravenswood, Ripley, Spencer, Sutton, Weston, and Buckhannon. This does not include the territory covered by the West Virginia Eastern Telephone company — a sub-licensed company which operates in Randolph, Barbour and Tucker counties which has opposition service over its entire territory and in its three exchanges. One interesting fact in connection with the telephone situation in this territory is, that each of the following towns have three telephone ex changes: Ripley, Spencer, Ravenswood and Weston. This section of West Virginia is also throughly covered with farmers' line development, the lines being constructed and owned by the farmers. The eastern panhandle is operated by the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone company (Bell system). Keyser and Piedmont, which had exchanges previously operating independently, were connected with the SPECIAL ARTICLES : COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS 319 Bell system through a traffic agreement in May, 1901, after which they had the benefits of communication with the outside world. An exchange was established at Harpers Ferry on October 1, 1905 and at Charlestown and Shepherdstown in 1906. The first "long distance" telephone line to traverse West Virginia was the New York-St. Louis line, built in 1894. In the state of West Virginia it followed the course of the National Pike. In 1906 a line was con structed from Cumberland, Maryland to Parkersburg, following closely the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. In the same year a line wa.s built from Pittsburg to Grafton. In 1902, the Lynchburg, Virginia-Cincinnati, Ohio line was constructed, passing through Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia. It has been only recently that the telephone has been recognized as a necessity. Until the last few years it was regarded as a luxury; and the subscribers list of the telephone companies included only the wealthier people; but it has become an indispensable adjunct to daily life in both office and home. Telephone development has by no means reached its zenith in West Virginia. The subscribers lists are constantly growing and the telephone managers by the installation of reserve plants in the larger cities are preparing for enormous growth in the coming years. Commercial Organizations in West Virginia By Roy Benton Naylor, Secretary West Virginia Board of Trade. Commercial organizations have played a large part in the development of West Virginia and the State is well equipped with active and energetic Associations working for the progress and prosperity of different inter ests and the commonwealth as a whole along the most modern and approved lines. They constitute one of our best assets. They have united various lines of commerce and industry in the State at large and the forces of various communities in compact bodies for the achievement of aims and objects common to all. They have brought together the inter ests of various sections and have been a potent factor in promoting the sentiment of Solidarity and mutual destiny which has proven valuable in the solution of many problems. They have promoted local civic pride and state patriotism which are essential to progress and have stimulated citizens to the unselfish performance of tasks of far-reaching importance to the public good. The only state organization whose object is the general advancement of the state and whose membership includes business men in all lines of endeavor is the West Virginia Board of Trade which was formed in 1905 at Wheeling and which from the first enlisted the support of many of our leaders in commerce and industry, its past presidents including 320 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Hon. George C. Sturgiss of Morgantown; Hon. Henry G. Davis of Elkins, ex-Governor A. B. Fleming of Fairmont; ex-Governor W. A. MacCorkle of Charleston; Hon. Wm. P. Hubbard of Wheeling; Hon. W. C. Mc- Conaughey of Parkersburg; Dr. I. C. White of Morgantown, with the present incumbent Hon. John J. Cornwell of Romney. The State Board of Trade was originally formed as a combination of local organizations, but not long after its formation, its scope was ex tended to include individuals, firms and corporations. It now has about twenty organizations as constituent members with over three-hundred in dividuals, firms and corporations in every section of West Virginia as active members. Its work has proven very valuable to the State in many ways as its scope covers a wide field and many matters of general interest have engaged its attention. The West Virginia Business Men's Association which was organized in 1910 at Parkersburg is particularly devoted to the interest of retailers and has proven a success from the start. This Association has as its main object the building up of a comprehensive credit system among our retail merchants, but is also devoted to the advancement of legislation and other objects which may effect the interests of all. Going into the matter of organizations devoted to separate branches of industry, we find the coal interests very well organized in the West Virginia Mining Association, formed in 1907, for the general advancement of the mining industry in West Virginia, and the West Virginia Mining Institute, organized in 1908, with largely the same purposes and aims. These Associations have a large and growing membership and in the short time they have been in existence have done a great deal toward the improvements of West Virginia's leading industry. Following these, we find other lines of business thoroughly organized in the West Virginia Bankers' Association; the West Virginia Wholesale Grocers' Association; the West Virginia Retail Hardware Association; the West Virginia Pharmaceutical Association, the West Virginia Photo graphers' Association and the West Virginia Master Plumbers' Asso ciation, all holding annual meetings and all working for the up-building of the particular interest by which they are supported. The motion picture men are the latest on the list and expect to perfect a strong organization this year. The lumber men have been organized at various times but recently have not been active. However, the state is well represented in the national lumbermens' association, known as the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoos. This association, despite its peculiar name, is a very useful one and has a membership in West Virginia of between two and three hundred men engaged in the lumber industry. In a local way, West Virginia is as well supplied with commercial organizations as any state in the Union in proportion to its size and population. These have done a splendid service on broad, unselfish lines for their various communities and thus have contributed their share to the up-building of West Virginia. They have attracted new enterprises involving the investment of millions of dollars; they have improved rail- SPECIAL ARTICLES : COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS 321 road facilities; they have bettered civic conditions in many ways; they have united business interests in many worthy projects; they have pro moted the formation of useful organizations for particular purposes; they have advertised the resources and advantages of various communities and have stimulated local civic pride as no other force could do. They adequately reflect the spirit of progress which animates our people and have put into effect many aims and aspirations which could be realized in no other way. These Associations are as follows: Bluefleld Chamber of Commerce; Charleston Chamber of Commerce; Clarksburg Board of Trade; Fairmont Chamber of Commerce; Grafton Board of Trade; Huntington Chamber of Commerce; Keyser Board of Trade; Mannington Board of Trade; Martinsburg Board of Trade; Mogantown Board of Trade; Moundsville Board of Trade; New Martins ville Board of Trade; Parkersburg Board of Commerce; Richwood Board of Trade; St. Albans Board of Trade; Salem Board of Trade; South Branch Board of Trade; Weston Board of Trade; Wheeling Board of Trade and the Williamson Board of Trade. Besides general organization such as indicated in the list, most of these cities also have retail merchants' associations working for the particular interest of this class of business men, while at Montgomery, Point Pleasant, Wellsburg, Keystone, Hinton and Elkins these asso ciations are doing the work indicated and also that which usually falls to the Board of Trade or Chamber of Commerce. The largest and most important general commercial organizations are naturally found in the largest cities of the state where there are more men to do things and more money to do them with, and so we have the leading bodies in Bluefleld, where the Chamber of Commerce, organized about ten years ago has a large membership; in Charleston, whose Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1899 and has a membership of 512; in Clarksburg whose Board of Trade was incorporated in 1906 and has a membership of over 400; in Fairmont where a Board of Trade was organized in 1902 and later re-organized as a Chamber of Commerce in 1911, with a present membership of approximately 250; in Huntington where the Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1895 with a membership of about 500; in Morgantown where the Board of Trade was organized about five years ago with a membership of 400 ; in Parkersburg where the Board of Commerce was recently reorganized with a membership of over 500 and in Wheeling where the Board of Trade in 1900 succeeded the Chamber of Commerce formed in 1885 and now has a membership of 650. The South Branch Board of Trade is the only inter-county organization and combines the business men of Hampshire, Hardy and Grant counties. It was organized in 1811 and has done a good work for this section of West Virginia so appropriately called "The Land Overlooked." In all of these various local organizations, we find leaders of commerce and industry at the head of affairs and many of our most prominent men are active in their support as, for instance, Senator David E. French is at the head of the Bluefleld organization; Col. D. E. Abbott, president of 32? SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the Huntington Chamber; ex-Governor A. B. White, one of the most active in the Parkersburg Board; Dr. I. C. White, a leading spirit in the Morgantown association; Hon. John J. Cornwell, the organizer and presi dent of the South Branch Board, and Mr. W. B. Irvine, a leading banker of the State, at the head of the Wheeling organization. While some main facts have been given about the larger organizations, it is but just to say that many in the smaller towns such as those in Moundsville, Mannington, Williamson, Hinton, Elkins and Weston are well organized and have done some splendid work. Many of the larger organizations, like the Wholesale Grocers' Asso ciation and Huntington Chamber of Commerce have been in existence for many years, but the great majority of them have been formed within the last decade and it is safe to say that the number and membership of the various associations have doubled within ten years. Business men have come to see that in union there is strength and that the most satisfactory results can be accomplished by working as a unit on those questions which affect the interests of all. Prior to 1900, the advantage and usefulness of commercial organizations was not fully realized, except here and there, but the awakening has come all along the line and with the success which has attended our organizations, it is not too much to predict a doubling of our resources in this regard in this decade. Wheeling, West Virginia, April 7th, 1913. The Story of the Forest and Timber Industries By A. B. Brooks, Agent Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. There was a time not many years ago when nearly the whole land area of what is now West Virginia was overspread with a forest of large trees. On the cold mountain ridges and plateaus, in the deep river gorges, and along the banks of the cool mountain streams were the cone- bearing trees, — the hemlock, the pines, the balsam fir, and the red spruce. With these, and covering thousands of acres of cove and hill and river bottom, were the giant oaks and hickories and maples, and the famous yellow poplar and the black walnut, intermingled with numerous other broad-leaf trees, sought in after years for their valuable lumber and fruits. These trees had grown and flourished and reached maturity, like thousands of their ancestors, undisturbed and unused except by the savage races and the wild animals that then lived in this otherwise un inhabited region. When our forefathers came into this wilderness country and set them selves to the task of building homes and clearing the land for crops of vegetables and grain, they found the forest a storehouse for many of the necessities of life. While some of the trees had to be felled and SPECIAL ARTICLES: FOREST AND TIMBER INDUSTRIES 223 burned, others afforded indispensable materials for the construction of dwellings and the manufacture of rude implements and tools. Thus it was that the products of the forest first came to be utilized and that forest industries were begun with the earliest settlements. The story of the gradual but marvelous development of the various in dustries directly dependent upon the products of the forest can be traced through the years in which farms have grown wide from the first small openings and town and cities have sprung up throughout the state. The remarkable evolution of the devices for the manufacture of lumber is one of the best measures of the development of forest and timber in dustries. The adz and broad axe and frow, with which the puncheons and boards were shaped for the first log houses, were the forerunners of the whip saw and the old-fashioned water saw mill. The rude, hand- operated device known as a whip saw was carried easily with other be longings of the pioneers and was used principally in the early days be fore heavy machinery could be brought in. The contrivance is thus described in Kercheval's History of the Valley of Virginia: "The whip saw was about the length of the common mill saw (referring to the saw used in water mills) with a handle at each end transversely fixed to it. The timber intended to be sawed was first squared with a broad axe, and then raised on a scaffold six or seven feet high. Two able-bodied men then took hold of the saw, one standing on top of the log and the other under it." The author of this history adds further on, — "The labor was excessively fatiguing, and about one hundrexl feet of plank or scantling was considered a good day's work for two hands." Straight- grained yellow poplars and white pines, and other trees with soft and durable wood, were easily found in those days and were always selected as whip saw .material. Not a few old residences that were built of whip-sawed lumber are still standing. In Pocahontas county lumber was sawed with a whip saw for McClintic's Hunting House, built at the mouth of Tea Creek in 1880; and it is stated that saws of this kind have been used in Wyoming county, and in some of the adjoining counties of the southern part of the state, within the last ten years. Whip sawing early gave place, in many sections, to the manufacture of lumber on water-power saw mills. Two types of mills belonging to this class were in existence. The sash saw mill consisted of a straight band of steel properly toothed, and strained taut by means of a frame, or sash, into which_ it was fitted. The frame was pulled down by a water wheel, which supplied the motive power, and was pulled back, in some cases, by an elastic pole. The muley saw, introduced a little later, was less cumbersome and was capable of more rapid work. It is not definitely known when or where the first saw mill was built and operated in West Virginia. It is probable, however, that there were a few built by the early settlers who occupied the valley of the Potomac river and its tributaries prior to the year 1755. No records have been examined that confirm or deny this statement but it is reasonably safe to say that there were a dozen rude water saw mills in the territory now occupied by Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy, Grant, and 324 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Pendleton counties as early as 1775, and that the number had increased to five or six times as many by the year 1800. There may have been more at each period. A record dated in the year 1810 states that there were about fifty saw mills running in Berkeley county alone at that time. Those who left the settlements in the east to take up lands and establish homes west of the Alleghanies had doubtless become familiar with the water saw mill and knew its value, but many of them journeyed such a distance that it was not possible for them to take anything so cumbersome as machinery of this kind. As soon as the roads could be cut through the wilderness, however, among the first things to be hauled over them were the clumsy irons of these mills, which were taken farther west, year after year, until they reached the Ohio river. The dates of the settlements, therefore, nearly coincide with the dates of the be ginning of the water saw mill industry. We find that there was a flourish ing colony established on the Monongahela river as early as 1758; that there was a settlement containing five thousand people on the Ohio river near Wheeling in 1769; that colonies were established at Parkers burg in 1773, and at Point Pleasant in 1776. During the decade between 1770 and 1780 settlements were begun in a number of places along the Cheat river in Preston and Tucker counties; along the Tygarts Valley river in Randolph county; along the Monongahela and its West Fork and Tygarts Valley branches in the whole region now embraced by the counties of Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, Harrison, Barbour, Lewis and Upshur. During the same period, or slightly earlier in some cases, settle ments were established on the Greenbrier river in Pocahontas and Green brier counties, and in the plateau and valley lands of Monroe county. Saw mills were brought to the settlements nearest the mountains first, but the dates given above are only a little in advance of the saw mills in any case. In fact, if we were to continue as above, to trace the pro gressive settlements step by step, from the very first up to the year 1880, we would have a reasonably accurate history of the progress of these mills. The first saw mill west of the. mountains is said to have been built near the town of St. George, in Tucker county by John Minear in the year 1776. This was a sash saw mill and stood on Mill run, a small tributary of Cheat river. Another was built by the McNeals some years after their settlement in southern Pocahontas county in 1765, and an other by Valentine Cackley at Millpoint, in the same county, in 1778. The Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia, written by Joseph Martin, contains one of the first available lists of saw mills in what is now West Virginia. According to this list there were forty or more water mills, running in 1835. Probably the most extensive water saw mill operations in the state were conducted on Middle Island creek and Its tributaries in Pleasants, Tyler, and Doddridge counties. In Tyler county alone not fewer than twenty-four sash mills were running in this vicinity between the years 1840 and 1880. Some of the mills were in operation day and night in winter, and all sawed choice white and yellow pines for southern markets. SPECIAL ARTICLES: FOREST AND TIMBER INDUSTRIES 225 As late as 1863, when West Virginia had its birth as a state, seven- eights of the lumber consumed here and exported was manufactured by water power on the primitive types of saw mills. The next step in the evolution of sawing devices was the introduction of steam-propelled rotary saw mills that were capable of being hauled from place to place. This type of mill, which is still in use in the state, — numbering over fifteen hundred in present operation — is too familiar to require description. Little is known of the first years of the steam saw mill industry. It would be impossible at this time to obtain full data as to their number and location. Local historians, with one or two ex ceptions, have remained silent regarding it, and all that can now be learned of the early stages of steam saw milling must be laboriously secured from a few imperfect records and from the older citizens of the state who were lumbermen many years ago. According to Martin's list there were fifteen steam saw mills in operation in the counties that now constitute West Virginia, in 1835. The increase in number of portable mills was not rapid during the first thirty or forty years after their introduction. With the coming of the railroads, however, mills of this kind began to multiply rapidly. New towns that grew up along these roads required a large amount of rough lumber for the hastily-built houses, and it was usually possible to locate mills near by. In 1870 J. H. Diss Bebar wrote: "Along both branches of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail road, from twenty to thirty first-class mills are cutting on an average 3,000 feet of lumber a day." And so it was along practically all other railroads as they were built from time to time. A few came at first and these were soon followed by many others, as mentioned in the quotation above. Just as the old water mills followed closely the first settlements, supplying lumber for floors and ceiling in the log houses and for the construction of the first frame dwellings, so the portable mills followed the later settlements as they were begun along the lines of the railroads. The introduction of the band saw mill, about thirty years ago, practically revolutionized the lumber industry. The modern plant with its numerous mechanical appliances for the saving of labor and for rapid work, is a marvelous combination of ingeniously-fashioned machinery. The saw itself, as the name implies, is a belt of steel which works over two wheels mounted one above the other in a frame. The band is sometimes toothed on both edges so that a board is cut from the log at both the forward and backward movements of the carriage. The sawing, in the typical West Virginia plant, is usually conducted in the second story of the building. Logs, which are frequently conveyed long distances on trains and deposited in artificial ponds, are drawn up an incline to the mill floor by an endless chain device called the "bull chain." Here the log is scaled and deposited on an inclined platform sloping to the carriage onto which it is rolled and made fast by setting works, con sisting of head blocks and dogs, operated by steam and controlled by levers manipulated by men on the carriage. The sawyer controls the movements of the carriage and handles the logs by the use of a device 326 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA known as the "nigger" which plunges up from underneath and, striking the log with great force, tosses and turns it to any desired position. Slabs and boards are cut off in rapid succession, the carriage returning to the starting point at a high rate of speed. Mechanical carriers take the refuse and boards as they drop from the saw. The boards are con veyed to the edger saw and, without halting in their course, are carried to the trimmer, which, with its complicated system of levers and drop or lift saws, cuts off the uneven ends and reduces them to standard lengths. From here they are carried into the yard. The sound slabs are cut into proper lengths for lath or shingles or dimension stock, and the poor ones are ground into small pieces and passed with the saw dust into the furnaces. The time consumed in the passage of a log of average size from the pond to the yard and its conversion into lumber seldom exceeds three minutes. » Many of the large plants of the state are equipped with two or three band saws besides additional re-saws, and in some cases logs are squared and taken to gang saws where, with one passage, they are converted into boards. Several of the mills employ day and night shifts running twenty hours out of the twenty-four every working day in the year. The Rich- wood mill of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company — one of the largest operations in the state — cuts 300 thousand feet of lumber every day. The first band saw mills were built in West Virginia between the years 1880 and 1885. Deveraux Lumber Company's mill built in Charleston in 1881 was probably the first. Two years later J. R. Huffman, the in ventor of the band saw, built two large mills at Charleston. The St. Lawrence Boom & Manufacturing Company erected a band mill at Ronceverte in 1884; and the Blackwater Boom & Lumber Company erect ed one at Davis in 1887. Others of the older mills were those of the Hulings Lumber Company, at Hambleton; Gauley Lumber Company at Camden-on-Gauley; Parkersburg Mill Company, at Parkersburg; and Pardee & Curtin Lumber Company, at Grafton: There are at present eighty-three band saw mills in operation within the state. During the years when the more primitive types of saw mills were running and continuing in some cases to the present time, were other forest industries of considerable importance. The list of these industries includes the making and floating of flat-boats, the raiting of logs and other timber products, the manufacture of cooperage stock, the hoop pole industry, shingle-making, the telephone and telegraph pole and cross- tie industries, tanning, and others of less importance. In later times the manufacture of pulp and paper has become one of the leading forest industries. Rafting has been conducted on all the principal rivers of the state except those that are too rough to admit of it. On the Ohio river rafts of logs could be seen as early as 1830; and not far from the same time flat-boats were being made on the Kanawha, the Coal, and the Elk rivers. Most of the flat-boats were loaded with staves and taken to the salt works near Charleston where they were sold. For the past seventy-five years SPECIAL ARTICLES: FOREST AND TIMBER INDUSTRIES 2^7 log rafts and single logs have been taken in large numbers from the forests that border the Guyandotte, the Big Sandy, the Little Kanawha, and other rivers. The hoop pole industry was enormous during the years of the early life of the state. As late as 1880, according to a report of the 10th census, more than three and three-fourths million hoop poles were cut, valued at $146,000. The hoop pole and shingle industries have declined within the past two decades. The cutting of poles and cross-ties, however, as well as the tanning industry, have steadily increased year by year, as the demand has become greater. The amount of timber cut and used for various purppses prior to 1880 is not known. Much that was cut before the Civil War Period was used for domestic purposes. Some was sold in markets that could be reached by water and a little was shipped on the first railroads. One estimate puts the quantity used at home for buildings purposes, during the whole time before 1880, at 500 million feet. The cut of saw mills during the past thirty years has been about 20 billion feet. This does not take into account the vast quantity of timber cut for poles, cross-ties, tan-bark, pulp and for other minor purposes. The figures below show how rapidly the production has increased during the periods mentioned: YEAR. FEET BOARD MEASURE. 1880 180,120,000 1890 301,958,000 1900 ..¦ 778,051,000 1907 1,395,975,000 1909 1,472,942,000 West Virginia ranks first in the production of chestnut and cherry lumber, and thirteenth in the production of all kinds. The number of mills has been steadily increasing until at present there are fifteen hundred and twenty-four. That the area of original forest in the state has decreased in pro portion to the increase in capacity and number of saw mills is a natural and correct inference. The amount of lumber cut on the old water power mills and the amount rafted out, and that used for various other pur poses, made only a small beginning on the margin of the great forests of the state. Even as late as the year 1880 — as shown by the accompany ing map — the great body of the coniferous and hardwood forests of the interior sections had scarcely been touched. At that date only strips of varying widths had been cut along the Ohio river and its larger tributaries in the state, and along the North and South Branches of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. But since the coming of the larger mills and building of additional railroads, the area of virgin forest has been reduced to less than one-tenth of its original size. The forest and timber industries — beginning in a small way with the earliest settlements of the state, and increasing to their present large proportions — have meant more in the way of benefits to the citizens of West Virginia than any other industry except that of farming. All classes of people have been, and still continue to be, the beneficiaries of these forest industries; and only by being deprived of the advantages that come from this source, as is so frequently the case, will the people 328 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA come to realize their great dependence upon the things that reach them through this channel. The forest industries have not only brought capital into the state and afforded employment to thousands of its citizens, but have also been the means of establishing social centers and developing wholesome social customs. Hundreds of small villages and flourishing larger towns of today stand where lumber camps formerly stood, built long ago In dense wooded regions. In these camps a rough but large-hearted, robust, and justice-loving company of young lumbermen — some from the rural homes of the state and others from outside our borders — constitut ed, the first temporary and shifting population of these centers, — a few lingering behind as the first permanent residents. In many instances. where the ownership of large tracts of timber land has fallen into the hands of a single company, the first small operations have soon given place to enormous mills which still furnish employment to the entire population of the prosperous towns that have grown up around them. Fish and Game By J. A. Viquesney, Forest, Game and Fish Warden. The first colonists migrating to America found a land of unbroken forests, teeming with all kinds of game; the coasts and water courses were swarming with water fowls of every description, and every river was alive with beautiful fish. From the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers down to the present time, the wild game and fish have had an enormous potential value, and have been the main-stay in providing food for the pathfinder, the prospector and the settler as they blazed the way of civilization from the Virginia colonies on the Atlantic to the Golden Gate on the Pacific, and turned this continent from a vast forest, inhabited by the deer, the bear and the bison, into a great country of civilization, dotted with fertile fields, happy homes and industrial development that has been an inspiration to the whole world. Nowhere in the world has there been such a destruction of wild life as has taken place on the American continent in the past century. No other country has been endowed with such an abundance of wild game as has the United States. It seems that nature lavishly bestowed, upon every acre of our territory, every kind and character of the wild fauna and flora that could be maintained thereon. No pioneer ever pushed so far into the wilderness that he did not find hosts of birds and beasts and millions of fishes awaiting him. Almost a century before the big game of the Rocky mountains was discovered, the game and fish inhabiting the hills, valleys and streams of West Virginia were being slaughtered to feed the Indian and white man alike. ';«fe-: ¦¦-¦¦ Scene on Knapp's Cheek, Pocahontas County. (Bass Stream.) jmWHbhjmIH ,fjfr.,-.-':,y, ?•'•. - J;.-jfc ^jAjt ft ¦*» wSmSSKw -35H . ~^ '¦¦-{ '-¦ .; /..,,:.'• ^.f^ffejpifi ' "¦¦:!- ¦.- \_ •***¦ "V^; ; :'¦ 1 **'-•••*' ¦ *: ¦ ¦ ' ' ... ¦ ¦ . ' . :¦• \ .: ¦¦Si' V"** - ^'VHBu^Ip '•*' fSv"'*" — ^T^PffP^lffi^ip-? ' ^ '^';?^^ ¦ ^^^^^^Phhp^IkNkB^s^ t' "^ ;-»ra»S ^:pte|K|wfe^feawW^SM|l JfeyaSJJ ^TS^V* ' ' ' - " '¦¦., *"¦'*.. .'.'-J^-^ ... '•¦ - "* —¦ E&*.U .-.:-„..' !'->•» ¦'•'• the beauty and perfume of apple blossoms. Industrial and Commercial Progress in West Virginia 1897-1912 By I. V. Barton, Commissioner of Labor. West Virginia has many advantages that contribute to its manufactur ing and commercial interests. First among these advantages is the abundance of cheap and excellent fuel — a condition most favorable to- all manufacturing . in general, and especially to all such important in dustries as iron, steel, tin plate and glass. Water power is very plentiful and well distributed throughout the- entire state and is an excellent means of transportation. Although West Virginia is entirely inland, it has within its boundaries four nav igable rivers; all these rivers traverse the fuel producing districts and! finally discharge their waters into the Ohio, which for three hundred miles forms the western boundary of this state. The railroad has penetrated every section of the state and adds great ly to the facilities for transportation. West Virginia is a great store-house of natural wealth;' is richest in- fuel resources of any state in the Union; and, though they are almost intact, development is bringing them to the markets of the world. West Virginia ranks first in lumber, oil and gas, second in coal and coke. Seventeen thousand two hundred and eighty square miles of her area is rich in coal; more than eighty per cent of the bituminous area of Pennsylvania and Ohio combined ; sixty per cent more than Pennsyl- SPECIAL ARTICLES: 1 N'Dl'STItlAL STATISTICS 34? vania alone. Two thousand square miles more than Kentucky and Tennessee combined. Capital and labor are being attracted to West Virginia. The state is being developed. Capital has discovered the wonderful fuel resources which are offered. Intelligent and efficient labor is another inducement West Virginia has to offer, inasmuch as she has the largest percent of native born American citizens of any state in the Union. The following tables will show the increased activity in the manu facturing and commercial interests, given by periods, name of industry, number employed, amount of wages paid monthly, capital invested, with summary, giving totals from 1897 to 1912, inclusive. INDUSTRIES Years 1° 5. a J=JO £ a 3 E Amount of wages paid monthly 4 47- 3 20 7 67 2 68 2 26 2 11 6 105 19 35 7 18 52 103 24 52 19 41 15 30 17 24 153 303 2 23 3 54 3 8 4 15 3 25 15 125 8 439 6 132 9 191 5 57 9 279 5 150 5 122 47 1,370 7 19 3 7 5 16 15 '42 2 5 3 16 3 39 5 61 11 116 2 21 2 74 3 23 3 68 10 186 32 3,397 61 10,643 144 9,486 44 3,222 54 4,851 45 1,792 67 4,447 447 37,838 Capital invested Amusements Baling Total Total Banking . . . Total Brewing & Distilling Total . Brick & Tilt- Total Carbonated beverages Total Carbon Black Cement & Cement Bloc! Total Cigars & Tobacco Coal Total & Coke Total 1897 1904 1899 1905 1904- 1908 1910- 1905 1909 1911 1897- 1900-1902-1904 1906- 1908- 1910 1899 19011903 1905 1907 1909 1911 1897-1900190219041900 1899190119031905 1907 1897- 1900-1902-1904 1906- 19081910 1899 1901 19031905 1907 19091911 1904- 1908- 1910- 190519091911 1910-1900- 1904 1906 19111901 19051907 1900 1902 19041908 1901 1903 1905 1909 1897- 190019021904190619081910 1899 1901 190319051907 1909 1911 $ 1,100 1,8752,975 $ 2,900 1,400 550 $ 4,850 $ 4,159 1,0257,327 3,1462,7162,3122,237 $ 23,102 $ 1,2251,900 500 800 1,840 $ 6,265 S 15,300 5.245 6,322 1,9855,3587,302 4,963 $ 46,467 * 1,115 411 745 $ 2,271 $ 400 $ 750 2,720 2,450 $ 5,920 $ 800 2,0491,2152,540 $ 6,604 $ 128,138 463,652372,736 87,060 185,453 77,787 197,869 $ 1,512,695 $ 14,55028,00042,550 $ 120,000 20,000 13.500 $ 153,500 $ 544,980 485,000 2,445,150 995,500 1,012,300 697,600745,150 $ 6,925,680 $ 50,000 238,000 400,000 165,250 162,506 $ 1,015,756 $ 577,000 146,625 227,750318,000 465,500 141,180182,000 $ 2,058,055 $ 26,80027,90021,000 $ 75,700 $ 80,000 $ 29,00014,250 106,800 $ 150,050 $ 11,500 22,70016,50018,700 $ 69,400 $ 4,368,000 25,139,42322,522,65! 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Total Total . . Transportation Total . Water Works Total . Miscellaneous 1900-1901 1902-1903 1904-1905 1.906-1907 1 908-1909 1910-1911 l966-l'90i1902-1903 1904-19051906-1907 1908-19091910-1911 1897-18991900-1901 1902-1903 1904-1905 1906-19071908-19091910-1911 1897-18991906-1907 1897-1899 1900-1901 1902-19031904-1905 1906-1907 1908-1909 1910-1911 1897-1899 1900-19011904-1905 1906-1907 1897-18991900-19011902-19031904-1905 1906-1907 1908-1909 1910-1911 2 1 3 3 3 2 14 2 4 7 38 11 352419 13181711 15 117 538 1417 9 16 25 15 78 22 22 8 452157556666 33 343 805500 465110 1,857 24 3,761 187 100 90 49 280224930247 100 80 235 23 32 49 766 331 74 405 419891217290 2776 760 2,680 4 11 6 1,058 273 975 1,324 1,3721,718 489 7,209 60,375 37,500 50,600 6,260 90,500 1,625 246,860 3,300 2,400 3,7073,400 12,11310,65035,570 6,7633,1492,557 7,345 708940915 22,377 8,5502,300 10,85015,19034,645 10,56012,772 1,232 2,855 19,890 97,144 200 40 240 34,195 13,228 36,48359,359 51,50759,612 31,320 285,704 $ 1,800,0001,000,000 295,000430,000 1,550,000 4,400 $ 5,079,400 $ 225,000 90,200 166,000 17,500 356,000 665,100 $ 1,519,800 £ 200,190 164,450318,500485,720 39,93522,40559,849 $ 1,291,049 $ 140,000 85,500 $ 225,500 $ 4,375,9004,456,750 785,500 679,400189,000 46,400 3,158,750 $13,691,700$ 90,000 13,000 55,00014,000 $ 172,000 $ 3,993,460 964,200 2,556,3982,204,101 1,536,966 3,908,2251,317,500 $16,480,850 SPECIAL ARTICLES : INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS 351 INDUSTRY Amusements Baking Banking Brewing & Distilling Brick & Tile •Carbonated Beverages . . . Carbon Black Cement & Cement Blocks Cigars & Tobacco Coal & Coke Confectionery Construction Contracting & Building . ¦Creamery Custom Made Clothing . . Drugs Electric Plants Flour & Feed Foundry & Machinery . . Fruit Growing Furniture Gasoline Gas & Oil •Glass Hotel „ Ice Insurance (life & fire) . . Iron & Steel Laundry Lumber Mercantile Plumbing Pork & Beef Packing . . . Pottery Publishing Real Estate Sheet Metal & Tin Plate . Stone, Granite & Sand . . Telephone Textiles Transportation Water Works Miscellaneous Total as 153 15 47 15 2 1110 447 8 37 2 16 12 494844576717 6 316 58 15 24 131315 242539 14 2 11 110 66 14 35 117 8 78 8 | 343 1 3,117 £> o So, £a 67 105 303125 1,370 42 5 116 186 37,838 126 2,601 375 51 373263320306 1,192 645 453 13 1,284 5,456 318 188 45 918 265 10,757 4,193 159 48 1,8001,074 166 3,761 930 766 405 2,680 6 7,209 89,303 Monthly pay roll $ 2,9754,850 23,102 6,265 46,467 2,271 400 5,920 6,604 1,512,692 5,752 103,122 13,000 3,476 9,574 13,703 33,615 15,53054,62916,26618,467 935 76,465 269,967 7,350 9,189 3,895 49,496 7,673 487,351 251,884 10,544 2,996 65,407 54,584 5,020 246,860 35,570 22,377 10,850 97,144 240 285,704 $3,900,184 Capital Invested $ 42,550 153,500 6,925,6801,015,756 2,058,055 75,70080,000 150,050 69,400 94,740,152 154,700 3,972,544 30,000 170,040 ' 153,000869,104 3,087,600 1,057,4781,654,8801,812,751 736,000 68,000 14,391,965 3,023,224 472,000 802,600317,770 1,496,000 128,500 16,768,37014,045,744 273,400157,000 2,316,400 1,098,697 5,386,700 5,079,400 1,519,800 1,291,049 225,500 13,691,700 172,000 16,480,850 $218,215,609 Notes on Coal, Oil and Gas Development By the Editor. Beginnings of Coal Development. The coal mining industry in West Virginia is still in its infancy. Many pioneer miners, who have watched it grow and expand from very small beginnings, are still living. There was no mining on an extensive scale before the civil war. Long years of exploration and experimental development were re quired to prepare the way for the recent period of active remarkable development. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, West Virginia. coal was used only by the cross-roads blacksmiths or by the settler whose cabin stood near an outcrop. In 1810, the people of Wheeling began in their dwellings the use of coal which was obtained from the first mine discovered near the city. In 1811, the New Orleans, the first steamboat on the Ohio burned coal which her captain Nicholas Roose velt, had found "on the banks of the Ohio" two years before. In 1S17, coal was first discovered in the Kanawha valley; and began to take the place of wood for use in the production of salt near Maiden above Charleston at the Kanawha Salines, one of the most productive salt regions in America at that time. A small mine was opened near Mason City in 1819, another in 1832. In 1835, Dr. S. P. Hildreth of Marietta, Ohio, published an account of the Appalachian coal field which directed attention to West Virginia. From 1836 to 1840, Professor Rogers, Virginia's most expert geologist, visited the West Virginia mines which had been opened at that time, and made analyses of the coals in Harrison, Monongalia, Taylor, Fayette,, Mineral, Grant, Preston and Kanawha counties. The total product for 1840 was nearly 300,000 tons, of which 200,000 tons were used in the Kanawha salt furnaces, and nearly all the re mainder was consumed by the factories and dwelling houses of Wheel ing. In 1843, the Baltimore and Ohio began to carry small quantities from Piedmont to Baltimore. In 1847, small shipments were made by river from Mason county, where new mines were opened in 1858 and 1859 and worked throughout the war. From 1854 to 1860, more than a score of corporations were created under the laws of Virginia for the purpose of enlisting foreign capital, but the realization of their plans was postponed by the war. At the close of the war there was an awakening interest in the latent mineral resources of the new state. It was the beginning of a new era of development for West Virginia. In 1865, the Averell Coat Company began operations at the mouth of Pocatalico river in Putnam county. In 1866, the Peytona Cannel coal Company prepared tp begin work on Coal river in Boone county. The Wayne County Coal Company was also organized; and, by 186,9, a new company began to mine on an extensive scale in Mason county. A year later two coal banks were SPECIAL ARTICLES: COAL, OIL AND GAS 353 opened in Monongalia county. In 1873, John Nuttall began operations in Sewall Mountain on New river. There was a steadily increasing busi ness in many localities. By 1880 operations were extensive in Mineral, Monongalia, Marion, Fayette, Harrison, Ohio, Putnam, and Mason coun ties. They steadily increased thereafter — and especially after the in troduction of mining machinery, beginning with 1890. In June 1883, the first coal was shipped from the Flat Top field. Dur ing the ten years prior to 1882, H. M. and C. D. Straley, J. A. Douglas, and J. D. and D. B. Johnston, had gotten control of 20,000 acres along the north side of the Bluestone river in the Flat Top region which about 1882 they conveyed to E. W. Clark of Philadelphia for $105,000. Clark and his associates apportioned these lands to six joint stock companies. At the same time they organized the Trans-Flat-Top Land Association which acquired large tracts of land in McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Boone and Logan counties. The holdings of the six joint companies, together with that of the Trans-Flat-Top Coal Land Association, aggre gated 232,483 acres. The land of the Association was later sold and conveyed to the Pocahontas Coal and Coke Association. Embryo operations in the coke industry began quite early, but larger operations began only recently. The first coke produced in West Vir ginia was made in 1843, on Cheat river above Ice's Ferry, at the old Green spring iron furnace. The first brick coke oven in the state was built in Monongalia county about 1853, and the first fire-stone coke oven in 1878. After 1880 there was a speedy growth in the development of the industry. The production of coal in West Virginia expressed in short tons rose from 444,648 in 1863 to 1,000,000 in 1873, to 1,120,000 in 1878, to 2,335,833 in 1883, to 5,498,800 in 1888, to 10,708,578 in 1893, to 16,700,999 in 1898, to 29,337,241 in 1903 and to 61,671,019 in 1910. In 1890 the importance of the industry led to the creation of the office of chief mine inspector, who now has five associates to aid him in his duties. In 1903 there were 530 mines inspected. The production for 1903 was 24,000,000 long tons of which nearly 19,500,000 tons were ship ped to market. The state ranked third in the production of coal. The number and extent of new developments exceeded those of any pre ceding year. Many recent improvements for the betterment of the con dition of the mines and the miners have been made. In spite of the care taken to prevent accidents, some of the most destructive mine ex plosions have occurred in recent years. , In 1911 the state ranked second in coal production. Oil was first discovered in West Virginia in connection with the boring or drilling of salt wells which began on the Great Kanawha above Charleston in 1807. Although, at first, it was regarded as a nuisance except for limited use as a "medicine," by 1826 it began to produce con siderable profit by its use for lamps in workshops and manufacturies. Ten years later, above the mouth of Hughes river, upon whose waters the early settlers found oil floating, Dr. Hildreth reported that fifty or one hundred barrels were collected annually from pits dug in the sand. ¦354 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OP WEST VIRGINIA Here, it was sold as "Seneca oil" to which was ascribed rare medicinal -properties. George S. Lemon, who arrived from lower Virginia and Teared his home at the forks of Hughes river, and who promptly engaged in the collection and sale of the oil from a well which he sank in quest of salt, secured an increased production of oil. Bushrod W. Creel, who later appeared as claimant of the oil land and supplanted Lemon in the sale of oil, found his principal market at Marietta with Bosworth, Wells & Company who sold it to drug and chemical companies in Pittsburg, Baltimore, Cincinnati, New York and St. Louis. His sales to this com pany increased from $283.95 in 1848 to $4,400.76 in 1851, then declined to $239 in 1855 and amounted to $1000 in 1860. The price per gallon Tose from 33 cents in 1855 to 40 cents in 1857. Up the Little Kanawha, and not far distant from Hughes river was a small stream which the early settlers called Burning Spring run, be cause near its mouth there were two springs from which natural gas escaped. The land on which these springs were located was purchased by two Rathbone brothers, who came from New York to Parkersburg in 1842. To make a test for salt brine below the mouth of the small stream, in 1859 they bored a well in which they struck petroleum at a depth of 200 feet. Abandoning the salt project, and enlisting other Parkersburg men in the enterprise, they bored a deeper well which produced 200 barrels of oil daily. They then organized the Rathbone Oil company which sunk another, yielding 1200 barrels daily and pro ducing an excitement which rapidly spread and increased in intensity and dramatic interest. Here was the Eldorado of 1860! The history associated with it reads like a romance. In a wild thicket of 1860 there suddenly arose, by April 1861 a town -with a hotel brilliantly lighted from mains of natural gas, and' with a population of several thousand inhabitants* — a swarming mass of hu manity, capitalists, adventurers and public men. It marked the begin ning of the later era of gas development in West Virginia in which so many fortunes have been made and lost. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil were shipped — floated — in flat-boats, on rafts, or adrift, to Parkersburg, there to be sent to market by rail or river. At last, the production exceeded the cooperage, and the oil was pumped in bulk into barges lashed to the river shore at the mouth of Burning Springs run. About 300,000 barrels thus stored were destroyed on May 9, 1863 by General Jones of the Confederate army, with 1500 troops, who visited the town, destroyed the machinery and kindled the largest fire ever started in West Virginia. The oil was simultaneously ignited, and the boats set adrift to float down stream. The light was clearly seen at Parkersburg forty miles away. For a while the whole enterprise perished. "The derrick stood in the field with the half-bored well, the oil gushed up and overspread the ground, the houses were torn down for camp fires * * * . The few brave men who remained — the Rathbones, Camdens and McFarlands — made *On a dark and stormy night in the winter of 1867, ercry light and fire >¦ the town was suddenly extinguished by the exhaustion of the supply of gas, causing much suffering before a supply of fuel could be obtained fr»M another source. SPECIAL ARTICLES : COAL, OIL AND GAS 355 their money by buying these lands at low prices, sinking good wells, and disposing of their purchases to companies formed in New York and Philadelphia." In 1864, with the approaching close of the war, oil hunters began to arrive at Parkersburg, impelled by the thirst for riches which might be obtained along the Little Kanawha above the oil metropolis. "All the world was pushing to Burning Springs along the Elizabeth pike." In 1865, there was a revival of the development and consequent ex citement of five years before. Operations extended along a northwest line from Burning Springs through Wirt, Wood and Pleasants counties to the Ohio river at the anticlinal called the "Oil Break." The chief points of development were Burning Springs, Oil Rock, the California House, on Hughes' river two miles below the forks, Volcano, Sand Hill, and White Oak. Light oil was found at all these places except at Vol cano and Sand Hill where the "heavy oil," used for lubricators, was ob tained. Wells multiplied in number, with a corresponding increase in pro duction. In April 1876, ex-Governor William E. Stevenson, of Parkers burg, who collected the statistics of petroleum for the Centennial com missioners, stated that there were then 292 wells in the state averaging about 3 barrels each, or a total production of about 900 barrels daily. Parkersburg, then the chief oil market, had a rectifying capacity of 2000 barrels per day. A second period of development extended from 1876 to 1889, in which there was but little extension of the productive area. Capitalists ex pended much money in drilling in new territory but without success. The new wells were not deep enough to reach the lower sands. There was almost a steady decline in the production, especially between 1879 and 1885 as shown by the following statement of the number of barrels of each year: 1876 120,000 1883 126,000 1877 172,000 1884 90,000 1878 180,000 1885 91,000 1879 180,000 1886 102,000 1880 179,000 1887 145,000 1881 151,000 1888 119,448 1882 128,000 As well boring became a business, the invention of improved appliances resulted from necessity. Although borings along the Little Kanawha had been made with ease, operators as they advanced to new attempts in other regions of softer rock encountered difficulties which were not overcome for a quarter of a century — resulting in a check upon oil de velopment. Finally, to prevent the choking of their uncased opening by crumbling walls, they used large iron pipes which enabled them to bore to far greater depths. By this discovery the oil development was revived in 1889. At the same time the earlier chance methods of ••arching for petroleum were supplanted by methods based on scientific 356 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OE WEST VIRGINIA knowledge of its relation to certain rock formation and rock foldings. In 1874, W. C. Stiles of Wood county discovered a method to reduce the expense of pumping by connecting a series of wells, so that the en tire series of wells could be pumped with one engine and one man. A third period in the development of the oil industry began in 1889 with a sudden increase in production caused by the discovery of deeper sands by the drillers. The Doll's run, Eureka, Mannington and Sisters ville fields were found and developed; and, from that time to the present, the growth of West Virginia's oil production increased rapidly. The Fairview oil fields were first opened by the penetration of the Big Injun sand by the Fleming oil well drilled by E. M. Hukill, of Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, and later (in 1890) by the Hamilton well near Mannington, which was a producer at first but was later plugged. The first well in Mannington, drilled by the Burt Oil company, was begun in October, 1889 and completed in April, 1890, immediately attracting the attention of the Standard Oil Company to West Virginia fields. Its completion was delayed by the distance of the nearest oil well supply companies at Clarksburg, and by the inconvenience of carrying damaged tools to that point for repair. It was a big "gusher" and was named the 'Daisy." After it was placed under control, it produced 240 barrels per day. It continued to produce for sixteen years (until 1906.)* Development increased after 1901, and the Mannington field became one of the largest in the state. The number of fortunes made continued to increase for several years. In 1893 oil was also discovered in the Gordon sand on Whetstone run three miles southwest of Mannington. The productive fields of Doddridge and Wetzel counties were opened Id the spring of 1892 by the completion of a well of small production on the Sullivan farm in Doddridge county. After this date, the development over the entire western part or the state made rapid progress. The Whiskey run field in Ritchie coun ty was developed in 1893 and 1894. The Cairo field was developed within the next year or two, and the Hendershot immediately followed. These fields have been extended until they join each other and make a prac tically solid producing territory, with the exception of dry streaks and spots that always appear in oil regions. Another early development, begun at Ninevah, Pennsylvania, in 1888, was extended into West Virginia. This long and narrow field, which might be called a "shoestring" belt, extends through the western part of Greene county, Pennsylvania, into Wetzel county, West Virginia. It is a Gordon field, and produces both oil and gas. Its most prolific spots were in the vicinity of Higbee, Greene county, Pennsylvania, and at Littleton, Wetzel county, West Virginia. The Sistersville field was opened in the winter of 1891-1892. The *After the drilling of the first well in the Mannington field in 1888 wells were put down rapidly. The "boom" probably reached its heighth in 1893 'The largest well ever drilled in the Mannington field was the Robert P. Floyd well which De duced about 1600 barrels a day. During the oil "boom," the population of Man nington increased from about 400 to 5000. ' Man Courtesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. View op St. Marys on the Ohio. Courtesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. Ohio River Valley near Eureka. Oil Wells on Coon's Run, near Adamsville (Harrison County ). SPECIAL ARTICLES : COAL, OIL AND GAS 357 Eureka or Belmont pool on the Ohio river thirty miles below Sisters ville, was opened in the winter of 1890-1891. The Wolf Summit field was opened in the fifth sand in the early part of 1889-90. The regions about Mannington have furnished oil from four different strata or paying sands. The Wetzel county territory has been prolific from two different strata. The Ritchie county and Wood county fields have produced oil from three or four different sands. In the summer of 1890 the famous "Copeley" well, drilled in Lewis county, West Virginia, opened what was then entirely new territory in Gordon sand.* Immediately eastward, in its development, oil was dis covered in the fifth sand which furnishes most of the present production of oil. Territory included in Lewis county and adjoining counties is one of the most prolific gas fields in the entire state. ' In addition to the principal oil fields, there are several smaller pools such as the Cow run pool near Moundsville, West Virginia; the Injun field near Middlebourne, Tyler county; the Cameron, or Adeline, pool which is also of some extent; and the Jug Handle pool, in Tyler county, which is really a part of the Middlebourne development. These various pools have produced oils of many different grades and characteristics. In the department of History and Archives at Charleston, there are more than one hundred samples of oil taken from wells of various fields of the state. No two samples are alike. They vary from colorless to jet black. They also show a specific gravity varying from 65 or 70 down to 30. The growth of oil production in barrels since 1889 is indicated by the following figures: 1889 544,113 1898 13,603,135 1890 492,578 1899 13,910,630 1891 2,406,318 1900 16,195,675 1892 3,810,086 1901 14,177,126 1893 8,445,412 1902 13,513,345 1894 8,577,624 1903 12,903,706 1895 8,120,125 1907 9,095,296 1896 10,019,770 1910 11,753,071 1897 13,090,045 1910 11,753,071 •In Lewis county in the Sand Fork fields on the Camden-Bailey-Camden lands, the first "gusher," which began to flow on the Copley farm, in September 1999, produced a sudden tide of prosperity which disturbed the social equilibrium for miles around. The increasing flow from 200 barrels per hour to 7000 barrels per day, rapidly filling ten large, hastily improvised 250-barrel tanks, and rising rapidly in the bed of the stream which was dammed to save it. and flowing down the stream eight miles beyond the first dams, soon raised the four maiden sisters of a pioneer Irish family from poverty to wealth and created a rapid demand for immediate development on adjacent lands which in the main had been leased by the South F'enn Oil company. The signs of new life were seen in the faces of the crowds of curious visitors, and the active industry of many new operators and speculators. In the county there are now about 200 wells producing oil and 5000 producing gas. The oil and gas industry is principally in the Freeman's creek, Court house, and Hacker's creek districts. The product from the few wells drilled in Collins settlement and Skin crdeek districts has been very light. In Hacker's creek district, the gas wells have a light volume (one million to ten million feet), but have a heavy rock pressure. In both Freeman's creek and Court house districts, both the volume and pressure are heavy. In these districts ha>ve been found all the paying oil wells. 358 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OE WEST VIRGINIA In 1898, the production in West Virginia surpassed that of Pennsyl vania for the first time, and has since been greater than the production of that state and New York combined. In the meantime a cheaper method of transportation was secured by lines of iron pipes connecting numerous wells and large tanks and larger trunk lines through which a series of powerful engines and pumps forces the oil over the mountains, and from station to station for hundreds of miles to market on the seaboard and elsewhere. The Eureka pipe line, connecting series of large tanks, was begun in 1890 to meet the needs of increasing oil production in the vicinity of Eureka, Jakes Run, Doils Run, Mount Morris and Mannington. The first main line was laid from Eureka via Morgantown (77 miles) eastward towards Philadelphia. After the opening of the Sistersville field in 1892, another line was laid from Sistersville to Morgantown (70 miles). At the same time two other lines were laid — one from the Pennsylvania state line at Mount Morris to Morgantown (3 miles), and another to Downs (15 miles). In 1897 a main line was laid from Elm Run in Ritchie County to Morgantown. Later main lines were laid as follows: in 1900, from Downs to Sand Fork (50 miles), from Downs to Ten Mile (18 miles) and from Downs to Dolls Run (16 miles) ; in 1902, from Elm Run to the Kentucky state line (116 miles) to connect with the Cumberland Pipe Line Company at that point.and from Elm Run to Parkersburg (22 miles) ; in 1909, from Elm Run to Hamlin (83 miles) ; in 1912, from the Blue Creek field to Downs (110 miles). In addition to the main lines, small lines were laid from the different pools as they were opened. Gas Development. Although bubbles of natural gas had been obtained long before, the first gas was struck in a well which was drilled for salt at Charleston in 1815. It was first used as a fuel for manufacturing purposes on the Great Kanawha in 1843. A gas reservoir, tapped by accident, furnished force to lift the salt brine to the salt furnace where it also furnished the heat to boil it — thereby reducing the price of salt. Although it became the principal fuel at the Kanawha salt works, vast quantities were wasted before its great value as a fuel became generally recognized. With the development of the Burning Springs oil region, vast quantities of gas were accidently found, in boring for oil, and allowed to escape with no effort to control it for use. Before the year 1882 no systematic search was made for it, but since that date the opening of new wells and the discovery of new gas fields has been a large factor in the industrial and social development of West Virginia, furnishing the inducement for the location of many manu facturing establishments seeking cheap fuel, and attracting immigrants who desire a clean and convenient fuel for their homes. By 1904 nearly all the principal towns west of the Alleghenies were supplied, or about to be supplied, with this fuel; and the Pittsburg region received many million feet daily through a great sixteen inch pipe line of the Philadelphia company, which, crossing through the immense field of Wetzel county, extends down into the central portion Courtesy of ~\V. Va. Geological Survey. Pipe Stacked at Tollgate for Large Natural Gas Line. ' '"¦' ¦' "*W^^^?:'J-: ™> - 'r*% f | ^&&% \ . ' ^ ¦ ' ¦ >..:' . T'"*1 jraK _ '' ^.,3 '¦.; ¦ c' >•-' ¦ '¦¦-^iiiS ' -¦ ^$?WC *?fer^E% > ¦¦ ¦¦4:';k:.lS$m Courtesy of W. Ya. Geological Survey. Largest Gas Pumping Station in the World (Hastings, Wetael County). SPECIAL ARTICLES : MINERAL RESOURCES .359 of Tyler county. The Tri-State Gas company supplied Steubenville and many other Ohio towns from West Virginia. The Wheeling Natural Gas company, the Mountain State Gas company, and others had ex tensive plants; and the Carnegie company, which consumed in its various iron and steel works at Bessemer, Duquesne, Homestead, and Pittsburg, thirty to fifty million feet daily, let the contracts for an extension of its lines into West Virginia territory. In June, 1913, tentative investigations indicated that plans to supply Baltimore with natural gas are under consideration, The Mineral Resources of West Virginia By I. C. White, State Geologist. Those who seek gold, silver, copper, tin, lead or any other precious- metals, should waste no time in West Virginia. Traces she may have or all, but none in commercial quantity. Volcanic disturbances, great faults, quartz veins and extensive metamorphism of sedimentary rocks which always accompany the rare metals are comparatively unknown within her borders. Precious stones, gems, and metals have been denied the Little Mountain State, yet generous nature has so richly dowered her with common minerals and with other common things that her nan wealth is unsurpassed by any equal area on the earth. Situated in the very heart of the great Appalachian mineral zone, the richest one of the world, all that bountiful nature could bestow, outside of the precious metals, has been showered upon her in almost limitless abundance. We are all accustomed to regard the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania as very rich in bituminous coal, and yet West Virginia contains more than both of them, with that of Virginia and Maryland thrown in for good measure. Although not known as an iron ore producing state, she nevertheless has over 300 million tons of excellent iron ores which the great iron manu facturers will be only too anxious to obtain within the near future. Her limestones are boundless in extent and unexcelled for purity, being adapted to every purpose for which lime can be utilized from the snowy whiteness of plaster to that of ordinary lime for agricultural purposes. in glass sands there would appear to be no limit in quantity, and nothing superior in quality. In petroleum she stands just ahead of Pennsylvania in quantity, being 5th in order of production, but first in quality, while in natural gas, after having wasted a quantity amounting to many scores of millions of dollars in value, she still produces for the market two-fifths as much as all the other states of the Nation. In clays and shales for fire, pressed, or common brick, tile, etc., the quantity is beyond computa tion, and the quality unsurpassed, while her building stones are greater in quantity and variety than those of any other state in the Union. Stone from the county of Preston is now being used in the city of New- 360 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA York for one of its greatest cathedrals and some of its finest residences. The number of millions of feet of timber which formerly covered the hills and mountains of West Virginia has never been computed, but In spite of unchecked fires and the woodman's ruthless axe up to the year 1910 she still had over one million and a half acres of virgin forests containing many billion feet of spruce, hemlock, and hardwoods remain ing from her 15% million acres originally covered with one of the greatest forests of the world. Her great rivers, like the New, the Kana- whas, Gauley, Elk, Monongahela, Cheat, Greenbrier, and Potomac, tumble down with rapid descent from altitudes of 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea, affording splendid opportunities for the production of electric energy by that cheapest of all forces, the power of falling water, the only kind of perpetual motion which man has yet been able to harness to pro ductive work, and which will continue, so long as the sun shines with its present vigor and the clouds and rains endure. But rich as is West Virginia in all natural resources, she is even richer in all those gifts of climate, soil, and landscape, which lend them selves to culture and so greatly promote modern civilization. Happily situated along the Appalachian plateau, with pure air and water, and abundant rainfall (45 inches) well distributed throughout the year; a genial climate devoid of extremes, and fertile soils highly responsive to agriculture, horticulture, grazing, dairying, and unequaled for apples, peaches, pears, and all the smaller fruits of the temperate zone; with entrancing scenery of hill and mountain and dale affording landscapes rivaling in beauty and grandeur the famous regions of Swit zerland, West Virginia should prove a most inviting field for every line of human endeavor. It is the purpose of this paper to set forth a brief account of West Virginia's mineral wealth, giving special prominence to her fuels, solid, liquid and gaseous, as embodied in coal, petroleum and natural gas, in all of which the state is particularly rich. THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF WEST VIRGINIA'S ROCKY STRATA. Absence of Gold, Silver, Etc. Many citizens of this commonwealth have spent much time and labor in a fruitless search for gold, silver, copper, lead, and other rare metals, and do not seem to understand why commercial deposits of these sub stances cannot exist in West Virginia as well as in any other region of the country. The reason for their absence in paying quantity Is that the sedimentary beds which make up the surface rocks of the state are comparatively unchanged; no extensive faults or displacements of the strata occur; no great igneous, or volcanic intrusions have dis rupted the orderly succession of the rocky beds; and no intense heat has SPECIAL articles: mineral resources 361 baked them to the Condition of the old crystalline envelope from which so many of the rarer metals have been derived. The column of rocks exposed within the state consists mostly of sand stones, limestones, and shales, instead of granites, marbles, roofing slates, quartzites, quartz veins, etc., in connection with which the precious metals are always found, either directly or derivatively. The very oldest rocks of the globe which are nearly always much baked and changed as though by intense heat so as to be converted into a semi-vitreous or crystalline condition, and in which the precious metals so frequently occur, either do not exist in West Virginia, or they are •covered so deeply by the later formations that only along the extreme southeastern border of the state, in Jefferson county, do they get near the surface along the great folds or arches of the Blue Ridge moun tains. It is the absence of these hard and almost insoluble crystalline rocks from the surface of West Virginia, and the presence of the softer sand stones, shales, and soluble limestones, all of which readily break dowm into a thick, porous covering under the disintegrating effects of sun- -shine and frost, wind and rain, that constitute the great difference be tween our soils and those of the New England states where only the •crystalline rocks occur, and where the valuable soils are confined almost entirely to the alluvial or transported deposits of the river valleys and ¦their tributaries. Limestones. One of the rich mineral resources of West Virginia which is often ¦overlooked, or not considered even as such, is to be found in her vast -deposits of limestone which cover large areas of the state, making the rich wheat lands of the Shenandoah Valley in Berkeley and Jefferson, as well as the fine agriculture and horticulture lands of Morgan, Hamp shire, Hardy, Pendleton, Mineral, and Grant counties east of the Alle gheny mountains and a broad belt along the western slopes of the same through Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Monroe, Mercer, Preston, Tucker, Ran dolph and Webster, where the richest of blue grass pastures spring up spontaneously. These are the regions where belts of almost solid lime stone practically unmixed with shales stretch for many miles in length and often several miles in breadth entirely through some of the coun ties named as shown on the accompanying geologic map. In other re gions of the state like Ohio, Brooke, Marshall, Marion, Monongalia, Har rison, Lewis, and portions of Barbour, Upshur, Gilmer, Doddridge, Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie, Wood, Roane Jackson and other counties the ¦limestones are interstratified with thick beds of shale whose decomposi tion along with the limestone layers yields very fertile soils well adapted 'to nearly every form of agriculture, horticulture, and animal industry, much of these areas being specially valuable for the growth of the finest grades of merino wool, so that the limestones of the state have an immense value in the making of soils aside from their direct values =as minerals in the manufacture of lime for every purpose, their use 362 semi-centennial history oe west Virginia as fluxes for glass sands, iron and other ores, as well as ballast for railways, macadam for highways, etc., etc. The great limestone quarries in the vicinity of Martinsburg, Berkeley county, Engles, Bakerton, and other points in Jefferson county, supply an enormous amount of lime and limestone of the highest grade, and give employment to a large number of people. These quarries are all in one of our oldest limestone formations known as the Shenandoah Limestone of the Cambrian and Ordovician systems down near the lowest portion of the geological column exposed anywhere in the state. This Shenan doah limestone zone is brought to the surface only in Berkeley and Jef ferson, and in a small portion of Hardy and Pendleton counties, since everywhere west of the Alleghenies these limestones would underlie the surface at a depth of one and a half to three miles, depending upon the distance from the western line of the state along which this interval would be least. These quarries in the pure limestone at Martinsburg, Bakerton and elsewhere in Berkeley and Jefferson, appear to come at about the same horizons in the Shenandoah limestone deposits as the extensive quarries in Center county, Pennsylvania, near Tyrone. The quality of much of this high grade limestone is shown by the following analysis: Per cent. Lime Carbonate 98.98 Magnesium Carbonate 0.43 Silica 0.58 Alumina 0.13 Iron Oxide 0.75 Silurian and Devonian. The limestone deposits which lie west from the Shenandoah Valley be long several thousand feet higher in the geologic series, except a patch several miles long and a mile or two wide in Hardy and Pendleton coun ties where the Shenandoah beds reach the surface along the crest of a great arch. These later limestones and limy flints which make the fer tile soils and splendid peach and apple lands of Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy Mineral, Grant, and Pocahontas, belong in the upper half of the Silurian and the basal portion of the Devonian measures. These lime stones are not quite so pure as some portions of those in Berkeley and' Jefferson, but they contain vast quantities of rock, most excellent for burning into lime for fertilizing, building and other ordinary purposes, as well as some strata that are fairly pure, as witness the following analysis from a quarry near Keyser: Per cent. Lime Carbonate 98.94 Magnesium Carbonate 0.68 Silica 0.49 Iron and Alumina 0.40 The Greenbrier Limestone. On top of the Allegheny mountain plateau and just west from the main range of that great uplift across Preston, Tucker, Randolph, Poca- SPECIAL ARTICLES : MINERAL RESOURCES 363 hontas, Greenbrier, Monroe, and Mercer counties, getting thicker as we go southwestward, we find another great limestone deposit lying far above the Silurian and Devonian limestones of Mineral and Hardy coun ties. This limestone deposit which is known as the "Big Lime" of the oil and gas wells dirllers, the Mountain or Greenbrier limestone of geologists, is the same one which is manufactured into cement at Manheim in Preston county, and quarried for ballast at Sturgisson on Deckers creek, Monon galia county, at both of which localities it is only 100 to 150 feet thick, but which increasing greatly to the southwest attains to 1000 feet in Pocahontas, 1200 feet in Greenbrier, and to probably 2000 feet in Mercer county near the southwestern corner of the state. This great limestone deposit and the limy red shales above (Mauch Chunk) make splendid grazing and agricultural lands wherever their outcrops occur entirely across the state, and some of the limestone layers are sufficiently pure to serve as excellent fluxes for iron ores, and any other purpose for which a very white lime is not necessary. The cement made from the several layers of this formation at Manheim, Preston county, without any admixture of shale or other extraneous materials by the Alpba Cement Company is of a quality apparently quite as good as that manu factured in eastern Pennsylvania from the Shenandoah limestone by the same great corporation. The following analysis of a sample of the Greenbrier limestone from Deckers creek, Monongalia county, will illustrate the composition of the purer layers of that formation, not only there but elsewhere in the state : Per cent. Lime Carbonate 94.98 Magnesium Carbonate 1.38 Silica 3.31 Alumina 0.75 Iron Oxide 1.03 Titanium 0.04 Monongahela and Dunkard Limestones. In addition to these thick limestone formations which crop to the surface over the southeastern half of the state, other and thinner lime stones crop over the northern tier of counties, viz: Lewis, Harrison, western Marion, Monongalia, Wetzel, Doddridge, Tyler, Marshall, Ohio and Brooke, as well as in smaller areas over other counties southwest ward from these, adding greatly to the fertility of the soil. These limestones are generally in layers only 1 to 2 feet thick, and often separated by limy shales from y2 to 1 foot in thickness, and they belong in the Monongahela and overlying Dunkard series. Many of the layers are impure, containing much earthly matter as well as magnesium carbonate, but some of them like the Upper Washington limestone in Ohio county are fairly pure as illustrated by the following analysis of a sample of this formation in Ohio county: Per cent. Lime Carbonate 92.42 Magnesium Carbonate 0.91 Silica 5.00 Oxides of Iron and Alumina 1.60 364 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Glass Sands. West Virginia has immense deposits of the finest quality of glass sand. Although this industry is yet in its infancy within her borders, she stands second in glass sand production, her output footing up 268,368 short tons, Pennsylvania being first with 478,089 tons, and Illinois third, with 251,907 tons, these three states supplying nearly two-thirds of all the glass sand produced in the United States during the year 1911. The main quarries for glass sand are located in Morgan county In the vicinity of Berkeley Springs, where the stratum mostly operated on is the Oriskany sanrstone near the base of the Devonian system and 100 to 150 feet in thickness. The No. 1 sand produced in Morgan coun ty from this great Oriskany deposit is used all over the east for the manufacture of the highest grade of glass ware and the following analy ses made in the laboratory of the State Geological Survey and taken from its Volume IV, pages 380 to 385 inclusive, show the quality of this sand: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Silica 99.60 99.30 98.99 98.85 99.860 98.840 99.350 Iron Oxide 0.0286 0.0314 0.0383 0.0543 0.068 0.017 0.111 Alumina 0.4214 0.5186 0.7717 1.0457 0.179 0.143 0.205 (1) Pennsylvania Glass Sand Co., No. 1 Sand, Hancock Plant. (2) Pennsylvania Glass Sand Co., No. 1 Sand, Berkeley Plant. (3) West Virginia & Pennsylvania Sand Co., No. 1 Sand. (4) West Virginia & Pennsylvania Sand Co., No. 2 Sand. (5) Speer White Sand Co., No. 1 Sand. (01 Speer White Sand Co., No. 1 Sand, Sterling Plant. (7) Berkeley Springs Sand Co., No. 1 Sand, Average 2 analyses. The average of all these analyses gives the following : Per cent. Silica .'.'.. 99.256 Iron Oxide 0496 Alumina 4692 These seven plants had a daily capacity of 955 tons of No. 1 sand in 1909. This same great ledge of sandstone extends southward many miles from the vicinity of Berkeley Springs, but railway facilities for shipment have not yet been provided. Whenever these can be furnished, the output of Oriskany glass sand from West Virginia could be increased indefinitely. This geological formation also crops to the surface in Hampshire, Mineral, Hardy, Pendleton, Grant and Pocahontas in lines of cliffs hundreds of miles in linear extent, and doubtless at many localities within the counties named first-class glass sand may be obtain ed when exploitation and shipping facilities have been provided. It is this same geological horizon that produces such large quantities of glass sand along the Juniata river in Pennsylvania. Another great white sand deposit belonging at the base of the Silurian system, viz: the Medina White Sandstone, has also been quarried for glass sand in Morgan county, one mile and a half west from Berkeley Springs where the Great Capacon Silica Sand Company opened a quarry in 1904 on the west slope of Capacon Mountain, and the product gave the following analysis in the Survey labora-icy: Per cent. Silica 99.86 Iron Oxide 0.06 Alumina 0.23 SPECIAL articles: mineral resources 365 A vast area of this stone is accessible east from the Allegheny moun tains through the counties of Mineral, Morgan, Berkeley, Hardy, Pendle ton, Grant and Pocahontas, so that a fine quality of very pure glass sand from this formation as well as from the Oriskany beds will be one of West Virginia's mineral resources to a very remote date in the future. Much higher in the geological column, viz; in the Pottsville beds of the Carboniferous system there also occur vast deposits of excellent glass sand. True, these are not of such high grade as the Oriskany deposit of Morgan county, since they contain more impurities, principally in the shape of alumina, but nevertheless these Pottsville sands can be used for all of the common grades of glass, like window, bottle, etc. These deposits have so far been mined principally near Corinth in Pres ton, Sturgisson in Monongalia, and Craddock in Upshur county, where the washed sands have the following composition as determined by the W. Va. Geological Survey and published in Volume IV, pages 386-390 inclusive: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Silica 98.20 98.950 99.15 98.82 99.200 Iron Oxide 0.0457 0.048 0.0383 0.1183 0.0708 Alumina 1.5705 1.112 0.6517 0.8217 0.6492 (1) White Rock Sand Company's selected sand, Corinth. (2) White Rock Sand Company's selected sand, Corinth. (3) Deckers Creek Stone Stone & Sand Company's sand, Sturgisson. (4) Deckers Creek Stone Stone & Sand Company's sand, Sturgisson. (5) Silica Sand Company's washed sand, Craddock. Building Stone. No state in the Union contains more varieties of sandstone splendidly adapted for building purposes than West Virginia. These sandstones are especially numerous and valuable in the Carboniferous system, ranging from the Pocono or Big Injun sand at the base of the Carbon iferous up to the top of the Dunkard or Permo-Carboniferous series. Their crushing strength varies from 5 to 8 thousand pounds to the square inch for those in the Dunkard series, to 24,000 as tested in the reddish brown stone of the Lower Carboniferous, of the Hinton region, Summers county. These building stones occur over a wide area entirely across the state wherever the Coal measure and other Carboniferous rocks ex tend. Recently large shipments of building stone from one of Preston county's sandstone quarries in the Conemaugh series, have been going into one of New York City's greatest cathedrals and other costly structures. For a detailed description of the several strata of sandstone and build ing stone, see Volume IV, West Virginia Geological Survey, pages 308- 595 inclusive. Brick Clays and Shales. The under clays that accompany the coal beds of Pennsylvania are also present at the corresponding horizons in West Virginia, and in Hancock, Marion and Taylor counties especially have given origin 366 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA to large industries in the manufacture of fire, building, and paving brick, tile, etc., and the great shale beds of the Conemaugh series are extensively operated for the manufacture of common building and paving brick at many points in the state, while at Huntington a splendid quality of red roofing tile is manufactured from these shales. There are also vast deposits of surface clays in nearly every county of the state, and these together with the ever present shales in every geological formation, should with its cheap coal and natural gas, make West Virginia's output of brick and clay products the greatest of any in the Union. For a detailed description of the brick, clay, limestone and cement industries of the state, the reader is referred to Volume III, West Vir ginia Geological Survey. Salt Brines. No deposits of rock salt have yet been penetrated by the drill in West Virginia. It is possible that when a hole has been sunk in the earth to the horizon of the Salina geological formation which holds the great deposits of rock salt in western New York, northwestern Pennsyl vania, and northern Ohio, the same deposits may be revealed, but as they would underlie the surface at nearly a mile a depth anywhere along the Ohio river at the western boundary of the state, such deposits if any exist cannot now be considered available. Where the Salina formation comes to the surface on Limestone run, near Keyser, Mineral county, springs containing some salt issue from it, and in the early history of the region furnished a small amount of salt to the primitive settlers, so that it is barely possible that a great deposit of rock salt may underlie all of West Virginia from the Allegheny mountain range westward, but as it is buried under from one to three miles of rock strata, it can only become available for use in the remote future. The salt industry of the state is carried on at present by the concen tration of brines obtained from boring into the basal beds of the Potts ville series, and also into the Big Injun or Pocono beds below, both of which horizons belong in the Carboniferous system. The manufacture of salt from these brines is confined to the Ohio river in Mason county, and to the Great Kanawha in Kanawha county, although brines of equal strength and abundant quantity may be obtained by drilling in nearly every region of the state west from the Allegheny mountain range, brines of vqry great salinity having recently been found in the Oriskany sand stone at a depth of about 4000 feet in a boring made at Parsons, Tucker county, by the Parsons Pulp & Paper Company, and in the Salina beds of the Silurian at a depth of more than a mile (5,850 feet) in the deep well drilled by Wm. Seymour Edwards on Slaughter creek near Coal- burg. Kanawha county. Hence there are plenty of brines in the state accessible at all depths for the establishment of many more salt manu facturing and chemical industries. A full discussion of the brines of the state and the salt industry is given in Volume IV of the W. Va. Geological Survey. SPECIAL ARTICLES : MINERAL RESOURCES 367 Iron Ores. West Virginia, although having probably 300 million tons of available iron ore within her borders, produces such a small amount annually that her production is connected up with that of Kentucky in the statistics published by the U. S. G. Survey. For the year 1911 the production of both states amounted to only 71,979 long tons, of which 57,770 was hematite ore produced by the Rose Run mine near Olympia, Ky., and the balance of 14,209 tons was brown ore produced at Orebank, 4 miles up the Potomac river from Harpers Ferry in Jefferson county, W. Va., where a mine on the south bank of the river has been in almost constant opera tion for nearly a century, and is the only operating iron ore mine in the state at the present time. This is primarily due to two causes, the principal of which is lack of transportation facilities, the ore deposits being usually situated in wild, mountainous regions, remote from railways, and therefore in accessible for commercial mining purposes. The other cause is that very little of West Virginia's iron ore is fitted for the manufacture of steel by the Bessemer process, and hence there has been no such demand for these ores within the last 3 decades as would lead to their exploita tion, and the building of railways to carry them to market. Aside from the small deposits of carbonate ores always occurring in connection with the Coal Measure rocks, the principal deposits of iron ore in West Virginia are found east of the Allegheny mountains in the counties of Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Mineral, Grant, Hardy, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Greenbrier, and Monroe. The following table of analyses of iron ores from several counties of West Virginia in which commercial deposits exist taken from Volume IV. opposite page 280, W. Va. Geol. Survey, will give a fair idea of the quality of the same, and also the general average of the 70 samples repre sented: ANALYSIS OF WEST VIRGINIA IRON ORES PENDLETON COUNTY. OS co MINE OR PROSPECT 2,8 sS 0 c P. 10O J? 9 a(0 '0 §.2 r— 1 1 — 1 a ft CD ^O S eo Kind of Ore KM I Q a COH O OHcoOI— I w oSiM 4761 62 51 56 53 55 52575960 Ami Smith A. J. Pitzenbarger A. J. Pitzenbarger T. F. Bowman . . . Bible Knob Moatstown Dave Eye Elkins Tract Wash Dickerson . . Wm. Boggs Wm. Boggs Hematite average Limonite average Total Average . . . 52.14 55.21 52.03 57.0950.07 41.2242.4434.4238.2737.3333.87 74.4878.88 74.3581.5971.3658.9060.65 49.1954.68 53.33 48.39 13.36 9.14 9.646.07 11.7426.7625.4032.30 30.8629.32 32.93 0.03 0.32 0.001 1.22 0.50 0.04 0.76 0.02 0.94 0.50 0.02 0.74 0.06 1.76 0.35 0.04 0.59 0.01 1.30 0.52 0.04 0.67 0.03 2.46 0.90 0.02 0.17 0.07 0.30 0.45 0.02 0.33 0.11 0.34 0.53 0.065 0.32 0.05 0.36 0.60 0.06 0.29 0.09 0.34 0.70 0.035 0.32 0.12 0.28 0.70 none 0.66 0.09 0.50 0.65 0.03 0.616 0.024 1.536 0.033 0.35 0.088 0.354 3.26 3.856.36 2.75 4.39 3.92 4.284.93 4.60 5.15 6.17 0.11 0.140.180.110.07 0.21 0.290.400.320.36 0.40 Hematite Limonite 53.3137.925 9.99 29.595 40.37 20.68 0.033 0.47 0.059 0 GRANT AND MINERAL COUNTIES. 49 33 12 22 31 Ketterman Feaster Greenland Gap Alkire at Keyser County Road, Keyser Average 56.00 80.00 6.81 41.55 59.36 5.18 42.83 61.06 13.18 27.24 38.88 54.30 32.6o 46.64 48.88 40.05 25.67 0.040.026 0.02 none 0.030.023 0.46 0.002 1.64 0.60 0.59 0.02 1.32 . 1.18 0.72 0.04 4.03 0.27 0.41 0.01 0.60 0.10 0.19 0.004 0.16 0.25 0.474 0.015 1.55 | 3.44 5.189.56 1.17 1.50 0.07 0.250.14 0.21 0.21 Hematite Liverpool Salt Works (Hartford). Courtesy of IF. Va. Geological Survey. Courtesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. Tipple and Fleet of Plymouth Mining Co. (Plymouth, Putnam County). special articles: mineral resources 369> Ki-J ©©© .OOO ©OS© .rHOOCO ©o© ,©©o ¦OVH CO ;©©"©' i-i -th ©ec 50 -OWN rH 30 -OOO © do© ;o*d© © oo© .000 COTflCO tH I— •* OS o©o • ©¦*© © d© *©d© © o i-> 00 i-h co *# eo cc 00 -* ¦* oo ¦* co 06 co © tt id ci i-i H r-i CO CO tH CN CD©Tfi©OC0 0S ¦* t- r-i OS Cl OS CO <* ci CC rn c: ©' ¦*" if wmcccoio^ afi-gisg S"SsJS< <1> a) *Hr-lt-incCC00S©M»-C0C0t-r-t0S©O00W'*T-lT}©c'rH©t-!o6©©cscorHCs'Tji dcs t^tdc-icso'doocoTHOSb-ocoos ooooooooooooooooooooooooooocoo ©^©»0W00ClNC0m-^C0'*»^»0»OO > c £&: 'Sic £ P a* at CD '" ' "" ft « ea es "£ a. j- 1 a - o o u w, W HO)| aKS?(£E- feSc : -_ c I :fc.>«>uB CO MINE OR PROSPTCT © c a?M o o i-, M ed CC03p © a*©S'R §.2 SP KP fao a w O ft uaa3 CC is i-JO ! « CO O 1 a 51 e 'c * E-O KiDd of Ore 40.22 20.65 0.627 0.613 0.027 0.31 1 | 42.79 20.44 0.526 0.551 0.024 0.57 » MONROE COUNTY. 00 M I Q HSit-3 H%SIP 707274 7571 69 68 73 76 Crimson Zenith Epling Peters Mountain Mark Patton . . . Doss Cowder Rocksalia Spring Peters Mountain Average 47.44 67.82 54.09 77.29 52.29 74.37 48.10 68.91 53.20 74.02 51.38 73.54 49.56 64.40 54.22 77.42 41.74 59.61 20.02 9.22 11.67 23.74 5.84 10.43 18.52 3.43 11.82 trace 0.035 trace 0.0390.49 0.020.0650.017 0.49 0.56 0.16 0.810.55 1.01 1.06 1.26 1.23 1.10 0.02 0.030.010.01 0.02 0.02 0.020.02 0.01 0.20 0.30 0.210.211.20 0.30 0.260.300.36 0.090.80 0.31 0.20 0.08 0.23 0.170.490.10 1 0.038.78 9.67 5.10 10.52 11.85 11.47 12.24 9.77 0.07 0.11 0.07 0.25 0.14 0.07 0.18 0.04 0.18 Limonite Hematite Limonite Hematite ?3 O WHo1*1H03O1— I woaM 50.22 12.74 0.128 0.86 0.017 0.37 GREENBRIER COUNTY. 67656460 63 Pertig Perry Dan Monument . Little Creek 58.23 83.19 4.56 0.035 0.61 0.07 0.24 0.27 7.53 0.36 59.23 84.67 7.24 0.02 0.19 0.22 0.24 0.23 5.02 0.07 58.93 84.22 2.01 0.02 0.72 0.02 0.20 0.19 11.26 0.07 36.77 52.54 37.26 0.02 0.92 #.02 0.22 0.10 5.92 0.07 55.59 76.57 9.40 0.02 0.61 0.02 0.22 0.30 10.50 0.07 Limonite 53 35 12.094 0.023 0.61 0.07 0.224 JEFFERSON AND BERKELEY COUNTIES. 41.2144.14 38.63 58.87 63.0555.17 20.7519.70 35.98 1.40 0.31 0.02 0.39 0.28 0.03 0.26 0.30 0.270.40 10.03 9.88 0.21 0.05 Limonite COhd 43 86 19.48 0.328 0.56 0.031 0.62 Samples 70 > t-i >• W Hi— t Q Si wH to Oaw Q -a 372 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA The quantity of iron ores in these several counties has been estimated by Prof. G. P. Grimsley, who collected the data embodied in Volume IV, W. Va. Geol. Survey, as follows: Pendleton county, 30,000,000 tons. Grant and Mineral, no estimate, quantity large. Hardy and Hampshire, 100,000,000 tons. Greenbrier, 35.0(10,000 tons. Pocahontas, no estimate, quantity large. Monroe, no estimate, quantity larse. Jefferson, no estimate, quantity large. Berkeley and Morgan, no estimate, quantity considerable. This summary gives a total of 165 million tons in the 4 counties upon which Prof. Grimsley made estimates, and the other 7 counties in which no estimates were attempted are known to hold large supplies of iron ore, since they lie in the same geologic zone, and giving these 7 an estimate of only 135 million tons, would make the total commercial ore resources of West Virginia foot up not less than 300 million tons, a very respectable figure, and one that should finally result in establishing a large iron industry within the confines of the state. Petroleum and Natural Gas. The petroleum industry owes quite as much, or even more, to West Virginia as to Pennsylvania, since as is well known large quantities Of this oil were marketed from her territory on Hughes river in Ritchie and Wirt counties, many years before Drake completed the historic well near Titusville, Pa., in 1859. Then, too, the tools with which Capt. Drake was enabled to penetrate the earth's rocky strata, had all been Invented in what is now West Virginia, half a century previous, as is related in volumes I and I (A), West Virginia Geological Survey, to which the reader is referred for the details of West Virginia's petroleum his tory. The state's annual output of oil up to the close of 1911, since accurate statistics have been kept, beginning with 1876, is as follows: PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM IN WEST VIRGINIA FROM 1876 TO 1911, INCLUSIVE. Production Year Barrels 1876 120.000 1877 172.000 1878 180.000 1879 180.11(10 1880 ] 70.000 1881 - 151 .000 1882 128.000 1883 126.000 1884 90.0(10 1885 01.0(10 1886 102.000 1887 145.(11)11 1888 1 19.448 1889 544.113 1890 492.579 1891 2.4()li.21S 1892 3,81 0.(186 1893 8.445.412 1894 8.577-.024 1895 8.120.125 1896 .' 10,019,770 SPECIAL ARTICLES: MINERAL RESOURCES 373 1897 13,090,046 1898 13,615,101 1809 13,910,630 1900 16,195,675 1901 14,177,126 1902 13,513,345 1903 12,899,895 1904 12,644,686 1905 11,578,110 1906 10,120,935. . 1907 9,095,296 1908 9,523,176 1909 10,745,092 1910 11,753,071 1911 9,795,464 Total 226,856,521 This total of 226,856,521 barrels should be increased by about 3,000,000 barrels as the estimated production up to 1876, and by about 12,000,000 barrels for 1912, so that by January 1st, 1913, the total production from the state would foot up about 241,000,000 barrels in round numbers, since the first well was drilled at Burning Springs, Wirt county, in 1860. The quality of West Virginia petroleum is of the very highest grade pro duced anywhere in the world, and while it is very probable that most of the large oil fields of the state have already been developed, it is also certain that West Virginia will continue to produce several million barrels of petroleum annually for a long time in the future, the declining output of her 13,014 oil wells on January 1st, 1912, with an average production of 2 barrels daily being coniiuually reinforced and supplemented by the drilling of new wells and the development of new pools and spurs, near the older developed fields. As to the area of the state now producing oil, and in which it ia possible to find commercial quantities of the same, it might be stated that all the region lying 10 to 20 miles west from the western slope of the Allegheny mountains is possible oil territory, and is comprised with in the following list of the counties of the state: Boone Marshall Braxton Mason Brooke Mingo Cabell Monongalia Calhoun Ohio Clay Pleasants 1 loudr idge Putnam Gilmer Ritchie Hancock * Roane Harrison Taylor Jackson Tyler Kanawha Upshur Lewis Wayne Lincoln . Wetzel Logan Wirt Marion Wood The counties of the state east from the ones mentioned, with the possible exception of western Preston, Barbour, Webster, Nicholas, Pay ette, Wyoming and McDowell, lie within the greatly disturbed region where the strata are highly crumpled, folded and broken, so that what ever oil they may once have held has escaped into the air most probably in the form of gas or vapor through the heat generated in the earth movements giving origin to the folded, fissured and broken strata. The rocks in these last mentioned 7 counties are not greatly disturbed ex- 374 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA cept along their eastern margins, and hence it is barely possible, but not probable that some small pools of commercial value may yet be discover ed within their borders. Natural Gas. Twenty-two states of the Union produce natural gas in commercial quantity, but of the total, 508 billion cubic feet, worth in round numbers 74 million dollars, marketed in the entire United States in 1911, this state produced 207 billion, or slightly more than two-fifths, and leaving out Pennsylvania's production (104 billion), West Virginia yielded for the market more than all of the other 20 state together, both in value (28% millions) and quantity (207 billion feet), of which 81 billion cubic feet was consumed within the state, and 126 billion was transported for con sumption beyond her borders. These figures take no account of the large quantity used by the oil and gas well operators unmetered from casing heads and other sources, nor of the other very large quantity, probably amounting to y2 billion cubic feet daily, that escapes into the air from oil and gas wells unused for any purpose, so that it is practically certain that at least one billion feet of natural gas, amounting in heat ing value to one million bushels of coal, or 40 thousand short tons daily, or nearly 15 million tons annually, issues from the earth within the boundary of the Commonwealth. The value of the quantity marketed from the state in 1911, viz; 28% million dollars, was more than half the value of the entire quantity of coal produced by the state during the same year viz; 52 2-3 million dollars, and if that which escaped into the air and was completely wasted could have been saved and marketed, the natural gas and gasoline produced in 1911 would have equaled or exceeded in value that of the entire coal production of the state for that year. On January 1st, 1912, West Virginia had 4755 productive gas wells distributed over 33 of the 55 counties with rock pressure varying from 0 to 1040 pounds to the square inch, according to the U. S. G. Survey's statistics. The following is the list of counties producing natural gas in commercial quantity: Boone Mingo Clay Wayne Brooke Mnnnngalia Cabell Nicholas Calhoun Ohio Doddridge Pleasants Fayette Putnam Gilmer Upshur Hancock Ritchie Harrison Roane Kanawha Taylor Lewis Tyler Lincoln Wetzel Marion Wirt Marshall Wood In addition to these gas producing counties, it is possible that pools of gas of commercial value may hereafter be found in Preston, Barbour, Randolph, Webster, Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell counties, especially if drilling operations should be carried to great depths. In the counties SPECIAL articles: MINERAL RESOURCES 375 east from the Allegheny mountains, however, the rocks are so tilted, fissured, faulted and contorted, that probably most of the gas they may once have held has long ago escaped into the air along with the petro leum. With such a wide area of gas territory and so many (8 to 10) ga& bearing sands or strata, the state is assured of a vast supply of very pure fuel for a long time in the future, and hence should remain as it is now the glass manufacturing center of the country and should also attract many other lines of manufacture in which abundance of this pure cheap fuel is essential to success. No other state or country in the world so far as is known can even approach West Virginia in the quantity and quality of its natural gas, the average heating value per cubic foot being about 1140 B. T. U. Coal. Last but not least of the mineral resources of West Virginia to be de scribed in this brief review, come her coal fields. For quantity, variety and quality, her coals excel those of any other American Commonwealth, and constitute a much richer dowry for the Little Mountain State than any known gold deposits of other states. On account of her wealth of fuel in every form, solid (coal), liquid (petroleum,) and gaseous, (natural gas), it has been suggested that West Virginia should be known as the "Fuel State" in preference to any other cognomen, since including her vast stores of petroleum and natural gas, she was originally dowered with more fuel resources than any other single political district In America. Pocono Coal Beds. There are some coal beds in West Virginia, 2000 to 3000 feet below the Pocahontas coals, or base of the true Coal Measures. These belong, however, in the Pocono Sandstone or Big Injun Oil Sand division, the basal member of the Carboniferous system often called the "False Coal Measures" and are so impure and irregular and enclosed in strata so steeply inclined and crushed that they have been converted into a semi-anthracite. Some attempts have been made to develop these coals in the summits of the mountains of western Berkeley and eastern Mor gan, as well as in Hampshire, Greenbrier, and other regions along the line between West Virginia and Virginia, but in all cases the areas hold ing coal have proven too small and narrow, and the coal itself too im pure to warrant the expensive installations necessary for commercial development. For a fuller account of these semi-anthracite coals the reader is cited to Volume II(A), pages 1-9, West Virginia Geoolgical Survey, in which a report made by Mr. Wm. Griffith, the eminent coal expert of the Pennsylvania anthracite fields is printed in full on these Morgan and Berkeley county coals. 376 semi-centennial history of west Virginia Classification. The rock formations that make up the true Coal Measures In which the commercial coal beds of West Virginia occur have been subdivided by geologists as follows, beginning with the lowest or oldest: Pottsville Clarion. Series Lower and Middle Kittannings. Pocahontas group Upper Kittanning. (Lower) Lower Freeport. Nos. 1 and 2 Upper Freeport. No. 3 Conemaugh No. 4 Series No. 6, etc. Brush Creek. New River group Bakerstown. (Middle) Elk Lick. Fire Creek. Little Clarksburg. Beckley. Little Pittsburg. Sewell. Monongalia Beaver River, or Series r Kanawha group Pittsburg. (Upper) Redstone. Eagle. Sewickley. No. 2 Gas. Uniontown. Cedar Grove. Waynesburg. Wintfrede. Dunkard Coal burg. Series Stockton-Lewiston. Waynesburg A. and B. Allegheny Washington. Series JoIIytown, etc., etc. The coals of these several groups will now be briefly described, be ginning with the lowest and oldest, viz: The Pocahontas Group. The lowest group of the true Coal Measures was first exploited for commercial purposes near the town of Pocahontas, Tazewell county, Virginia, just east from the line between Virginia and West Virginia, and hence the coal beds in the first 600 to 800 feet of these basal rocks have been named in their order upward as Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc, "Pocahontas," the thickest and most valuable bed of all being No. 3 Pocahontas, with its principal development in Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties. The coals of this group are practically all of the same physical aspect, having the typical coking, or columnar structure, soft, low in volatile matter, ash and sulphur, and generally known as smokeless coals, unexcelled for steam and general fuel purposes, being very highly prized for naval uses by the ships of every land owing to their high heating values and freedom from liability to spontaneous com bustion on shipboard. Although excellent coking coals, the tendency In recent years is not to coke them separately in the bee-hive oven, Dut to mix them with higher volatile coals in by-product ovens located at the points of coke consumption so that at the present time few, if any, bee hive ovens are building, many of those already constructed having been long idle, and it is hoped will remain so indefinitely, since the policy of transporting these splendid coals to by-product ovens, where the result ing fuel gases, coal tar, ammonia and other valuable by-prtoducts can be profitably utilized, is one that should have been followed from the very beginning of the coking industry in the Pocahontas region. The character and quality of the No. 3 Pocahontas bed which may be special articles: mineral resources 377 taken as typical of the other Pocohontas coals, is well illustrated by the average of 64 composite samples collected and analyzed by the U. S. G. Survey in 1909, the details of which are published in Bulletin Two, W. Va. Geological Survey in Table No. 2 as follows: Average 64 Air Average 64 Samples Dried Samples, as Received from Mines. Per Cent. Per Cent. Moisture 0.68 3.30 Volatile Matter 1 4.29 13.88 Fixed Carbon 80.55 78.46 Ash 4.48 4.36 Totals 100.00 100.00 Sulphur 0.R2 0.59 B. T. U. Calorimeter 15008 14603 The average of 38 samples of No. 3 Pocahontas coal collected from mines in Mercer and McDowell counties by the W- Va. Geological Survey, all air dried and analyzed in the laboratory of the State Survey yielded the following results: Average analysis of 38 samples Pocahontas Ho. S: Moisture 0.23 Volatile Matter 17.47 Fixed Carbon 77.80 Ash 4.50 Total 100.00 Sulphur 0.62 Phosphorus 0.0055 B. T. U. Calorimeter 15095 Average thickness of coal at the 38 mines sampled, 6 feet 5 inches. The average of 13 samples of Pocahontas No. 3, and 10 samples of Pocahontas No. 4 collected and analyzed by the State Geological Survey as received from the mines, gives the following results: Pocahontas No. 3. Pocahontas No. 4. Per Cent. Per Cent. Moisture 1.83 1.79 Volatile Matter 15.51 35.54 Fixed Carbon .' 77.36 77.81 Ash 5.30 4.86 Totals 100.00 100.00 Sulphur 0.69 0.06 Phosphorus 0.009 0.006 B. T. U 14869 14099 These results reveal coals of extraordinary purity and heating values, and fully account for the ever growing popularity of the Pocahontas •coals in the markets of the world. The other beds of the group while thinner and not now of much com mercial importance are of practically the same chemical composition as No. 3 and No. 4, and the time is not very remote in the future when all of these pure coals, Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, etc., of the Pocahontas group even down to 2 feet in thickness or less will become commercially valuable and be mined with much more care to save the product than the waste ful methods now in vogue for the thicker beds. Pocahontas Coke. When these Pocahontas coals are coked a very pure product results, Ms only weakness being due to its excessive purity, or low ash content 378 semi-centennial history of west Virginia apparently, so that its burden bearing capacity in the high modern iron furnaces is not equal to that of Connellsville or other well known fur nace types, although the Pocahontas coke greatly excels them in heat ing value and for purely metallurgical purposes where great burden bearing capacity is not required. The following analyses give the aver age of 32 samples of Pocahontas No. 3 coke from as many oven plants in Mercer and McDowell counties, and of 3 samples of No. 4 Pocahontas coke from McDowell county, as follows: No. 3 Pocahontas Coke. No. 4 Pocahontas Coke. Average 32 Samples Average 3 Samples Per Cent. Per Cent. Moisture 0.09 0.85 Volatile Matter 0.98 1.41 Fixed Carbon 90.99 89.08 Ash 7.94 8.68 Totals 100.00 100.00 Sulphur 0.58 0.67 Phosphorus 0.0061 0.011 The New River Group. Higher up in the Pottsville series we come to a group of 3 coal beds which were first developed for commercial use along the canon of New River in Fayette and Summers counties, and hence the Pottsville coals of those counties and the adjoining region of Raleigh, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Webster, etc., to the northeast have always been known under the name of "New River" coals. These coals are 3 in number in the following ascending order, the lowest one coming 300 to 400 feet above Pocahontas No. 3, viz: Fire Creek or Quinnimont coal. Beckley coal. Sewell coal. These three beds are seldom all of commercial thickness in the same section or hill, and they occupy a rock interval of 300 to 350 feet, the Beckley coming about 100 feet above the Fire Creek seam, and the Sewell 200 to 250 feet above the latter. In character, quality, and general physical aspect, the New River coals very much resemble those of the Pocahontas group, except that they are slightly higher in volatile matter as well as a little lower in ash, thus outranking a very little the Poca hontas group in heat units. They also coke well, like the Pocahontas beds, and are specially popular for general steam and naval purposes. Some of these same coals extend across southwestward into McDowell county where they overlie the Pocahontas group and are known as the "Pocahontas thin veins," one of them which appears to correlate with a portion at least of the Sewell bed being known variously as the "Davy" or "Tug River" seam and being distinguished as furnishing coal with a greater B. T. V. value than any other bed of the entire Appalachian field. The quality of these several coals is shown by the following averages of numerous samples both in the State Geological Survey laboratory, and in that of the U. S. G. Survey: SPECIAL articles: mineral resources 379 Fire Creelc Coal: Calo. Calcu. Mois. V.M. F.C. Ash. Sul. Phos. B.T.U. B.T.U. Calo. Calcu. Mois. V.M. F.C. Ash. Sul. Phos. B.T.U. B.T.U. (Average 3 analyses, W. Va. G. Survey) 1.05 18.34 77.08 3.53 0.67 .011 15211 14876 (Average 17 Analyses. W. Va. G. Survey) 0.60 19.93 75.20 4.27 0.67 .035 15208 (Average 15 analyses, U. S. G. Survey 3.24 16.26 75.19 5.31 0.64 .... 14391 14627 Beckley Coal: (Average 5 analyses, W. Va. G. Survey) 1.32 16.61 78.07 4.00 0.79 .013 15041 14803 (Average 12 analyses, U. S. G. Survey 3.32 14.43 77.23 5.02 0.72 .... 14452 14610 Sewell Coal: (Average 25 analyses, W. Va. G. Survey) 1.10 19.72 75.67 3.51 0.88 .005 15030 14812 (Average 44 analyses U. S. G. Survey 3.42 18.70 74.46 3.42 0.80 .... 14629 14726 (Average 34 analyses, W. Va. G. Survey— air dried) 0.70 23.95 75.04 3.31 0.74 .01)8 15223 Welch Coal: (Average 5 analyses W. Va. G. Survey 1.53 16.51 74.45 7.51 0.83 .020 14681 14350 (Average 3 analyses, U. S. G. Survey 2.29 13.55 75.88 8.28 0.54 .... 14051 14090 Davy (Sewell) Coal: (Average 7 analyses W. Va. G. Survey) 1.90 18.08 77.03 2.99 0.67 .008 15345 15039 (Average 6 analyses W. Va. G. Survey— air dried) 0.21 18.16 77.50 4.13 0.87 .004115370 The coke from the Fire Creek and Sewell seams is also of very great purity as may be observed from the following average analyses: Mois. V.M. F.C. Ash. Sul. Phos. Coke from Fire Creelc Coal: (Average 6 analyses, W. Va. G. Survey) f 0.13 0.98 91.71 7.18 0.64 0.0627 Coke from Sewell Coal: (Average 12 analyses, W. Va. G. Survey 0.14 1.06 91.26 7.54 0.75 0.0095 These very pure coals of the New River group extend northeastward from that stream through Greenbrier, Nicholas, Webster and Randolph, thinning below present commercial dimensions in Tucker and Preston counties, the whole Middle and Lower rock groups of the Pottsville ap parently disappearing before the Maryland line is reached to the north east. The Rich Mountain Coal Company of which the Hart Brothers of Clarksburg are the principal owners have exploited two of these New River coals on the left fork of the Buckhannon river in Randolph county, probably the Sewell and Beckley, or Sewell and Fire Creek, where each of the beds is about 3 feet thick and separated by an interval varying from 30 feet to over 100 within a mile or less. These coals increase In volatile matter to the northeast, but they retain their very pure character in ash or sulphur contents even as far north as the Tygarts Valley river in the gorge of which below Elkins they have been explored. The Ran dolph county phase of these coals is illustrated by the following average analysis of 7 air dried samples, 3 from the left fork of the Buckhannon 380 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA and 4 from the region below the Beverly and Buckhannon turnpike and the end of Rich Mountain in the gorge of Tygarts river: Per cent. Moisture 0.83 Volatile Matter 29.08 Ash 4.94 Total 100.00 Sulphur 0.86 Phosphorus 0.013 A specimen of coke made by the Rich Mountain Company from these coals and analyzed by the W. Va. Geol. Survey, gave the following re sults: Per cent. Moisture 0.36 Volatile Matter 0.29 Fixed Carbon 65.15 Fixed Carbon 92.68. Ash 6.67 Total 100.00 Sulphur 0.82 Phosphorus 0.010 When proper railway facilities are at hand, a large area of this coal can be operated between the New and Tygarts river that has as yet been only slightly explored, and these coals will furnish a very large tonnage of most excellent fuels and cokes throughout the region in question, where up to the present very little attention has been given them. The Kanawha Group. In Western Pennsylvania a thin group of rocks only 60 to 80 feet thick and containing but 3 unimportant coals beds makes its appearance between the Homewood sandstone, the topmost member of the Potts ville series in that region, and the main mass of the Pottsville or Conno- qoienessing sandstones below. The coals are hard, rather impure and inclined to be of the "block" type. In passing southwestward across West Virginia, this group of coals, so thin and unimportant in western Pennsylvania, appears gradually to expand until on the Great Kanawha river the group attains a thickness of 1000 feet, and holds 6 or more valuable coal beds where the group received its name, "Kanawha." Still further to the southwest where these measures pass into Kentucky from southern Mingo, it attains a still greater development, measuring over 1800 feet, and holding 8 or more coals of commercial thickness at one point or another, but never all in the same section or mountain. These Kanawha measures hold the principal coal beds in Webster, southeastern Braxton, Nicholas, northern Fayette, and Raleigh, Kanawha, Boone, Lincoln, Logan, Wyoming, and Mingo counties, as may be seen on the accompanying state geological map. The coals in the Kanawha or Upper Pottsville group, subdivide natur ally into two classes, very distinct in physical character. In the uDper portion of this great formation as indicated by the diagram, are three beds, viz; in descending order, the Lewiston or Stockton, the Coalburg, SPECIAL ARTICLES: MINERAL RESOURCES 381 and the Winifrede. These are all characterized by layers of very hard, pure coal which split into oblong blocks with a physical appearance intermediate to ordinary bituminous coal and cannel. These beds vary in thickness from 3 to 12 feet, and it often happens that not more than one of them and seldom more than two are present in commercial con dition on the same property. These coals, on account of their high fuel value and resistance to pulverization in transportation and handling, as well as their small loss of fuel value in storage, have long retained their hold on commercial markets under the name of "Kanawha Splint." The quality of the three coals is very similar, as may be observed by the following averages from several analyses of each, made in the laboratory of the State 'Geological Survey. Mois. V.M. F.C. Ash Sul. Phos. B.T.U. Lewiston coal ( 6 analyses) 2.19 33.27 60.0^ 4.50 1.08 .008 13480 Coalbnrg coal (24 analyses) 2.16 32.77 55.13 7.78 0.81 .0n4 13879 Winifrede coal ( 8 analyses) 1.84 34.44 50.92 6.79 0.66 .005 13657 General average (38 analyses) 2.06 33.49 57.36 6.36 0.85 .006 13672 The above averages give the true chemical composition of these famous "Kanawha Splints," and they also emphasize the superior quality of these justly celebrated fuels, as well as insure a continuous demand for the same in the fuel markets of the country. Lower Kanawha Coals. Separated from the lowest of the 3 Upper Kanawha or Splint coals Just described, by an interval of 200 to 300 feet of rocky strata, there comes in another class of coals, usually 4 in number as shown in the diagram, but sometimes more. These coals are softer than the Splint coals above, and gradually approach with the lowest one (Eagls) ihe columnar structure of the New River coking coals, although much higher in volatile matter, and therefore known in the market as "gas" coals, two of them having received the names, "No. 1 Gas," and "No. 2 Gas," which still adhere to them from their use in the manufacture of illuminating gas. With the exception of the uppermost (Cedar Grove) which is intermediate in type to Splint and ordinary soft bituminous coal, they constitute excellent coking coals as well as general fuels for either steam or domestic purposes. The average chemical constitution of these several beds as shown from analyses made by the State Geological Survey is as follows: Mois. V.M. F.C. Ash Sul. Phos. B.T.U. Cedar Grove coal (12 analyses) 0.94 35.91 57.99 5.21 0.75 .0036 14418 No. 2 Gas coal (34 analyses) 1.49 33.42 59.59 5.50 1.29 .010 14233 Powellton coal ( 6 analyses) 1.33 32.19 60.61 5.87 0.97 .0116 14309 Eagle coal (12 analyses) 1.80 29.99 64.04 4.17 0.77 .010 14001 General average (64 analyses) 1.39 32.88 60.56 5.19 0.95 .007 14405 These analyses reveal a progressive decrease in volatile matter, and a corresponding increase of fixed carbon in descending to lower and lower coal beds from the top of the Kanawha series. These analyses also disclose that the Lower Kanawha coals, as well as those of the 382 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Upper Kanawha series are fuels of great purity and general excellence, being high in fixed carbon and heat units as well as low in the impurities of ash, sulphur, and moisture, thus insuring a constant demand for them in the commercial markets. The general excellence of all the coals in the great Kanawha group is so well known to the coal markets of the country that it is unneces sary to describe each particular bed in detail, except to state that the No. 2 Gas coal is the most persistent and valuable bed of the entire group, and probably furnishes a greater tonnage than any other single member. It generally contains enough hard or splinty coal to make an ideal shipping fuel while the softer layers yield an excellent coke and are also valuable for gas making purposes. ' Some excellent coal is generally present wherever the horizon of this bed is above water level, the principal mines on the Upper Guyandotte, at Holden, Dingus Run, etc., being in this seam, while at Warfield, Rawl, and other points on the Tug the same bed appears to be present in commercial thickness as well as on all the tributaries of the upper waters of Big and Little Coal rivers. It is also a valuable coal across Nicholas and Webster though declining in thickness from 5 feet, its average on the Kanawha and southwestward, to 3 and 3% feet in Webster and southeastern Braxton. For a fuller and detailed description of all the members of the Kanawha group, the reader is referred to Volumes II and 11(a), and Bulletin Two, W. Va. Geological Survey. Allegheny Series. Immediately above the top of the Pottsville beds, there comes another series of sandy shales, coals, fire clays, sandstones, and occasionally one or more limestones, the whole rock formation having a thickness of 250 to 300 feet on the Allegheny river in western Pennsylvania where these strata were first studied and named the Allegheny series. There it contains in different regions, 6 or more coal horizons that furnish fuel of commercial value, as follows: Upper Freeport (Thomas). Lower Freeport. Upper Kittanning. Middle Kittanning. Lower Kittanning (Davis). Clarion. Of these 6 beds that are mined at different points in Pennsylvania, only two, viz; the Upper Freeport and Lower Kittanning have been mined to any considerable extent in West Virginia, and of these the Lower Kittanning bed appears to be the most widely persistent and valuable. It is known under different local names in the several regions of the state, being often called the "Six-Foot" seam along the North Potomac river, the "Davis" seam at Thomas, and adjoining regions, the "Roaring Creek" bed in Randolph and Barbour, and the "No. 5 Block" throughout Clay, Nicholas, Fayette, Kanawha, and other counties in the southwestern regions of the state. It is generally of workable dimen sions wherever its outcrop lies above drainage, and its wide distribu- SPECIAL ARTICLES: MINERAL RESOURCES 383 tion and uniform good quality render it one of the very valuable coal horizons of the state. The coal differs in type greatly in the several regions as expressed in the chemical analyses now to be given, being lower in volatile matter in the mountain regions than in others. The following average of 5 analyses represents in a general way the character of the Lower Kittan ning coal along the North Potomac river between Piedmont and Gor man: Average 5 samples Lower Kittanning coal, North Potomac river. Per cent. Moisture 1.81 Volatile Matter 14.79 Fixed Carbon 71.59 Ash 11.81 Total 100.00 Sulphur 2.62 Phosphorus 0.048 B. T. U. Calorimeter 13615 Another type of this coal is found further up the North Potomac to ward its headwaters where the Davis Coal & Coke Company carries on extensive operations in the vicinity of Coketon, Tucker county, as illustrated by the following analysis of an air dried sample: Per cent. Moisture 0.48 Volatile Matter : 20.72 Fixed Carbon 72.29 Ash 6.51 Total 100.00 Sulphur 0.82 Phosphorus 0.02 . B. T. U 14500 Still another type of this same coal occurs in the Roaring Creek re gion of Randolph and Barbour counties as exhibited by the following analysis of an air dried sample of the same in which the volatile matter is higher: Per cent. Moisture 0.74 Volatile Matter 30.38 Fixed Carbon 59.59 Ash 9.29 Total 100.00 Sulphur 1.65 Phosphorus 0.023 B. T. U 13901 The No. 5 Block type of this coal which comes in toward the south western half of the state is represented by the following average of 6 samples as received from the mines: Per cent. Moisture 1.81 Volatile Matter 33.17 Fixed Carbon 57.56 Ash 7.46 Totals 100.00 Sulphur 0:80 Phosphorus 0.008 B. T. U. Calorimeter 13536 384 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Many of the mines on No. 5 Block coal show higher in B. T. U. than this average, and it is one of the splendid fuel coals of the state, always holding the market wherever it has been once introduced. The Middle Kittanning coal of the Pennsylvania section appears to be united with the Lower one at most localities in West Virginia, and hence is not known as a separate bed. The Upper Kittanning coal with a thickness of 3 to 4 feet, has been mined at only a few localities in the state, viz; in Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Barbour, Randolph, Upshur and Lewis counties, and then only in a small way by the farmers, since it is always overshadowed by the thicker and more important bed (Lower Kittanning) 40 to 50 feet below. It is rather high in ash, 10-12 per cent, but will sometime furnish a large tonnage of fairly good fuel. It has been observed at only a few localities In the Kanawha region, one of which is at Crescent, Fayette county, where a bed of coal 4 feet thick has been mined at 58 feet above the No. 5 Block seam, and apparently the same seam has been opened on Kelly's creek by Mr. C. C. Lewis, where it is partly cannel at 45 feet above No. 5 Block. The Lower Freeport coal is of very little economic importance in West Virginia, and has not apparently been mined for commercial shipment anywhere in the state, being generally thin and impure, and frequently absent from the section completely. The Upper Freeport coal at the top of the Allegheny series is an im portant bed in the northern portion of the state across Preston and eastern Monongalia, and possibly in some portions of northern Barbour, as well as through Tucker and Mineral counties along the North Potomac coal basin, but southwestward from Barbour county this coal thins down to 1 to 2 feet or disappears entirely until we reach Lincoln county where in the region of Griffithsville and Hamlin it appears to thicken up to a bed of commercial value. It has been extensively developed on the waters of Deckers creek in Monongalia and Preston counties for coking purposes by the Elkins Coal & Coke Company, the Preston County Coal Company, and the Connellsville Basin Coal Company, as well as in the region of Newburg, Austen and Tunnelton, Preston county, where there are several large mines on this coal for coking, railway and other general fuel purposes. Quite recently the fuel from this bed in the Deckers creek region of Monongalia and Preston counties has come into high favor as a coal to mix with the low volatile coals of the Potomac basin in the manufacture of by-product coke, and a contract for a large daily tonnage of this coal covering a period of several years has been made to supply the by-product oven plant near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Like the Kittanning below, the Upper Freeport bed is much lower In volatile matter in the Allegheny Mountain or North Potomac region than west of the same as will be observed by the following two types of analysis, being the average of 4 samples from each region: SPECIAL ARTICLES: MINERAL RESOURCES 385 Allegheny Deckers Mountain Creek Per cent. Per cent. Moisture 1.44 1.46 Volatile Matter 14.60 29.53 Fixed Carbon 74.96 62.33 Ash 9.00 6.67 Totals 100.00 100.00 Sulphur 1.56 1.10 Phosphorus 0.02 0.03 B. T. U. Calorimeter 14621 14171 The volatile .matter in the samples from the North Potomac basin, it will be noted, is only half that in the Deckers creek fields. The Conemaugh Series. The next succeeding group of rocks above the Allegheny is known as the Conemaugh series, and has a thickness of 550 to 600 feet in most regions of West Virginia, containing 6 or more coal horizons. The upper two-thirds of the Conemaugh beds is composed largely of soft red shales which have a tendency to slide, giving much trouble and expense to the railways in cuttings, tunnels, ,.etc, and also to the oil well drillers, since access of water converts them into mud which "caves" badly and frequently results in loss of drilling tools and the hole already drilled. The lower third however, consists mostly of massive sandstones (Buffalo and Mahoning) which often furnish good building stone, and when deeply buried may hold considerable quantities of oil and gas. The coal horizons of the Conemaugh are the following in descending order: Little Pittsburg. Little Clarksburg. Elk Lick. • Harlem. Bakerstown. Brush Creek. The only coals of the Conemaugh series that attain any considerable economic importance are the Brush creek, which comes 50 to 80 feet above the Upper Freeport, the Bakerstown, which comes 180 to 200 feet above the Upper Freeport bed, and the Elk Lick coal 160 to 180 feet higher. The Harlem coal has occasionally been mined by the farmers for local use, but it is generally only 1 to 2 feet thick and often absent entirely. The Brush creek bed attains some importance in Hancock county where it has been mined for commercial purposes, and exhibits the following composition on Hardin run, near New Cumberland: Per cent. Moisture 1.15 Volatile Matter 36.38 Fixed Carbon 56.55 Ash 5.92 Total 100.00 Sulphur 1.45 Phosphorus I 0.005 386 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA i The Bakerstown coal which belongs 100 to 120 feet above the Brush Creek bed is quite widely distributed, and frequently attains commercial value in Preston, Barbour, Mineral, Braxton, Upshur Brooke and other regions of the state. Its composition in the different districts is shown by the following analyses: Mineral Preston Lewis Brooke County. County. County. County. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Moisture 1.59 1.05 1.31 0.78 Volatile Matter 14.91 28.35 a6.71 41.25 Fixed Carbon 73.17 63.45 55.01 52.36 Ash 10.33 7.05 6.97 5.61 Totals 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Sulphur 2.30 2.48 0.88 3.15 The increase in volatile matter with distance from the Allegheny Mountain region represented by the Mineral county sample, is well Illustrated by these analyses. The coal is seldom more than 3 feet thick, but is highly prized both for steam and domestic purposes. The Elk Lick coal which comes about 150 to 180 feet above the Bakerstown bed, and like it only about 3 feet thick, is occasionally of some importance, but is generally quite high in ash, containing 15 to 20 per cent of the same. It is mined occasionally for local use, and was once opened for commercial purposes on the Coal & Coke Railway near Jacksonville, Lewis county, where it has the following composi tion: Per cent. Moisture 1.73 Volatile Matter 37.17 Fixed Carbon 46.15 Ash 14.95 Total 100.00 Sulphur 2.48 Phosphorus 0.106 B. Ti U J3276 Monongahela Series. The last and highest series of rocks to hold valuable commercial coals is the one which crops so extensively along the Monongahela river drainage between Weston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, Brownsville and Pittsburg, and therefore bears the name of that great freight producing stream which carries on its bosom more annual tonnage than any other stream in the world. The Monongahela series varies in thickness from 300 to 430 feet, hav ing the great Pittsburg bed at its base and the Waynesburg coal at its top with the Redstone, Sewickley, and Uniontown coal beds intermediate at 40, 100 and 250 feet respectively above the base of the series. The Pittsburg Coal. The main coal bed of the Monongahela series is the one which forms its base, and of which the writer gave the following description in 1897 in his vice-presidential address before Section E of the American Pittsbueg Coal Outcrop (near Connellsville, Pa.). Showing Columnar Structure of Typical Coking Coal. Coke Ovens, Steel Tipple and Slack Bins (Coalton, Randolph County). SPECIAL ARTICLES: MINERAL RESOURCES 387 Association for the Advancement of Science at its Madison, Wisconsin, meeting: "Among the rich mineral deposits of the great Appalachian field, the Pittsburg coal bed stands preeminent. Other coal beds may cover a wider area, or extend with greater persistence, but none surpass the Pittsburg seam in economic importance and value. It was well named by Rogers (H. D.) and his able assistants of the first Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, in honor of the city to whose industrial growth and supremacy it has contributed so much. Whether or not the proplietlc eye of that able geologist ever comprehended fully the part which this coal bed was to play in the future history of the city which gave it a name we do not know; but certain it is that the seven feet of fossil fuel which in Rogers' time circled in a long black band around the hills, and overlooking the site of Pittsburg from an elevation of 400 feet above the waters of the Allegheny and Monongahela, extended up the latter stream in an unbroken sheet for a distance of 200 miles, has been the most potent factor in that wonderful modern growth which has made the Pittsburg district the manufacturing center of America, and which bids fair to continue until it shall surpass every other district in the world, even if it does not now hold such primacy." This was written 15 years ago and the prophecy there made has long been more than fulfilled, since the Pittsburg district has been rec ognized as the greatest manufacturing district in the world for more than 10 years, and made so almost entirely through the agency of the great coal bed in question. Pennsylvania and West Virginia had in 1908 practically equal areas, viz; about eleven hundred thousand acres each of this great bed, but Pennsylvania is exhausting her field at the rate of 100,000,000 million tons, or 12,500 acres annually, so that 50,000 acres or nearly one-twentieth of her entire Pittsburg coal area has been mined in only four years. West Virginia in the same four years has mined only about 50,000,000 tons from her Pittsburg coal area, represent ing but 6,250 acres of exhausted territory. Of course, the production from both areas will gradually increase as the years pass, but it is evident that West Virginia will still have a large area of this splendid fuel long after that from her sister states of Pennsylvania and Ohio is prac tically gone, only 40 to 50 years hence. The quality of the Pittsburg coal varies considerably in the different regions of the state, and also much in the same region, but the follow ing general averages of air dried samples will fairly represent the re gions mentioned: Mois. V.M. F.C. Ash. Sul. < Phos. Monongahela river region 0.75 38.16 54.64 6.45 2.30 0.0117 Ohio, Brooke and Marshall 0.93 39.46 51.35 8.26 3.86 O.0067 Mason county 1.88 40.21 47.78 10.13 2.20 0.0160 Putnam and Kanawha counties 1.83 38.76 51.86 7.55 1.72 0.0450 Gilmer and Braxton counties 1.87 38.51 52.50 7.15 2.64 0.0140 The average of 52 mines, the results of many analyses by Mr. Frank Haas, formerly Chief Chemist of the Fairmont Coal Company, gave this coal for the Monongahela river region the following composition: 388 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA .Per cent. Moisture 1.43 Volatile Matter 37.47 Fixed Carbon 53.83 Ash 7.27 Total 100.00 Sulphur 2.59 B. T. U. Calorimeter 14014 Out side of restricted areas where narrow belts of low sulphur Pitts burg coal exist, like that extending from the West Fork river in Marion cunty near Monongah northeastward toward Underwood or Farmington on Buffalo creek, the above averages of Mr. Haas may be considered as fairly representative of the Pittsburg coal in the region drained by the waters of the Monongahela and its tributaries in West Virginia, while the following average of 11 samples from the different portions of the Chatam mine of the Jamison Coal & Coke Company near Underwood, Marion county, will represent the low sulphur type of restricted areas: Per cent. Moisture 1.32 Volatile Matter 35.79 Fixed Carbon 56.11 Ash 6.27 Total 100.00 Sulphur 1.05 An ideal steam and domestic fuel, the purer portion of the seam being unexcelled for gas and coking purposes, this three-fold use to which the Pittsburg bed is so well adapted renders it one of the most valuable single deposits of the entire Appalachian coal field, and hence the large and almost virgin area of the bed remaining unmined in West Virginia must prove a very rich heritage and one that should attract many additional factories to her domain in the near future. The Redstone Coal. This bed belongs about 40 feet above the Pittsburg seam, and re sembles the latter very much in chemical composition. Aside from a small area in Monongalia county on Robinson run, its chief development in commercial thickness is found in southeastern Harrison, western Barbour, northern Upshur, and portions of Lewis county. That the character of the coal is very much like the Pittsburg is shown by the following analysis of the bed at the Century Mine, Barbour county : Per cent. Moisture 0.67 Volatile Matter 36.89 Fixed Carbon 55.41 Ash 7.03 Total 100.00 Sulphur 2.43 Phosphorus 0.009 This bed will furnish a large tonnage of splendid fuel from the regions indicated. Sewickley Coal. Lying 60 to 80 feet above the Redstone seam and 100 to 120 feet above SPECIAL ARTICLES: MINERAL RESOURCES 389 the Pittsburg bed there occurs another valuable coal bed which under lies practically all of Monongalia and Marion counties west from the Monongahela river, the northern half of Wetzel and nearly all of Marshall and Ohio counties with a thickness of 3% to 5 feet of very excellent fuel of the approximate composition shown by the analysis of a sample of coal taken from the Parker Run Mine just below Rivesville, Marion county, as follows: Per cent. Moisture 1.47 Volatile Matter 38.34 Fixed Carbon 51.79 Ash 8.40 Total 100.00 Sulphur 3.47 Phosphorus 0.005 B. T. U. Calorimeter 14142 The heating value of the Sewickley coal is equal to or even superior to" that of the Pittsburg bed and although it holds about one per cent more sulphur, this extra amount does not appear to interfere with its splendid steaming and domestic fuel uses. It will furnish a large quantity of valuable fuel when active mining operations begin on this bed in the not distant future. The Unointown Coal. At 100 to 150 feet above the Sewickley seam there is frequently found another coal which attains some importance over limited areas in Wetzel, Marion, Tyler, Doddridge and Lewis counties, having prac tically the same chemical composition as the Pittsburg coal in the Wheeling region, except that it is slightly higher in sulphur. It will probably yield a half billion or more tons of fairly good fuel coal in the counties mentioned. The Waynesburg Coal. The Monongahela series ends at the top with a bed of coal which has a good thickness in western Monongalia, and Marion, and is 3 to 3% feet thick over about half of Wetzel, and much of Marshall and Ohio counties. It is a low grade fuel, however, being high in ash, sulphur, and moisture, compared to the Sewickley, Redstone and Pittsburg coals. It will eventually be mined, however, and will furnish many hundred million tons of fuel. The Dunkard Series. Capping the Monongahela series with its rich deposits of coal, es pecially in the northern half of the state, there occurs another series of sandstones, shales, and thin limestones in which several thin beds of coal occur, only two of which ever attain commercial value. These are the Waynesburg "A" bed, at 80 to 90 feet above the base of the series, and the Washington coal 80 to 90 feet higher. This last coal is very widely distributed and often has 1% to 2 feet of good coal with 3 390 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA to 4 feet more of low grade fuel. It will probably be the last coal to be mined in the state and will furnish many hundred million tons of low grade fuel. For detailed descriptions and analyses of all the coal beds in the state, as well as estimates of the total quantity (160 billion short tons) in the several counties, the reader is referred to the publications of the W. Va. Geological Survey, and especially to the County Reports in which detailed estimates are given for the tonnage of each bed. Production of Coal in West Virginia. The following table gives the annual production of coal in the state since 1863, the first year in which statistics are available: Year. Quantity. (Short tons) Year. Quantity. (Short tons) 1863 444,648 1864 454,888 1865 487,897 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 18711872 512,068 589,360609,227603,148 608,878618,830 700,000 1873 1,000,000 1874 1,120,000 1875 1,120,000 1876 896,000 1877 1,120,000 1878 1,120,000 1879 1,400,000 1880 1,829,844 1881 1,680,000 1882 2,240,000 1883 2,335,833 1884 3,360,000 1885 3,369,062 1886 4,005,796 1887 4,881,620 Total 1888 5,498,800 1889 6,231,880 1890 7,394,654 1891 9.220,6.65 1892 9,738,755 1893 10,708,578 1894 11,627,757 1895 11,387,961 1896 12,876,296 1897 14,248,159 1898 16,700,999 1899 19,252,995 1900 22,647,207 1901 24,068,402 1902 24,570,826 1903 29,337,241 1904 32,406,752 1905 37,791,580 1906 43,290,350 1907 48,091,583 1908 48,197,843 1909 51,849,220 1910 61,671,019 1911 59,831,580 .649,448,201 It is interesting to compare the total coal production of West Virginia with that of the entire United States and with that of the states which adjoin her territory in he Appalachian field. The following statistics are from the U. S. G. Survey Mineral Statistics as compiled by Mr. E. W. Parker for 1911: Short Tons. Total Production of Coal in the United States, including Anthracite, since statistics were available in 1814 8,739,572,427 Pennsylvania, since 1820 — anthracite, 1,819,350,685 — bituminous, 2,396,491,260 4,215,841,945 West Virginia, since 1863 649,448,201 Ohio, since 1838 611,949,292 Kentucky, since 1828 171,678,669 Maryland, since 1820 165.909,802 Virginia, since 1822 79,613,075 These tables show that Pennsylvania lacks only 154 million tons in round numbers of having produced one-half of the entire output of coal in the United States up to and including 1911, while West Virginia, which did not become a coal producer of record until 1863, has already greatly outstripped Ohio, whose production began 25 years earlier, and whose annual production for the past year (30,759,986 short tons) is only slightly more than half that of West Virginia's (59,831,580 short SPECIAL ARTICLES : MINERAL RESOURCES 391 tons). This comparison with the production of coal in the sister states of Kentucky, Maryland, and Ohio, as well as with the mother state, Virginia, accentuates the prominence that West Virginia is sure to assume in the coal industry, being second now to Pennsylvania and almost certain to exceed her in the production of bituminous coal within the next two decades. Altogether, including the inevitable waste, about one billion short tons of the 160 billion tons of coal that West Virginia is credited with having had in her hills before mining operations began has been taken out, so that her supply is diminished by only a small fraction of the total. Water Power Resources of West Virginia* By A. H. Horton, District Engineer, Water Resources Branch, U. S. Geological Survey. The state of West Virginia is rich in many natural resources, among the more important are coal, oil, gas, lumber and water power. At the present time probably the least undeveloped and the least utilized of these natural resources is water power. The time, however, is approach ing when the development of the large amount of water power within the state will be undertaken and carried out to the economic limit. This time may be in the near or distant future. Every improvement in the electrical transmission of power, every devise built to render the use of electricity more convenient and desirable, and every demand for power hastens the day of the complete development of water power. Any great or radical improvement in the production of electrical energy or its transmission would have an immediate effect upon the development of water power. According to the tables which follow, the minimum amount of energy developed by the streams -in West Virginia is about 350,000 horsepower, the assumed maximum is 1,163,000 horsepower. It takes from 11 to 15 tons per year of high grade steam coal to produce one continuous horsepower in the most efficient steam engines in ordinary use. The amount of coal ,based upon the lower of the above figures, necessary to produce the minimum horsepower developed by West Virginia streams is there fore 3,850,000 tons per year, to produce the maximum 12,800,000 tons per year. The annual cost of producing power by steam plants varies from about $25 to $150 per horsepower, depending upon the type of engine and boiler and the capacity of the plant. These figures include interest at •This timely and valuable paper was prepared through the courtesy of Dr. Geo Otis Smith, Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, and at the request of Dr I p" White, State Geologist. ' " *" 392 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 5 per cent, depreciation, repairs, oil, waste, labor, and fuel, using coal at $2 per ton. Water power must, of course, compete with steam power derived, in general, from coal. It will therefore remain undeveloped unless it can be disposed of at less cost, except to certain customers who will pay a higher price for the convenience of obtaining electrical power. It costs from about $45 to $200 per horse power measured at the turbine shaft to construct water power plants ready to deliver electrical power. This electrical power can be sold for less in the immediate vicinity of the power plant than anywhere else as the cost of transmis sion is considerable and varies with the distance, voltage,- and amount transmitted. To prevent a threatened water power monopoly and reduce rates for electricity the province of Ontario, Canada, created a Hydro-Electric Power Commission in 1906 with full power to control plants and to buy and sell power. This commission is now operating 301) miles of 110,000 volt main transmission lines, and 180 miles of distributing lines buying current from the Ontario Power Company, a private corporation at Niagara Falls, at $9 per horsepower per annum. The rates charged the municipalities to cover cost vary from $18 to $29.50 per horsepower per annum, according to distance from Niagara Falls. The commission is supplying power at present to thirty municipalities. The city of Toronto, located approximately 90 miles from the source of power, purchases 10,000 horsepower from the commission for $18.50 per horsepower per annum for 24-hour service, which is very much less than it would cost if produced by steam plants. What has been done in Ontario, Canada, can be done in West Virginia or any other state. At present there is very little hydro-electric power developed in this state and the passing laws to regulate the price of electricity for use as power or for illumination ought not to be a difficult matter. The need of legislation or of a commission to regulate the charges for electricity is shown by the fact that at Buffalo electricity costs $25 per year per horsepower while at Toronto, which is three times as far from Niagara Falls, the common source of power, the price is about 26 per cent less. ' Sources of Data. The runoff data used in this report have been obtained from the re ports and files of the Water Resources Branch of the U. S. Geological Survey. Table No. 1 shows the gaging stations and the length of record at each that have been or are being maintained in West Virginia upon which the runoff data used are based. On those streams where there were no runoff records available, a runoff coefficient was assumed based upon that of the nearest station or on that of a stream under about similar conditions. The profiles and elevations were obtained from river surveys made by the U. S. Geological Survey and U. S. Army Engineers, and from the topographic maps of the U. S. Geological Survey. It should be noted that there are profiles available from river surveys for the following streams SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES 393 only: Kanawha, Little Kanawha, Potomac, North Branch Potomac, South Branch Potomac and Big Sandy Rivers. The contour interval of the topographic maps is 20, 50, or 100 feet, depending upon the nature of the topography. Elevations taken from topographic maps may there fore be subject to considerable error, depending upon the contour in terval of the map used. The estimates of power were taken from the computations and com pilations made for Forest Service Circular No. 143, U. S. Department of Agriculture, January 1908, and for the Report of the National Con servation Commission, February 1909. The estimates for the Potomac river are the same as in Circular No. 143 except only those streams in West Virginia are considered, and the efficiency of the turbines was taken as 90 per cent instead of 80 per cent. The estimates for the other streams in West Virginia have been revised from > that compiled for the above reports, due to being based on runoff data secured during 1908-1911. The data with reference to storage reservoirs and the amount of power to be obtained from the use of stored water were taken from Circular No. 143 except that the efficiency of the turbines was taken as noted before. TABLE NO. 1. Stream Bluestone River Bluestone River Buckhannon River Buffalo Creek Cheat River Cheat River Cherry River Coal River Coal River Coal River Elk Creek Elk River Elk River Elk River Gauley River Gauley River Gauley River Greenbrier River Greenbrier River Meadow River New River Pocotaligo River Shavers Fork River Tygart River Tygart River West Fork River North Branch of Potomac River North Branch of Potomac River Opequon Creek Potomac River Shenandoah River South Branch of Potomac River Tuscarora Creek GAGING STATIONS IN WEST VIRGINIA. Ohio Biver Drainage. Location Length op Record Lilly True Hall Barracksville Morgantown (near) Parsons (near) RichwoodBrushtonFuquaTornado Clarksburg (near) Clendenin Gassaway Webster Springs Allingdale Belva SummersvilleAlderson Marlinton (near) Russellville (near) Fayette Sissonville Parson'sBelington Fetterman Enterprise Aug. 22, 1908— Jan. 13, 1912 July 21, 1912— Nov. 7, 1912 Jan. 15, 1913— March 31, 1913 Oct. 17, 1911— Jan. 2, 1913 June 7, 1907— May 25, 1909 June 3, 1907 — Dec. 31, 1908 July 8, 1899— Dec. 30, 1899 July 1 — Dec. 29, 1900 Aug. 21, 1902 — Dec. 31, 1905 Nov 18, 1908— March 31, 1913 Dee. 20, 1912— March 31, 1913 July 3, 1908— March 31, 1913 June 23, 1908— March 31, 1913 Oce. 12, 1911 — March 31, 1913 June 24, 1908— June 3, 1912 Oct. 11, 1910— March 31, 1913 June 27, 1908— March 31, 1913 July 1, 1908— March 31, 1913 July 1, 1908— March 31, 1913 July 3, 1908 — March 31. 1913 Aug. 25, 1908 — March 31, 1913 July 6, 1908— March 31, 1913 Aug. 1. 1895— July 15, 1906 May 10, 1907— March 31, 1913 July 9, 1908 — March 31, 1913 July 17, 1908— March 31, 1913 July 29, 1895 — May 22, 190) Aug. 11, 1902— Dec. 31, 1904 July 16, 1908— March 31, 1913 June 26, 1908— March 31, 1913 Oct. 14, 1910^March 31, 1913 June 5, 1907 — March 31, 1913 June 3, 1907— March 31, 1913 June 2, 1907— Mar. 31, 1913 Potomac River Drainage. PiedmontCumberland, Md. (near) Martinsburg (near) Great Cacapon Millville Springfield (near) Martinsburg June 27, 1899— July 16, 1906. June 11, 1894 — Nov. 20, 1897. May 8, 1905— July 16, 1906. June 21, 1894 — March 7, 1896. April 15, 1895— March 31, 1909. June 3', 1894 — Feb. 29. 1896. June 26, 1899 — Feb. 2. 1902. Aug. 28, 1903— July 15, 1906. May 8, 1905 — Dec. 31, 1905. 394 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Water Power. The schedule presented in this report gives the amount of available water power according to three classifications — (1) that which may be produced by the minimum flow; (2) the assumed maximum develop ment; and for a few selected streams (3) the power that may be de veloped from storage capacity in the upland basins and using stored water to compensate the low water periods. The data as a whole have been considered without reference to present practicability of development or present market. For purposes of this report it has been assumed that all the power in West Virginia will some day be required. Such an interpretation is the logical one when natural re sources ' are being considered. In other words, the schedule here pre sented must be interpreted for the future rather than for the present. The reader should not assume that all the power here shown is economic ally available today. Much of it, indeed, would be too costly in develop ment to render it of commercial importance under the present condi tions of market and the price of fuel power. The schedule shows there fore what will be the maximum possibilities in the day when our fuel shall have become so exhausted that the price thereof for production of power is prohibitive, and the people of the country shall be driven to the use of all the water power that can reasonably be produced by the streams. The rivers have been divided into sections of varying length, determin ed by channel slope, and the fall and flow of each section have been obtained from the best available source of information. In determining the flow for the various sections the data of flow per square mile, pro cured from the sources above mentioned, have been applied. The drain age areas above the upper and the lower limits of each section have been determined and a mean taken for the whole section. This has been used as a factor along with the flow per square mile in determining the minimum flow for that section. This figure, together with 90 per cent of the total fall from head to foot, has been used to determine theoretical horsepowers, according to the usual formulas. It is obvious that in practice the entire fall along any stretch of river or at any power privilege cannot be effectively utilized. In few places can even 90 per cent be utilized at the present time; but, inasmuch as these figures are supposed to cover future as well as present practice, and inasmuch as it may reasonably be assumed that future practice in water power installation will improve, it- is believed that 90 per cent of the fall along any particular section may eventually be realized. Where a stream has been considered from its source to its mouth but 25 per cent of the power obtained by using the total fall and the flow at the mouth has been used, other factors being the same. The results of calculations of theoretical power on 90 per cent total fall have been reduced 10 per cent to allow for inefficiency of wheels. It is recognized that 90 per cent efficiency is too high to be used in calculations of power at the present^ time, 75 or 80 per cent being the usual installation maximum. Here again, however, we are computing SPECIAL ARTICLES : WATER POWER RESOURCES 395 for future conditions, as well as present' ones, and it may confidently be expected that, with the improvement of turbines, a greater percentage of the theoretical power will be realized on the shaft and improve ments will before long render possible a 90 per cent efficiency. • In determining the minimum horsepower, the average of the mean flow of the two lowest seven-day periods in each year was determined and the mean of these values for the period of record was taken as the minimum flow. It is obvious that this is somewhat higher than the absolute minimum, but the latter is usually of so short duration that it does not equal the practicable minimum that may profitably be in stalled. The assumed maximum economical development has been determined on the assumption that it is good commercial practice to develop wheel installation up to that amount the continuance of which can be assur ed during six months of the year, on the assumption that the deficiency in power during the remainder of the year can be profitably provided by the installation of fuel power plants as auxiliaries. In many parts of the country it has been shown conclusively that it is economical to de velop up to that amount which can be had continuously during the highest four months of the year, and, while it is probable that there are parts of the country where the limit should be the highest eight or ten months, it is believed that the period used in these schedules is a very conservative average. The minimum weekly flow for each month of the year has been arranged according to magnitude, and the sixth value has been taken as the basis for estimating the power, the mean of these values for the record period in each case being that used in the computations. The subject of storage was not investigated to any extent, as It was realized that any study of storage possibilities would involve field investigations of possible reservoir sites and a careful study of hydro- graphs of the different streams in order to determine the most econom ical capacity of any reservoir or group of reservoirs. Storage, however, in connection with water power on West Virginia streams is a very im portant question and should be carefully considered in any proposed development. The topography of the streams at the headwaters, and at many places farther down, is especially favorable for construction of reservoirs of large capacity. The data in this report in regard to storage were taken from Circular No. 143 previously mentioned. ' In making the following estimates of the water power resources of West Virginia the streams were considered under the two main drain age systems into which the state is divided. The total area of the state is 24,645 square miles; of this area 21,160 square miles or 86 per cent drain into the Ohio river; the remainder, 3,485 square miles, drain into the Atlantic ocean. Under the Ohio river drainage the amount of power in the following drainage basins was computed: New-Kanawha river drainage in West Virginia, Tables Nos. 2 to 10, show that the total amount of power on the New-Kanawha river and tributaries is 246,037 horsepower for a 396 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA minimum, and 724,192 for a maximum. It is of interest to note that of this amount 196,200 and 464,300 for a minimum and maximum, respect ively, are on the main stream alone. The Tygart-Monongahela drainage basin was considered next, Tables 12 to 15 show a minimum of 38,171 and a maximum of 145,335 developed by the streams in this basin. The amount of power on the other tributaries of the Ohio river was next computed. The more important of these are the Little Kanawha and the Big Sandy. Tables Nos. 17 to 20 show that the minimum and the maximum amount of power on these two streams and their tribu taries and on the minor tributaries of the Ohio is 12,778 and 104,219 horsepower respectively. The Tug Fork and Big Sandy rivers form the - boundary line between Kentucky and West Virginia. Only the power on the main stem of these two streams and on the tributaries in West Virginia was included in the amount of power in West Virginia. The power developed by the Ohio river along West Virginia has not been considered as the development of this power is a problem which may not be solved for a long time. The total power in the Ohio river drainage in West Virginia is 296,986 horsepower for the minimum and 973,746 for the maximum. "The Potomac river is the only stream draining into the Atlantic ocean part of whose basin lies in West Virginia. Tables No. 21 to 24 show that there is a minimum of 52,595 horsepower and a maximum of 189,238 developed by the streams in this drainage basin in West Virginia. The North Branch and the Potomac river form the boundary line between Maryland and West Virginia as far down as Harpers Ferry; only the power on the main stem of these two streams and on their tributaries in West Virginia was considered as being in the state. The following shows the amount and distribution of the indicated horsepower de veloped by West Virginia streams: Assumed Minimum Maximum. Horsepower. Horsepower. Ohio Biver Drainage: New-Kanawha Drainage Basin — Tables 2-10 246,037 724,192 Tygart-Monongahela River — Tables 12-15 38,171 145,335 Other Ohio River Tributaries — Tables 17-20 12,778 104,219 Atlantic Drainage: Potomac River Drainage in West Virginia — Tables 21-24 52,595 189,238 Totals 349,581 1,162,984 Ohio River Drainage New-Kanawha River. The New-Kanawha river is the largest and most important river in West Virginia. Its basin comprises about one-third of West Virginia, part of western Virginia, and a small part of North Carolina. The SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES 397 lower part of the river, below the mouth of the Gauley, is called the Kanawha; above this point it is called the New. New River is formed by the union of the North and South Forks a few miles south of the boundary of North Carolina. Considering the South Fork as the main stream, the river rises in the central part of Watauga county, near Boone, North Carolina, whence it flows northeastward across the -state line into Virginia; at Radford, Virginia, the river turns abruptly and flows northwestward across West Virginia and empties into the Ohio river at Point Pleasant. The total length of the river is 427 miles, of which 180 miles are in West Virginia. Its totaf area is 12,197 square miles, of which 8,550 square miles, or 70 per cent, are within the state of West Virginia. The sources of the New lie in the Appalachian mountains among the high ridges which separate this basin from the basins of the Pedee and Santee rivers which drain into the Atlantic ocean. The river crosses the Allegheny front near the Virginia-West Virginia state line. Below the state line the valley of the main stream is narrow. From Hinton to the mouth of the Gauley the stream is in a steep and narrow canyon. Below the mouth of the Gauley the valley begins to widen out; from Charleston down, the valley is wide and the slope of the stream is small. The more important tributaries are the Greenbrier, Gauley, Elk, and Coal rivers, all of which, except the Coal, are tributary from the right bank. The elevation of the sources of the river is about 3,700 feet; at the Virginia- West Virginia state line the elevation is about 1,500 feet; at the mouth the elevation is about 510 feet. The average fall in West Virginia is approximately 5.5 feet per mile. In the stretch from Hinton to the Gauley river the average fall is close to 11 feet per mile. The average rainfall at the headwaters is probably 60 inches or more, as the sources " are located in the region of the greatest rainfall in eastern United States. The headwaters of the main stream and of the more important tributaries in West Virginia are forested to a con siderable extent. The Allegheny-Kanawha coal formation and the New river-Pocahontas coal formation underlie probably two-thirds of the basin in West Vir ginia, passing across the basin in a generally northeast and southwest direction. The main river enters the latter area at about Glade and Laurel creeks and leaves at the mouth of the Gauley where the former area begins and continues to Charleston. The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad parallels the river from Hinton to St. Albans, and the Kanawha and Michigan railroad runs from the mouth to the Gauley river. The Virginian railroad strikes the river at Deepwater by coming down Loup creek. The lower 96 miles of the river have been made navigable by means of locks and dams. The lock farthest upstream is located at Montgomery, about 84 miles above the mouth. On account of the high rainfall at the sources and the comparatively large drainage area the flow of the river in West Virginia is considerable ; 398 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA this, in conjunction with its rapid fall, makes the New-Kanawha river capable of developing a large amount of water power. Table No. 2 shows that there are nearly 200,000 horsepower for a minimum, and 460,000 horsepower for a maximum developed by the main stream from the Virginia state line to Ohio river backwater. In the stretch from the Virginia line to above the mouth of the Greenbrier there is no rail road and conditions are favorable for development. From Hinton to the head of navigation (Loup Creek Shoal) the topography and rapid fall are favorable but construction would probably be expensive as the Chesapeake and Ohio* railroad parallels the river, and for a portion of the way on both sides of the river just above high water. The amount of power along the navigable portion of the river is considerable and it may be developed at some future time should the value of the power warrant the cost of constructing the necessary structures for develop ing it. Table No. 10 gives the power on the more important minor tributaries of the New-Kanawha river in West Virginia. TABLE NO. 2.— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY NEW-KANAWHA RIVER IN WEST VIRGINIA. Section of Rivee. J3 +J a ¦ J S Mean Drainage Area. sq. mi. a m Assumed Discharge for maximum Development, sec. ft. a fa K +¦>' 0 o> Bfe u §1 SI SB Assumed Maximum Development. Horsepower. Horsepower Available from storage for From To w'0 a ft vi *c a CO 1,200 ft. Contour 1,000 ft. Contour Foot Loup Cr. Shoals .... Ohio R. Backwater 20 20 24 19 9 71 163 ' 4,220 6,300 6,5606,780 8,310 10,100 1,990 2,1402,2302,3002,5502,730 3,8105,0005,200 5,380 6,4407,690 77 182200351 51 76 937 14,00035,900 41,000 74,300 12,000 19,000 196,200 26,00084,000 95,600 174,000 30,300 53,600 464,300 ' 31480 3,830 6,730 16,70024,900 55,640 6,9607,660 13,460 33,400 49,800 111,280 13,920 15 320 1,200 ft. Contour 1,000 ft. Contour 26,92066,800 99,600 222,560 O > > w H o t-1 C SJHO ClQ 400 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Tributaries of the Kanawha River. The Greenbrier, Gauley, Elk, and Coal rivers are the more important tributaries of the Kanawha river in West Virginia. The headwaters of the three former and of the Cheat, Tygart, and Little Kanawha are all adjacent to each other in the east-central portion of the state, so that the rainfall, forestry conditions, and the topographical features already described for the sources of the Cheat and Tygart rivers apply to the other streams which have their headwaters in this area. An examina tion of a map of the state will show how remarkably the tributaries of these six rivers are interlaced. The Coal river is located on the south side of the Kanawha while the other tributaries are on the north side. Greenbrier River. The drainage basin of the Greenbrier river lies in the eastern part of the main body of the' state, being separated from the drainage of the Atlantic on the east by the Allegheny mountains, along whose crests is located the West Virginia- Virginia state line, and from the Cheat river drainage on the west and north by Shavers mountain and short lateral ranges. The area of the drainage basin is about 1,580 square miles. The river rises in the northern end of Pocahontas county, flows in a southwesterly direction across Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties and joins the New river just above Hinton in Summers county. The elevation of the sources is about 3,800 feet; the average slope from East Fork to the mouth is about 12 feet to the mile. The basin is remarkable on account of being long and of nearly uni form width from the source to the mouth. The principal tributaries are North Fork, Knapp, Anthony, Howard, Second, and Muddy creeks. The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad parallels the river from the mouth to Durbin, from which point the Western Maryland continues on up the West Fork over the divide into the basin of the Cheat. There is no coal found in the basin of the Greenbrier, although the New river- Pocahontas formation occurs in the adjacent basin on the west. Table No. 3 and Table No. 4, respectively, give the power on the Greenbrier and on the tributaries of the Greenbrier. TABLE NO. 3.— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY. GREENBRIER RIVER. a i> t-1 QH go i-3 o Ico o c| H SECTION OF RIVER From Source Below East Fork North " . " . Knapp Cr. " Knapp Cr. " Second Cr. To Below East Fork . Above North Fork " Knapp Cr. ' Anthony Cr. ' Second Cr. . . Mouth Totals ¦ • ¦• 151 Mean Drainage Area. sq.mi. Efl a -a ss Assumed Dischargefor Maximum Development, sec. ft. b£¦" o E-l §1 assa Assumed Maximum Development. Horsepower. Horsepower available from storage for a+j bo a . i-> a b a rH 50 b a CD to "b a CO 18 ai30 148 326 670 1,100 1,460 2125 54 87 122133 5360 132 271446 590 1,000 260 c310 b300 b220 260 483 598 1,540 2,4002,470 3,180 1,2201,4303,760 7,840 9,020 14,100 13 2140 2336 7,5406,820 21,400 34,40070,160 15,10013,600 42,800 68,800 30,20027,20085,600 137,600 151 2,350 10,671 37,010 140,300 280,600 a. Total area. reservoir. 6. Fall reduced to 145 ft. by proposed Lewisburg reservoir. c. Fall reduced to 160 ft. by proposed Pocahontas o rP- O «0 TABLE NO. 4. — INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY TRIBUTARIES OF GREENBRIER RIVER. STREAM. Si-4-> a a CO a o A u 0 ed si a 5 8 J *M CJa> to S bo laa. s Assumed Discharge for Maximum Development. sec. ft. ¦3-" o u a| Is- aa S a. masi From To Assume Maximu Develop Horsepc No. Fk. Greenbrier 152725 18 24 16 87 .121 148 90 120 70 1420 25 15 20 12 354960 36 4828 1,5001,3001,200 1,000 1,5001,000 483 .598 690 345 690276 1,2101,470 Knapp Creek Anthony Creek 1,660 Howard' Creek 828 Second Creek 1,660 Muddy Creek 644 3,082 7,472 a.mB I aBH !ziMt-1 HOWHoH h-l SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES 403 Gauley River. The basin of the Gauley river is bounded on the east by that of the Greenbrier and on the north and west by that of the Elk. The area of the drainage basin is about 1,430 square miles. The river rises in the western part of Pocahontas county, flows in a southwesterly direction across Webster and Nicholas counties and joins New river at its junction with the Kanawha. The elevation of its sources is about 4,000 feet. The average slope of the river from Williams river to the mouth is about 20 feet to the mile. The basin is triangular in shape. Most of the tributaries are in the eastern part of the basin, the main stream being located near the yestern side. The principal tributaries are Williams, Cranberry, and Cherry rivers, Muddlety and Hominy creeks, Meadow river and Twenty-mile creek. The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad parallels the river from the mouth to BelVa. The Baltimore and Ohio strikes the river near Camden on Gauley and parallels the river to Cherry river up which it goes to Richwood. The New river-Pocahontas and the Allegheny-Kanawha coal forma tions occur throughout the basin, the former being on the east side of the main river and the latter on the west side of the river. Coal is mined on Twenty-mile creek and along the river below Belva. Prom the Cherry river to Belva there is no railroad along the river, which is favorable for the construction of high dams as there would be no costs for relocation of railroads. This fact is also a disadvantage in getting construction material and equipment to dam sites. Table No. 5 and Table No. 6, respectively, give the amount of power on the Gauley river and on the tributaries of the Gauley. o Co TABLE NO. 5. — INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY GAULEY RIVER. SECTION OF STREAM J3 Mean Drainage Area. sq. mi. CD as, a t- asas Assumed iiischarge for Maximum Devel opment, sec. ft. "3 d .cji Develonment 00 2 iOOO 3 IB 3 = Horse Dower. H i> D3 FO 2o O >i-3Eg OMO Wto 13O B OF>• w aQFH 3 hi1 o a w g o 00 re TABLE NO. 8— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY TRIBUTARIES OF ELK. STREAM. SECTION. S3+J . waa a Total Drainage Area. sq.mi. a 6 |tf ' ^t-t co Assumed Discharge for Maximum Development, sec. ft. fa o H asaa >d urn sment. ower. From To a|°g : o^ *l o w pr WW MCCCO Length Ol Ol -joscn mi. p CO to O to coco to OS CO CO ci o to Mean Drainage Area. sq. mi. Minimum MMMO CO M r-1 tO 00 Discharge.sec. ft. Assumed M tOM Discharge Mto GO t-* -J for © M CO CO -J Maximum Development, sec. ft. _lO MtO tO 03 Total Fall © O -3 -JO ft. OO OOO M "*¦ M UI to to to Minimum o00 MOOO ooco Horsepower. M Assumed w M *. M tO tO Maximum M O bos MO OOOOOO ca o *> Development. o O O OO o Horsep ower. s 2d r-Hois§a o w OHWs ¦< HF O >tfB OWKlooF viNioaiA xsaAY ao xaoxsiH TviNNaiNao-mas OTf SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES I 411 Minor Tributaries of the New-Kanawha River in West Virginia. Table No. 10 gives the more important minor tributaries of the New and Kanawha rivers and the power on each. The Bluestone is the most important, having a total area of about 460 square miles. The Pocataligo river, Eighteen Mile and Thirteen Mile creeks have much the same characteristics as the minor tributaries of the Ohio, the country being fairly rough at the sources, medium slope from the mouth to near the sources, with a small low water flow and comparatively severe floods. The other tributaries are situated in country similar to the Green brier and Gauley rivers with steep and narrow valleys and large slope in the main streams. KM M» TABLE NO. 10.— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY THE MINOR TRIBUTARIES OF THE. NEW-KANAWHA RIVER. STREAM SECTION. w a a SI +j g Total Drainage Area. sq. mi. a u> aSa Assumed discharge for maximum development. sec. ft. 'cafai-H cd u si a* a ° a a a £ 31SB 4J . a t- Feom To aaog- Fi>Ffed oo 3 fe O Fwfeda) o ci W a New River — above mouth of Greenbrier River. Greenbrier River — Pocahontas County Greenbrier River — Lewisburg Gauley Eiver — Fayette County Meadow Eiver — Greenbrier Co Muddlbtt Creek — Nicholas Co Elk River — Clay County 3,600 320 680 1,290 180 60 940 5,750 460 980 1,860 250 90 1,350 20,300 16,30032,900 35,900 8,0003,400 49,900 644460980 1,140 250 90 1,350 135 177164250 8074 190 8,000 4,700 11,600 7,500 7,000 2,600 15,700 414 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Tygart-Monongahela River. Tygart river, also called Tygart Valley river, rises in Randolph county. Its drainage basin has an area of about 1,420 square miles and includes portions of the following nine counties: Pocahontas, Randolph, Upshur, Barbour, Tucker, Preston, Taylor, Marion, and Monongalia. The source is in the extreme southern part of Randolph county; from there it flows a little west of north to its junction with the West Fork river about one mile above Fairmont. Below the junction the stream is called the Monongahela river. The elevation at the sources is about 4,000 feet; the elevation at the mouth about 860 feet. The average fall per mile is about 25 feet; the average fall below Belington is about 14 feet per mile. The principal tributaries are Middle Fork river with a drainage area of 152 square miles, Buckhannon river with 304 square miles, and West Fork river with 876 square miles; the first two join the river 52 and 48 miles, respectively, from the mouth, and the West Fork at the mouth. From the source to a point about five miles above Huttonsville the valley is narrow and thinly settled. Following down the valley to three miles below Elkins there is almost continuous bottom land, much of it being nearly a mile wide. Between Belington and the mouth of the Buckhannon the valley is narrow and gorge-like. Below the mouth of this stream to Grafton, the valley, although still sided by steep hills, opens out into bottom land of limited extent, principally at and near Philippi, and at Grafton. Between Grafton and the mouth the hills again close in near the stream. About 43 per cent of the basin is under forest cover, 8 per cent of which is composed of virgin forest, occurring in practically two areas, one situated at the headwaters of the Middle Fork Branch and the other at the headwaters of the main stream. About 7 per cent of the wooded area has been burned over. By far the greater area of the woodland covers the high country of the basin, which begins with and lies to the south and southeast of the Laurel-Rich mountain range and to the west of this range across the upper waters of the Buckhannon and Middle Fork. The upper portion of this basin receives the heaviest rainfall recorded on either the Allegheny or Monongahela basins, the maximum annual rainfall at Pickens reaching 80.9 inches in 1907. According to the West Virginia geological map, the eastern edge of the Allegheny coal formation crosses the river about six miles west of Elkins, the limit of the field being along' the western slope of Laurel ridge and close to the crest of that range. From this point to within about nine miles of the Monongahela river, the valley holds beds of this formation and along this stretch of the stream coal is mined at a number of places on the hanks. For two or more miles above the mouth the stream flows between coal areas, which are said to be considerably above the river. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad closely follows the stream from the mouth to Belington from which place the Western Maryland operates a SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES 415 line as far as Huttonsville. The principal towns and their populations are as follows: Huttonsville, 250; Beverly, 440; Elkins, 5,260; Belington, 1,480; Philippi, 1,040; Grafton, 7,560. The Monongahela proper has its head about 1.4 miles above Fairmont, from which point it flows in a northeasterly direction for about 35 miles and enters Pennsylvania from Monongalia county. The average fall of the portion of the river in West Virginia is over 2 feet to the mile. The valley from Fairmont to the state line is compartively narrow and the tributaries are small and relatively unimportant. The hills are close to the river and there is but little bottom land. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad parallels the river below Fairmont. The Monongahela has been- made navigable by means of locks and dams from Fairmont to Pittsburg. Dam No. 15 is located a short distance below Fairmont; Dam No. 9 is located about one mile above the state line. Cheat river is the most important tributary in West Virginia. It joins the Monongahela at Point Marion, Pennsylvania, about two miles be low the state line. Practically all the drainage area of the Cheat river lies in West Virginia. The topographic conditions and the rapid fall of the Tygart and its tributaries are favorable for the development of water power. Con ditions for the development of power along the Monongahela are not so favorable. Power could probably be developed at the dams built for navigation purposes, especially if storage were developed in the basin to any extent. Table No. 12 gives the amount of power along the main stream, and Table No. 15 the amount of power on the minor tributaries. Dunkard creek is considered as being in West Virginia although about one-half its drainage basin lies in Pennsylvania. Ml TABLE NO. 12. — INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY THE TYGART-MONONGAHELA RIVER. TOBMl I ofedH fed !ziPF O o si MlM SECTION OF RIVER. From To ao-3 S0J 60 a a*3 •9.2 =J S. 5w^iS Horsepower available from storage for 12 mo's 6 mo's. 3 mo TYGART RIVER. Source below Pound Mill Run. . 2 mi. above Roaring C. below Middle Fork below Buckhannon R. . below Frog Run below Pound Mill Run . . 2 mi. above Roaring Cr. above Middle Fk. above Buckhannon R. . . below Frog Run above West Fork R. . . MONONGAHELA RIVER. below West Fk. Riv. lower pool Dam No. 9 . Totals 19 31 16% 3% 2328 31 152 a88 205 379596 1.080 1.320 2,500 150 7 1630 48 86 106 46 106197 310 520 630 940 1,800 280250 155 320 135 73 3,013 290412 690684 2,530 1,310 1,000 6,916 1,9002,700 4,530 4,420 15,300 7,820 6,300 42,970 12,90011,20040,20018,800 15,600 98,700 25,800 22,400 80,40037,600 31,200 197,400 51,600 44,800 160,800 75,200 62,400 394,800 a. Total area. TABLE NO. 15. -INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY THE RIVER. MINOR TRIBUTARIES OF TYGART-MONONGAHELA STREAM. SECTION. SI 91 Mean Drainage Area. sq.mi. a oj g M ag+i ao*"! C ™ o Assumed Discharge for Maximum Development, sec. ft. "5 _ -w $"" O EH §1 S F!> Ioffed 51> H fed td ofed W tduOO a w o fed a, Total Area. ?M -3 418 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Cheat River. The Cheat river, or its continuation, the Shavers Fork, rises in the northern part of Pocahontas county, West Virginia, and flows in a general northerly direction, joining the Monongahela at Point Marion, Pennsylvania, one mile north of the state line. The elevation of its source is about 4,500 feet, from which it falls to 780 feet at the mouth. The average fall is about 25 feet per mile; from Shavers Fork to the mouth the fall averages about 11 feet to the mile. The Cheat is formed by Shavers Fork and Dry Fork, which join at the town of Parsons. There is a strong contrast between the general shape of the drainage basins of these two tributaries, the former being long and narrow and the latter fan-shaped. The only important tributary of the Cheat proper is Big Sandy creek which enters on the right bank. The drainage basin, which has an area of 1,380 square miles, drains portions of the following counties: Pocahontas, Randolph, Tucker, Bar bour, Preston, Monongalia, in West Virginia; Fayette in Pennsylvania, and a very small part of Garrett in Maryland. The topography over much of the basin is mountainous. Practically all of the upland is rough and many of the valleys have been formed into deep gorges with swiftly flowing streams. Beginning at the head of Shavers Fork, it may be said that over half the length of the channel of the Cheat lies in a narrow, steep-sided and uncultivated gorge, with the mountain slopes wooded on these reaches and along most of the re mainder of the stream. Above Parsons, for a distance of a few miles, the valley opens out, here and there, with the stream flowing through low bottom land or flood plains. Below the town for a distance of nine miles, to the village of St. George, the stream is crooked and the, valley steep-sided and broad, widening in places to about half a mile across cultivated and unusually level bottoms. At and above Rowlesburg narrow patches of cultivated bottom land obtain, and a similar con dition exists below Mont Chateau, where the degree of cultivation is somewhat better. About half way up from Parsons, the Shavers Fork valley has been cut down by the stream to a depth of nearly 2,000 feet, the mountain top on the east being less than four-tenths of a mile distant. Below Albright the precipitous sides have a fall of 1,200 feet In less distance. The Cheat possesses much natural beauty and the views obtained at such points as Coopers Rock, Cheat View, and a number of places along the upper waters are notably fine. About 69 per cent of the drainage area is under forest cover, which is fairly well scattered, but is most abundant on the higher elevations of the upper portion, the basins of the Dry Fork and Shavers Fork being respectively 77 per cent and 83 per cent wooded. This includes a num ber of tracts of virgin timber, aggregating an area of 221 square miles, as well as about 125 square miles of burned over forest land. All but about 75 square miles of this virgin timber is located above Parsons, 43 square miles being on Shavers Fork, mainly in one large tract, and 103 square miles on the Dry Fork, in several tracts of considerable size. SPECIAL ARTICLES : WATER POWER RESOURCES 419 The rainfall in this drainage basin is the greatest of any of the tribu taries of the Monongahela in West Virginia, the maximum recorded at Pickens and Terra Alta being 81 and 76 inches, respectively, which occur red in 1907. The geological formation along the valley contains coal, limestone and building stone. The Pittsburg coal bed is mined high in the hill, near the Monongahela river, and several beds, geologically lower, cross the valley in two narrow belts, one at Mont Chateau and the other at Al bright, the field width at the latter place being the greater and cover ing about five miles of the stream. In the intervening part of the valley, according to available data, there is no coal, evidently due to the Chest nut ridge anticlinal having raised the measures high above the stream, resulting in the erosion of the strata. On the West Virginia map a field of considerable length is indicated on the Shavers Fork, but no description concerning it was noticed in the report of the Geological Survey of the state.' The railroads entering the valley of the Cheat and passing along close to the stream are as follows: Baltimore and Ohio railroad, from the mouth to Cheat Haven, 3 miles; Morgantown and Kingwood, Al bright to Rowlesburg, 14 miles. The main line of the latter, east and west crosses the valley at Rowlesburg. The towns of importance and their respective populations are as follows: Point Marion, 1,390; Al bright, 80; Rowlesburg, 940; Parsons, 1,780. The topography of the drainage basin of the Cheat and the high average fall are very favorable for water power development. Table No. 13 gives the amount of water power on the stream from the source to the mouth.Table No. 14 gives the amount on the main tributaries. JO fed TABLE NO. 13.— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY CHEAT RIVER. SECTION OF RIVER. Source 3,000 ft. Contour below Dry Fork . Albright To 3,000 ft. Contour above Dry Fork . . Vlbright Mouth Totals 149 i aa SQ- a88 151 865 1.220 a m a|j •sl = acs Son? a m a u a oi • •id w Mean Drainage Area. sec. ft. Assumed Discharge for Maximum Development, sec. ft. fa O Minimum Horsepower. Assumed Maximum Development. Horsepower From To below Laurel Fk. . . Source. Cheat R 2813 24 3028 al45 345 al23al39 alOO 39 94 3338 27 97 232 839367 2,300 400 1,8001,600 1,000 2,060 3,410 1,3701,400 621 5,130 8,550 Laurel & Gladys Fks Blackwater R Dry Fork .'. Dry Fork Cheat R 3,440 3,4201,540 8,861 22,080 a. Total Area. co hdtd a Mi t> o rtd cc 1-3fed P3 ?do* tdWwtdcoo a w otdCO hM 422 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 03 < Ha o z oo oi>aw tcKWPHH CJH O Z Hm ¦sajOB •aun Aioia jo Bajy ¦jaaj ¦niBa jo ;u.SiaH •;j -aas 'AU>I,g [Bunny ueapi 'jnaiBAmba •}J 'no uojilira ¦jioAjasaa jo A":noBdBO ¦}j oas •aiqeiiBAy A10[^ 'ira -bs •Bajy juannjojE;) OOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO O COCO M CO CD CH CD D-^coHiOrH-^cf co" OOOOOOOOW cocococo-^t-b-t-t-innii: co m i~ oooooooooOOOOOOOOO M rH CO CD l~ 00 CK -# 00 Ci oo" co" tdH CD m P n» (D ¦4 m <* H £,B cr Z o CO r+ O H>XD d"B .i O Z o fcg '11— 1 rf^. too ZD H O H zdn> Hd oz d1" tdo- H g S? S g-^ ¦ < S m ?3 o o 2 5 o »HO : £c P* r+O » 4 fitWd : 3 H ¦ .° ; rf* • O "d m d WK UI CO OS CO M tO Length f» OT lO O J-» M H1 mi. Hi M Mean r~3tr1 ^1 CD CO h* P0 OOMCJlO) DrainageArea. H sq. mi. > Z > Ol -a -J © OS Minimum Discharge. 3 sec. ft. 2 Assumed < ©ut to •q tO M CO -1 Discharge O 00 4*. © OS for Maximum Development, sec. ft. » M M 00 to Ol Total Fall 00 *¦ -i-^ o o ft. CO oooooo tO OffM CO Cn Minimum l-i M O © rf»- CT Horsepower. M « CJ 4* CO to to~1 05 CO MM IO bi * cn oi bi AssumedMaximum C 0 3 o oo o o O Devel Horse opment power. viniohia isbav. ao xsoisih iviNNaiNao-iwas fZf SPECIAL ARTICLES : WATER POWER RESOURCES 425 a> a Q CJ H & O Cm 03 as o Q m Eh 5 ¦z o z ¦jOMOdasjoH l- oo t- O o o o O O OS CO \juaiudoiaAdQ CO© rH 00 lO r-i tH CM TfH t- t- CO *l ^ M. °~ ""1 W- M ^ mntujxuj^ ,_J" tH mn'hhh co" pamnssy r-i rHt-CN CO CM Cl CO CO t- CM r-i 00 ¦jaiiodasjOH 00 CM Tf OS O tO 00 rH CM CO 00 CO ranrajuiH r-i CM H ¦* »C5 *tf CM CM CO a of OOO o o c o to o e"> *3J nooo o o o m © ira o 1 11* J IB10I <^to lO© m © w co tp ^t '« "DBS ^n9aidO[9A3CI nmmtxujv; rHCO OS to r-i OS rp CO rH Cl r- JOJ TjiCOS © © 00 O CM OS io ^r aSiraqostQ; rH rH CM rH rH rH pamnssv , 'U '^S GO a •aSjBipsia COHH^ tO O CM t- 00 CM 0C ranrajuij\[ r-i CM r-i CO ^ Tt* CM CO CO •jm -bs "B9.TY COCO CO "-* I- d CM CM rH W P* W© CM CC o tti © © Tti os ir aSBuiBaQ Kf CM CM CM rH CO rH C C3 C Cj Cj C3 ubojv "TtU ¦m © ira cm O CO rH 00 CO O CV tftSuaT HHWW CO CO CO CM CO to O- o ¦ J fc 0 rrj TJ Tj TJ TJTJ^S . O M a si1" ¦ ¦ H O W coS W a o H * fa CD U O O O 6 d o o r- ai a stjtjtj TJ TJ TJ Tj .TJ CJ t o •M M t- 02 0 o c ¦ " cfjeoer ; • Ui •M • en ,t • a> •Ad ' ,— ' ' . CD ;fe ¦ a fa ¦ t» tn s ¦ 2 t-.'O J *u • -3 TJ w ^ oj rf CD OJ .£ r- CD < H • a o ¦* fe P$ !Z ¦£ o M ¦ a K _• .y H. CC ek Cre ndan ading £ bh S S 5? * 9 - 0 S 0 2i- '£ CD Sr^M 55 a c 426 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Big Sandy River. The drainage area of the Big Sandy river lies in West Virginia, Ken tucky and Virginia. Its total area is about 4,140 square miles, of which about 940 square miles, or 23 per cent, are located in West Virginia. The Big Sandy is formed by the union of the Tug and Levisa Forks at Louisa, Kentucky, from which point it flows in a northerly direction to the Ohio at Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Throughout its length the Big Sandy forms the boundary line between Kentucky and West Virginia. Both the Tug and Levisa Forks have their sources on the western slopes of the Appalachian mountains in the extreme western end of Virginia. Tug Fork, from its sources flows in a northwesterly direc tion to its mouth at Louisa. For a short distance below the boundary line of McDowell county it forms the boundary line between Virginia and West Virginia; for the remainder of its length it forms the boundary be tween Kentucky and West Virginia. Levisa Fork, from its sources flows in a northwesterly direction to Paintsville, Kentucky, where it turns northeasterly and joins the Tug Fork at Louisa. Both Forks drain a rough and mountainous area at their sources. The valleys are narrow with steep sides and slopes, and the fall of the main stream is rapid; as the sources are left the slope decreases until in the lower part the slope is small. The elevation of the sources of the Forks is about 3,000 feet. The slop of Tug Fork from Dry Branch to Louisa is about 5 feet per mile; from Louisa to the Ohio the fall is but one foot to the mile. The portion of the drainage basin of the Big Sandy which lies in West Virginia is a narrow strip along the southwestern edge of the state about 115 miles in length with an average width 'Of about 8 miles; at a few places the divide is only 3 or 4 miles from the river. There are but two tributaries of any size in West Virginia, Dry Fork and Pidgeon creek. The headwaters are forested to some extent. The mean annual rain fall at the sources is about 45 inches decreasing slightly towards the mouth. The New River-Pocahontas coal formation occurs from the sources to the mouth of Panther creek. At this point the Allegheny-Kanawha formation begins and continues on down to about 5 miles below Louisa. Coal mines are numerous in McDowell county and along the Tug Fork as far as Naugatuck. The Norfolk and Western railroad parallels the Tug Fork and Big Sandy from the sources to the Ohio river. The Big Sandy from Louisa to the mouth has been made navigable by means of three locks and dams. As a water power stream the great disadvantage of the Big Sandy and tributaries is the low flow during dry seasons and severe floods. These floods rise very quickly and to a considerable height; the range in stage at Williamson on the Tug Fork, and at Pikeville on the Levisa being between 30 and 40 feet. Storage reservoirs of sufficient capacity would reduce the flood stages and increase the low water flow con- SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES 427 siderably. The abundance of cheap fuel also retards the development of water power. Electrical power, however, derived from water power development on the New river in Virginia has been successfully intro duced into the coal mines at the headwaters of the Tug Fork. Table No. 19 gives the horsepower developed by the Big Sandy and tributaries in West Virginia. / /// B O HOZ n fd HH S'S'00ffi 2. p p 9. S =M3 WO ao cr S so p p rt- rt- rt- £§§ srgl-w a g-ou • C cr: w z aH <^p p POP ^ -^ -H. CJl {B CD CD swa P •"! O *<1 do owW M ©-3 0* CD 00 OOO ©Ol M -no -j ooio CO co to 00 OS Ol OOO t\3 fc3 M OOOOOO © o M h-* tO O 05 © O tf»> CD O00M ©COM 1,970 1,560 1,520 4,680 3,500 5,940 o o 3z o *1 Hto Length mi. Mean Drainage Area. sq. mi. Minimum Discharge. sec. ft. Assumed Discharge for Maximum Development, sec. ft Total Fall ft. Minimum Horsepower. Assumed Maximum Development. Horsepower. >WfHHZ O Zao>HaK o wwH?0 O HtdB H za Hi <1 Htdt>z a 5 Ba >2H CD 3 H so H3 viNioaiA xsaAi. ao xaoisiH iviNNaxNao-iwas $Zf SPECIAL ARTICLES : WATER POWER RESOURCES 429 Minor Tributaries of the Ohio in West Virginia. Among the larger of the minor tributaries of the Ohio in West Vir ginia are Fishing creek, Middle Island creek, Guyandotte river, and Twelve-Pole creek. The largest of these is Guyandotte river which drains an area of about 1,060 square miles parallel to the Tug Fork and Big Sandy. The runoff conditions on the Guyandotte and the topographical features of the basin are practically the same as the Big Sandy. Information in regard to all of the streams enumerated in Table No. 20 is very meagre as there are no runoff data available for any of them and there are no descriptions of any of their drainage basins. It is thought, however, that they are all characterized by low flow in dry seasons with short and violent floods after severe rainstorms. Table No. 20 gives the power developed by these streams; the arrangement in the table is from the state line in order downstream. 430 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA s5 £H OlH M 3 O O00 H I— I s3 « o 2; >H « P. H OrJHi>HQM Htso0*t-aW«0100M iH CM CO rH iH •;; -09s rantuiuij\[ UN 05 oq cocq COTt^COOOO©-*©© CO 01C0C0tH00OCNC0iH©I0c6 r-i rH COCNCOrH i-i rHrH 'TUT 'OS -B9JV ni39j\[ O^MOfM^OSOO io 05 rH fM Tt* t)H 00 rH t- © t- HNiMHrtHH'* CO C. 0. d ci rHOOOOCOOOTrlOOCOCNOOt-ir2-^CMC00000OrH10©05 CO © 05 iH CM OJ ed rH CO tF tH erj c3 ffii crj c^ qjSuai OMHO o o p o "TJ TJ "P "P O o <^ o "O £ go CO >. ,Q M « M ,P CD +J u t> ta TO — - oj opj ¦P -P fHH Q wsoHonSS o o EHtH rjrrj^ | o H- & „ & •—> J Oh. QJ 5CCt> X> ^ ta b A r/i cfl o> ¦ftHffl -, v^ va. . CJ £ R CJ f t*s O P Ut.M!DCJ>-iUOb.b.oo pPbJDpPtHpHPOppOojPooXoPaJajPP W si J 02O3H MQ .COCO 03 HPSEH i^Ugdi ™ P P '.SSti*. 'P'P0 t-'p'a'afei3 ¦S-! onShh a hjSb ri 'a oj US B SPECIAL ARTICLES: WATER POWER RESOURCES 431 Atlantic Drainage Potomac River. The North Branch of Potomac river rises in the Allegheny mountains near the southwest corner of Maryland, from there it flows in a north easterly direction to Cumberland, Maryland; about 15 miles below Cum berland it is joined by the South Branch of Potomac river, forming the head of Potomac river. From Cumberland the river flows in an easterly direction to Williamsport, Maryland, from which point it flows in a southeasterly direction into Chesapeake Bay. Throughout its entire length the North Branch of Potomac river and the Potomac river as far as the mouth of the Shenandoah river at Harpers Ferry form the boundary line between West Virginia and Maryland. The mouth of the Shenandoah is at the easternmost point of West Virginia. The drainage area of the Potomac river is about 14,500 square miles, of which 3,480 square miles, or 24 . per cent, are in West Virginia. The most important tributaries of the North Branch and the main stream in West Virginia are Patterson creek, Little Cacapon river, Caca- pon river, Back creek, Opequon creek and Shenandoah river; only the lower 19 miles of the Shenandoah are in West Virginia. The more im portant tributaries of the South Branch of Potomac river are North Fork South Branch Potomac river, Luray creek, and Moorefield river. The North Branch and the South Branch with their tributaries and the tributaries of the main stream as far down as the Shenandoah drain a series of narrow and generally fertile valleys lying between parallel ranges which make up the system of the Alleghenies in this region. Their slopes are not, as a rule, very great. The slopes of the drainage basins, however, are generally very steep. There are few lowlands to be overflowed and no lakes whatever in the region, consequently these streams and the Potomac river are subject to sudden and very heavy freshets in wet seasons, and in dry seasons their discharge becomes small. From the junction of the North Branch and South Branch the Potomac cuts through the mountains at nearly right angles. Its valley is narrow, its slope in many places great. The bed is generally gravel and bowlders with ledge rock at little depth or appearing at the sur face. The elevation of the sources of the North Branch and South Branch is about 3,500 and 3,000 feet, respectively. The average fall of the North Branch from Stoney Run to the mouth is 23 feet per mile; the average fall of the South Branch from Thorn Run to the mouth is about 12 feet per mile. The average fall of the Potomac river to Harpers Ferry is 2. 5 feet per mile. About one-third of the entire basin is forested, the heaviest growth being located in the region of roughest topography, generally near the headwaters of the southern tributaries. The average rainfall at the sources is about 40 inches. The following railroads are in the basin: The Baltimore and Ohio railroad parallels the river from Piedmont to Berkeley county; the 432 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Western Maryland from WiUiamsport to the sources of the North Branch. The Norfolk and Western railroad crosses at Shepherdstown, the Cum berland Valley railroad near WiUiamsport, the Baltimore and Ohio goes up the South Branch to Romney, paralleling the river part of the way. The' Chesapeake and Ohio Canal follows the- river from Cumberland to Georgetown, D. C. The Allegheny-Kanawha coal formation occurs in the basin of the North branch from the sources to Piedmont. As a water power stream the principal disadvantage of the Potomac is the great variability of its flow; this, however, could be remedied by means of reservoirs. Good rock foundations for dams can generally be found at small depth; the banks are, as a rule, favorable, and there are several sites where large falls could be rendered available. Table No. 21 gives the indicated horsepower on the North Branch of Potomac river and Potomac river and No. 24 that on the minor tributaries. Tables Nos. 22 and 23, respectively, give the horsepower on the South Branch and on the tributardes of the South Branch. Only those tributaries located wholly or in part in West Virginia have been considered. TABLE NO. 21.— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED Br NORTH BRANCH POTOMAC RIVER-POTOMAC RIVER. SECTION OF RIVER. From To NORTH BRANCH rOTOMAC RIVER. Source below Stony Run . do. Abrams Cr. do. Savage Run Cumberland Mile 180 above Stony Run . do. Abrams Cr. . do. Savage Run Cumberland Mile 180 above So. Branch . POTOMAC RIVER. below So. Branch below St. Johns Run Dam 4 j a 12 6% 15 29 7 10% 20%19 24%20%24 188% SP<1 a a sq: td ot-1td > HtdW?rjo td ui o awQtd go Total area. !>. See profile in Water Supply Paper 192 U. S. G. S. ft. GOtd TABLE NO. 22. — INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY SOUTH BRANCH POTOMAC RIVER. SECTION OF RIVER. si to «_:Ol -« J s Mean Drainage sq. mi. Minimum Discharge. sec. ft. Assumed Discharge for Maximum Development. ¦3d uCD la Is •H o Assumed Maximum Development. Horsepower. Horsepower available from storage for From To 12 mo's 6 mo's. 3 mo's. Source above No. Fk. So. Br. Pot. R. 25 35 40%29% ai03 236 1,0251,450 13. i 30.7 13.11811 46 107 459 653 1,700 810 t>323 127 524 2,280 3,890 2,210 8,904 1,809 7,970 13,600 7,630 10,600 6.000 below Thorn Run below No. Fk. So. Br. Pot It 21,20012,000 24,000 42,400 130 2,960 31,000 16.600 33,200 66,400 a. Total area. o. Fall reduced to 223 by proposed reservoir. o tdHfed M!>r HO wK|o fcdtd TABLE NO. 23.— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY TRIBUTARIES OF SO. BR. POTOMAC RIVER. STREAM SECTION s . Sa Total Drainage Area sq.mi. a a> aatdGO >1-3td S) ?d1aw wtdGOO a w Q a CO TABLLE NO. 24— INDICATED HORSEPOWER DEVELOPED BY MINOR TRIBUTARIES OF NO. BR. POTOMAC RIVER-POTOMAC RIVER. STREAM Stony Run Abrams Cr New Cr Patterson Cr do. Little Cacapon R. . do. Lost River Lost & Cacapon R. Cacapon R Trout Run North R do Sleepy Cr Back Cr Opequon Cr Shenandoah R. Totals . SECTION From Source do do Source below Mill Cr Source 3 mi. below Frenehburg Source below Kimsey Run .... below North River . . . Source Source 2 mi. below Rio Source Virginia State Line . . . do. do. To Potomac R do do. above Mill Cr Potomac R 3 mi. below Frenehburg Potomac R below Kimsey Run above North R Potomac R Cacapon R 2 mi. below Rio Cacapon R Potomac R do do. do. 27191825 21V 12 162048 2917 18 27 342829 19 to Sqa a ep u P a aSB'2-^Pom f" ^SSQS 3522 33 5998 203643 105 262 183359.499794 1,495 a 1,900 1,650 1,250 1,700 290 1,000 500 1,100 800 200 1,400 1,400 540630 160100106 a & 258 141 161 660 752 131 478400 2,8201,770 219393 1,070 261521 315 6,860 17,210 / "III aallaflgg , g M • °s tt) CO C3 DC -M ¦»-> ¦a 03 CO —. . •6 4J O a a tH 3 O M 3 u 0 01 a) 0 3 O 35 =¦3 0,0OSS a* M as H CD "co Oo 0 — XI XI CJ 3 b 0 0 XI cj QJCO?O 0 cj0 CJU0M0 c ci u '-* CD u CO OJ3 iheritanc ees, Seer Auditor. oardof C und. b toa is 13 CO0 03 CD 03 ¦4-» CD -a £ OJ CJw aO fcH >* W ttxD w J Cm t— 1 CU » fcrfi ab CQ 09 3 y 396 1863 302c 302 403 1864d 273 273 409 1865d 302 79 381 416 1866d 118 214 'ii "" 6 '. '. I1 41 396 422 1867e 361 153 23 55 32 624 429 I868f 316 172 23 40 214g 765 435 1869 232 161 21 40 . . .' . 157h 611 442 1870 225 163 18 27 " 87'i . . . ! . 47 567 460 1871 267 170 29 41 3 43 21 574 477 1872 288 227 13 70 2 73 69 742 495 1873 265 240 16 57 4 63 35 680 513 1874 258 230 22 49 2 67 68 696 530 1875 245 214 9 38 2 . . .1 . 39 547 548 1876 259 219 15 40 9 . . .! . 95 637 rifio 1877 266 195 . 16 32 8 60 577 583 1878 273 257 25 56 10 72 693 601 1879 284 224 20 36 10 104 678 618 1880 243 243 24 43 27 69 649 633 1881 245 229 18 49 40 '. '. !> '. 104 685 647 1882 275 299 33 31 52 ...( . 152 852 662 1883 289 246 32 28 59 165 819 676 1884 331 227 30 49 101 123 861 691 1885 266 186 35 38 99 165 789 705 1886 343 406 23 75 190 "1 130 1,168 719 1887 322 398 18 112 209 15 82 160 1,316 734 1888 347 371 44 81 213 12 .'.'.'1 ; 12 125 1,205 748 1889 337 314 27 157 222 1 16 86 1,159 163 1890 419 364 29 106 237 32 19 1,206 7.S2 1891 380 340 114 148 298 ' 49 23 1,352 8tf2 1892 359 346 39 135 280 64 "i 34 1,258 82.'>. 1893 497 328 134 227 292 69 "5 ! 93 1,645 841 1894 468 394 142 135 367 67 7: . 71 1,651 861 1895 363 406 40 284 369 56 1 . 63 1,582 880 1896 423 407 65 132 379 80 1 . 38 1,525 900 1897 493 376 83 238 387 104 2 . 60 1,743 920 1898 475 436 107 189 393 125 3 . 97 1,825 939 1899 434 366 179 202 41.2 131 16 . 96 1,839 959 1900 451 443 83 219 415 140 4 . 51 1,806 985 1901 493 437 79 306 420 381 3 . 70 2,189 1,012 1902 564 493 88 202 415 448 36 376 6 . 79 2,292 1,038 1903 529 555 63 490 41 391 1 . 62 2,547 1,065 1904 547 566 12 251 547 48 333 6 . 46 2,356 1,092 1905 581 774 40 677 604 51 342 11 1 7 ... 69 3,166 1,118 1906 437 821 50 579 617 52 372 26 5 3 ... 61 3,068 1,145 1907 354 722 57 597 1,448 55 389 95 5 7 ... 71 3,845 1,171 1908 299 615 10 534 1,811 111 400 88 5 2 ... 88 4,008 1,198 1909 650 713 72 1,051 1,821 112 429 116 5 8 ... 21 5,043 1,221 1910 570 780 59 798 1,881 116 445 92 6 7 ... 115 42 4,965 1,251 1911 639 748 18 802 1,984 126 446 108 6 1 293 103 52 5,380 1,278 1912 338 797 60 800 2,139 133 442 168 6 1 6 412 9 77 5,441 * No report made by the Auditor in 1864. SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 503 Notes to Receipts a. These figures are based on the records of the United States Census bureau, which show exact returns for Census years and official estimates for other years. b. The greater part of this is distributed to counties, etc., as shown under the appropriate head of expenditures. These figures include capitation taxes which, until recent years, da not appear separately on the Auditor's books. c. 5175,000 from the State of Virginia. d. Fiscal year began January 1st. e. Fiscal year ended September 30th. f. From 1868 until 1913 fiscal year began October 1st. g. Including $175,000 received from United States. h. Including $127,679 received from United States. i. Received from B. & O. R. R. Co. H H >- fc s s D M CO < td H 05 H cs * rt O < Q |H co o o S Ui t3 eh o a COM M 05 w3 o Hi CO Id ,1 05 a fc D Li izi H HO i 32EdOu X a td s CO o ' 1*10,1 •snoen^n^PSiw "scans io J-BA1 •pun^ Suipimg ¦ssSj'eqo i^aiaiTJO ptre SIB^ldSOH ¦siootpg itsuuotf '^TSJ[3ATlI{1 •pnn^[ looqos •pun^ poips XBjanay •BPHTM ¦o}9 'gaipuig ¦aan^'Bis^Saq ¦S9TJBIBS ¦JB3i »NNQOO)HCOOtX)r-Or^(OMNWrtWmCOOOHNO^r-rtWH^OOI»«HH^NCi»,>»IONaCbCOrHb-rHlOWCMlOCCCqirtt-COO5b-t-rHO0C»l^a0CO00eMCMrH^rHCOto0SC^ (M^^CDt-HO^COWb-COlLCaCOlOWt-COCOt-OO 00 COOS CO W W ©_« W_lO ¦^'^ W t- lO t- t-^CM rH CO CO C» ©00 CO ¦* 00 rH^i rH rHrHrH tH i-H i-H t-T i-TrH i-i" r^i-Ki-Tof CM CM Ol Pfw CO ¦* •^T^ tO 1Q •Qu'tt v *-< bo -=> th -r-i iiH.Sooao'Monj C0r>|inC0l>CM©b-©rH^©©cD©©^-l>-'^lNCO00^MM©cOC0-*C©rHt-rHCOe0C0^rHC01OC0eMrH©C©t-rH©00CD05b-C0©C000rH©TflCM©lOt-rHC0rH©t-rX]rHfc-'^©THO00lO OJ rHrHr-1 Hr* HK i-HCM CM CM CM iH r-i CJ NHWHW rH r-1 CM t-i r-i i-H CM CM "* lO CM t* lO CO lO t- ;co ;iHC0^^O3COCDTriOJe©lOt-©OOiHOTOOOO«^,*Wt-©CPWC*rt'Tj-rHtr> iro^ccicDiowwiOco^CMcoiowoooo-^iow'^'sjft^-^i^acocDb-mooooa r-i r-i rH H rH rH i-H rH rH rH rH Mrr<MCO©'*Cr^©CO©MOaOrHCMrHiHOCSWCO©©©WWCOCOt-b-rHCOCDt-rHrHCftOOCMTr10SrHrHMiHCMTriOCOJO^-N©C^lO»>CO r-1 r-1 rHr-1 rH l-" HHHHHWHHHHW WM WWWWN«COMTP^Tjl^'H/'iJI''Ji^iTjHiN ¦ •lOrHCDlOCOlft ¦C©05©WlO©'*C^COt-THl>rHW'^C^-*NwCM^OCOOO ¦ • HrHCM H ¦ rH rHrH rH WrHHC>IWCTCMCMCOWCOin00b-fc-OS©rHNCNC^COt-'NW^TtCD'^©OSTtiO©t-10CMHa0^l^ rHrHCMrHrH CM rH # rHCOCOCMCOCMrHTtftN rHrHWOS CM rH to •rHlfi-^CDCO'^'^iCD lQt-rHx*l WI>lfl(^05b-b-C0C©rHOCM©00OC^rHWC0rH'^C0NOTC0MlflTf(10WCO©U30COO-^t-W^COC^rH©lOCqcOt-COCDTH-^rHOWrHWI>COCOI>CMCOOOOOOlOW rHrHCMrH CMrHCMCMC$C^CMMWWCNMCSlCMC^C^'*THCOC0COC0COCOC0-*WCO'*CO^ ¦rHrH • • • * CM • r-i r-i COCM ©CO OS lO^ CD COtfi CM IOCM 1000CO00o5©'HrHrHTHN H rH CM CM CM CM CO tJ< CO -* rP CO C0^10CDI>C0CS©THCMC0^»nCDt-C00^OTHWMTtiWCDI^C0Cft©rHC^C0^in©COCOCDCO©CDb-t-t-t-l>t^tr-t-l>-t-OOCOOOCOCOCOCiOOOOTC<3©05a>05©C^ O0rXCO000000COO000COCO00COCOC0COCO0000»00000000COCOCOC»COCOCO00Cfl HHHHHHHHHHHHHrlHHHHHrtHHHHHHHHHHrtHHrirlrlHiHHrHHHHHHHHHHH SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 505 Notes to Expenditures a. Includes $11,963 for arms. b. Includes $79,000 paid on penitentiary. c. Includes $65,819 paid on penitentiary. d. Includes $50,000 paid on penitentiary. e. Includes $64,000 expense of constitutional convention. f. Includes payments on public buildings, $50,000. g. Includes payment on Capitol building, $53,232. h. Includes payment to the School fund, $83,541. i. Includes payment to the School fund, $100,970. j. Includes payment to the School fund, $100,000. k. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $330, SCO, and from the School Fund to General School Fund, $36,707. 1. Transferred from the School Fund to General School Fund, $36,767, and in vested for the School Fund, $52,000. m. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $230,944, and from th» School Fund to General School Fund, $36,787. n. Transferred from State to General School Fund, ?280.195. o. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $58,977. p. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $297,016. q. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $317,254. r. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $405,716. s. Transferred from State to General School Fund, $412,716. t. Transferred from State to General School Fund, 1474.285. 506 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Rates of State and State School Levies for the Years from 1863 to 1912, Inclusive (upon each $100) State. State School. 1863 $ .40 ? .00 1864 30 .00 1865 30 .10 1866 3D .10 1867 30 .10 1868 20 .10 1869 20 .10 1870 25 .10 1871 25 .10 1872 . . .• 25 .10 1873 25 .10 1874-1882, inclusive ... .20 .10 1883 25 .10 1884 20 .10 1885-1904, inclusive ... .25 .10 1905 16 .06 19fl6 06 .02% 1907 05 .00 1908 05 .00 1909 06 .00 (lc of which is Road Tax.) 1910 05% .00 (lc of which is Road Tax.) 1911 02i/2 .00 1912 01 .00 1913 06 .00 Growth of Population, Revenue and Taxes A few years for which the figures are at hand may be compared, so as to show the recent growth of the state in population; in taxable wealth, gross and per capita; the amount of state taxes; the amount of all taxes; the amount per capita of state revenue, of state property taxes, and of all taxes; and the total average rate of levy. The comparative growth by decennial periods of population and taxable property in West Virginia may be stated as follows, all the valuations except that for 1910 being from statistics compiled by the United States Census: [That for 1910 is taken from the State assessment, the census valuation for that year not having been compiled yet. The resulting estimate of per capita wealth for that year is therefore on a different basis from the others, and for purposes of comparison is probably too large.] Approximate Wealth State Revenue Population Taxable Wealth per capita per capita, (a) 1870 442,014 $ 190,651,491 $430 $1.28 1880 618,457 340,000,000 550 1.05 1890 762 794 426,887,358 560 1 . 58 1900 958,800 635,607,830 660 1.47 1904 1,065,055 814,340,202 760 2.21 1910 1,221,119 1,119,828,000 925 4.06 a. Includes pulbic utilities taxes distributed to counties. The following table shows, in separate columns, state taxes, county and SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 507 / local taxes on property, and the per capita amount of each for 1904 and the years 1909 to 1912, Inclusive: Population 1904 1,065 1909 1,198 1910 1,224 1911 1,251 1912 1,277 (Stated in Thousands.) State All Other Per capita Taxes Taxes State All Other 976 638611 287 116 5,033 8,664 8,846 9,4539,909 $ .91 .53.50 .23 .09 $4.72 7.23 7.22 7.56 7.76 Total$5.63 7.76 7.727.797.85 The total average rate of levy thoughout the state on each $100.00 of "". value was for: — 1904190519061907 19081909191019111912 2 15 1/2 1 84 1/2 76 1/2 83 7/8 84 1/8 86 1/2 84 1/2 84 5/8 85 5/6 The following table will show for 1904 and the years 1909 to 1912, in clusive, the amount of taxes levied by the several taxing authorities. The amounts are stated in thousands of dollars to save space : Roads and State Counties Schools Bridges Municipal Total 1904 $967a $1,701 $2,095 $ 502 $ 735 $6,009- 1909 638b 2,752 3,688 729 1,395 9,302 1910 611b 2,716 3,931 795 1,404 9,457 1911 287 2,727 4,284 952 1,490 9,740 1912 116 2,624 4,583 1,132 1,570 10,025 NOTE : — a. Including State school tax. b. Including State road tax. The facts shown. by the foregoing tables afford the principal basis for the conclusions here stated and by them the reader may test the accuracy of those conclusions, or be guided to others. They will enable him to measure the growth of the State's revenue and expenditures, to classify them, to note the comparative importance of the different classes, to trace the changes in method from time to time, and to test the efficiency and economy of the State's administration. Of course, comparisons based on these figures may not be absolutely ac curate, because changes in the assessment day or in the fiscal year, in the sources of revenue and objects of expenditure, or in methods of bookkeeping and administration, may well make it difficult to apply the same classifica tion throughout the table, and because the growth of treasury transactions tends to complicate the accounts. A state may be moved, as some individuals are, by the desire to be efficient. When it has clear purposes and ideals, its activity may be thought- 508 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA ful and logical and definite, and it comes to have a controlling policy. It has been said that the more conscious a state is of having such a policy, the higher is its place in civilization. There are various phases of govern ment activity, though, and a state may have and be conscious of a definite policy as to one of them and. not as to another. For example, West Virginia's efforts for good schools have been more persistent and efficient than its efforts for good roads; and the State would naturally seem more civilised to a teacher than to an automobilist. Taking her whole history together, West Virginia cannot boast a definite, traditional and controlling policy as to taxation and finance. The steps she has taken have for the most part been rather to meet some immediate need, than to heed the calls of justice. This may be due in part to the rapidly changing composition of legislative bodies. At present legislators rarely serve more than one term and cannot be expected to study seriously or understand thoroughly State finances, so that the lessons of experience cannot have their due weight. Under a recent wise amendment to the constitution of the United States, providing for the election of Senators by the people, members of the legislature will be chosen upon other con siderations, and it is to be hoped that capable men may there find creditable careers in aiding the normal, harmonious and logical development of the financial system of the State. On the single occasion when a fairly complete financial plan was presented, the people of the State came to its understanding and approval with reasonable promptness and vigor, but political controversy and private interest made such breaches in it that what the legislature enacted was rather a collection of beneficial amendments than a compact, cor related financial system. Naturally, the purposes, tendencies and results of State taxation have differed from time to time, as differing motives and interests gained or lost influence. These changes of purpose and result may fairly be assigned to five periods of the State's history, and these periods coincide nearly enough with the decennial periods defined by the taking of the United States Census to justify us in using the latter, especially as that will open a wider range in making comparisons. The Period from 1861 to 1870 The first of these periods extends from the formation of the State, or, indeed, from the reorganization of Virginia in 1861, until 1870. The story of taxation and finance in West Virginia really began when the Government of Virginia was reorganized and had its seat at Wheeling. The men and influences behind that movement were the same which brought the new State into being two years later. The assets of the restored government at first were the laws of Virginia and the recognition of the United States government, for it had no organized body of officers, not even an auditor or treasurer; it had no money and no credit; it could not pay the members of the Convention of June, 1861. But the ways of those men and those times were practical and direct. Governor Pierpont and Peter G. Van Winkle, afterwards United States Senator, called on the cashiers of the two princi- SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 509 pal banks at Wheeling. The Governor told them that a State without money was of no account and that he wanted $10,000 to pay the expenses of the convention, saying that he did not ask a loan to the State, but wanted a loan. to himself on his individual note, endorsed by Mr. Van Winkle. On that paper he got $5,000 from each bank, with which he paid the' expenses of the convention. The seed of the finances of West Virginia was then sown. Neither then nor afterward, when West Virginia was formed, was there any effort or, indeed, any opportunity to consider and plan financial organi zation or methods of taxation and the men who were then at work had not been trained in the investigation of such questions. The restored government of Virginia in February, 1863, in contemplation of the formation of the new State, re-enacted in substance the tax laws of Virginia, except as to slaves. The West Virginia constitution of 1863 kept in force the common law and statutes of Virginia not repugnant to that constitution. So West Virginia, at its formation, was provided with a fully developed financial system. This had its advantages and its drawbacks. Every other new State was formed in time of peace and had an opportunity to establish its finances in accordance with the needs and spirit of its own people, un embarrassed by any existing system and undisturbed by violence. Every one of them came into being with the good will of all its own people and of the other states. West Virginia, in the midst of war, scarcely assured of its own existence or of that of the Union to which it had been admitted, had problems which were more important even than those of finance and which demanded all its powers. Its men had left productive industry to engage in war. Some were fighting for the State's existence, and it had to contribute to their support as well as bear its ordinary charges. Others of its own citizens were fighting to destroy the State. In nearly half its territory its taxes could not be collected. Railroads were largely exempted from taxation for some time by their Virginia charters. Under such conditions West Virginia's financial history in that early period was creditable as well as its political history. With an old system in operation, familiar to the people, strengthened by many interests, influences and prejudices to say nothing of inertia, if West Virginia, even after the war, had desired an ideal system, it would have had the double task of getting rid of the old and forming the new and better one. Therefore, it is not remarkable that the progress that has been made in financial methods in fifty years has been somewhat slow, halting and irregular, with an occasional backward step, or that there is still lack of a thorough and symmetrical system. The changes in the old system from the time the State was formed until the present, although some of them are important, have for the most part been gradually made, as the need of funds and the appearance of taxable subjects suggested them, and have been rather practical and amendatory than Idgical and fundamental in their nature. While old taxes have been increased, or in some instances disused, and new taxes have been added, while new methods of assessment and collection have been adopted and new checks on expenditures have been provided, and while, as the State grew, 510 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA the public undertakings of the State have widened, yet most of the changes have been more in method than in substance. Notable exceptions to this are to be mentioned later. State Indebtedness The formation of West Virginia brought into being a new and specific problem — the apportionment of the debt of Virginia— which, though long dormant, has of late years become acute and now is before the Supreme Court of the United States for determination. West Virginia has no public debt of its own, its constitution forbidding that such debt should be contracted, except to meet casual deficits in the revenue, to redeem a previous liability of the State, to suppress insurrec tions, to repel invasions, or defend the State in time of war. Fortunately, none of these conditions, unless that which mentions a previous liability of the State was intended to refer to some portion of the debt of Virginia, has ever existed to an extent which caused an indebtedness of any consider able size or for any considerable time. The sums of money borrowed by the State of West Virginia, as shown by the reports of the State auditor, on account of deficits in the State revenue, are as follows 4 1876 Borrowed from The School Fund $ 46,000 1876 Borrowed from Banks 24,000 $ 70 000 1 877 Borrowed from Banks 40,541 1878 Borrowed from Banks 55,000 1879 Borrowed — Not shown from whom 64,000 1880 Borrowed from The School Fund $ 5,000 1880 Borrowed from Banks 40,000 45,000 1881 Borrowed — Not shown from whom 80,000 1882 Borrowed — Not shown from whom 110,000 1883 Borrowed — Not shown from whom 153,000 1884 Borrowed — Not shown from whom 113,000 1885 Borrowed from The School Fund $ 34,000 1885 Borrowed from Banks 110,000 144 000 1886 Borrowed from The School Fund $ 25,000 1886 Borrowed from Banks 10,000 35,000 1887 Borrowed from The School Fund $ 18,000 1887 Borrowed from Banks 50,000 68,000 1888 Borrowed from Banks 75,000 1889 Borrowed from The School Fund $ 15,000 1889 Borrowed from Banks 40,000 55,000 1890, 1891 and 1892, nothing borrowed. 1893 Borrowed from The School Fund 50,000 Reports do not show any further loans to the State, up to the present date. In December, 1863, the State of West Virginia passed its first general tax law. At first the expenses of the State, outside of the war expenses, were SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 511 very light, providing the bare necessities of civil government on a modest scale. By the end of the first period, the war with its harassing problems and extraordinary expenses was over, and the State was fairly launched upon its normal career. Throughout this period State revenues were de rived almost entirely from taxes on property and on licenses. From these and without any resort to unusual methods, the expenses of government were met. That could have been done only by the exercise of remarkable economy and efficiency in every branch of the government. It is without parallel in the subsequent history of the State, and indicates a business ability in the fathers worthy of mention with their statesmanship, in creat ing a commonwealth. The Period 1870 to 1880 At the beginning of the second period, that from 1870 to 1880, there was some recurrence to the institutions and methods of Virginia, and a dis position to disturb the legislation of the preceding period. Shortly after 1870 the State came under the control of those who were attached to the sentiments and methods of the old State and were not entirely satisfied with the changes which had been made in form and substance by the legislation of the new State. A new constitution was adopted in 1872. In terms it permitted the taxation of privileges and licenses. This, perhaps, was unnecessary in view of the well-settled rule that all the legislative power of the State may be exercised by its legislature without any special grant thereof. Indeed, the power of taxation had been widely *xercised in Virginia, under the constitution of 1830, which contained no grant of taxing power. This expression in the constitution of 1872 may be taken, however, as an indication of willingness that the field of taxation might be widened. If, however, the legislature could only exercise such powers as were especially granted to it by the constitution, as a majority of the constitutional convention seem to have thought, if we may judge from the many grants of power made in the constitution to the legislature, this provision would have been retrogressive, rather than progressive. It would have hampered the taxation of public utilities and prevented the taxation of inheritances. During this period taxes on railroads (included in the table under the caption of "Public Utilities") were collected in small amounts, and in the years 1871 to 1874, inclusive, temporary taxes were collected for the con struction of public buildings aggregating for the four years nearly $250,000. The averages of revenues and disbursements in this period were almost identical with those in the first period. The Period from 1880 to 1890 In the third period, from 1880 to 1890, the features of interest were the so-called supplemental order of Governor Jackson against certain exemp tions, and the report of the first State Tax Commission. Although the con stitution of West Virginia of 1863 definitely provided that all property should be taxed in proportion to its value, but that property used for certain 512 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA specified purposes might be exempted from taxation, the first legislature undertook to exempt other property than that which the constitution said might be exempted. It provided that the products of agriculture, mining and manufacturing remaining on hand unsold on the assessment day should be exempt. These had been exempted by the Virginia legislature under the constitution of 1851, which permitted the legislature to exempt any property it chose. The exemption was repeated in every revision of the West Vir ginia statute up to 1882. The State being in need of money, the Governor, in 1883, directed the assessors to disregard the exemptions thus provided by the legislature and to assess the property covered by them. Some assessors refused to do this, insisting that the exemption was legal, or at least that the question was one for the legislature and the courts and not for the Governor. The question was taken to the Supreme Court of Appeals, and it upheld the action of the Governor. The assessments were ostensibly made accordingly, but the addition to the taxable property thereby was very inconsiderable, increasing the total about four per cent. The exemp tions, which were more considerable, and which wrought the greatest in justice, were not those which had been expressed in legislation, but others which had grown up gradually in practice, and under which the larger portion of intangible personality escaped assessment, and a large part of the value of real estate escaped taxation because of its under-valuation. The principal revenue of the State was derived from taxation on property assessed by the assessors of counties or of districts within counties. The rate of State levy being the same in all counties and districts, it was to the interest of each of them to have its property assessed as low as possible, because the lower its assessment, the less was the percentage of the State tax which it must pay and the greater the percentage which other counties or districts must pay. The assessors of the various counties and districts were impelled by local sentiment to reduce their assessments as low as possible, and an assessor was hardly deemed patriotic who would let himself be outdone by another in this competition. In counties in which there was more than one assessment district a like condition existed between the assessments in the several districts, the assessor of each en^ deavoring to protect it against an undue share of the county levy. Before 1904 re-assessments of real estate were made when ordered by the Legislature, at intervals of about ten years, usually when more revenue was needed. These re-assessments were made by commissioners appointed' for the purpose in the several counties and assessment districts, and the commissioners were men of standing and ability. It was always necessary, the State property tax: then being a matter of importance, to have tne assessments made by the several commissioners equalized as between the counties and districts. This was ordinarily done by the Board of Public Works, until the re-assessment of 1899, when a special board of equalization composed of five of the most capable men of the State did the work. That Board asked each commissioner "what per cent of the actual appraised' value of the real estate was adopted as the valuation" by him. The replies of the commissioners varied all the way from 33%% to the full actual' value, the percentages stated ranging through 33%, 50, 55, '60, 65, 66, 66%, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85. In some cases improved lands and wild lands', or lands- SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 513 and buildings, in the same district were valued at different percentages of their actual value. The injustice of such a state of affairs demonstrated the necessity for an assessment of property at its full, "true and actual value." The exemption of agricultural or manufactured products was, in its amount and nature, inconsiderable in comparison with these other hin drances to jst taxation. The best result of the Governor's order and of the litigation which followed was that attention was directed to questions of taxation and finance, and the public mind was to some extent prepared for the consideration of more important questions of that kind which were later to b ebrought' to its attention. Further interest in questions of this sort attended the appointment and report of a tax commission of three members appointed by the Governor in 1883 under authority of a resolution of the legislature. This commis sion made several reports in which some of the wrongs of taxation as it was administered were exposed in vigorous terms. Unfortunately, the commission was small in number and so could not be very representa tive, and, still more unfortunately, the three failed to agree in their recommendations. One dissented in all respects from the views of the other two, and the two differed with one another in some important particulars. The Governor was not in sympathy with the suggestions of the commission, and in laying its report before the Legislature declared that the additions to the revenue growing out of the assessment of personalty theretofore exempted would meet the requirements of the State. Perhaps the serious defect in the report of the commission from a prac tical point of view was that it did not formulate any bills to carry out its views. Under such circumstances, it could hardly be expected that legislation would follow or that anything of practical value would im mediately result. So it proved, and the reports of the commission served only as food for thought by those whose tastes or occupations gave them an interest in such questions. The report, however, contained one suggestion of great value, and that was the recommendation that there should be one State head to the administration of the tax system. Later, through legislation based on the recommendation of the second tax com mission hereafter to be mentio'ned, this idea was realized in the appoint ment of the State Tax Commissioner, the existence of whose office made possible the success of some of the tax reforms advocated by the last- mentioned Commission. During this period, in 1885, license taxes on corporation charters were first imposed. These taxes being then nominal in amount, the proceeds from them remained inconsiderable during this period. Later they were so developed as to produce large revenues. The Period from 1890 to 1900. During the fourth period, from 1890 to 1900, there was but little move ment with respect to State taxation or finance. In 1887 an act was passed taxing collateral inheritances. Returns from this, however, did not ap- 514 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA pear until 1893, and for years were insignificant. The statute was not very thorough, and its enforcement was still less so. It, however, was in the line of progress and suggested later legislation under which a large revenue for the State was obtained. The Legislature in 1897 appointed a joint special committee to propose amendments of the State Constitution. The Committee gave little attention to taxation and finance, but did pro pose to limit the State levy to 25 cents and the State school levy to 12%, cents and to deduct mortgages from the valuation of real estate. The first of these suggestions was not of much value in the absence of any provision regulating the valuation of property. The second suggestion was made ostensibly for the benefit of the farming classes. It would have afforded more relief, however, to railroad, mining and manufacturing corporations. In the case of a railroad mortgaged almost to its full value, the mortgage bonds being held outside of the State, it would have left nothing for the State to tax. Indeed, this proposition might have opened the way to much fictitious exemption. These suggestions not only failed of enactment, but failed to attract public attention. It was in the fifth period, from 1900 to 1910, that public attention was turned strongly to taxation and finance, and that in all branches of the subject decided progress was made by the State. This was due largely to the need of revenues to meet the growing ex penditures of the State, but also to a sense of the injustice which had existed for many years in the administration of the taxing power. The second tax commission was appointed under a resolution of the Legislature in 1901. It consisted of five members fairly representative of different localities, interests and politics. Through good fortune, or good management, its report was unanimous. It presented bills carrying out in detail the suggestions in its report. These bills together consti tuted a comprehensive plan. The Commission's suggestions received the approval of the Governor. They were, however, opposed by strong in fluences in the dominant party of the State, which led to conferences in which it was necessary to make some changes in the bill proposed by the commission in order to facilitate their passage. Still there was opposition before the legislature from strong political and business in terests. No action was had at the regular session and it was only at a special session of the legislature, called for the purpose of considering the report and bills, that action on them was had somewhat in accord with the strong popular demand. While symmetry of the proposition was somewhat marred by the changes which were made, so much as was enacted into law constituted the most important and significant advance ever made in West Virginia finances. Some of the important matters recommended by the Commission were: the separation of the sources of revenue for State and local purposes, and to that end the abolition of the State property tax and the increase and extension of license taxes to go to the State; the assessment of all prop erty at its true and actual value and the collection of taxes- on so much as is taxable, and thereby the reduction of the rate levied on the property; one assessor in each county with the requisite number of assistants; an annual assessment of realty as well as personalty; a graduated tax on Inheritances; the assessment of all public service corporations by the SPECIAL ARTICLES : TAXATION AND FINANCE 515 board of public works; limitations on local taxation; the repeal of un constitutional exemptions; the transfer from the State to the counties of expenses which are in their control; a tax commissioner. The commission recommended several measures of economy, the en actment of which has brought about considerable saving. In the reports of the commission, too, are other suggestions which ripened into legis lation later during the same period, such as a system of public account ing and the ' establishment of a central board to control the operation and expenses of the State institutions . In the special session of 1904 many of the acts recommended by the tax commission were passed, and at the regular session of 1905 these were somewhat amended as to phraseology. The response in the revenues of the State to the amendments relating to the subjects of taxation was prompt. In 1904 the revenue from licenses was $250,496; in 1907, $597,564, and in 1912, $779,508. In 1904 the taxes on inheritances amounted to $6,443; in 1907, to $95 013, and in 1912 to $168,233. The taxes on public utilities! in 1904 were $547,448; in 1907, $1,447,659, and in 1912, $2,138,874. By an act passed in 1904 the fees collected by the auditor and secretary of state were directed to be paid into the treasury. In 1907 these amounted to $56,877, and in 1912 to $65,734. While the State expenditures for salaries of officers and clerks, and their contingent expenses, increased from $62,000 in 1865 to $396,000 in 1912, the percentage of the revenues going to that purpose has steadily de creased, having been 16 per cent in 1865, 11 in 1875, 10 in 1885, 7 in 1895, 8' in 1905 and 7 in 1912. The marked increase in State expenditures has been in those for edu cation. Aggregating under that head the payments to the General- School Fund, the School Fund, the University and the Normal Schools, they amounted in 1865 to $75,000; in 1875 to $262,000; in 1885 to $273 000; in 1895 to $445,000; in 1905 to $918,000 and in 1912 to $1,674,000, the amount in the latter year being twenty-two times as much as in 1865 and nearly four times as much as in 1895. Expenditures upon hospitals and charitable institutions have increased from $78,000 in 1870 to $470,000 in 1912. The disbursement of funds on account of State institutions, educational, charitable and penal, has been since July, 1909, under the direction of a State Board of Control, whose administration has resulted in large saving to the State. The State taxes on licenses have produced more revenue than any other elass of State taxes. While the abolition of liquor licenses will reduce this very much, the consequent financial benefits in the reduction of expenses and otherwise which may be hoped for, will enure mainly to the counties and municipalities. It will be wiser to develop new sources of revenue to make good this. loss than to yield to the temptation to increase the State property tax. While the latter seems the easy way, it will be found in its consequences to be expensive and unwise, for it leads back to the objectionable financial methods which were largely discarded in 1904. 516 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Present Conditions, Tendencies and Needs This consideration and the more serious one of the possible liability of the State for part of the Virginia debt, call for a careful and conservative course on the part of the Legislature, with regard to expenses of the state, and with regard to the powers of the local taxing authorities, and for a like course on the part of those authorities in the administration of their powers. The public welfare is largely in the hands of local officers, and their zeal in enforcing the law against their neighbors often needs the spur of public opinion. There is an unceasing conflict between private and public in terests, and the latter will yield unless supported by a settled public policy continually and vigilantly asserted. As the State enters its sixth decade, there are some indications that popular interest has shifted from matters of taxation to other questions. The legislature is not making progress in state finance; indeed, it is not holding at every point the advanced. financial position already won. While the population is increasing, the capitation taxes are decreasing. The auditor's records show these separately only since 1906, the figures being for 1907, 165,896; for 1908, 166,976; for 1909, 227,509; for 1910, 213,926; for 1911, 208,086; for 1912, 195,939. Provision has now been made for the increase of the State property tax. which had nearly disappeared and should be abolished. The wholesome limits on the taxing powers of local bodies and on the creation of municipal indebtedness, have been broken down m part. The Tax Commissioner's office, always efficiently conducted, and always at variance with some private interests, has lately been charged with duties foreign to its nature and original purpose. Some time ago It was given supervision of public accounting, thus bringing it into controversy with local officers throughout the State, who sometimes organize not merely to defeat the enactment of a law in the public interest, but to nullify its exe cution. Recently, the enforcement of the prohibition law, producing a new set of active adversaries, have been assigned to the Tax Commissioner. Overloading this officer with these new and foreign duties, merely because he has been efficient in those which properly belong to him, and to which his office is adapted, is unwise, and is unjust to the administration of the tax system. While the finances of the State, therefore, now invite serious study and also amendment at various points, State taxation has not up to this time pressed excessively or even seriously on the industry or resources of the people, and the most urgent problems for the reformer lie in the field of local finance and taxation. All this is under the control of the Legislature, which may relieve the tax-payer even more by improving his local situation than by direct dealing with the State taxes and expenditure, important as those subjects are. NOTE.— In the preparation of this article, acknowledgments are due to the Auditor and the Tax Commissioner of the State and to the Director of the United States Census Bureau for statistics and other information promptly and courteously furnished by them, and especially to Dr Callahan, the editor of this work, for the use of valuable compilations made by him in his studies of the financial history of the State MINERAL ARTICLES : MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 517 Municipal Development By Hon. George I. NeaT, Huntington, W. Va. The state of West Virginia is only a half-century old; but some of the municipalities within her borders have already passed the century mark — thus again, but in an exceptional manner, demonstrating that local govern ment is first and the most stable of all governments. . We have within our present state boundary cities, towns and villages which paid homage to and accepted authority from the mother state of Virginia before West Virginia, as a state, was dreamed of. The present charter of the city of Wheeling is one granted by the legislature of Vir ginia before the war between the states. Guyandotte celebrated her one hundredth anniversary, and was forthwith swallowed up and gulped down by her thrifty sister, Huntington. She was proud of her past, and her people loved to recite the doings of men long before and during the war. A large part of her area was sacred ground. Future progress was delayed while recounting the deeds running through a century. Guyandotte is now being rejuvenated and is an important factor in the present and future progress of her partner and ally. What is true of Wheeling and Guyan dotte, in a large part, is true of other municipalities of the State. Thus it is that these old municipal governments of ours have lived and prospered under two different state governments which were, at times, adverse and hostile. West Virginia, rich in natural resources and in the kind and worth of her citizens, is poor in the size and importance of her municipalities. The states which surround and abut upon her, point with pride to large and prosperous cities; while in West Virginia, cities having a population of over ten thousand, are few and far between. This is in part because for many years our people had taken no accounting of the state's natural resources and wealth; did not have the slightest conception of her agri cultural possibilities; and did not realize the great advantages of her lo cation as relates to the present and future business of the country. Our people were content to remain inactive while the riches from our resources helped to build the industries of nearby states and make for them large and prosperous cities, which, in a measure, count for our humiliation. The people of those states are no better endowed naturally, and neither have they more business acumen. Our lands, timber, coals, clays, oil, gas and water power, and the like, give West Virginia such a variety of natural resources that she ought to distance all competitors in the race for su premacy. These things, properly considered and developed, ought to be making big cities for us rather than for the people of other states. This must in time right itself. In fact, the turning point has been reached. Already some of our cities are infused with new life. They know and feel their natural advantages and have confidence in their ability. to cope with all competitors. Their people— in fact, all the people of the state- have caught the spirit of the times. Having been slow to move, now that they are moving, the pace will be swift and certain. The valley of the Ohio 518 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA and its tributaries is becoming a beehive of industries, and soon It 'will be the market place of the world. This means that cities already big must and will grow larger; and that cities not yet started will spring from present-day cornfields. But are they to be cities over the border lines, or to be eities within the confines of West Virginia? How are we to turn the tide our way? We cannot stay the hand of progress that pulls our natural re sources into other states, there to be manufactured and perchance returned to us at greatly enhanced prices. Neither can we, if we would, build a wall around the state, by legislation or otherwise, to withhold our pro ducts, in whole or in part, from crossing the border line. The remedy is none of these. We must enter the field of competition, and our cities must compete successfully, too. With the natural resources which our State has over the other States, and which most of our cities, both present and future do have and will have over other cities, successful competition can be made certain. So build and develop our cities that they shall offer better advantages for the investment of capital and the location of industries and the making of manhood and womanhood than the competing cities of other states. It may be asked how this is to be brought about. And what constitutes the ad vantages of which we speak? Shall these cities be model cities? Yes; but not dream cities, not yet rose-gardens. Neither can they be models through a self-acting form of government which has no supposed imperfec tions and under which no harm can be done. Fads and fancies should not be at the fore-front; for practical and every-day things go to the making of a model city as they do to a model home. Public interest, care and attention can make almost any place a model city, yet a model city is something not found in every state. Laws and natural advantages may aid, but the people make the real progress of every city. Before your prospective in vestor and citizen, can you point with pride to your clean and well-kept streets and alleys and to your orderly houses and clean premises there about; to your low death rate and generally good health statistics; to your churches with large membership and with liberal views and a broad scope of work, inside and outside the buildings, along humanitarian lines; to the schools, large and modern buildings, record-breaking attendance, modern methods and splendid results; to parks, already Improved and made beauti ful? If this newcomer asks to meet the "boss" of the city, can truth speak that your city knows no boss other than the people themselves; that there are no cults or family rings which hinder or proscribe the stranger when he shall have become one of you. Point to a chamber of commerce, board of trade, or some other business organization, of which business and pro fessional men and other leading citizens are members and every one of 'whom is a live and moving part. If he questions the quality of the water, give him a bottle for test and analysis, confident that it is as pure as the snow; and to his inquiry concerning your fire department show him your modern apparatus and your fire laddies under perfect discipline; and of your sewerage system, say it extends to every part of the municipality. If he speaks of graft and grafting, introduce him to the "big chief" and the police officers under him, all of whom are honest and efficient and whose appointments were not procured by and not responsible to political pull. If MINERAL ARTICLES : MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 519 the tax rate is not lower than elsewhere, point to all that which you re ceive for your money — a dollar's worth for every dollar expended. Lay a wager with him that a knocker on the town can not be found, and that everybody is a booster; that the service of public utility corporations meets the needs of the people; that public franchises are fair to the people and likewise fair to the holders and operators thereunder; that you live and work under municipal laws made to meet the demands of the people; that your officials are honest, efficient and progressive; that your people seek and welcome men. industries and investments not to "skin" them, but to make them a part and parcel of your community for the good of all. If any city in West Virginia can well and truthfully hold out these induce ments, it can double its population and wealth in a short time and there need not be fixed any limit to its future growth. Neither is it beyond the possibility of the average city in this state to possess and hold those ad vantages. In fact, they are simple things to be had upon the demand and persistence of the people of any community. And thus blessed, well may it be said that such is a model city, for the little details would be worked out by the same people who gave it such large proportions. The things enumerated above are in the reach of every municipality in the state which can boast of much size. The realization of them would give a boom which would know no stopping. And they can be had for the asking, if backed with a determination to have them. The city possessed of them would need nothing other than the free advertisement which it would be sure to receive. If any municipality shall have within its grasp all these good things and still is not satisfied, it can add to its fame and make more certain its future by the accomplishment of some special reforms and Improvements of great moment and some of wh'ch need be dealt with in the near future. For instance, it is nothing less than a crime against the public health and welfare to make the rivers within and bordering on the state a dumping ground for waste, filth and sewage. Since our water supplies are taken from these streams the menace to health caused thereby Is already looming up as a big question; and as the population increases the danger will grow greater. This is especially true as relates to cities along the Ohio river after that river shall have become locked and dammed, thereby causing pools of dead water. Then disease and death will exact new and additional tolls. After the municipalities effected thereby shall have paid heavy penalties in life and property, they will be compelled to wake up to the importance of the question. The remedy is at hand and must be applied at sometime not far off. Why not now, before larger ex penditures shall be- required and greater losses suffered? The remedy against making our water courses our dump grounds is, DON'T DO IT. It is a common idea that nothing else can be done with the waste, filth and sewage. Custom has fostered that idea, for the facts do not warrant the common belief. Many of the important cities of Europe, and some few of this country, are not permitted to make nearby streams their common dumping place or receptacles for sewage. In those places sewerage systems are made to empty into pools where the solid matter is destroyed or used for fertilizer and the liquid disinfected and deodorized before being per mitted to mingle with the waters of the running streams. This can now 520 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA and must soon be done by every important city within the state. It is not so big an undertaking, as any experienced civil engineer will testify, to make the necessary changes in the present sewerage systems of the average city in the state to conform with this new idea and plan; and cer tainly any new system or parts thereof should be constructed with this new or changed plan in mind to which it could easily be made to con form at any time. The city which leads off with this important improve ment will exhibit to the country such a high degree of progressiveness and such great concern for health and sanitation that it will receive the ap plause and approbation of the nation. The growth and prosperity caused thereby will soon more than pay back the cost of the work. There is still another very important undertaking for all cities which suffer from floods. Flood protection and sewer drainage in all cities of this class are so linked as to make one imperative demand. No city of im portance in West Virginia can afford to be deluged by floods every few years. The damage to property and health is too great to be suffered, provided there is a remedy to prevent it; and. with few exceptions, the remedy is at hand. Huntington, Charleston, Parkersburg and many smaller municipalities can construct levees to completely* protect them against inundation from water; and Wheeling can in part. This protection is within the reach of all these cities. The greatest obstacle to its accomplish' ment is the sewer drainage direct into the. rivers, which affords conduits for the back water from rivers at flood times; another argument and good reason for the abandonment of the present plan of sewers having direct connection with the rivers. Were it not for the present mode of sewer drainage it would be within the reach of all our cities to protect their people from the ravages of floods. The levees could even be made to beauti fy the cities, perchance affording elegant driveways or boulevards. This is no idle dream, but is a practical question which must be met and can be coped with successfully by the city which undertakes the task in no half-hearted way. Any city resting upon the shore of the great Ohio which, in truth, first advertises to the world that it is beyond the reach of the floods, and, incidental thereto, that it has a sewer system independent of river connection, will have at one leap sprung into glory and renown. It will enjoy the benefits to be derived from that great river without mak ing the sacrifices theretofore exacted, and its growth and prosperity will know no bounds. And yet the damages from the flood of the year 1913 will, in each of the flooded cities on the banks of the Ohio more than pay the cost of these anticipated improvements. The natural resources of West Virginia are attracting the attention of the business world. With these improvements the people of the larger cities of West Virginia would show to the world that they were capable and willing to tackle big things and bring them to a successful termination. That, in itself, would be a big advertisement which, with the actual benefits to be derived from the Improvements, would attract investments, industries and men — would make the city which first accomplishes the results grow in population, riches and prosperity. To bring about these reforms, it is necessary to stir up public discussion and arouse public interest. That can be done through the press and by MINERAL ARTICLES : MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 521 the business and civic organizations of the city. Public discussion Is a wonderful tonic and once well started it feeds on itself. Likewise a little success stimulates the body politic and creates a demand for more. Public discussion and interest may discover that some new laws are needed aa an aid for the accomplishment of proposed reforms. The people may decide that they want a commission form of government; and it may be good for them to have it, for a change ofttimes creates new interest and gets people out of the old rut. In the opinion of the writer the commission form of government is a decided improvement over the old councilmanic form, whether with one or two branches, until recently existing in all the citie3 of West Virginia and still existing in a majority of them. Commission government is a decided improvement over the old, promoting honesty, efficiency and economy. Its points of merit are: the election of a few people to office, through the short ballot, by which the fight is centered on the important offices; the division of the city government into a few depart ments and placing one man at the head of each, thereby holding him absolutely responsible for its running; and the non-partisan feature of nominating and electing officers. The average man will be true to his of ficial trust when responsibility can not be dodged, but is certain and fixed, and in consequence thereof will respond readily to public demands. Hunt ington was first to adopt the commission plan, and Bluefleld was second, both in the year 1909. Parkersburg, some two years later, and Fairmont, recently, have discarded the old and taken on the new, and Wheeling and Clarksburg are hot on the trail. And it is a safe prediction that not one of them will ever return to their discarded junk, but will move forward rather than backward. The running of a city is a business task and has no legitimate relation to politics. Elect a few good men who are willing to run the city for fair salaries and without allegiance to any political party, boss or selfish clan, and one-half the battle for honest and decent government will have been won. In conclusion, permit the writer to state that In the preparation of this paper it has not been his purpose to deal in statistics or figures, which are usually dry and uninteresting, but that he has attempted to cover the subject, "Development of Towns and Municipal Improvements," in a gen eral way, and with the hope that he has set forth some things worthy of consideration and which may act as a basis of action for future good. If these suggestions shall have aroused public interest and concern and shall cause a study of municipal government in West Virginia, the writer will feel amply compensated for his labors. 522 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Church Devlopment The Editor and Committee, unable to obtain a general treatment of this subject in a single article, decided to assign brief articles to representatives of each denomination. They were able to secure articles for five denominations which have the largest membership in the state. THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION By Rev. L. E. Peters. A tradition says that the first wagon that crossed the Allegheny moun tains westward, carried the goods and chattels of Elder John -Alderson, who settled on the Greenbrier river, where now the town of Alderson is located, arriving some time in October, 1777. Here he opened a farm, and often plowed with his gun swung on his shoulder to protect himself from the Indians. In 1781 he organized the "Greenbrier Baptist Church," which has an unbroken history to the present day. About the same time the Forks of Cheat Church and the Simpson Creek Church, at Bridgeport, Harrison County, were constituted; these two were planted a few years earlier than the Greenbrier Church. The dates are not definitely determined. These three church were the centers in the territory, now West Virginia, from which the denomination has grown in the state. Up to the breaking out of the war in 1861, all the churches in that part of Virginia now West Virginia co-operated with the General Association of Virginia and were known as Virginia Baptists. At the close of the war these churches were very much dis-organized and the membership scattered, and there was no bond of denominational unity. But soon Divine grace triumphed over bitter feeling and blood-shed, and on the 15th of November, 1865, the Baptists of the state met through their representatives in Parkersburg and organized the Baptist General Association of West Vir ginia. Perfect harmony and brotherly love prevailed throughout the en tire session of the convention, and here the Baptist denomination of West Virginia was well born. Here the history of West Virginia Baptists begins. In the limits of this sketch, I can not go into details, but shall give the development of the Denomination in the state along a few leading lines. 1. Numerically. — It is impossible to get a correct statistical statement of the Baptists of West Virginia at the close of the war or even when the General Association was organized in 1865. They have been estimated at about 10,000. The first statistical table published was in 1869. Then we had 274 churches with a total membership of 17,518. The total of all con tributions for that year was $26,536. At the close of our last associational year — September 30, 1912 — we report 649 churches, with a total member ship of 53,406. The total contributions for church expenses were SPECIAL ARTICLES : CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 523 $17^818.68-; .for benevolences, $30,511.38; grand total for all purposes, $204,351.31. While our Sunday-school work has kept pace with the churches and sometimes been in advance of them, we have no accurate published statistics. The old-time "union school" has give way to the Denominational school; the summer school has largely disappeared and the "evergreen school" is the rule. The old lessons consisting of the reading of a few chapters from the Bible has been replaced by the "Uniform Lessons," and in the last few years a splendid system of Graded Lessons is used in the lower grades. 2. Development in Mission Work. — The General Association was organ ized primarily for state mission work. This was managed by an executive board, who made the appointments, collected funds and paid the mission aries. In 1869 the board had in the field 16 missionaries who traveled 22,323 miles, preached 2,053 sermons, delivered 450 lectures and addresses, baptized 501 persons, 200 of whom were baptized by one missionary, Rev. C. J. Rippetoe, held 450 prayer meetings and visited 24,468 families, Now, for the year ending September 30, 1912, we employed 44 Missionaries who performed 1,360 weeks of labor, delivered 4,616 sermons and addresses, made 15,119 family visits, reported 553 conversions and 373 baptisms, and traveled 55,537 miles. The first missionaries were appointed by the state board in 1866, seven men to labor in eight counties, at a total salary of $1,170. Mission work outside of the state in these days consisted largely in resolutions and speeches. The first record we find of contributions was in 1866, as follows: For home missions (North America) $6.50; foreign missions, $103.00. The records of 1912 show contributions for home missions, $5,357.30; for foreign missions, $6,688.69; for Sunday-school and colporter work, $2,707.98; for state missions, $15,161.26. In the prose- , cution of the state mission work, in addition to the 44 missionaries given above, the state board employs a general secretary, and two general mis sionaries, one in the northern and the other in the southern part of the state. $308.05 was contributed last year for church edifice work. 3. Development . in Denominational Education. (1) Schools. The Baptists of "Western Virginia" some two or three years before the war bought the property of Blue Sulphur Springs and opened a school that started off under the name of Allegheny College, with fine prospects. At the beginning of the war of 61 it was closed, and in time of the war the buildings were destroyed by the Federal Army. Effort has been made to recover damages from the Government, but so far has failed. The managers paid off the entire debt against the property during the war in Confederate money, which after the war the courts decided was not a "legal tender" and the denomination lost the entire property. This school gave to the Baptists of West Virginia its two greatest preachers, Dr. W. P Walker and Dr. J. W. Carter. Before the war Dr. Wheeler started Rector College at Pruntytown in Taylor county, but the buildings were destroyed by fire and this ended its career. After the war Rev. J. B. Solomon came from Virginia and started a school and claimed for it a "regular university" course, but he was elected to a professorship in the State University, and that school was not. In 1869 Baylus Cade, a brilliant 524 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA and enthusiastic student from Richmond College came to West Virginia and established Coals Mouth High School. Prof. P. B. Reynolds was its first principal. It was finally changed to Shelton College in honor of Its largest donor, Mr. Matthew Shelton. While this school was short lived for want of funds, patronage and proper appreciation, yet it did a great deal of good in discovering talented young men and giving them a start and taste for learning. Some of them now fill prominent positions as educators and preachers. About 1877 Rev. E. J. Willis moved Broaddus Female College from Winchester, Va., to Clarksburg, where it had a varied experience, but did much good work and sent out a goodly number of well-trained young women in the state. It was reorganized and stripped of its title as a college and has ever since been known as Broaddus Institute. It changed admin istration about every two or three years. The buildings were enlarged and the attendance grew, it being now a mixed school. As the town grew It was hemmed in and demanded a better site. An offer was made to move it to Philippi, which was accepted. It now has on "Battle Hill" a splendid up-to-date plant and is doing good work under Prof. Elkanah Hulley, an experienced educator. Alderson Academy at Alderson, in Greenbrier county was organized a few years ago, and has had several very successful sessions. It is now erecting an up-to-date building. (2) Ministerial Education. — In 1865 I doubt whether there was a col lege and seminary graduate in the Baptist clergy of the state, but now we have scores of them. There was not much done in an organized effort along this line until 1891, when Rev. John S. Stump, D.D., of Parkersburg, or ganized a State Education Society. It is incorporated under the laws of the state in the form of a joint stock company. Mr. Jarrett Linch, of Monongalia county, left a handsome nucleus of an endowment in his will to the society. The proceeds of this endowment, annually supplemented by the contributions from our churches, put the society in good condition to help young men called to the ministry. This year we are assisting 23 students at a cost of $2,150.00. For the improvement of our present min istry, we have a state Minister's Fraternal Union with 42 members. 4. Other Movements. — Women's missionary circles, young people's so cieties, twenty district associations, nineteen Sunday-school Conventions and an annual summer assembly keep our forces in line and at the work. 5. Changes in the personnel of our Ministry. — The old pioneers who laid broad and deep the foundations of our denominational life in the state have gone to their reward. Strong, self-made, godly men they were. My heart longs to give a sketch of them, but my space forbids. Now we have a fine class of men, cultured and able preachers, such as Brinenstool of Wheeling, Bennett of Sistersville, Smith, Hank, Stump, Moore and Bart lett of Parkersburg, Wood of Huntington, Johnson, Binford and Bayles of Charleston, Powell of Grafton, Eddy of Fairmont, and Briggs of Mor gantown, Taylor of Clarksburg, Woofter of Salem and scores of others I might mention. The three greatest preachers in the state among the old men were Dr. W. P. Walker, Dr. J. W. Carter, gone to heaven, and Jonathan Smith, who is still living. SPECIAL ARTICLES : CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 535 METHODISM IN WEST VIRGINIA By William B. Mathews, Clerk of the Supreme Court of West Virginia. Methodism has never been slow in following the pioneer into a new country. Her church polity and the genius of her institutions have been such that she has kept pace with man's migrations even when he has wandered into remote regions. The "circuit rider" in his long and weary rounds in early days did not overlook the sparsely settled communities. As a result, that church was firmly planted throughout our entire borders, and has kept pace with the wonderful growth and development of our great State. Wesleyan preachers' did not begin systematic work or hold their first conference in America until 1773, although Wesleyan societies were or ganized in New York and Philadelphia a few years before that time. Pre vious to that year, settlements were made within the present boundaries of West Virginia, at Shepherdstown and other points in the eastern panhandle, Lewisburg, Morgantown, Wheeling, Clarksburg, Moundsville, and Brownstown, now Marmet, near Charleston. The first Methodist preaching on West Virginia soil was probably in the Shenandoah Valley as early as 1775, only twelve years after the Methodists first became a factor in the religious life of America, and nine years before the Methodist- Episcopal Church was organized. In that year John Haggerty and Richard Owings preached at the home of Major Lewis Stephens, son of a pioneer settler in the territory which afterwards became Berkeley and Jefferson counties. A "class" was formed, and the first Methodists within our bounds were its members; the Stephens family, John Hite and sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes, and John Taylor and wife. In 1778, Berkeley Circuit, covering that territory was formed, with Rev. Edward Bailey the first regularly appointed Methodist pastor in West Virginia. Next, Methodism entered the Greenbrier Valley, covered by the Allegheny Circuit, organized in 1783, and later by the Greenbrier Circuit, organized in 1 7S7. Rehoboth Church, at the "Sinks of Greenbrier," near Union, completed in 178G, and still standing, is said to be the oldest Methodist Church west of the Alleghenies. Bishop Asbury preached daily in this church, when he held the annual conference May 21-24, 1792, at the cabin of Edward Keenan, near by. The annual conference of 1793 was also held there in May of that year. Among the presiding elders of that region were Richard Whatcoat, William McKendree and Enoch George, all of whom afterwards were elected bishops of the church. John Tunnell, James O'Kelly and Francis Poythress, men of note, were itinerants in that territory. The people called Methodists followed Braddock's road and penetrated the wilderness to the Monongahela at' Redstone Creek, where Brownstown, Pa., now stands, but instead of defeat they won many victories in extend ing the Kingdom of God. Redstone circuit, embracing the whole Mononga hela Valley, was formed in 1784, the year the Methodist Episcopal Church 526 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA was organized. John Cooper and Samuel Breeze were the first pastors. In 1785, Peter Moriarty, John Fidler and Wilson Lee were appointed pastors, and Lee carried his ministrations through the wilderness as far as Wheeling, where a "class" was formed with Mrs. Elizabeth (McCulloch) Zane, as probably the first member. The work so rapidly developed that in 1787 Ohio circuit, embracing a large territory along and east of the Ohio River, was formed, and Charles Conaway and George Callahan were its first pastors. Methodist "societies" rapidly multiplied. Clarksburg circuit was formed out of Redstone in 1787, with Robert Cann and Richard Pearson as pastors. Randolph circuit on the upper tributaries of Tygart's Valley and Cheat Rivers was formed in 1790, Anthony Banning, pastor. In the same year Kanawha circuit was formed and preachers assigned, but as no reports were made it is probable the work was not taken up' at that time, and the statement in Atkinson's History of Kanawha county is correct that Rev. Wm. Steel of the Little Kanawha circuit preached the first Methodist sermon in Charleston on January 1, 1804. The latter circuit was created in 1779, with Robert Manley, the first pastor. The large Guyandotte circuit embracing settlements along the Ohio and as far up the Guyandotte and Great Kanawha Valleys as white men could be found was formed in 1804, Rev. Asa Shinn, one of the founders of the Methodist Protestant Church, being the first pastor. The organ ization at Charleston was probably effected in 1815, by H. B. Bascom, afterwards a bishop in the Church South. The progress of Methodism in West Virginia for the first two decades, as reported by the official minutes, is as follows: Year. Number of Preachers. Membership. White. Colored. 1780 3 205 1790 7 1,472 130 1800 10 1,636 66 Bishop Asbury. Thus was accomplished the beginnings of Methodism in the latter years of the Eighteenth Century within the limits of the State of West Virginia. At that time it was only a wilderness. No one can record the privations and heroism of the pioneer preachers who achieved that work so comprehensively, planting the church in every part of our territory. Bishop Asbury, who, with Bishop Coke was the general superintendent of the church, evidently regarded the hills and valleys of Western Virginia as his especial diocese. He showed his devotion to it by making it frequent visits, nearly every year from 1789 to 1816, the year of his death. He states in his Journal: "I have frequently skimmed along the frontiers for four or five hundred miles from Kentucky to Greenbrier, on the very edge of the wilderness, and thence along Tiger's (Tygart's) valley to Clarksburg and on to the Ohio. These places, if not the haunts of savage men, yet abound with wild beasts. * * * The people cannot tell what I have to cope with. I make no doubt the Methodists are, and will be, a numerous and wealthy SPECIAL ARTICLES : CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 527 people, and their preachers who follow us will not know our struggles but by comparing their improved state of the country with what it was in our days." Bishop Asbury labored with Incessant and unflinching zeal. He preach ed daily. On account of his military bearing he has been called the Field Marshal of Methodism, but his Christian affability and knowledge of human nature gave to him such a genius for organization that, without the advantage of inherited church affiliations on the part of the people, he built so firmly, and laid foundations so far reaching that the Methodist bodies today constitute by far the largest number of communicants of any ecclesiastical family in the state. Portions of our territory have belonged to the Virginia conference, the Western conference, and the Kentucky conference. In 1825, after the Pittsburgh conference was formed, this territory was divided among the Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Ohio conferences, and in that year, there were within our bounds 22 circuits, 32 preachers, and 10,405 members, of whom 523 were colored. A detailed account of the growth and development of this great religious denomination, with historical accounts of the facts leading up to the sep aration of 1828 which resulted in the Methodist Protestant Church and that of 1844 which resulted in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, are necessarily precluded from the limits of a brief article. It is sufficient to say that all parties to these differences were sincere and conscientious, and that at the present time no differences are apparent to prevent a re union of these aggressive forces in the church militant. Potent Factor for the New State. West Virginia being the border land between the North and the South, it was inevitable that feeling should be intense and partisanship at white heat. The ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, led by the great mind of Gordon Battelle, were solidly against slavery and in favor of the creation of a new state, and likewise almost the entire rank and file of the laity of that church, led by Arthur I. Boreman, Waitman T Wiley, Ches ter D. Hubbard, James C. McGrew and many others. The influence of the circuit riders among the people as they traversed these mountains and valleys just preceding the outbreak of the war, constituting themselves missionaries of freedom, both in and out of the pulpit, can hardly be estimated. It certainly went far, and probably was the controlling factor in causing the western counties of Virginia to remain loyal to the Union, and in time to become one of the sisterhood of States. Many of the number left their pulpits and went to the front to advocate their principles in the final arbitrament of arms. The West (formerly called Western) Virginia Conference was organ ized in 1848. Its rapid growth may be seen at a glance from the following official statistics for the years named: Year. Ministers. Members. Value of Property. 1850 54 14,201 Not reported 1875 159 31,413 $ 605,455 1900 226 54,892 1,188.715 191,2 290 69,886 3,087,674 528 SEMI-CENTENNLAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA ber of colored congregations belonging to the Washington Conference. Besides the above, there are a number of churches in West Virginia belonging to the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Conferences, and a large num- West Virginia Wesleyan. One of the greatest achievements of the West Virginia Conference is the establishment of a successful Christian college. The West Virginia Conference Seminary, Buckhannon, was opened Sept. 3, 1890, with Dr. W. B. Hutchinson as president. Many cities had sought to be the site of the school but Buckhannon was chosen because of its central location, its high moral tone, its inexpensive living and its beauty and health- fulness. In 1903 its faculty and curricula were enlarged and the institu tion was chartered as the West Virginia Wesleyan College. Its standard of scholarship has always been high. Although founded and chiefly supported by the Methodists, the college is wholly undenominational. No religious tests are prescribed upon trus tees, faculty or students, though the school has always been noted for its high Christian influence. It has emphasized the belief that education should include character forming as well as scholarship. Commencing with a barren field in 1890, the college now has a well- wooded and beautiful campus of 43 acres, on which are seven buildings: (1) College Hall, (2) Woman's Hall, (3) Music Hall, (4) Gymnasium, (5) Haymond Science Hall, (6) Heating Plant, and (7) President's Resi dence. Its assets exceed $400,000. It has a library of 7,000 volumes, well equipped laboratories and other facilities for the best instruction. Courses are given in the College of Liberal Arts, leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. It has a preparatory school, a depart ment of music, of commerce, of art, of oratory and a flourishing normal school. In February, 1905, a fire destroyed the main building; but College Hall, larger and better was Immediately errected to take its place. The school has always been well attended by students from West lr'-p,iria and othpr states; but during the past five years the enrollment has shown a steady and continuous increase — as the figures indicate: 1909, 373; 1910, 423; 1911, 475; 1912, 507; 1913, 528. The students of strictly college rank have quadrupled in the last four years. The faculty consists of twenty-eight persons, with President Carl Gregg Doney, at the head. They are graduates of good universities or colleges, and technical schools. The thirty-six trustees are representative men and women of the state. Though young, the alumni include two state officials, twenty school principals and superintendents, over one hundred men teachers, eighty ministers, thirty lawyers and leading men and women in all the honorable walks of life. The college has been of inestimable value to West Virginia and lti growing strength is promise of still greater service. SPECIAL ARTICLES : CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 529 Methodist Protestant Church.* The history of Methodism is one until 1828, when what is now known as the Methodist Protestant Church was organized. The reasons for the division were the refusal of the election of presiding elders, refusal of the right of appeal and representation for local ministers and laymen, by vote of Bishops McKendree and Soule in 1820. The publication of a paper known as Mutual Rights, edited by Rev. Asa Shinn, lent color to the situation surrounding the general movement for lay representation at this time in Methodism. The first Methodist minister to be expelled for advocating the reading of this journal was D. B. Dorsey, who spent a part of his life at Wheeling, West Virginia, and his declining years at Fairmont. Among the active and conspicuous figures in the early history of the formation of West Virginia was Francis H. Pierpont, the provisional governor, who was an active lay member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and represented it as a delegate from the Pittsburgh Conference in the general conference of 1846, 1858 and 1871, at which conference he was elected President. being the first and only layman ever to serve as President of a general conference of Methodists. In 1875 he was commissioned as one of the- nine members on church union, to meet with the southern division of the Methodist Protestant Church, and in 1877 was a member of the con ference that united the two divisions. The first Methodist Protestant church organized in the State of West. Virginia was at Hackers Creek, in Lewis County, October, 1829, by Rev- John Mitchell and David Smith, and is known as Old Harmony Church.. The building was erected in October, 1819, and is still preserved. Rev.. H. K. Bonner was elected class leader. The next society was organize* at the forks of Hackers Creek. Rev. John Smith was elected leader. In 1830 a class was organized at Morgantown by Rev. Cornelius Spring er, a veteran of the war of 1812, and a participant in the division dis cussions of 1820 to 1830. This class produced three prominent minis ters, Joseph A. Shackleford, Asby Pool and John Clark. The same year Springer and Marshall formed a society at the forks of Cheat river. In February of the same year, Rev. George Brown formed societies in Palatine near the home of the late William Barnes. Societies were also- formed at Pruntytown and Rockford. Rev. George Nestor in the same year made organizations at Harrisville, Morristown and on Teter Creek in Barbour County. There were also organizations formed in the Greenbrier Valley, and at Flatwoods in Braxton County. The West Virginia conference was set off from the Pittsburgh Con ference with 3,000 members and P. T. Laishley appointed President, and organized October 2, 1885, at Pruntytown. Rev. P. T. Laishley was a representative from Monongalia county, and also chaplain, in the first convention at Wheeling, in May, 1861. He and other Methodist Protestants were active in the formation of the State. *Aoknowledgment is made to Hon. A. D. Williams for statements relative to the- Methodist Protestant Church, of which he is a prominent member. 530 , SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA The church has at present in the state 78 ministers and 70 charges, besides those included in the Pittsburgh and Baltimore conference; a membership of 17,092, church property valued at $455,091; 264 Sunday Schools, with 18,000 endrollment. The present officers of the conference are President, Rev. J. N. Holt, Colfax, W. Va.; Secretaries, J. H. Moss- burg, Flemington, W. Va., W. H. Hodges, Morgantown, W. Va. Methodist Episcopal Church South, The Methodist Episcopal Church South was organized pursuant to the plan of separation adopted by the General Conference of 1844, at a convention of duly elected delegates from the southern conferences, which met at Louisville, Ky., in May, 1845. With great unanimity this convention declared a separation was necessary in order to save to Methodism its members in the South. A general conference was appoint ed to meet in May, 1846, and every four years thereafter, so that the gen eral conference of the two Episcopal Methodisms alternate, convening two years apart. The Western Virginia Conference of the Church South was organized at Maiden in 1850. At the time of its organization it had 24 charges with an aggregate membership of 5,293. After the separation the south ern churches in western Virginian territory had been placed under the care of the Kentucky conference, and constituted the Parkersburg, Green brier and Guyandotte districts thereof. In 1860 there were five districts, 60 effective preachers, 93 local preachers, 12,694 members and 126 church es and 9 parsonages, valued at $114,100. No sessions of this conference were held on account of the war from 1860 until 1866. The members of this body stood staunchly for their political principles and like true Methodists endured hardships and the dangers incident to a sanguinary struggle with fortitude and self-sacri fice. Only about one-third of the former members of the conference answer to the "sad roll call" at Greenup, Ky., Feb. 22, 1866. Bishop Kavanaugh, who preached in the Great Kanawha Valley when a young man, presided. From that time, the growth of this branch of Methodism has been rapid. Great good has been accomplished by it among the West Virginia hills, although its beneficent jurisdiction extends also into Ken tucky. In 1912 there were reported 114 preachers, 27,512 members and church property valued at $1,208,940. A number of the pastoral charges of the Baltimore Conference, South, are located in this State. Morris Harvey College. Previous to the war, Marshall College was under control of this Con ference, but the institution was not re-opened after its close, and the property was disposed of to the State for use as a Normal School. However, when the county seat of Cabell County was removed from Bar boursville to Huntington, the county buildings at the former place were se cured, mainly through the efforts of Dr. T. S. Wade, of honored memory, and thus was established Barboursville Academy, now Morris Harvey College. SPECIAL ARTICLES : CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 531 This institution was incorporated as the Barboursville Seminary, May 16, 1888. One year later it was accepted by the Western Virginia Annual Conference, M. E. Church, South, and operated as the Barboursville College. By this name it was known until May 27, 1901, when, in con sideration of the beneficence of Mr. Morris Harvey, in the gift of several thousand dollars to the school, the Board of Trustees thereof changed the name to Morris Harvey College. The buildings consist of an Administration Building, Rosa Harvey Hall for girls, a Music Hall and Billingsley Hall for boys. Its present faculty consists of eight members, headed by President R. H. Alderman, and it has a student body of nearly two hundred. Comparative Statistics. A U. S. census bulletin gives the following figures relative to church membership in West Virginia for the year 1906, and it is probable that the ratios indicated therein practically remain the same. The totals, however, are below the actual number of members, since some 800 church organizations failed to report. The census gave for 1906 a membership of 115.825 in all Methodist bodies in the state, distributed as follows: Denominations. Members. Methodist Episcopal 61,641 Methodist Episcopal, South 36,632 Methodist Protestant 16,004 African Methodist Episcopal 1,002 Wesleyan Methodist 238 Free Methodist 150 African Methodist Episcopal, Zion 86 Colored Methodist Episcopal 72 Total 115,825 The same bulletin gives a further table, showing that the Methodist bodies had, in that year, over 38 per centum of the entire church mem bership reported in the state. This table contains the following stat istical presentation: Bodies. Members. Per Cent. Methodist Bodies 115,825 38.5 Baptist Bodies 67,044 22.2 United Brethren Bodies 19,993 6.6 Presbyterian Bodies 19,668 6.5 Disciples or Christians 13 323 4.4 Lutheran Bodies 6,506 2.2 Protestant Episcopal Church 5,230 1.7 Reformed Bodies 886 0.3 Congregationalisms 228 0.1 Other Protestant' Bodies 11,101 3.6 Total Protestant Bodies 259,804 86.1 Roman Catholic Church 40,011 13.3 Latter Day Saints 1,385 0.5 All other bodies 365 0.1 Grand Totals 301,565 100 532 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Of the above number, there were about three males to every four fe males. There were 3428 church edifices reported with a seating capacity to accommodate nearly the entire population of the State at one and the same time. The value of church property nearly reached $12,000,000. There were 3486 West Virginia Sunday Schools reported with 27,577 teachers and 212,577 scholars. In all this equipment for promoting religious and civic righteousness in our fair State, Methodism has had an honorable part in the past, is willing to cooperate in bearing the burdens and responsibilities of the present, and looks to the future with enthusiastic faith and hope that our commonwealth as it becomes greater and more prosperous may like wise become better and more righteous. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH By Rev. Dr. James H. Flanagan, Grafton. According to the history of the Presbyterian Church given by Ogilvie, "There are in America 13 organizations of the Presbyterian and Reformed Order, holding to the Calvinistic system of doctrine. They may be divided Into three general classes: (1) those which sprang into existence inde pendently on American soil; (2) those that were planted as branches of the Reformed Churches of the Continent, and continued for some time in or ganic connection with these churches; (3) those which were organized as branches of the Scottish churches, and were long in affiliation with their Scottish parent churches. Of these the first to enter the continent in order of time was the Dutch Reformed. Next came the Scotch and Scotch-Irish population, which, combining with the Presby terian element within English Puritanism that had found its way into New England, sprang into the strictly so-called Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." The church of the Presbyterian faith became a permanent organization whose influence early began to be felt in the land. At a meeting of the General Synod in 1758 the resolution was adopted that the Synods of New York and New Jersey, Philadelphia, Virginia and the Carolinas be created out of the General Synod. In 1802 the resolution was adopted that the Presbyterians of Hanover. Lexington and Winchester be constituted a synod to be known as the Synod of Virginia, that the Presbyteries of Redstone, Ohio, and Erie be constituted a synod to be known by the name of the Synod of Pittsburgh, and that the southern boundary of the Synod of Pittsburgh be from the mouth of the Scioto up the Ohio River to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, thence a line due east to the top of the Allegheny mountains. This surrounding was such as to build up the Presbyterian Church in the territory of West Virginia. The Synod of Virginia was to develop denominational interest in the southern part of Western Virginia, and the Synod of Pittsburgh was to look after the north ern portion. The Presbytery of Redstone was very careful in looking after points where a church organization could be planted. Dr. Power, Dr. SPECIAL ARTICLES ." CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 533 Fairchild and Dr. Stoneroad were faithful in their care of Morgantown Fairmont, Clarksburg, French Creek and other points. From such careful attention on the southeast, southwest and northern portion, many churches were built up in Western Virginia. From these sections came those who settled in Western Virginia, and who built up the churches that were scattered here and there throughout the territory. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, almost the entire body of the Southern Presbyterian Church withdrew their connection from the old General Assembly, and united with the organization of the General As sembly of the Presbyterian church in the Confederate States of America. The organization was effected at Augusta, Georgia, December 4, 1861. The second Assembly convened at Montgomery, Alabama, May 1, 1862, since when the meetings have been held at the same time as the meetings of the northern portion of the church. At the separation, it called upon the original body to make some arrangements with regard to the ministers and churches still remaining in connection with the northern General Assembly. It was a question that required some thought and planning. "What shall be done with them?" At the meeting of the General Assembly of the church in session at Peoria, Illinois, in 1863, the following resolution was adopted, viz.: "That it be recommended that all the ministers in West Virginia south of the southern line of Pennsylvania extended to the Ohio river be detached from their Presbyteries, and formed into a new Presbytery to be called the Presbytery of West Virginia, to meet at Parkersburg on the 1st Tuesday of October next at ten o'clock A. M. to be opened with a sermon by Rev. H. W. Biggs, and that the Presbytery be attached to the Synod of Wheeling. On that day the Presbytery of West Virginia was organized with a dis tinctive work with regard to the State of West Virginia. It was admitted that this seemed like a large work handed over to a very few men. But with the determination to follow out the direction of the General Assembly the Presbytery of West Virginia was organized. At its organization, it was said by one of the youngest members: "Let us grasp the opportunity that is ours, and do the best we can, and, by the blessing of God, sometime in the future we will see not only a Presbytery, but a Synod of West Vir ginia." The action of the General Assembly tended to draw the lines be tween the southern and northern elements' more distinctly in the bounds of the state. From that time forth the two parties have remained dis tinctly separate. To give the Presbyterian Church of the state its proper standing; both parties must be considered. The southern church in West Virginia consists of Greenbrier and Kanawha Presbyteries, with some churches in the Winchester Presbytery. At the first meeting of the Presbytery of West Virginia the following statistics were reported: Ministers, 5; members, 442; funds, benevolence, $129; congregational, $1,200. The work went on until the Presbytery of West Virginia had grown sufficiently to be divided into two Presbyteries. By action of the General Assembly at Buffalo, New York, May 28, 1902, the following reso lution was adopted, viz.: 534 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA "We recommend that the Presbytery of Washington be and hereby is divided on the state line, and that those ministers and churches which now belong to the Presbytery of Washington that are in the bounds of the state of West Virginia constitute the Presbytery of Wheeling; that the Synod of West Virginia be and hereby is erected, to consist of the Pres byteries of Wheeling, Grafton and Parkersburg." According to the direction of the General Assembly the Synod of West Virginia was organized October 18, 1904. In comparing the statistical report of 1912 with that of 1863, it shows that much growth has been made in the church. The report of 1912 was: members, 2,546; benevolence. $34,809; congregational funds, $105,775. Greenbrier Presbytery reported in 1912: members, 3,076; benevolence, $14,358; pastors funds, $12,669. Kanawha Presbytery reported: members, 3,268; benevolence, $14,375; pastors fiundsl, $12,855. The Presbyterian Church is very proud of Davis and Elkins College. This college was organized by the southern branch of the church, but since the organization of the Synod of West Virginia, composed of the northern churches, the two branches of the church have been united in the work and fellowship of the institution. The work of the Presbyterian church is moving on in a very prosperous way year by year, and is exerting an influence for good. THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN WEST VIRGINIA By George W. Peterkin, Bishop of West Virginia. The Protestant Episcopal Church in West Virginia was a part of that Church in the State of Virginia from May, 1607 — the date when Rev. Robert Hunt of the Church of England held his first service at Jamestown — until October, 1877, at which time West Virginia was formally set apart as a separate Diocese. How soon this church began to acquire a hold upon that mostly uninhabited and, at the best, sparsely settled territory is not known, save that we have a list of nine clergymen who labored in what is now West Virginia from 1700 to 1785. In the convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of 175, in Rich mond, Va., we have the first notice of any delegate from West Virginia, and such attendance of clergy and laity was regularly kept up until 1877, when, for the last time, the original undivided Diocese of Virginia met in Staunton. During that time (ninety two years) Bishops Madison, Moore, Meade, Johns and Whittle lived and labored. The membership of churches, and ministers, rose very slowly. In 1842 the clergy, in what is now West Virginia, numbered six; in 1853 there were thirteen and 636 communicants. In 1877 there were 15 clergy and 1,033 communicants. Subsequent development will be noticed, but it is important now to mention some of the causes for the slow start in growth which this church made. SPECIAL ARTICLES : CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 535 The Episcopal Church of Virginia commenced with the first settlement of the first colony in Jamestown, Va., 1607, but she had to labor under great disadvantages during nearly the whole period of her early existence, on account of her connection with the Government and the Church of England. America was, in early days, largely settled by those who, from various causes, had left, or were leaving, the church of England — the church of their fathers. In asserting the cause of popular rights and liberties against the crown, in the times of Elizabeth (1859-1603) James I. (1603-1625) and Charles I. (1625-1649), owing to the connection of church and state, many persons came to look upon the established church as their enemy, and to make it equally with the state, the objects of their assaults, and this is not strange, for the great principles of religious liberty were not at the time understood, either by those who remained in the Church of England, or by those who left her fold. The Bishop of London was in charge of the church in Virginia, but his superintendence was of necessity only nominal. And so for about one hundred and eighty years did the Episcopal Church in Virginia, as elsewhere in the country, try the experi ment of a system whose constitution required such a head as a Bishop, but which was actually without it. ..So she everywhere suffered for lack of this office, so indispensable to the most important parts of her ecclesiastical administration and discipline. The clergy necessarily came from England, for there was no Bishop here to confirm and ordain, and so. as the Revolution approached, dissatis faction with the mother country grew, and with it, naturally, dissatis faction with the mother church. Since the clergy came from England, many of them very naturally showed attachment to the King, and this subjected the church to suspicion; and this, notwithstanding the fact that the prominent laity in the state, churchmen as they were — the Washing- tons and the Lees and Henrys and Pendletons and Masons and Nelsons and Meades and Mercers and Harrisons and Randolphs — were also ardent patriots. This state of things was common throughout the country, as out of 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence 35 were Episcopalians. So it came to pass that, whereas, when the Revolutionary war began, Virginia, in her sixty-one counties contained ninety-five parishes, one hundred and sixty-four churches and chapels and ninety-one clergymen, she came out of the war with a large number of her churches destroyed, twenty-three of her parishes extinct, and thirty-four more destitute of all service, while only twenty-eight out of ninety-one clergy remained, and they subject to the suspicion of which we have spoken. In 1790 Dr. Madison was consecrated in England as Bishop of Virginia, and the church began at length to spread, as we shall try to show, through that part of the old state now known as West Virginia. Owing to the great extent of territory and the imperfect means of communication, it was, time and again, in the interest of a better supervision, proposed to divide the Diocese— in 1821, 1851, 1865, 1872, 1873, 1874 and 1876. Finally, in 1877, it was accomplished. At that time there were 13 clergy, 1,048 com municants, 22 churches and chapels and 10 rectories. In 1890, 13 years after the division, there were 23 clergy, 2,929 communicants, 56 churches and chapels and 23 rectories. In 1900 there were 34 clergy, 4,175 com- 536 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA municants, 67 churches and chapels and 26 rectories and in 1913 there were 41 clergy, 6,067 communicants, 95 churches and chapels and 10 rectories. The money raised for all purposes has increased from $10,000 in 1878 to $100,000 annually. The Diocese has under its control two hos pitals, caring for about 1,800 patients annually, more than half of whom are practically free. During all this time the state has increased from 600,000 to 1,220,000 in population. Bishop George W. Peterkin has been in charge of this work since May, 1878, when it was started on its inde pendent existence, and since 1899 has been assisted by Bishop W. L. Gravatt. The growth of the church during the period spoken of has been encouraging, but there are still 17 counties where we have no church- two in what we call the Eastern Convention, eight in the Northwestern Convention and seven in the Kanawha Convention. During these years of independent existence, there have been confirmed 8,287 persons in the diocese, 47 ordained to the sacred ministry and 73 churches consecrated. The Episcopal Church, though small in numbers, is well represented In all sections of the state, especially in the large cities and towns. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH By Rev. Father Edward E. Weber, Chancellor of the Diocese. The Diocese of Wheeling comprises the State of West Virginia ex cept the following counties, which are in the Diocese of Richmond: Pendleton, Grant, Mineral, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson. It also includes the following counties of Virginia: Lee, Scott, Wise, Dickinson, Buchanan, Washington, Russell, Grayson, Smyth, Taze well, Carroll, Wythe, Bland, Floyd, Pulaski, Montgomery, Giles, and a portion of Craig. In territory it comprises a total of 29,172 square miles of which 21,255 are in West Virginia, and 7,817 are in Virginia^ The Diocese was formed from the Diocese of Richmond by Apostolic letters dated 23 July, 1850. The Rt. Rev. Richard Whelan, D. D., at that time Bishop of Richmond was transferred to Wheeling as the first bishop of the newly-created see. He had been consecrated the second Bishop of Richmond, 21 March, 1841. The earliest record preserved in the Wheel ing Chancery sets forth that Rev. Francis Rolf was appointed pastor of Wheeling in 1829. He records a baptism performed by him on 3 Novem ber, 1828. There is evidence of a priest having visited Wheeling at an earlier date. Wheeling was established as a town in 1795, and one vague tradition has it that it took its name from a certain Father Whelan, a Catholic priest, who came occasionally to minister to the spiritual wants of the members of his flock. The western part of Virginia, which in 1863 became the State of West Virginia, had never many Catholics settlers, nor does it appear to have had many professing any religion. In 1912 the Catholic population was estimated at about 50,000 and the total population at 1,000,000. A letter preserved in the archives of the Diocese SPECIAL ARTICLES \ CHURCH DEVELOPMENT 537 of Wheeling dated Baltimore, 13 April, 1832 and signed James Whitefield, Archbishop of Baltimore, states the inability of securing a priest to be stationed at Wheeling, but the letter goes on: "I desired the priest who attends a congregation, on the way to Wheeling, about 40 miles on this side (Brownsville if I remember), to go and give Church once or twice a month. — He seems to say that he would comply, as far as he could, with my wish". From Feb., 1833, to Jan., 1844, Rev James Hoerner was in charge of the Catholics in the Wheeling district. He was succeeded by Rev. Eugene Comeford, who was in Wheling till the arrival of Rt. Rev. Richard Whelan, Bishop of Richmond, in Nov., 1846. The bishop took charge of the mission ary work in the Wheeling portion of the Richmond See till he was trans ferred as the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Wheeling. The zeal of Bishop Whelan in labouring under the most difficult and trying circum stances for a period of twenty-four years is still remembered by many of the faithful, and often referred to as a striking example of genuine saintly piety. He did much manual labor in addition to the other duties of his epis copal office. The present Wheeling cathedral was planned by him, and built under his supervision. He was architect and supervisor, and did much of the actual work in building the edifice. He also established a sem inary of which he took personal charge, and some of the priests who were educated by him are still labouring in the Diocese. St. Vincent's College for laymen was also instituted under his auspices. Bishop Whelan had among his self-sacrificing clergy one especially conspicuous for his saintly life, the late Very Rev. H. F. Parke, V. G. This servant of God met a tragic death by being crushed under the ruins of a falling building 9 April, 1895. Bishop Whelan (d. 7 July, 1874) was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. John Joseph Kain, D. D., who was consecrated the second Bishop of Wheeling 23 May 1875. In 1893 Bishop Kain was appointed coadjutor to the Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, and became arch bishop of that see, 21 May, 1895. He died on 13 Oct., 1903. During the eighteen years of Bishop Kain's administration, the work, so well begun by his able predecessor, was continued and made rapid progress. He was consecrated at the age of thirty-four and devoted his talents and energy to the increase of clergy, the establishing of new missions, and the building of churches and parochial schools, so that, at the time of his transfer, the diocese was well established although it was still greatly in need of priests, about thirty-five of whom covered an area of 29,172 square miles. The Catholics were much scattered and there were but few points at which the necessary support of a pastor could be obtained. Rt. Rev. P. J. Donahue, D. D., was consecrated the third Bishop of Wheeling, 8 April, 1894. At the time of his appointment he was rector of the cathedral at Baltimore. During the nineteen years of Bishop Donahue's administration the number of clergy has been doubled, many new missions established, and the following institutes founded in the diocese: Home of the Good Shepherd, situated near Wheeling, where two hundred wayward and homeless girls are provided for — the sisters in charge conduct a large laundry and sewing school; The Manual Train ing School, near Elm Grove, W. Va. six miles east of Wheeling conductea 538 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA by the Xaverian Brothers, and St. Edward's Preparatory College, Hunt ington, W. Va., in charge of the secular clergy of the diocese, of which the Rev. John W. Werninger is the first president. Besides these institu tions two large additions have been built to the Wheeling Hospital, and a new orphanage for boys at Elm Grove, W. Va. a large addition to St. Vincent's Home Elm Grove, W. Va. and St. Joseph's Hospital at Parkers burg, W. Va., and St. Marys Hospital at Clarksburg, W. Va., have been erected. Prior to 1895 there was one religious order of priests, the Cap uchin Fathers, and three religious orders of women, the Sisters of St. Joseph, Visitation Sisters, and the Sisters of Divine Providence, Pitts burg. Since then, the Marist and the Benedictine Fathers have been introduced as also the Good Shepherd Sisters, Sisters of St. Francis, the Felician Sisters, Sisters of the Pious Society of Missions, Carmelite Nuns and the Sisters of Divine Providence of Kentucky. There are academies for girls at Mt. de Chantal (near Wheeling), Parkersburg Wytheville, Wheeling, and Clarksburg. There is a Catholic high school at Wheeling and there are 16 parochial schools in the diocese. Development of Medical Practice and Public Health By Dr. Charles A. Wingerter, Wheeling, W. va. The task put before the historian is the presentation of the thing as it was. It is the function of history to present to an on-looker the outward thing, and to show the reader as much as a spectator would have seen, illuminated by a knowledge of the past and a judgment drawn from suc ceeding events. A picture of the conditions of medical practice and of public health in West Virginia at the beginning of our half-century of existence as a state, would be the best background upon which to mark the notes of advance and change. To outline this vision, we could perhaps do no better than to put ourselves in the place of one of the old-time physicians in one of the central towns of the region at the period just before the war. Let us suppose him established in his practice and then ask ourselves what was the character of his preparation for his work; what the extent of his knowledge and equipment; what the character of his clientele; what his relations to them and to his fellow physicians; what co-operation, if any, the public authorities offered to him in his labors; what were the details of his daily life and practice, and what the rewards and remunerations of his work. To the spectator of his person and life this follower of the healing art will appear in no wise extraordinary, nor will his uneventful years seem to demand attention different from that given to the life and work of any one of his fellow-citizens. Nevertheless, this ruddy old gentleman, some what stern of countenance, somewhat shabby of attire, somewhat brusque and forbidding of manner, is a man of rare human greatness, a man who Is leaving his indelible mark upon the neighborhood as he drives the country roads in his ceaseless rounds, night and day, summer and winter. SPECIAL ARTICLES : MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 539 He is to the manor born; here among these common hills he first saw the light of day; the people to whom he ministers are the boys and girls with whom his boyhood days were passed. To them he is "Doctor John" or "Doctor Will." He knows their secret sorrows as well as their open joys. With sealed lips, with busy hands, with generous heart, he fits into every home in the very remotest of the mountain districts. The foot-falls of his horse have sounded upon every highway and by-path and tortuous trail leading to a human habitation, no matter how forlorn or neglected it be, no matter how degraded or destitute the dwellers therein. He means more to his generation than words can tell. He means much to them at that dread time when "pestilence walketh abroad," and when the ears of the stricken listen eagerly for the doctor's coming, knowing that he will not fail them in their evil hour. But he means no less to them after the shadow of the pestilence is lifted, and the every day life is resumed. When the common miracle of human birth is awaited, and the doctor is groping his weary way through the darkness of the night to serve as a comfort and a help to an anguished mother; when the wailing cries of the helpless infant have called him, and the fretful child is surrendered fearlessly to the soothing mercy of his rugged but tender arms; when by his mere presence he renews hope in the breast of the father and mother whose growing child lies sick unto death ; when the feebleness of declining years lays the parent low, and the anxious helpmate and the weeping chil dren hang upon the lips of the doctor in their eagerness to learn if they may further hope; when he sits by the bedside, to smooth the pillow and hold the hand of his childhood friend in the dying hour; in all these emergencies the presence and sympathy and counsel of our old-time doctor are sources of strength and comfort. The half -century that marks the life of the young state of West Virginia witnessed the passing away of this old-time physician, whose welcome face, with the iron lines of struggle in mouth and chin, and the softened lines of humor about the deep-set eyes, was wont to haunt the quiet inland hills and. glades and valleys. To the thoughtful reader his passing away must needs be accompanied by a nameless, aching sense of irreparable loss. Simple was his preparation for his work. First of all, before he could think of taking up the study of medicine, he had to be touched by the divine fire of love for his fellow men. Cupidity uttered no call to him. The doctors whom he saw and knew were never anything but poor in this world's goods. Not one of all their number left a competency for his family, and more than one died in dependence and poverty, if not in. ab solute want. As was the custom of the time, a custom gone out of vogue gradually during the half century we are chronicling, our young altruist and aspirant for the profession became a student under one of the practi tioners of his acquaintance in the neighborhood. His time of apprentice ship would extend through a period of years varying from three to seven, dependent on circumstances that were variant in each individual case. During this period the young student would have the advice and direction and example of his preceptor. He would have access to the doctor's scanty library; but the beginner's knowledge of medicine was acquired not so 540 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA much from reading and study as from association with the doctor. He rode with his preceptor on his rounds, held the basin when the patient was bled, and helped to adjust plasters, bandages and splints. In the office he ground the powders, mixed the pills, made the tinctures and infusions, washed the bottles, served as office-boy, and in addition performed the most menial duties. In this method of teaching the personal element was so pronounced that everything, in fact, depended upon the preceptor, save what natural talent and industry might accomplish. The self-reliance, the readiness, the expertness and the knowledge of human nature thus acquired, went far to compensate for the lack of more modern methods of preparing for the actual work of medical prac tice. Anatomy could be studied only by observation of the living body and by the aids of the doctor's books and plates. Dissection was out of the question, unless the student was one of those fortunate few who could supplement their years of apprenticeship by one or two terms, of four months each, at some medical college in a neighboring state. Once entered into practice, armed with all the advantages for the ac quirement of knowledge that the time afforded, the doctor of this period was yet poorly equipped, if he were to be judged by our modern standards. Modern physiology, the splendid structure built upon the scientific founda tions laid in the first half of the nineteenth century by Johannes Mueller and Claude Bernard, was then unknown. Humoral pathology, based on the discarded theory that all diseases are due . to the disordered conditions of the humors and fluids of the body, was the only guide to the doctor in the formation of a judgment concerning the malady that af flicted his patient. Rudolph Virchow, the father of the modern cellular pathology that has shed such a brilliant light upon the processes of disease in the human organism, was then teaching and writing. He pub lished the results of his first important studies in 1850, but the ready ac ceptance of his views had to await the new era that was not yet fully dawned. Medical chemistry, as we know it today, unlocking the secrets of the body fluids in health and diseases, had not yet been developed. The microscope had been known to mankind for centuries, but its modern use in clinical medicine was as yet unforecasted. Pasteur had al ready, in the late fifties, made his first illuminating discoveries in bac terial chemistry, but not till the seventies was the knowledge of virulent microbic diseases attained. Laennec gave the stethoscope to the world in 1819, but for a generation it was looked upon as a medical toy. The treatises upon the practice of medicine used in the colleges to which our prospective practitioner would have gone, gave no inkling of the importance to mankind of this instru ment of diagnosis. Other instruments of precision that aid in the making of accurate diagnoses, instruments that are in constant use by the physician of today, were unappreciated by the old-time doctor in our state. The ophthal moscope had been given to the world by Helmholtz in 1851, and the laryngo scope by Czermak in 1858, and the common forms of the various specula were being devised; but they were not in the instrumentarium of the SPECIAL ARTICLES : MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 541 general practitioner. The first sphygmograph was not imported to America until 1870. In that same year the usefulness of the hypodermic syringe and of the fever thermometer was urged upon the doctors of the state. They were informed that a good syringe could be obtained for four dollars, and a pocket-sized fever thermometer at a cost of three dollars and a half. The materia medica of the period was consistent with the old humoral pathology then in vogue. One of the leaders of the profession in our state, who belonged to the new era but was conversant with the old. tells us that his predecessors "believed that the patient was nothing if not bilious; and believed that there was practically but one organ in the body, the liver, and that this was to be unlocked at stated intervals, and entered and swept and garnished with mercury; and believed, moreover, that in at least half of the known diseases, salivation and salvation were synonymous terms." Another medical writer, referring to early thera peutics in our state, confirms this, saying: "Calomel was the sheet anchor. In the way of medicine, all other remedies were considered subordinate to this, and its use was usually pushed to salivation." And still another, writing in 1879, makes this statement: "Not many years ago Calomel was. considered the indispensable drug in practice. Our predecessors, without calomel, were artillerymen without ammunition — Sampsons shorn of their locks. The tongues that were swollen, the teeth that were loosened, the- gums that were made tender, will present a horrible array of testimony when doctors get their deserts." Happily there were other remedies in the doctor's saddle-bags. Fevers of various kinds called for treatment. Along the Ohio river, where the population was densest, intermittent fever was common. It was rare in the tier of counties immediately back of the river, and was almost unknown in the central area. It was treated with the bark of dog-wood, cherry and poplar digested in whiskey, or with a decoction of boneset. Remittent or bilious fever was the summer and fall disease, and on its incursion the patient was generally vomited freely with lobelia, after which he was purged with infusion of white walnut bark, and sweated with copious draughts of warm elder-blossom tea. The value of powdered cinchona bark for malarial disease was known, but the amount required to restore the patient was so great, and the supply so small, that the remedy was all but useless. Quinine, the alkaloid of the bark, was unknown until 1820, and, though obtainable, was still very costly in the late sixties. One of the most dreaded diseases was dysentery. It was treated by the internal use of "oak-ooze," May-apple root and wal nut bark, slippery-elm bark tea, and bitter elm bark, regarded as a specific; hot fomentations were applied to the abdomen. "Lung-fever" was a blanket-term to cover many obscure inflammations. of the chest. Without the stethoscope it was difficult to diagnosticate in a clear and definite manner the ailments now known to us as pneumonia, bronchitis, pleuro-pneumonia, pleuritis, empyema, hydro-thorax, and in cipient phthisis. Heart troubles such as pericarditis, endocarditis, and hydro-pericardium, with their attendant disturbance of respiration, made the problem more complex. The diagnosis of "inflammation of the chest'" 542 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA once having been made, however, the patient was steamed with the vapor of whiskey or hot water, and in addition drinks made from herbs were given him and herb-poultices were applied externally. Virginia snake-root was considered a remedy for coughs of all kinds. Rheumatism, which was common then as now, was treated with cohosh, blood root and the bark of leather-wood, and sometimes the patient was given an "Indian sweat." Cupping was the usual external remedy for rheumatic pain as . well as for neuralgia, and was freely prescribed. Blood-letting, or "deple tion," fell into disuse on the eve of the new era. In its day, however, the lancet was called into use for the most diverse ills. If a person was severely injured he was bled at once; when a damsel fainted a vein was opened. Indiscriminate blood-letting; excessive purgation; mercurializa- tion; starvation; leeching and blistering; all these are mile posts of the past. Such was the armory of the olden practitioner. The mere recital adds graphic touches to the picture of his daily life and practice. Disease and death, the attendant scourges of humanity, did not relax their hold in favor of the mountains and valleys of western Virginia. About twice in a decade the old doctor was called upon to fight epidemics of measles and of scarlet fever. For neither of these did he have an ade quate remedy, and in his experience, as in ours, the scarlet fever proved often fatal. There was no inhabited locality of the State that was entirely free from typhoid fever. It is recorded that the Asiatic Cholera was ex istent in this region in the fifties, and it is known to have recurred in 1864. In 1857, a noteworthy endemic of diphtheria made its appearance. Many of the more experienced practitioners were of the opinion that they had treated sporadic cases of this form of sore throat many years before under the name of "putrid sore-throat." Be this as it may, there can be no doubt that in 1857 the disease was well-marked and frequent, and often affected whole families with singular fatality. The modern boon of the diphtheria antitoxin was not among the weapons of the doctor of the late fifties, and, because of that fact, he was obliged to stand with heart devoid of hope at many a bedside. For lack of statistics, it is impossible to tell the exact number of "doctors" practicing in the counties of the present state at the time of its formation. A careful student estimated that West Virginia contained in 1877 "612 physicians and surgeons." In this enumeration it was cal culated that there were from 376 to 400 regular physicians, the remaining 236 being eclectics, homeopathists, Thompsonians, herb doctors, or cancer doctors. It is surely fair to presume that fifteen years earlier, the number of physicians in the vast extent of the state was considerably less. It would doubtless be more than a generous estimate that would place at 200 the number of regular practitioners in 1862. Concerning the char acter of their attainments a friendly contemporary writes: "In West Virginia the profession is, at many points, adorned by one or more active, intelligent members, who, by their industry and devotion to science, have made for themselves a name outside of their fields of labor; and there are others, too, of modest talent, scattered here and there, who but require the contact of association which a proper organization would so surely af fect, to develop latent powers and capabilities of great credit to them- SPECIAL ARTICLES : MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 543 selves, individually, and beneficial, in the highest degree, to their patients and the commonwealth of medicine." When the doctor's saddle-bag, "with its horn balances and its china mortar," was the only drug store within half a hundred miles, other sources of therapeutic aid than his often had to be drawn upon in times of emergency. Then was the hour of the bustling house-wife, or of the crooning dame in the chimney corner. The treasures of domestic medical lore, not unmixed with much alloy of superstition, were then brought forth and sagely estimated. Or the old-fashioned family almanac was taken down from its nail by the window. Following this, the embryo botanists of the household were despatched to ransack the native flora of the neighboring hills and dales for suitable materia medica. If per chance it were the season when mother earth was barren, then recourse was had to the household cupboard, or to the shelves of the village store, where were to be found simple drugs, stowed away among the heaps of shoes, Rohan hats, balls of twine, packages of seeds and flitches of bacon. In the intervals between these urgent periods of stress and storm when sickness had entered the lowly doorway of the country home, a primitive prophylaxis, of the domestic brand, served to keep alive, in the minds of the good folk, the thought of "the ills to which flesh is heir." More medi cine was then- taken every year by the well than is now taken by the sick. Remedies now in the medicine-box of every farmer were then utterly unknown, but in their stead medicines now quite gone out of fashion, or at most but rarely used, were taken in generous quantities. "Each spring the blood had to be purified, the bowels must be purged, the kidneys must be stimulated, the bile must be removed, and large doses of senna and manna, and loathsome concoctions of rhubarb and molasses were taken daily." The men and women to whom ministered the doctor of half a century ago were, taken by and large, a single-minded, simple-hearted folk, and the mutual relations of the profession and the people were cordial and sincere and, on the whole, satisfactory to both. While the reward and remuneration to the doctor were of little account in the pecuniary sense, while "Little gold had he gathered, little gear had he won, His wealth but the mem'ry of noble deeds done," there was added recompense, notwithstanding, in the love and reverence which his patients accorded to him, and in the naive awe with which they regarded his calling, shedding a glamor about it that was not all unde served. Warm tears of gratitude for life preserved and health restored made some amend for sleepless nights spent in anxious watchings over the sick. The modest and loyal doctor was not without his heart-burnings, however. Human nature is ever the same, and here, into these moun tains and glens, as elsewhere and in every age, the impudent and pre suming charlatan found his way, and, by his pleasing address and se ductive suggestion, often weaned away from truth and science the devo tion of the unsophisticated. Between the lines of the foregoing sketch of the old-time doctor and his patients, the reader will discern the ready evidences of the spirit of 544 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OB' WEST VIRGINIA individualism that pervaded the community in all matters that related to the health of the inhabitants. It was the evening twilight of an age dominated by individualism. "Each one for himself" was the thought in the various members of the community. A day and time were soon to dawn when a different spirit would prevail; when the thought that would tend to find a place, unconsciously at least, in the minds of men would be "One for all, and all for one." This was to have its effect in drawing together the interests, private as well as public, of the dwellers in what is now West Virginia. Before the war, however, each individual householder, in the country districts especially, was a solitary unit of sanitary administration, concerned alone in the safeguarding of himself and family. From the modern viewpoint, the negligence of the state in matters of health was simply appalling. The statement might be made in strictest truth that absolutely nothing was done by the public authorities of the commonwealth to preserve the health of the people. Even as late as 1878 the only legal regulations that could be deemed sanitary in character were few and totally inadequate, and, such as they were, they proved futile because of want of proper enforcement. Of course, any trade or occupa tion proven injurious to health might be enjoined or removed as a nui sance. When a mill-dam was condemned, inquiry was to be made whether the health of the neighborhood would be endangered by the stagnation of the water or otherwise. There were also on the statute hooks pro visions against the selling of unsound or adulterated food, drink or medi cines. These laws, however, were dead letters. An enactment was made in 1861 providing that the Governor appoint three persons to act as vaccine agents, located in Wheeling, Charleston and Martinsburg, who were to collect and supply vaccine matter to any citizen who might apply for it. Each one of these agents, appointed annually, was to receive as remuneration for his services twenty-five dollars a year. In cases of destitution, local overseers of the poor were allowed to furnish free vac cine matter and to provide for vaccination at the expense of the township. Previous to 1881 there was absolutely no enactment on the statute books of the state regulating the practice of medicine. The regular practitioner had no legal status whatever. Whenever the terms "physician" or "sur geon" were mentioned in the laws, as for instance in the provisions con cerning inquests, examination of lunatics, appointments to the Colonel's staff, to the hospital for the insane, to the penitentiary, and the like, they applied without distinction to the intelligent and scientific physician and to the murderous pretender and quack. Thus were the people neglected by the state in the important matter of their health and physical well-being. The individual citizen had to depend, for the preservation of health, upon his own care and efforts, aided and guided by the devotion and advice of the lone family doctor. When that strength and resource failed, the destructive processes were left to triumph. Consultation by two or more physicians at the bedside of the sick, so common to-day, was then rarely possible. The means of inter-communl- catlon were difficult, tedious and expensive, and the nearest neighboring physicians were not only far distant, but were often strangers to one SPECIAL ARTICLES : MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 545 another. Each one pursued in dreary professional isolation the daily routine of his practice, storing up such clinical facts as may have fallen under his observation, relying on his own strength and wisdom and. courage as he silently wrestled with the tremendous problems of life and- death. This isolation of the doctor is to be noted as one of the salient marks of the profession at that time. The physicians of western Virginia were as well equipped in character and attainments and ideals as were those of like numbers in any part of the country in the early sixties. The individual units of the guild were worthy factors of social service, but there was absolutely no cohesion in the mass. Without proper understand ing of one another, most often without acquaintance even, scattered far apart, the only bond of union that held them was the catholic love of their fellowmen and the common inspiration of their noble calling. Such was medical practice in the present West Virginia on the eve of the new state's birth. To grasp fully the import of the changes that followed, the reader must bear in mind that there were at work two great forces — the one world-wide, silent and constructive; the other national, clamorous and shattering. The light of a new era of medical science was abroad in Europe and its rays had reached to the present confines of the Mountain state. The scientific world was just awakening from the long sleep of the eighteenth century. The science of medicine- was stirring uneasily in token of an early rousing. Here in the loyal counties of the Old Dominion, however, the premonition of the destined conflict at arms numbed the energies of the profession of medicine as it did all other civic activities. Over the whole state brooded that terrible quietude, that oppression of the union between quietude and terror, that was felt as in a dream from which one might awake screaming. It was like a thin cord stretched tight, that might snap with a noise like thunder. The terrible stillness was broken at last by the bugle note of war. The lethargic souls of men were roused, and thousands of immortal spirits' were soon blazing with alternate hope and fear. The sword had been- drawn; and the sword is "a magic wand — a fairy wand of great fear, stronger than those who use it — often frightful, often wicked to use. But whatever is touched with it is never again wholly common. Whatever is touched with it takes a magic from outside the world." War had come to put an end to an evil peace, and that old thing — fighting — made men young again, and it brought to the medical profession of West Virginia as new a birth as came to the state itself. Most obvious and superficial of the results of the medical participation in the great conflict was the rise of surgery to a distinct accomplishment. The fiery and bloody ordeal of the war gave an impetus to American surgery that quickened into activity the entire surgical world, and the profession of our own state had its full share in this triumphant re juvenescence. In 1863 it was still optional at the University of Penn sylvania for the student to take the course in operative surgery, and it 546 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HTSTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA was limited to amputations and ligation of arteries. Lister had not yet begun his studies on the causative relation of germs to pus formation in wounds. Suppuration, secondary hemorrhage, septicemia, pyemia and "hospital gangrene" were frequent and dreaded complications of opera tion, and "surgical fever" was its usual accompaniment. A wounded joint generally involved the loss of the limb. Compound fractures and dislocations gave cause for serious alarm. The preparation of a patient for surgical treatment meant rest, tonics, purgation and selected diet. For purposes of disinfection about the place of operation solutions of chlorinated soda and of nitrate of lead were used. Castile soap and water were employed for cleansing at the site of incision. Frequent recourse was had to strong escharotics, chief among them being nitric acid, Condy's solution of permanganate of potash, a solution of bromine, or the actual cautery. Prepared lint and charpie were used for dressings. With in efficient resources the surgical practice of fifty years ago had to contend against formidable difficulties. The success that it achieved was largely due to the personal qualities of the surgeon himself. "And there were giants in those days." The camp and field of war developed many ope rators, skilled, expeditious and masterful. The marvellous development of military surgery on the battle-grounds gave an impulsion to the surgical art that extended into civil life after the close of the war. Amputation, ligation of arteries, excision of external tumors, lithotomy by the perineal route and surgical treatment of stricture make up the list of the chief operations that afforded opportunity in civil practice for the skill and dar ing of the old-time surgeon. Less obvious than the development of surgery, there was another re sult of the war that was vastly more significant and far-reaching in its effects upon the medical profession. This was the recognition of the duty and value of unity of action. All men's eyes had been raised to see the vision of national union. The loyal hearts in the state were fired with ardor to maintain it; and the same flame that kindled the patriotism of the soldier likewise melted away the barriers of the individualism that encompassed the citizen. A new spirit was born of the war — the spirit of co-operation. Men learned that combination is stronger than witchcraft, and that it brought to them something from outside themselves, something positive and divine, something that mere disjoined individuals can never possess. The energy of this new spirit touched the medical profession and, uniting with the newly enlightened medical science that had already come from over the seas, ushered in the New Era of Medicine in West Virginia. The new leaven of the spirit of union, cast into the old elements of the profession already existing in the state, soon transformed the whole mass. The modern conceptions of medical science took on vigorous life, and the old ideals of the profession took on reality. Not invention, but renovation, was the note that marked the new era. Medicine awoke and began work ing, not upon, but in, its material. Heretofore each worthy member of the medical profession had felt himself held by an invisible bond to all SPECIAL ARTICLES : MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 547 other worthy fellow-workers. The hour was come for them all to be united into a visible brotherhood, to be brought face to face, to touch shoulders and to clasp hands. The ideal was to be stiffened with reality. In a very few years an organization was accomplished that gathered together at its annual meetings the best members of the profession from all the most distant parts of the state, from the Kanawha on one side, to the waters of the Shenandoah on the other; from the Panhandle in the North, to the Greenbrier region in the South. In February, 1867, a call was issued for a convention to be held in April of the same year at Fairmont, for the purpose of organizing a State Medical Society that would eventu ally take in "all members of the regular profession." Twenty-one physi cians answered roll-call at the Fairmont meeting, which adjourned to meet at Wheeling in October, 1867, in semi-annual session. At the end of the Wheeling meeting sixty-two members were enrolled, and when the society met at Clarksburg in 1869 the roster contained almost 100 names. As far back as 1835, and again in 1847, tentative organization of the local medical profession had been accomplished in Ohio county. The records now extant of these early organizations are too scant for further survey. In August, 1868, however, a new organization, the Ohio County Medical Society, was effected, and it has continued in vigorous existence till this day. Mason, Wood, Cabell, Lewis and other counties caught the same spirit of union, and at an early period of the new era were sending delegates to the annual sessions of the State Medical Society. In this jubilee year these and many other local associations of medical men are flourishing throughout the state. Very early in its existence, the "Medical Society of the State of West Virginia" caught the vision that pictured the state busying herself in protecting and fostering the public health. The transactions of the early meetings record discussions on public sanitation and hygiene; on the history, causes and prevention of epidemics, and on other like topics. An evident appreciation was shown of the great truths that disease is an enemy not only to one, but to all, and that pre vention is better than cure. The project to promote the creation in West Virginia of a modern state board of health soon found adherents in the organized profession, and definite steps were taken towards realization. Much work of an educational character had to be done, however, before any part of the project could be realized. In the winter of 1875 an effort was made to procure an act of the state legislature that would establish a. State Board of Health. This venture failed. A second effort was made in 1877, with the added Impetus afforded by a recommendation of the governor, favoring the act, in his message to the legislature. The project met a second defeat, however. One of the members of the legislative body who opposed the bill said on the floor of the House that his opposition was hased on the belief that "No one would get sick or die until his time comes." The physician who, as a member of the legislature, had moved the passage of the health act and had strenuously urged its enactment, reported its failure to the meeting of the state medical society. He added, however, that he felt, upon reflection, that he had shown more zeal than sense in urging it, since the question had never been agitated in the state, and the people 548 - SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA In general knew little or nothing about "state medicine." He concluded with saying, "It is our first duty to get this subject rightly before the people, and to have them understand that they do not get sick and die until there has been some violation of some physical law, or until their three score years and ten are passed." Then began the active propaganda on the part of the profession, having for objects the instruction of the populace concerning the true meaning and scope of sanitary laws and their administration, and the awakening of a living faith in their im portance and efficiency. That campaign has been waged with varying for tunes ever since, contending against the prejudice of the legislator, the defiance of the venal journalist, the arrogance of the charlatan, and the ignorance of "the man in the street." The first real promise of ultimate success in this warfare for the health of the people came with the passage by the legislature on March 8, 1881, of "An Act to establish a state board of health, and regulating the prac tice of medicine and surgery." This act went into effect in June follow ing, and provided for the appointment by the governor of two physicians from each congressional district, who were to be "graduates of respectable medical colleges, of not less than twelve years continuous practice, and distinguished by devotion to the study of medicine and the allied sciences." The persons so appointed constituted the state board of health; their term of office was for two years. The secretary was the executive officer of the board and it was his duty to correspond with local boards of health, to give needful advice, to visit on request localities where endemics, epi demics, infectious and contagious diseases, or other unusual sickness were prevalent, and to adopt proper regulations for their suppression. The board as a whole was to take cognizance of the life and health of the inhabitants of the state, and cause to be made sanitary investigations, and inquiries concerning the causes, prevention and methods of remedying diseases in men and domestic animals; to advise with regard to the loca tion, drainage, water supply, heating and ventilation of coal mines, and the drainage and sewerage of towns and cities. It was given power to establish and maintain quarantine when invasion of the state by infectious or contagious disease was threatened. The Act further provided for the establishment of county boards of health. These, and such local boards as were already established in cities and towns, were to be auxiliary to the state board of health, and to act in harmony with it. The practice of medicine was regulated by provision of the Act that re quired the possession of a certificate from the board by any person pro fessing publicly to be a physician, prescribing for the sick or appending to his name the letters "M. D." The certificate was obtained in the follow ing manner. If the applicant were a graduate of a medical college recog nized as reputable by the board, it was sufficient for him to present his diploma for verification, as to its genuineness, to those members of the state board of health appointed for his congressional district. If he were not a graduate of such a medical college he was required to pass a satis factory examination before the two members of the state board in his dis trict, together with the presiding officer of the local board of health of the county in which the examination was held. Physicians who had been en- SPECIAL ARTICLES : MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 549 gaged in the continuous practice of medicine in the state for more than ten years prior to the passage of the act were given a certificate on the presentation of an affidavit as to the number of years they had been in practice. Itinerant physicians were permitted to practice on paying to the state board of health a special tax of fifty dollars for each and every month, and fraction thereof, during the period of their practice. The sum of one thousand dollars was appropriated from the state treasury to pay the salary of the secretary of the board, and the travelling and other nec essary expenses incurred by the members in the performance of official duty. No other compensation was allowed them. Moreover, the board was required to pay into the state treasury all money received for certi ficates, or collected from fines and special taxes. As will be seen from a study of this digest of the first health law of the state, the newly created board of health was merely an examining and advisory body. It was given no power nor means to do real constructive work in the interests of the public health. With its establishment, however, the first mile stone had been planted on the road to better things. During the winter of 1881-1882, by the establishment and rigid enforce ment of quarantine against the cities of Pittsburg and Alleghany, the new health board saved West Virginia from the ravages of small-pox. The appropriation from the public treasury proving inadequate, the doctors of the state made up a private fund of several hundred dollars to insure energetic administration of the law in this emergency. The early and concrete proof of the wisdom of the new health law appealed to the thoughtful, and, as a result, during the adjourned session of the legisla ture, in 1882, there was a demand for the establishment of a permanent health law. The governor declared in his message to the legislators that "the preservation of the public health should be one of the first concerns of the government," and he strongly urged sufficient appropriation. Ac cordingly, "the Amended Act of 1882" was passed in March. In several particulars the amended act was an improvement upon the law of the previous year. It carried an unconditional appropriation of fifteen hun dred dollars per annum for the support of the State Board of Health; It provided for payment out of the county treasuries for service rendered and expense incurred by local boards; it stipulated that, though a county court might nominate the local health board, the State Board should have the right to confirm or reject nominations; it granted to local boards ample powers to enforce local quarantine; and it required "itinerant physicians" to pay the monthly tax in every county in which they prac ticed. "Chapter 150 of the Code, concerning the Public Health," substantially as enacted in 1882. has continued until this year to mark the limit of ad- cance made by the state in the matter of safe-guarding the public health. Minor changes were made in its provisions in 1895, 1901 and 1907. The time of continuous practice required for eligibility to membership on the board was reduced first to ten years and later to six. The term of office was lengthened to four years, and a per diem of four dollars allowed for time of actual service. Changes were made in the details of examination methods. The dawning of West Virginia's semi-centennial year, thus 550 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA found the state board of health no more than an examining and advisory board, except in times of threatened epidemic. The fees from the appli cants for license to practice repaid the state treasury for the expenses of the board. In other words, the potentiality of the body to promote the health of the people by positive and constructive measures was still curtailed by lack of adequate powers, and the cost of its maintenance was borne by the medical profession. The legislature of 1913 signalized the jubilee year by making important amendments to the Public Health Law. These provide that the secretary of the board, to be named by the governor, shall be ex-officio State Health Commissioner, devoting his whole time to the duties of his office, and possessed of the powers pertaining to offices of like kind. He is allowed a salary not to exceed three thousand dollars per year, with travelling, clerical and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties within the state. The board is given power to maintain a laboratory, and to employ such chemists, bacteriologists, servants and agents as are needful for the proper performance of its functions. These provisions are made efficient by an appropriation of fifteen thousand dol lars annually for the uses of the board. Two additional features in this advanced health legislation of 1913 are worthy of note here. One makes it the duty of all county or municipal officers to meet with the State Board of Health, or its representatives, at least once a year to attend a school of instruction for the purpose of becoming familiar with their duties in the interest of public health. The other directs the State Board to provide vaccine lymph, diphtheria antitoxin, tetanus antitoxin or any other serum preventives of disease, free of charge to the poor and indigent, and in other cases where in its judgment it may be necessary to prevent con tagion. Already in 1911 the legislature had passed an act providing for the establishment and -maintenance of a tuberculosis sanitarium under the supervision of the state board of control. Terra Alta in the glade country was selected for the site, and the institution is now a reality. This move forward in the crusade against tuberculosis was confirmed by the legislature of 1913, which also appropriated funds to be used in educating the people concerning the means of preventing and eradicating "the great white plague." West Virginia has made an infinite stride forward in state medicine during the fifty years of its existence. The half-century began with no provision for the public health; it closes with a splendid health law on the statute books of the state. The first general hospital in what is now West Virginia was founded at Wheeling in 1850. It was the only char tered institution of the kind in existence here at the inception of the new commonwealth. Within the last score of years, however, hospitals have been established in all parts of the state. Some of the smaller communi ties, even, can now boast of hospital service; and a system of Miners' Hospitals inaugurated by the state in 1899 is giving excellent results in a restricted field of effort. To many of these hospitals are attached train ing schools for nurses, each sending out annually its quota . of young women skilled in the art of ministering to the sick and wounded. Medical practice in West Virginia has gone forward steadily during the SPECIAL ARTICLES : JOURNALISM 551 last five decades, keeping pace with the advance of the science and art of medicine throughout the nation. The physicians of the state can be reckoned in thousands, and their character and attainments are of a high order. The profession at large has been elevating its standard by en couraging among its members a strict adherence to the high ethical code that is set to guide them. The State Board of Health has aided in the attainment of this purpose by raising continually the standards of re quirement for successful examination on the part of applicants for li cense to practice. In the special domain of surgery the state can point to many able and even brilliant practitioners. Every community has one or more skillful surgeons, and the wonderful possibilities to which the door was opened by the advent of antiseptic surgery and its finer development, aseptic surgery, are fully realized in West Virginia in 1913. The light through which must be viewed the beginnings of all activities in West Virginia is blurred by the reek of war. Enough is seen clearly, however, to permit a fair judgment concerning our growth and progress. Great as are the changes and advances that the state has witnessed within its confines during the fifty years of its life, there is none in any field of human endeavor that is more noteworthy and more vital than the de velopment of medical practice and public health. Development of Journalism By Col. John E. Day, Secretary Semi-Centennial Commission, Wheeling, W. Va. "You cannot publish a nonpareil paper in a long primer town". This pertinent apothem is well understood by the newspaper guild, ana to the layman it may be explained, liberally to mean that progressive ventures will not be sustained in unresponsive communities. For this reason we may come to know the general characteristics of a people as reflected by the class of newspapers they support. Their moral stand ards, culture and progressiveness, or their shiftlessness, their "dead cen ter" inactivity, neither going forward nor backward, are faithfully mir rored in the columns of the press. This unerring test applied to the people of West Virginia today is mutually complimentary to the char acter of the papers published within the borders of the state and their readers and patrons. The newspapers of West Virginia are as whole some in tone and as progressive in spirit as similar publications of any other state in the Union, considering the limitations of the field compared with the more densely populated sections of the country. The establish ed city dailies are notably comparable with those of their contemporar ies in communities of other states of the same size, and in some cases ex cel in particular and important features. With regard to the country press, or, strictly speaking, the county-seat paper, their reflective ex- 552 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA cellence of their clientele is quite marked. They are well written, ably edited, and as acceptably printed as the same class representing the more largely developed portions of the land. The average is above the publications of the older settlements of the more advanced states. This may seem to be a partial or prejudiced verdict, but it is simply the honest impression of the writer who has become familiar with the productions -of all the states through association, observation and actual work in the various fields of endeavor. Viewed from a strictly moral aspect, the people of West Virginia have cogent reasons to be proud of their representa tive newspapers. They are less smirched than journals of other states, with what has been dubiously called the "venality of the press." They are vigorous but seldom offensive in their opinions, and to the best of ¦their ability are leading the multitude to higher planes of serious thought and action, inspiring a loyalty to the established institutions of this great American Nation, and forever instilling a patriotism and state pride that ¦have marked every step in progress taken by the state. The Early Beginnings. These results and attainments have come up through long years of progression, dating as far back as 1789. The first paper known to have been published within the territory that now comprises West Virginia was printed at Martinsburg in 1789 and was called The Potomac Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser. As the size of the paper was only 9 x 15 inches the name would appear to have been larger than the paper. At the same town the Martinsburg Gazette was established in 1799. This paper carries with it an unusual distinction, as it was owned by Nathaniel Willis, the father of the celebrated writer, Nathaniel Parker Willis. The record con tinues in crediting Martinsburg with the third paper established in West -Virginia territory, in 1800, carrying the ponderous name of The Berkeley and Jefferson County Intelligencer and Northern Neck Advertiser. The first newspaper in trans-Allegheny Virginia appeared at Morgantown in 1803. The next was The Repository, which was established at Wheeling In 1807. It was succeeded by the publication of other journals, notably the Times Gazette, Telegraph and Virginian\ all early birds in the field of journalism — though it is not related that they caught many com pensatory worms. In 1808 the Farmers Repository was launched at Charles Town, Jefferson county. It was the first journal devoted to agri- •culture west of the Blue Ridge range of mountains. The Kanawha Patriot was issued at Charleston in 1819, The Western Courier in 1820. These comprised the pioneers of the journalism of West Virginia, which blazed the way through many strenuous years of primative publication. They were later followed by The Western Virginia and Kanawha County Gazette by 1826, The Kanawha Banner by 1831, and The Kanawha Repub lican by 1841, and by many others. The Increase in publication was not rapid up to 1850, but, when the sparse settlement of the state at that time is considered the existence of three dailies and twenty-one weeklies at that period was not a slow march of progress. The first three dailies which were printed in the territory in- SPECIAL ARTICLES : JOURNALISM 553 eluded In West Virginia were published at Wheeling which for many years, (until after 1860) was the only community supporting daily newspapers. The Spurt of a Decade. There was a spurt in the development of the newspaper publishing business in the decade from 1850 to 1860, when the total number of publications in the state increased to forty-three. In 1850 the twenty-four publications were confined to fourteen counties. The forty-three of 1860 were distributed among nineteen counties, and comprised three dailies, two tri-weeklies, thirty-six weeklies and three monthlies. At this period there were three religious publications in existence. One of them was noted as the organ of a demonination then in its infancy, but which has since grown into one of the strongest church organizations of the country. Reference is made to the Millewial Harbinger published at Wellsburg, Brooke County, by the Rev. Alexander Campbell, the founder of the sect, then called the Campbellites, but now designated as the Christian Church. It was monthly publication, having the remarkble circulation of 8,500 copies. The largest circulation of the secular press in those days never passed the 1,200 mark for weeklies and 900 for the dailies. A chief factor in preserving western Virginia to the Union, and the main instrument in perfecting the independent statehood of West Virginia, was the Wheeling Intelligencer, established In 1852. Under the editorship of the late A. W. Campbell in the years preceedlng the final breaking away of the Southern states from the Union, it fearless ly gave voice to adherence to the integrity and indissolubility of the Nation. It was also the only paper south of Mason and Dixon's line that was outspoken against the institution of slavery. It was the great in spiration and the rallying force of the Union sentiment in the western counties of Virginia that armed the people and sent them forth to drive back the invading forces of the Confederacy. It is worthy of note that Its virile editor, a man who stood among his colleagues in those trying and bitter times as first among equals, was liberal enough and patriotic enough to suppress his former antagonisms and to throw his warmest support to the passage of the Flick amendment by the legislature of West Virginia which restored the civil and political rights of those West Virginians who had taken up arms against the Federal government. The Intelligencer Is the only daily of that period which has continued publication to this day. Only four other newspapers published in 1860 survive with it — the Wellsburg Herald, Virginia Free Press, Spirit of Jefferson and Shepherds town Register. Beginning of New Era. With the close of the civil war and the newly formed state started out on its career the press was endowed with new responsibilities and was the lamp that lighted the way to the development of the young com monwealth. It was during the later 70's that the advance in West Vir ginia journalism became pronounced. The old fashioned primative meth- 554 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA ods of getting out a newspaper were superseded by modern appliances. The swift perfecting press took the place of the old fashioned flat bed machine. The cheap plate and ready to print establishments made it possible for state weeklies to issue their publications at a great reduc tion in cost. In the larger printing houses the linotype machine was intro duced, one of the most marvelous inventions of the age. The number ol newspapers grew by leaps and bounds, until at the last accounting for 1912 the total number of publications had increased from forty-three in 1860 to two hundred and twenty-three, published in ninety-five places. Everyone of the fifty-five county seats is provided with a newspaper. There are thirty-two dailies now published within the state. There are one hundred and seventy-two weeklies; four semi-weeklies; one semi monthly and fourteen monthlies. Outside of the political newspapers, which are about equally divided between the two larger parties, the class or special publications are as follows: fraternal 6; religious 4; college 2; negro 4; legal 1; educational 3; agriculture 2; baseball 1; medical 1; labor 3; Italian 1; German 1. The scarcity of newspapers printed in a foreign tongue is due primarily to the fact that West Virginia holds the distinguishing position of having the largest percentage of native born population of any state in the Union. In years gone by, the Germans sustained a worthy publication, the Virginia Staats Zeitung, founded in 1848 in Wheeling. It changed hands and name frequently, became a daily and, for sometime, was profitably published as such. Its successor is now published as a weekly. One of its publishers gave the writer a very satisfactory rea son for its declining circulation. He said that its support was mainly obtained from the older German residents, but when one of them died It lost a reader — lost never to be replaced. The German youth became thoroughly Americanized in speech and customs and preferred to read the news in the English language. The character and the makeup of the old newspaper were at startling variance from present modern publications. In the earlier years of West Virginia journalism, the editorial utterances were ponderous, and some times extremely florid; and the treatment of local news was singularly faulty and incomplete. In appearance and contents these papers were all much alike, set solidly, in small type with single line heads and with no display advertisements. Very little space was devoted to the retailing of crimes, scandals or local gossip. The editorial page was the all import ant feature, for that was the day of personal journalism. The contents were heavy, without the breezy, entertaining lightness of the newspaper of to-day. In the early thirties, and up to the beginning of- the great American conflict in 1861, the journals more nearly approached the magazine with fiction, literary essays and book reviews. Foreign news even took precedence over local affairs of moment. The editor in those days was a pastmaster in invective and epithet, and his freedom in person al criticism often provoked physical combats. The leanness of news features in the papers of that day and generation is easily accounted for. Labor of the particular kind required in a newspaper office was exceed ingly scarce, the sources of news were remote, and the appliances for SPECIAL ARTICLES : JOURNALISM 555 getting out a paper were very crude. Frequently the newspaper of that day was a one-man paper, the publisher being the editor, reporter, type setter, pressman and distributor. What a revolution has taken place in the newspaper publishing busi ness and the character and makeup of the paper! Journalism to-day is largely impersonal. The personality of the editor is subordinated to the news features. The reading public now forms its own opinions without waiting for its favorite editor's expressions. But this does not mean that the modern press has lost its influence with the people. There is a larger latitude of thought to-day and more independant expression of opinion, and it is growing stronger every day. Hidebound party fealty is a thing of the past, and the newspaper is profiting by this cleavage. The personal history of West Virginia journalism is interesting, but it cannot be adequately treated in this article. It would take volumes to do it justice. The modern newspaper is doing well, and accomplishing much good that is not apparent on the surface. It is sometimes called on to combat strong public sentiment which it considers vicious; and is accused of "personal interest" in the matter under consideration. As a modern writer has aptly put it, "public sentiment is not always right." The ancient lineage of West Virginia journalism has been fairly well preserved in the Virginia Free Press of Charles Town, which claims a sustained publication of 102 years. The Free Press was established in 1821, but it absorbed the Farmers Repository, established in 1808. Issue was suspended for two years during the civil war, owing to circumstances over which it had no control. The other early journals which continue. publication to this day are the Spirit of Jefferson (founded in 1844), Wellsburg Herald (founded in 1846) and the Shepherdstown Register (founded in 1849). May they continue to live and prosper. A great journalist, some years ago in an address on journalism, gave utterance to these living truths: "The principles of journalism are fun damental: (1) The chief function of a public journal is the rendering of public service; and (2) the first requisite of full excercise of that func tion is perfect freedom." Going still further into the elementary ver ities, he added: "Servility to party spirit is the abdication of that moral leadership of opinion which is the great function of the political press. Instead of submitting to be led by party leaders it should lead the lead ers." There is an illumination of this character all along the line of journalism in West Virginia. It is becoming more pronounced as the years go by, and the hope of the future lies in a complete exemplifica tion of these immortal precepts. 556 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Educational Development By M. P. Shawkey, State Superintendent of Schools. The public school system of West Virginia is a little less than fifty years old. It began with the election of Dr. White as State Superintendent in 1864, in accordance with the educational provisions of the first constitu tion of the state. To be sure, Ohio, Kanawha and Jefferson counties made a beginning before that date, acting under authority of the first general school law of the Old Dominion. This law was enacted in 1846 and gave to any county the authority to establish a system of free schools within certain prescribed limitations. To Jefferson county belongs the honor of being first to establish such schools in the present state of West Virginia. This was done in 1847. Ohio and Kanawha' Counties followed Jefferson's lead by launching a single school each in 1848. Thus we have before us the simple beginnings of the present state-wide school system of West Virginia. Compared with what we have today they were, indeed, as the grain of mustard seed compared to the full grown tree. While the free school idea met with much favor among most of the people west of the mountains, the growth of schools was slow, owing to a number of things, but more especially to the sparseness of the popula tion and the straitened circumstances of the people. All this was pre liminary to the real development of our present school system. It repre sents a period of uncertainty, a groping in the dark, a searching after light. When Dr. White was chosen State Superintendent and entered upon the duties of that office immediately ideas began to crystallize, the features of a system began to shine forth out of the cloudy doubt and uncertainty. The report of Dr. White's first year's work sets out with some definiteness the number and kind of schools in the state at the beginning. By that report we find that of the fifty counties then composing the state twenty-two had established a system of free schools, while eleven others had taken some steps toward the establishment of such a system. There were 133 schools with 431 rooms and an enrollment of 17,972 pupils. The enumeration showed 63,458 children of school age. It was a great good fortune to this state that the direction of her educational interests wag at the very first committed to so wise a leader as Dr. William Ryland White. » Laying the Foundations Dr. White had been a student of Horace Mann, America's greatest educational statesman, and a co-laborer with him. While admitting some discouragement on account of the hard conditions of the early life of the settlers and because of the lack of interest on the part of a large pro portion of the people, he nevertheless faced the future hopefully and planned even more wisely than he himself knew. Acting on Dr. White's recommendation, the Legislature established the West Virginia The Old School House at Holden, Logan County. The New School Building at Holden. SPECIAL ARTICLES : EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 557 University at Morgantown in 1867. Between this great university and the humble elementary schools first established a great gap existed. How that gap has been closed will appear later. It was all in the first far-seeing plan of the first State Superintendent. Dr. White also saw that the first need of these new schools as of all schools was trained teachers. He accordingly recommended the establishment of a series of teacher train ing schools. The Legislature was quick to respond to this suggestion also. In 1867, under its provisions, the state acquired the property of Marshall College at Huntington and converted that institution into a state normal school for the training of teachers. Later five other (branch) normal schools were established, viz.: one at Fairmont in 1868; one at West Liberty in 1870; one at Glenville in 1872; one at Shepherdstown in 1872; one at Athens in 1872. To call these Institutions normal schools was more a declaration of faith than a statement of facts, for they were not professional schools in any sense of the word, yet it would be difficult to overestimate their value in the educational development of the state. They were at first little more than good, strong elementary schools for more mature pupils. Later they took the lead in secondary work; and finally, during the present day, they assumed the character of real normal schools. We get a better conception of the important part they have played in the state's educational develop ment when we recall that they have enrolled and instructed, during these years of growth, something like sixty thousand of the best young men and women of the state. That conception is further quickened when we glance at the roster of men who have served as principals of these schools and note the character of the men and their prominence in the educational affairs of the state. Such men as Dr. William Ryland White, Dr. J. G. Blair, Professor U. S. Fleming, Dr. R. A. Armstrong, Dr. J. N. Deahl, Professor S. B. Brown and Honorable Thos. C. Miller tell the story of the normal school mission in such terms that any comment I might add would simply be trifling with words. It will be found upon investigation that these normal schools for which Dr. White made such a vigorous fight, declaring that "it would be better to suspend the schools of the state for two years and donate the entire school revenue for that time to the establishment and endowment of a state normal school than to have none at all," with their ups and downs, with their meager equipment and still more meager support, oftentimes fighting for their very existence, have nevertheless reached a larger num ber of people in the state than any other state school and have done more for the elementary and secondary education of the state than any other Institution. They have touched a larger number of teachers in the ele mentary schools and have been in closer touch with the masses, leading, encouraging and instructing them, than any other of our state institu tions. This was their province, and while the work they did through all these years of struggle was very imperfect, the present harvest of results give additional evidence of the importance of the service which they ren dered. 558 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Other Agencies. While recognizing the large amount and the importance of the work the University and the normal schools have done in the development of edu cation in the state, we must not overlook the service rendered by the numerous other educational agencies that have been at work from time to time, serving in one capacity or another, with ideas very much at vari ance at times but all working toward the final important end. Among the important agencies in the early years especially, the old-time academies must not be overlooked. Of these Virgil A. Lewis, in his "Handbook of West Virginia," gives a list of sixty-five and calls it a "partial" list. All of these have now disappeared or have been converted into other institu tions, but their vital influence may be seen in the educational sentiment and the more modern schools that have grown out of that sentiment in many localities of the state, such as Buckhannon, West Liberty, Clarks burg, Charles Town, French Creek and numerous other places. While these academies were of a local and rather temporary character, they gave rise in the latter part of the half century of our history to a number of larger and more permanent private and denominational institutions which are at the present time playing a significant part in the educational work of the state. No present-day view of educational matters in West Virginia would be complete that did not take in the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, Bethany College at Bethany, Salem College at Salem, Broaddus Institute at Philippi, Powhatan College at Charles Town, Morris Harvey College at Barboursville, Beckley Institute at Beckley, Allegheny Collegiate Institute at Alderson, Alderson Academy at Alderson, Davis and Elkins College at Elkins, Lewisburg Seminary at Lewisburg, Greenbrier ; Presbyterial Military School at Lewisburg, Mount De Chantal Academy at Wheeling and Stephenson Seminary at Charles Town. The Legislature of 1909 recognized the value of the services that some of these institutions were rendering to the state and provided that gradu ates of their normal departments should be given state certificates without examination the same as the graduates of our state normal schools. The reports from last year show that the private institutions of the state furnished 22 per cent of the graduate teachers to whom certificates were granted without .examination. The other institutions that should be mentioned. as contributing materi ally to the educational development of the state are the West Virginia Colored Institute at Institute, which was established in 1891 and is now equipped with a farm and a splendid group of buildings and enrolls nearly three hundred students annually,' and the Bluefleld Colored Institute at Bluefleld, which was established in 1895 and is rendering much excellent service to the large colored population in the southern section of the state. This school enrolls more than two hundred pupils a year and is crowded to the limit of its capacity. Another institution belonging to this class is Storer College at Harper's Ferry which was established by John Storer, Of Maine, during the Civil War, but which for many years has been partially supported by state appropriations and has been closely identified with the general educational work of the state. SPECIAL ARTICLES : EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 559 The schools for the deaf and blind at Romney were established in 1870 on a small scale, but gradually the state has provided more liberally for the education of these two classes and the value of the particular service which these institutions have rendered is very great. Effectually re-enforcing the work of the public schools and the other educational institutions are the Girls' Industrial School at Salem and the Boys' Industrial School at Pruntytown near Grafton. These institutions have been peculiarly successful in the work which they have undertaken to do. When we glance back over the record of the state we are likely to evince some enthusiasm over the continuous, substantial and rapid educational advancement. We must not overlook the fact, however, that there have been failures and disappointments along the way, that mistakes have been made here and there, that stubborn obstacles have obstructed the path of progress, and that every advance has meant a fight to overcome opposition of one sort or another. The Vanishing Factor. "Pioneering" in West Virginia has become a matter of history only. The pioneer settler, the pioneer statesman, the pioneer institution and the pioneer teacher have alike disappeared. A picture of that early life which held so much deprivation, hardship and suffering softens in the distance and shows up other characteristics that appeal to the heart more favorably- The faith, zeal, earnestness and patriotism of the early mountaineers were of as genuine quality as that found among the Spartans of old Greece or the patriots of the Swiss Alps. The log-house school was crude, but the ideals of life which it upheld were noble in their simplicity, and the passing of that old institution stirs us with mingled feelings of gladness and sorrow. While we rejoice at the day of more modern architecture, the old log-house will ever have a place in memory dear. Its gradual disappearance during the past generation is an accurate index of the thorough revolution that has been going on in the educational work of West Virginia. The figures are striking. In 1890, for instance, there were 1,007 such school buildings in the state out of a total of 4,814 of all classes. In 1900, just ten years, later, the total number of school houses had increased from 4,814 to 5,916, but the number of log houses had decreased from 1,007 to 345. In the next decade up to 1910 the total number of school buildings increased from 5,916 to 6,674, but the number of log houses had decreased to a mere handful of 75. Our reports for last year show that the use Of the log-house has gone forever, there being but a scattered half dozen in temporary service as a kind of makeshift, pending the construction of newer buildings. We have even gone beyond what was once considered a modern frame structure and the average community now demands that the public school shall be of such architectural design as to comply with the latest develop ments of science. It is built for both health and beauty and stands as an emblem of progress in the community. 560 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Higher Standards for Teachers. As the school system of the state developed, the demand for trained teachers became more insistent year by year. For a decade or two the public press and the teachers' institute resolutions kept calling for a re form in the method of issuing teachers' certificates. Accordingly, the Legislature of 1913 passed a sweeping uniform examination law, placing "the general regulation, direction and control of all matters relating to the examination of applicants for teachers' certificates" in the hands of the State Superintendent of Schools. This sudden change worked some hard ship and probably had some temporary ill effects, but on the other hand it removed the certificate-granting authority from the sphere of local con trol, fixed a wider horizon for the teachers, made him, in fact, a state-wide Institution. As a consequence of this open market a rivalry set in among the various districts for securing the best teachers, which was followed naturally by a distinct advance in teachers' salaries. Moreover, the new law gave the state and county superintendents a better means for super vising the work of teaching and afforded the opportunity for a successful organization of reading circles and district institutes. The important outcome of all of this is a marked and gratifying improvement in the personnel of the teaching body of the state which is showing itself in the general improvement of the schools. A Better Day for Rural Schools. With the revolution of the industrial life of West Virginia there came a crisis in the elementary school work. Abundant opportunities and the remunerative wages lured from the profession of teaching hundreds and hundreds of the older and even younger men and women who formerly found teaching the best business in the community, because it paid a fair cash salary and kept them in touch with the world of active thought. This sudden change was especially hard on the rural school. At the same time it was discovered that, while the towns and cities were developing hundreds of features for the enriching of life, there had been little change in rural life. Consequently those progressive teachers who were dis posed to remain in the profession naturally drifted toward the towns and cities. This state in harmony with what was being done elsewhere turned its attention to the rural school problem. Among the first things to be done was to provide a supplementary school fund which would enable even the remotest rural sections to maintain a six months' term, paying at least the minimum salaries which have been fixed by law. The first supplementary fund of this kind was appropriated by the Legislature of 1908 and amounted to $50,000 for teachers' fund purposes. That amount later was increased to $75,000, and $15,000 additional was appropriated for building fund purposes at which figures it is still maintained. At the same time our teachers' institutes and normal schools began to give special attention to the peculiar problems of the rural school. This was followed in 1910 by the appointment of a State Rural School Supervisor who has especially co-operated with the district supervisors of whom there are now New Building for Disgeict High School at Lumbeeport (Harrison Co.). Paekeesbueg High School Building. (From Marietta Sandstone.) Courtesy of W. Va. Geological Survey. SPECIAL ARTIOLES : EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 561 58 in service. The last Legislature showed its interest in the rural problem by providing the State University with ample funds for agricultural ex tension work. The development of farm interests of the state will be a potent factor in strengthening and vitalizing the rural schools. The High School Era. During the first quarter of a century of our existence as a state, the University, which we have seen was established in the very infancy of our state's existence, found it extremely difficult to win large numbers of stu dents for college work. Indeed, it found it necessary to maintain a pre paratory department to train boys and girls for college, and this prepara tory department became the larger part of the University. The University,. together with the other educational agencies, kept on preaching the cru sade of higher education, and a decade ago our people began to be aroused, to the need of high schools. The high school era may be considered to. have begun, however, in 1909, when the State Superintendent organized the division of high schools in the State Department and appointed a State- Supervisor of High Schools. The slogan' adopted was. "One Hundred High Schools for West Virginia within four years." The crusade was organized, literature published and sent broadcast, and wherever the people mani fested an interest in the high school project, information and assistance were given, in working out the porblem. Meanwhile, legislation was. shaped up, and in 1911 the Legislature passed a bill providing for state: aid to high schools, on a basis of a standard classification which was to be made by the State Superintendent. As a result of this movement and the various influences at work, we have today one hundred and fifteen: standard high schools in West Virginia, with something like a score more- in process of organization and construction. The value of high school work shows in both directions. It is first reflected in the improved oppor tunities for intellectual life in the various communities and in the greater- interest shown in educational work in these communities, and second in large increase of enrollment in the freshman class of the University, practically all of whose recruits at the present time are coming from the various high schools of the state. For instance, the freshman class of" 1912 of the University was 20 per cent larger than any former freshman class, and not only is the class so much increased in size, but the general; average of preparation shown by the students is much better. Jubilee Year Conditions. Hamlet, striving to convince his mother of the great worth of his. father, appealed to her to "look on this picture, then on this." We first took a glimpse at the Mountain State in her infancy and poverty. We saw that she aimed in the right direction, and was impelled by lofty ideals,. but was inexperienced, poverty-stricken, troubled with turmoil and strife, and shaken with doubt. We have seen that at the end of the first year's. existence of her public school system we had 113 schools only, with 431 teachers, with an enrollment of 17,972 and a total school enumeration of" 562 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA 63,458 children of school age. Note what the half century has done for us in these matters. The 133 schools have grown to 6,866. The 431 teachers have been supplanted by 9,312. The 17,972 pupils are replaced by 284,757 and the children of school age now number 382,938 instead of the 63.458 at that time. Some visitors to the recent land show at Chicago wrote me, "We are interested in the industrial opportunities of West Virginia, but before de ciding whether or not to move to your state we would like to know what facilities you offer for the education of our children." To such inquiries I am pleased to report that West Virginia now provides a good elementary school within reasonable distance of every home in the state, maintained for -a minimum term of six months, that we provide reasonably good teachers for all such school at a fair rate of compensation and that we have provided abundant means of counsel and help for every community that desires to improve its educational facilities. In addition to the ele mentary schools there are a large number of graded schools and at this time we have 125 good high schools, being on an average a little more than two to a county. In addition to the high schools we have six normal schools that now offer courses of study whose credit will be accepted by any state in the Union. In addition to the normal schools we have the West Virginia University with a number of colleges and schools, affording a wide range of opportunities for college and professional work. Besides the University we have something like a dozen of prominent private and denominational institutions in charge of competent men, whose efforts are in harmony with the proper standard, which afford a diversity of social and school life conditions with the very best opportunities for the proper growth and development of our young people. In addition to these we have two institutions of first class ability for the higher training and development of the colored youth of the state, besides having an interest in a third institution which has gained a reputation for the quality of its work. The schools for the deaf and blind have been enlarged and improved and the state has manifested a disposition to provide greater comforts and more adequate training for this class of our citizenship. The industrial schools for boys and for girls have demonstrated their ability to supplement and re-enforce the work of the public schools and they are doing no little toward making West Virginia a better place In which to live. The diversified interests of the state afford a great variety of opportuni ties for industrial life, but these things have not occupied the minds of the people to the exclusion of things intellectual. It is gratifying to note that a large number of single-room rural schools even are supplied with libraries for the use of the children and the patrons of the community. In one county every single school has a library and in numerous other counties the larger number of the schools are thus equipped. We find that, although the library movement is only ten or fifteen years old, we have at this time 314,430 volumes in our school libraries. As a demonstration of the state's faith in education and the liberality uf her patriotic citizens, I wish to cite the fact that we spent last year for SPECIAL ARTICLES : DEVEOLPMENT OF LITERATURE 563 the elementary and secondary schools of the state $5,081,603 and our ex penditures for all of our educational institutions, including the University, amounted to $5,691,076. We have school property valued at $14342,688. Two of the leading cities of the state, Charleston and Parkersburg have recently found a demand for greater high school facilities, and have voted $300,000 bonds for the equipment of a thoroughly modern city high school. There was a time not so very long ago when West Virginia, yierhaps, might have offered some apology for her meager school facilities, but that day has passed. Let any prospective citizen of the state be assured that if he bring his family to the Mountain State, there will not only be abundant facilities for thorough and liberal education of bis children, but he will find such interest and public spirit in matters of education as to afford the greatest possible encouragement for their highest moral and intellectual development. The Development of Literature in WesT: Virginia By Mary Meek Atkeson, Buffalo, W. Va. It has often been noted by writers on the subject that the literature of a country grows up in the hearts of its people. Great literature is born when the people are thinking great thoughts and are swayed by great emotions, and the genius of the writer is, after all, but crystallizing and recording the best thoughts of his time. On this account the history of a people is of great importance in a study of its literature, for political, economic and religious changes determine in a great measure the thoughts and feelings of the people. This historical development of letters is very clearly seen in a study of the literature of West Virginia. A review of the whole subject shows that the literature of West Virginia falls into four large periods, corresponding roughly to the historical periods of the state. The division is evident not only in the subject treated, but also in the general view of life expressed by the various writers — al though an occasional writer may be either ahead of, or behind, his age. For convenience, the periods may be divided as follows: 1. The period of exploration and travel into the territory now included in the state, 1669- 1823. 2. The period of reminiscences of Indian wars and early literature, 1823-1861. 3. The period of civil war and reconstruction, 1861-1865. 4. The period of statehood and development of natural resources, 1885-1913. 1. The Period of Exploration and Travel, 1669-1823. The first literature written within the present territory of West Virginia consisted of the diaries and journals of early explorers who crossed the mountains from Virginia or drifted down the Ohio river past our shores. Some of these men were hunters, some were adventurers, some were surveyors locating lands for eastern companies, some were naturalists, observing the fauna and flora of the country, and still others military 564 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA men, leading out troops against the French or on embassies of peace to the Indians. A journey into the Great Wilderness was a hazard ous undertaking in those days and many of the travellers kept careful journals of their experiences, as much for recording the marvels of this wild western country as for the business on hand. The result was a literature of mingled fact and fiction — the wildest and most improbable stories of monsters and giants, side by side with prosaic details concerning the depth of the streams and the quality of the lands. It is a literature of naive charm, but its chief interest in our study lies in the fact that these early accounts are the basis of many novels and poems by later writers. Indeed, it is only by courtesy that this first group of writers can be called West Virginians, for though they did their writing, probably, in this territory, only two of all the "journalists" (Patrick Gass of Wellsburg and Lewis Summers of Charleston) were ever residents of the land west of the mountains. Although the journals were the only written records of this period, there was growing up among the settlers a crude folk-literature of songs and stories, told around cabin firesides or to while away the tedious hours in the forts during Indian uprisings. There were canoe songs and flat- boat songs, "love songs about murder," and songs in praise of Monongahela whiskey — which seems to have had a great reputation. There were also marvellous snake stories, grewsome accounts of Indian massacres, many humorous tales of fellow backwoodsmen, and even border epics in which Daniel Boone, Lewis Wetzel and Ann Bailey were as romantic figures as ever were the heroes of Greece and Rome. 2. The Period of Reminiscences of Indians Wars and Early Literature, 1823-1861. By the year 1823, the present territory of West Virginia was the home of a hardy frontier people, descendants of the many nationalities represented in the tidewater colonies. The hard conditions of wilderness life had been somewhat improved and with greater security and comfort came a fresh interest in books and papers. The Indians had been driven farther West, and, as the men who had fought in the Indian wars grew old, a general interest arose in stories of border warfare. A number of notable collections of these stories were made by residents of the state and be came very popular. Among these are Doddridge's "Notes on the Settle ment and Indian Wars," Withers' "Chronicles of Border Warfare," Stuart's "Memoirs of Indian Wars and Other Occurences," and Foote's "Sketches of Virginia." Like the journals, these Indian tales have the vigor of first hand contact with a picturesque life, and both in form and content have had an influence upon later writing. During this period, also, real literature began to be written. The first book of verse, "The Widow of the Rock and Other Poems," by Margaret Agnew Blennerhassett (wife of the unfortunate settler of Blennerhassett's Island), was published in Montreal in 1823. In the same year the first drama, Doddridge's "Logan, the Last of the Race of Shikellemus," based upon one of the frontier tales, was published in Virginia. In 1827 the first SPECIAL ARTICLES : DEVEOLPMENT OF LITERATURE 565 novel by a resident of the state. "The Tennesseean, a novel founded on facts," was published by Anne Royall. This eccentric and brilliant woman was the wife of Captain Royall, an officer of the Revolution, and for nearly thirty years lived near Sweet Springs, Monroe County. After her hus band's death she entered upon a journalistic career in Washington, D. C, and is recognized as the first woman journalist of the country. The first novel dealing with life in Western Virginia, John Lewis' "New Hope or The Rescue — ¦ A Tale of the Great Kanawha," (1845) is an extremely in teresting book, making use as it does of much material from the early journals, but it is not known that the author was a resident. Among the early poets were Thomas J. Lees, president of Linsley In stitute at Wheeling for several years, who published "Musings of Carol" (1831) and "Poetical Works" (1839); Philip Pendleton Cooke, of Martins burg, who published "Frolssart Ballads and Other Poems" (1847), con taining the ever popular "Florence Vane," and Thomas Dunn English, author of "Ben Bolt," a resident of Logan County from 1852-1857, who pub lished "Poems" (1865), "American Ballads" (1882) and many other vol umes of poetry and fiction, much of it dealing with life in Western Vir ginia. The journal literature of the first period now developed into the delightful rambling "chronicles" of David Hunter Strother (Porte Crayon) of Martinsburg. "The Blackwater Chronicle" (1853) and "Virginia Illus trated: containing a Visit to the Virginia Canaan, and the Adventures of Porte Crayon and His Cousins" (1871) are both of enduring value and Interest. These writers were an important group in their day and several of them are placed among the writers of the nation. 3. The Period of Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1885. With the Civil War there came a great change in the literature of the state. The old order of things was broken up, the people were almost equally divided on the question of secession, and the resulting conflict of neighbor with neighbor entered into their very hearts and feelings. Soon the northern element of the population gained control and seized the op portunity of the war for separation from Virginia. Though probably in the past all the people had resented the political wrongs against them by the Old Commonwealth, the spirit of loyalty to the mother state was strong, and to many the separation was an added cause for bitterness. Feeling on both sides was intense. The writers were for the most part active participants in the struggle, and saw but one side of the questions before the people, yet felt themselves the makers of important history. Not unlike the early journals are the Civil War tales. They have much the same form, the same dash and vigor — although often marred by par tisan feeling. Among these stories are Charles Leib's "Nine Months in the Quartermaster's Department, or the Chances for Making a Million" (1862), "Four Years a Soldier" (1887) by David E. Johnston, of Monroe County, and "The Flying Gray-Haired Yank; or The Adventures of a Volunteer" (1888) by Michael Egan of Parkersburg. "The Flying Gray- Haired Yank" is the diary of a Union soldier who escaped from a Southern prison and made his way on foot to the Union forces in Tennessee. 566 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA At the very beginning of this period, Rebecca Harding (Blaine) Davis, of Wheeling, won her first recognition by the story, "Life in the Iron Mills" (1861), a vivid picture of Wheeling at that day. This was followed by "David Gaunt" (1862) a story of the Civil War in West Virginia, and by many later successes. Somewhat later two writers of popular novels published their first stories in book form ; Mrs. Alexander McVeigh Miller, of Alderson, "The Bride of the Tomb" (1881) and Frank Lee Benedict, of St. Albans, "My Daughter Elinor." Other prose writers were Sarah J. Jones, of Buffalo, a writer of many Sunday School stories, and Mary Tucker Magill, a native of Jefferson County, the author of several novels and histories. This period was also very productive of verse. Chief among its poets, perhaps, is Judge Daniel Bedinger Lucas, of Charles Town, who first be came known by his war ballad, "The Land Where We Were Dreaming" (1865) and later added to his reputation by the volumes of verse: "The Wreath of Eglantine" (1869), "Ballads and Madrigals" (1884), and "The Maid of Northumberland" (1879) a dramatic poem on the Civil War. His verse shows great metrical skill in the use of many forms of stanza, as well as a firm grasp of the deeper things of poetry. Col. Buehring H. Jones, of Lewisburg, wrote numerous verses while he was confined in the Federal prison on Johnson's Island, and later pub lished them with other Southern verse in a volume, "The Sunny Land: or Prison Prose and Poetry" (1868). William Leighton, Jr., for many years a resident of Wheeling, was also well known as a poet. He was an enthu siastic lover of Shakespeare, and many of his poems were written in the Elizabethan spirit. Among his poetical works are: "The Sons of Godwin" (1877), "At the Court of King Edwin" (1878), "Change," An Epic Poem (1879), "Shakespeare's Dream," a masque, (1881) and one poem dealing with the Civil War, "The Price of the Present Paid by the Past" (1881).. The passions of the war were long in cooling, but gradually the minds of the people turned to other things and they forgot their secession and separation differences in the newer and more vital problems of the day. 4. The Period of the Development of the State, 1885-1913. The realization of statehood rapidly brought about a new era in the liter ature. Before the separation the thoughts of the people turned always toward the East — the seat of government, of power, and wealth of the state of Virginia. But now the people of the West had come into a heritage of their own. The new state, once established, found a vast treas ure in her undeveloped natural resources, outside people came pouring Into the oil fields and coal mines, many railroads were built, and the peo ple were caught up in the new fever of developing the resources of the state. And with greater prosperity they began to take a greater Interest in their history, their neighbors and the many natural beauties of their mountainous country. Even as early as 1881, George W. Atkinson, at that time a young internal revenue agent, had written a book of sketches of the mountain people — "Among the Moonshiners" — as he had known them in hunting down SPECIAL ARTICLES : DEVEOLPMENT OF LITERATURE 567 "moonshine" stills. The books was immediately popular and led to many later stories of types of West Virginians. Melville Davisson Post In "Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason" (1896), "The Man of Last Resort" (1897), and particularly in "Dwellers in the Hills" (1901) has drawn many pictures of his friends and neighbors of Harrison County. Mar garet Prescott Montague's novels: "The Poet, Miss Kate and I" (1906), "The Sowing of Alderson Cree" (1907), and "Linda" (1912) are charming stories of the mountain people of Greenbrier County. Henry Sydnor Har rison, of Charleston, author of "Queed" (1911) and "V. V.'s Eyes" (1912), has also made use of, West Virginia material in several short-stories. Other books by West Virginians dealing with West Virginia life are: Granville Davisson Hall's "The Daughter of the Elm" (1899), a story of the West Fork of the Monongahela; Oren F. Morton's "Winning or Los ing?" (1901) and "The Land of the Laurel" (1903) of the mountains of Preston County; Waitman Barbe's "In the Virginias" (1896) a general view of life in the state; Duncan McRa's "The Quaint Family of Three" (1902) of Monongalia County; W. W. Wertz's "Malinda" (1907), of Elk river and the Great Kanawha Valley; and Will C. Whisner's "Mark Ellis" (1899), of Berkeley county. Besides these there are many authors of general fiction, among them: William Perry Brown, of Glenville, author of "A Sea Island Romance" (1888) and other books for boys; William H. Harvey, of Putnam county, author of "Coin's Financial School" (1892), "A Tale of Two Nations" (1894) and other stories of finance; Katherine Pearson Woods, of Wheel ing, author of "Metzerott Shoemaker," "Mark of the Beast," etc.; Callie Bruce Oldham, of Moundsville, author of "Down South in Dixie;" Minnie Reid French, of Bluefleld, author of "A Little Court of Yesterday" (1900) ; Anna Pierpont Siviter, of Fairmont, author of "Nehe" — A Tale of the Times of Artaxerxes (1901) ; Lena Leota Johnson, of Monroe county, author of "Nonie," a novel (1898) ; Martin Luther Fearnow of Morgan county, author of "A Modern Crusade" (1899); Bernice McCally Pollock, author of "Hortense" (1902); J. McHenry Jones, author of "Hearts of Gold" (1896), and many others. Nor has this period been less productive of verse. With the newly awak ened interest in things west of the mountains, the natural beauties could not pass unnoticed, and almost every mountain and hill and river and creek of the state has been celebrated in verse of some kind. The pic turesque life of the oil districts, the building of railroads through moun tains and along precipices, the peaceful and fertile river valleys, the silence of the virgin forests, the sheep and cattle on our thousand hills, have inspired many a local poet. The state may well be proud of such poets as Danske Dandrldge of Shepherdstown — "Joy and Other Poems" — (1888), and Waitman Barbe of Morgantown — "Ashes and Incense — (1891), for both have won general recognition among the poets of the nation. Besides these there are many younger poets who are known to some extent outside the state. Among these are: Frank Preston Smart, of Parkersburg, who has contributed much meritorious verse to the magazines; Hu Maxwell, of Tucker County, "Idyls of the Golden Shore" (1889); Marshall S. Cornwell, of Hampshire 568 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA County, "Wheat and Chaff" (1899); Howard L. Swisher, of Monongalia •county, "Briar Blossoms" (1899); Emma Withers, of Glenville, "Wildwood ¦Chimes" (1891); Edward B. Kenna, of Charleston, "Lyrics of the Hills" (1902); Ella Maxwell Haddox, of Charleston, "Poems of Sentiment" U912); Edward Earle Purinton, "The Soul in Silhoutte" (1904); Frances Moore Bland of Weston, "Twilight Reveries" (1900); Virginia Lucas of Charles Town, "Wild Flowers"; Patrick Kenny, "Wayside Thoughts" (1903); George W. Atkinson, "Chips and Whetstones" (1908); and Anna Pierpont Siviter, "The Sculptor and Other Poems" (1903). The list is long and interesting. And scarcely less interesting are the writers of newspaper verse — whose verses appearing from time to time in the news papers of the state have been collected and printed in book form. Natur ally many of these verses are upon subjects of merely local interest, yet there are occasional examples of real poetic feeling. Among such writers are: Robert L. Pemberton and John S. Hall of St. Marys, Dudley H. Davis of Harrison County; Mrs. J. B. Henderson of Williamstown, Ignatius Brennan of Wheeling; Winfield Scott Garner of Tunnelton; John G. Gittings of Harrison county, and Herbert P. McGinnis of Jackson County. Altogether, West Virginia has reason to be proud of her literature. There are many writers who have won fame for themselves and honor for their state. Very few have written for selfish ends — they have been busy men and women, absorbed in the stirring life of a developing state, and have written from a sincere desire to celebrate their home people in verse or prose. From a review of the history and of the observable tendencies of the times it seems that the beginning of a new period is at hand — a period in which it will be recognized more fully that, great as is the wealth of the state in coal and oil and gas and forests, her greatest wealth is in the varied human life among her hills and mountains, and that there is a beauty of human character quite as real as the beauty of our natural scenery. The new-found material riches will be used more and more for better schools and libraries, new methods of transportation will bring the mountain people Into a closer fellowship, and the literary man will be given his rightful place in the life of the state. But whatever the liter ature of the future is to be, lies with the people, and there is little reason to fear that the coming writers will be handicapped by any lack of heroic themes or of a rich and varied life as a background for the creatures of their fancy. The Study of Local History By the Editor. The importance of local historical research is steadily gaining recog nition. This is reflected in a growing belief that local history should have a place in the course of study In our schools. Teachers are discovering that the surest way to kindle and to stimulate to activity the child's atten- , SPECIAL ARTICLES : STUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY 569 tion is to build on his own experience in his home community life — whose origin and development he will be interested to know. When local life touches the larger streams of national life, local history may be employed to introduce or to illustrate national history. If it has little connection with national life, the history of every local community of whatever age may still be full of vital interest and may be made very instructive. If presented in a systematic, organized course, it is suitable to unfold the fundamental principles of historical development. It contains the uni versal motives to human action, the universal geographic conditions and influences, the law of development from the simple to the complex, and the evolution of institutions to meet human needs. The common people in their home life, government and industrial interests, have contributed a share to the onward movement of civilization, and a study of the story of their community life will fortify the student with a habit of mind which will fit him to study more intelligently the history of the nation and the world. The study of history, like charity, should begin at home. The first step, as in geography, is to know thoroughly the home district. The most natural introduction to a knowledge of the history of the world is from local environment, through ever widening circles of interest, along lines that vitally connect the past with the present. The child should first ob serve systematically the phenomena and processes which lie near to him. He begins this himself and only needs to be guided. He sees the insti tutions and life of his own neighborhood and is interested in them. In connection with local geography he can learn many things' about the society in which hie lives, he can get first-hand experience with institutions in the concrete. What he learns in regard to the family, the school, the church, the industrial life and the affairs of local government will aid in giving him a conception of what history is. Students should be led to appreciate the common and lowly things around them, to understand the familiar facts of local environment whose truths are as significant as those of far-away places and remote times — to have respect for law, and for the institutions which through long ages of the past have been developed in the great school of human experience, and now contribute to the welfare of all. The annals, and records, and life, of quiet neighborhoods are historically important by their vital connection with the progress and science of the nation and of the world. Local history may advantageously be studied as a contribution to na tional history and to a larger "world history." Almost every community has some close and Intimate connection with general history. Here, the Indians assembled in council and participated in the war dance or smoked the pipe of peace. There, a brave explorer passed centuries ago. Here, a self-reliant pioneer, armed with axe and rifle, built his log cabin and began his mission of subduing the savage forest heavy with the sleep of ages. Through yonder gap pressed the incessant wave of frontiersmen, clearing the way for civilization. Here, in patches of cleared land, strewn with arrow heads, they planted the seed for future harvests. Here, they experimented with the difficulties and opportunities of the wilderness. There, they sprang Into conflict for the protection of their 570 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA homes; near by is a stone marking the graves of those who died fighting for freedom, and yonder monument is in commemoration of the victory that -was won. On every hand, also, are the living monuments of the civilization which followed: the houses, mills, bridges, mines, railways, oil derricks, schools, churches and courts. In almost every community there have lived conspicuous representative leaders, whose simple stirring lives may be studied as a fitting introduc tion to the vigorous life and struggles of the common people in bygone days. They represent the men who established, guided and saved the nation. Through them the moving dramatic panorama of the past may be unrolled and glimpses of institutional forces may be given. The pioneer epoch is a delightful gateway through which the children of our common schools may find entrance to the fields of American history, and of general history. The pioneer life in many states is rich in stirring events, in difficult enterprises, in deeds of fortitude and nobility, in stories of strong men and women, which will thrill the children with de light and awaken a deep and permanent interest. The story of the settle ment of almost every community Is full of the heroic deeds of the plain, modest and uncelebrated men of the struggling common people — men who sought no praise and achieved no great fame, who were not conscious of their own greatness, but who were ready for any service which was needed to maintain an advancing frontier. They faithfully did a great work, the consequences of which are around us today. While building houses in the wilderness, they were raising the framework of self-govern ing states.' Out of many springs from among the hills emerged at last the irresistible current of their strength. From many unnoticed, scat tered fields, where they sowed their seed, came at last a mighty harvest. They toiled not in vain. The story of the deeds of such men not only awakens human interest, but impresses the mind with the value of high character and purpose, and animates us to do our work with a more intense and patient fidelity. All should be grateful for the invisible, molding influences behind these men: their humble but reverent homes, their simple churches and their rustic schools. The striking phases of their simple, frugal life are full of interest and furnish valuable data for later study of social history and government — their houses, the home life around the great fireplace, their furniture and dress, their meeting houses and long sermons in cold churches, their log rollings, house raisings and husking bees, their govern ment, methods of travel and trade. The study of such things as these will vivify the past — will "fill its dim spaces with figures which move and live and feel." Our history is rich in inspiring educational materials which, if properly presented, will pre vent the distaste for history which has so often resulted from the study of skeleton outlines and the memorizing of tables and dates. Perhaps local history may find its best opportunity as a means of illustrating in the simplest terms possible the fundamental principles of community life. This idea has recently been applied in the schools of Indianapolis, where it has resulted in the preparation of a series of civic studies on the history of the various Institutions of the city, beginning SPECIAL ARTICLES : STUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY 571 with a short history of the water supply. Thus local history may be utilized as a means of civic instruction. Because of its usefulness in il luminating fundamental civic ideas, it may find its own opportunity for development in connection with a well organized course in civics. A child is led to see that the various institutions and arrangements of the community have been developed in order to satisfy the needs and wants of himself and other members of the community. Local history will develop in the child's mind a conception of the na ture of community life and its relations. The story of a simple pioneer community shows most interestingly the presence of all the motives and interests of community life and it shows how they were the stimuli for the development of the various phases of early community life and com munity institutions, such as schools, mills, mines, banks, churches, rail roads, streets and government. It shows also how, under the hard con ditions of pioneer life, isolated from civilization, the various interests received only partial satisfaction. The fascinating story of local development, from this standpoint teaches its own lesson. It enables one to understand from concrete examples, that society has advanced only by slow, blind groping movements — with long halts and many struggles due to ignorance, stupidity and prejudice — and that "it is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things." The story of each town is one of interesting development: from the primitive and provincial to the modern and metropolitan; from a sleepy condition of mere subsis- tance and isolation to a life of productive business and communication with the entire world; from trail and pack horse to railway and express train; from an old log house built as you please and surrounded by mud and broken glass to a modern house built by permission of town council, and approached by sidewalk put in by command of the town council, for the general good — perhaps, at first, against the strong opposition of in dividual citizens; from the dangerous improvised hotel with poor ac commodations, unkept and unkempt, to the modern healthy, well-equipped home for travellers; from corner smoke-befogged grocery, with chairs and whittling material furnished to the evening loafers club to an orderly business house where loafers are discouraged inside by lack of chairs and outside by rows of sharp barbs and spikes; from the daily jam of the old post-office after the daily mail hack arrived to the modern office with iron rails to keep the people in orderly line; from the muddy roads of a rural village to the paved streets of a city kept clean by a street-cleaning force; from single poorly organized schools to a system of graded schools, with proper supervision and inspection and culminating , in a modern high school; from a few old books read only by a few to a modern free public library; from volunteer bucket brigade to an efficient and trained fire de partment; from indiscriminate giving and lending to efficient, intelligent organized charity; from the old wasteful Anglo-Saxon method of working the roads to the modern plan of road construction and repair under the supervision and direction of an efficient engineer; from unsanitary springs and wells to the modern system of water works and water purification; from out-door cess-pools to a well-regulated sewer-system; from the old 572 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA individualistic method of garbage disposal by throwing in the streets' to the sanitary compulsory method of disposing of garbage by city expense and city authority; from pill venders and quacks to a respectable medical profession; from uncontrolled unsanitation to the sanitary control of modern boards of health and to medical inspection in the schools; from a condition of mere drift in everything to an organized system of intelligent direction and control In many things. The story of each phase of development is instructive and educative. It would certainly be an excellent thing for the development of historical science in America if teachers in our public schools would cultivate the historical spirit in their pupils with special reference to the local environ ment. Something more than local history can be drawn from such sources. A multitude of historical associations gather around every old town and hamlet in the land. West Virginia is especially rich in them. There are local legends and traditions, household tales, stories told by grandfathers and grandmothers, incidents remembered by "the oldest inhabitant." But above all in importance are the old documents and manuscript records of the first settlers, the early pioneers, the founders of our towns, and the captains of industries. Here are sources of information more authentic than tradition and yet often entirely neglected. If teachers would simply make a few extracts from these unpublished records, they would soon have sufficient material in their hands for elucidating local history to their pupils and fellow townsmen. The publication of such extracts in the local papers is one of the best ways to quicken local interest in matters of history. The children should be taught how to study at first hand many of the things which relate to life and mankind. They may be taken to the county clerk's office to see what documents can be found relating to the early history or government of the town, or to the cemetery to read inscriptions on tombstones, or to the fields to find Indian arrows or implements, or to the scene of some battle or some other point of historic interest. They may be requested to inquire at home for old newspapers, old relics, old costumes, old 'weapons, or for the earlier experiences of their parents. They may be encouraged to make a collection of such things as will illus trate or illuminate the earlier periods of the life of the neighborhood. Old settlers may be invited to talk to the school concerning the hardships of earlier days, or old soldiers may be asked to tell experiences of camp and the battle-field, or men of business affairs may be requested to relate the no less interesting and more useful story of the rise and growth of in dustries — the story of logging and lumbering, mining and railroads. In this way a lively interest may be awakened. Another important result may be the formation of a museum of local historical collections, which may be of use to the whole community. Such collections may in clude relics and pictures of Indians, old costumes, dishes, tools, coins, weapons, etc.; photographs of citizens who have been local leaders or prominent actors in great political and economic events; old letters or diaries, or other manuscript records of the first settlers, or the early pioneers; files of local newspapers; written accounts of the recollections of old settlers and soldiers; books or phamphlets which have any relation SPECIAL ARTICLES : STUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY 573 to the locality or to the citizens; written biographies of the first settlers, or of men and women who have been prominent in the community. These collections and industries may prove a means of kindling his torical interest in the community. The people — the town fathers, the fathers of families, and all their sons and daughters — will quickly catch the bearing of this kind of historical study, and many will be willing to encourage it, for it takes hold upon the life of the community and quickens not only pride in the past, but hope for the future. By such systematic work in the most important communities of a county, it would be possible for some trained scholar with the modern, scientific, historical spirit to write a good history of the county. And, by such systematic work in all the counties of the state, it would be possible to collect the materials for a good history of the state, the study of which would develop a patriotism far more lasting and useful than the doubtful patriotism artifically created by mere parade and procession, or by mere flag-drill. Heretofore the use of local history in the education of children has been very unsystematic, and unfruitful of results commensurate with its possi bilities and value. I recently submitted to the superintendents of schools in the principal towns in West Virginia a series of special questions con cerning the status of instruction in local history in their schools. The replies received indicate that local history has usually meant state history and that it has been taught in the eighth grade — sometimes as an elective In the senior year of the high school — with a text, either as a separate study or in connection with United States history and composition. At Bluefleld, it is also taught incidentally in the lower grades. In some in stances, as at Parkersburg, some attention is given to local industries and economic conditions. In very few instances has there been any attempt to utilize the history of the community in the schools. This is largely due to the lack of materials in available form. Such materials might properly be made available through the careful efforts of historical students, either acting independently or identifying themselves with the local historical organizations. In some instances local organizations or public-spirited citizens of means may be willing to appropriate money to meet the situation. By systematic planning and co operation, all necessary materials for illustrating the development of each community may be obtained. College departments of history should endeavor to find a means of inter esting advanced history students in the field of local history and to enlist them in some phase of local history activity which, under the direction of trained instructors might result (1) in the preparation of useful articles for publication in the newspapers or magazines, (2) in the encouragement of more efficient and valuable research in local history, and (3) in some intelligent plan for the collection of local history in a form suitable for use in the schools of our towns and rural communities. Since 1903 the department of history at West Virginia University has offered a seminar course en the history of West Virginia — exclusively for advanced history students who are able to pursue cooperative investiga tions in social, economic, political and constitutional development. Such students are given some training in scientific methods of historical re- 574 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA search, interpretation and construction, and are encouraged to prepare monographs or briefer articles which will have some permanent historical value. They are taught especially the use of census reports, the docu mentary material of the state government, old newspaper files and other materials to which they can obtain access at the university library. Ef forts are also made to collect materials from other parts of the state. In several instances, students have pursued investigations which required an examination of materials in the department of state archives and history at Charleston. Since 1906, other efforts have been made to encourage the study of West Virginia local state history, and, incidentally, the collection of old manu-* scripts, old newspapers, old tools, old maps, old, family letters or other historical records which might be of use in securing historical data. In 1909, the head of the department of history published and distributed a suggestive outline for use in the collection and study of local history. The investigations by advanced students of the University have 'Con tinued to increase in amount and value, resulting in the completion of several monographs which have been published. Could not some plan be devised by which state or local historical so cieties, or state departments of archives and history, would plan their work regularly with a view of aiding teachers and advanced students of American history either in collecting or in publishing? It has too fre quently happened that there has not been sufficient contact and coopera tion between our institutions of learning and the state or local historical societies. Though occasionally the college instructor consults import ant documents of the society to aid him in his seminar work, there is no close relation which should exist between the chair of history and the society. What can be done to remedy this situation? A state or local historical society, or a state department of archives and history, has a wide field of possible activities. Its functions may In clude: the collection and preservation of historical material, printed and manuscript, public and private; the maintenance of a library and a museum, and perhaps an attractive portrait gallery; the publication of original material and monographs; encouragement of special researches in history; the maintenance of courses of historical lectures; participa tion in the celebration of local and national events, and In movements for civic betterment or various phases of civic life; aid in the diffusion of his torical knowledge; the arousal and maintenance of public interest in local history. In order to attain its greatest useful development a local historical so ciety should not have too narrow conception of its functions. While the reason for its existence is local history, it should take an active interest in the larger life of the nation with respect to which many topics of local history have their greatest significance. It may become deadened by too close adherence to subjects which have no Interest for anybody outside the community. Its meetings may become the property of a few fossilized antiquarians, and unattended by its sustaining members. It cannot hope that its members or its proteges will deal with local history rightly unless their minds are trained in larger American history and can see quickly SPECIAL ARTICLES : STUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY 575 the relation of their problems to the history which explains them and gives them significance. With the increase of intercommunication, it must especially endeavor to avoid "fussy fossilized local antiquarianism" and to look chiefly to the larger features of local history or to "American his tory locally exemplified." It must not use its research and publication funds to further the purposes of those who devote their time to searches for genealogies "to prove their right to entrance into the charmed circle of the Sons of This or the Daughters of That." Its most valuable function is the encouragement of the collection, preservation, preparation and publication of material illustrating different phases of the history of the state or smaller localities, or its connection with the larger history of the nation and the world. It should be strenuous in the solicitation of all kinds of historical ma terial. It must endeavor to induce private possessors of documentary ma terial and historical relics, to contribute their possessions to the collec tions of the society. Through its field work it must endeavor to obtain from those pioneers who have recollections worth recording, detailed narratives of their experiences, of their memories of public men, of the conduct of public affairs, of the social and economic conditions of early times, of course, with full recognition of the limitations of such testimony — gathering documentary materials from persons who will yield readily to appeals by post; getting in touch with early settlers at their periodical gatherings; Investigating and securing records of archaeological discov eries; interesting the newspapers and high school teachers in local his tory, and, in general, awakening within the community an historical con sciousness. A state historical society, or department of archives and history, should be in a position to assist investigators in special fields of local history. To this end it should prepare suitable catalogues, calendars and indexes to facilitate the examination of its most valuable materials, and employ trained custodians who can render intelligent assistance to investigators. It should also prepare and publish lists, and valuations or general de scriptions of various county or municipal records which have not been collected. It might undertake the compilation of a suitable guide to ma terials for the study of local history in all parts of the state. It should encourage the preparation of monographic studies by advanced students In history, and should consult with the college or university departments of history in regard to the preparation of its publications. It should en deavor especially to enlist the interest of students and others who have had special training in history and allied subjects, and who, therefore, have broader historical views than the antiquarians and genealogists whose contributions so often have no practical benefit. It might afford to subsidize the services of trained students of history to prepare mono graphs which have a special value, or to write local history in a form suitable for use in the schools, or to direct researches for the collection of materials needed in the library. It might also be able to develop a general Information bureau which would be of great practical value in respond ing to calls for statistical or historical facts. It should make Itself useful not only in encouraging historical research 576 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA and study, but also in providing for the diffusion of the results of this research and study. It should publish original materials selected with Intelligence, arranged systematically and ably edited with finished scholar ship; and also valuable contributions by active and resourceful members, or local citizens, or isolated students who desire to cooperate in this kind of work through the local press or local societies and local clubs. Many of these studies, Connected in some way with the life of the community, it may use to quicken that life to higher consciousness. If a student, a teacher, a leader of industry or a statesman prepares a paper or delivers an address on some phase of local history, or on some social question, which has a general interest or permanent value, it should encourage him to print it in the local paper or in a local magazine, perhaps in an educational journal, or in pamphlet form. It should also maintain a close touch with the newspaper press and inspire the local journals to publish series of articles on local history. It should cultivate a sound historical Interest among the people and should be of practical value to the people. Unfortunately, while the researches in local history have often been made by local investigators who strolled at random, without any regard to the tenets of historical scholarship, sometimes performing some valu able service, but more often treating isolated subjects of no practical value, the work in the department of history in the colleges and uni versities has been largely occupied with instruction in the general his torical culture which every student should have before he can specialize in a -narrower field. Could not the work of historical societies, or state de partments of archives and history, and of the college or university depart ments of history, be readjusted to the benefit of both? After college stu dents have received some training in digesting original material and in weighing evidence, the department could assign them work on the prepara tion of a thesis which would enable them to secure some experience in original investigation in some field of local history and thus arouse their Interest to pursue further work of this kind after the close of their college courses. It is highly desirable that local history should be written by those who have had sufficient training to enable them to give the proper setting for a local event. It seems desirable therefore that college or uni versity departments of history should make a special effort to induce seniors, who have had proper preparation, to pursue a seminar course in which they can secure special training in the preparation of some special study of local history under the personal supervision and direction of well trained instructors. In this way trained students from different com munities may be able to arouse a widespread and increased interest in local history which may result 5n the organization of live local historical associations and the preparation of a series of monographs on local his tory whose publication will be immediately beneficial to the people of the state. In this way there may be hope that the local field which has heretofore been neglected or left in the hands of untrained workers will be occupied by carefully directed students who approach their work with the broad spirit of those who have a knowledge of the historical develop ment of mankind and are not liable to fall into the absurd conclusions or mistakes of those who work with the merely antiquarian spirit. SPECIAL ARTICLES : SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 577 I The Semi-Centennial Celebration Inception of the Idea. The celebration of the semi-centennial of the admission of West Vir ginia into the Union as a state practically originated from a suggestion of Col. John E. Day, in an editorial which appeared in the Wetzel Republican of June 24, 1909, urging a commemoration worthy of the occasion and the commonwealth. The suggestion was followed by many responses of approval from the prominent public men and the press of the state. On October 1, 1909, Governor Glasscock appointed the follow ing public men as members of the Semi-Centennial Commission: Ex- Senator Henry G. Davis, Ex-Senator Charles J. Faulkner, Judge John W. Mason, Senator William E. Chilton, Col. John E. Day, Hon. V. L. High land, Hon. B. W. Peterson, Hon. Frank P. Moats, Hon. Amos Bright, Hon. Hugh I. Shott and Judge J. B. Wilkinson. Subsequently he added four additional members: Dr. Thomas E. Hodges, President of, West Vir ginia University; Hon. Stuart F. Reed, Secretary of State; Hon. E. A.. Brannon, State Senator; and Hon. Edward Thornburg. Organization of the Commission, and Preparations. After the legislature of 1911 approved the idea by an appropriation of $10,000, the Commission was permanently organized at Clarksburg, on. November 4, 1911, by the election of the following officers: Chairman, Hon. Henry G. Davis; Vice Chairman, Hon. Stuart F. Reed; Secretary,. Col. John E. Day; Treasurer, Hon. B. W. Peterson; Historian, Virgil A. Lewis, State Archivist. After the resignation of Mr. Lewis, who, by reason of a serious illness from which he never recovered, was unable- to enter upon the active duties assigned to him, this position of Histor ian was filled by the selection of Dr. J. M. Callahan, Professor of History and Political Science in West Virginia University. Wheeling, the birth-place of the state, was selected as the place of the official celebration. Its Board of Trade assumed full charge of Wheel ing's part of the celebration and cooperated with the Semi-Centennial Commission through a large general committee of prominent citizens. The legislature of 1913 liberally cooperated with the plans of the Com mission by an additional appropriation. To secure state-wide observance of the natal day, by a program of appropriate exercises which would express the spirit of the day and to secure cooperation in the preparation of exhibits for the celebration at Wheeling, a campaign of publicity was begun early in January 1913. At Wheeling special preparations were made for special industrial and civic- features which were arranged as a three days introduction to the official celebration of the semi-centennial of the state. Special Features. Among the most important special features of the celebration were an, educational exhibit illustrating the activities of the various public and 578 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA private educational institutions of the state, and the historical exhibits of the Baltimore and Ohio railway. The latter exhibit, showing pioneer cars and engines used on the road, and furnishing an object lesson on the history of the development of engineering, was rendered more realis tic by the presence of old-time employes who formerly operated the old engines. The program of June 19 was a fitting introduction to "State Day". A civic and industrial parade of the morning was followed by a military parade and the events of the day closed with a sham battle at the fair grounds in the afternoon and a display of pyrotechnics from barges in the harbor at night. In the military parade appeared soldiers of three generations — the veterans of the civil war, soldiers of the regular army, and University cadets. An appearance of boys in gray with the boys in blue fitly illustrated the obliteration and oblivion of the resentments of the earlier years of the war-born state. Program of State Day. The Program of "State Day" (June 20) included a procession, public, speaking, a banquet and a ball. At 1 o'clock a combined military, civic and fraternal procession or pageant — led by the Governor and other state officials, members of the Semi-Centennial Commission, and survivors of the Wheeling conventions of fifty years ago. It passed along the chief streets of the business sec tion of the city, and was viewed by throngs of people. The chief exercises of the day were given at the grand stand in City Hall park at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Hon. Henry G. Davis presiding. They included an opening address by Hon. Henry G. Davis, an address of welcome by Mayor H. L. Kirk, a response by Governor Henry D. Hatfield, and brief remarks by Judge John W. Mason and surviving members of the Wheeling convention of 1861. Mr: Davis spoke of the work of the com mission, the conditions which determined the formation of the state, and the development of the industries and resources of the state. Mayor Kirk referred eloquently to the natural beauties of the state, the advant age which its citizens enjoy and the progress of development. Governor Hatfield, impressively, and in a clear voice which was audible to every body in the grand stand, delivered a strong address in which he recalled the debt due the pioneers who struggled for liberty and laid the founda tions of present progress, emphasized the duty of the present to preserve and defend the rights and general welfare of the common people, and incidentally advocated woman's suffrage. The applause which greeted many parts of his speech was especially enthusiastic when he said, "The welfare of our fellow men is our first and most sacred charge***** I want to see a more complete exemplification of equal rights to all men •••?Human rights must not be sacrificed to property rights." After the singing of the state song, which followed Governor Hatfield's address, Secretary Stuart F. Reed read letters of regret received by Chair man Davis — one from Governor Mann, of Virginia, and another from Speaker Champ Clark, of the house of representatives. Memoeial Arch. Erected for the Semi-Centennial Celebration. SPECIAL ARTICLES : SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 579 Governor Mann's letter was as follows: 1 am sorry to have to Inform you that In consequence of the condition of my health it will be impossible for me to be at the semi-centennial celebration of West Virginia. I regret very much my inability to be with you and sincerely trust the occasion will be all you can possibly desire. Very truly yours, W. H. MANN, Governor of Virginia. Speaker Clark's letter was as follows: I would be delighted to be with you at the celebration of the Golden Jubilee. West Virginians have a right to be proud of their commonwealth and the remark able advance she is making in every way — in education and in population. I wish you godspeed. The most profitable two years of my life were spent in West Virginia. I look back with unalloyed pleasure upon those years. Very sincerely yours, CHAMP CLARK. Following the reading of these two letters, J. R. Taylor of Chicago, author of the "Ode to West Virginia" was introduced and read his pro duction to the assemblage. As a fitting conclusion to the meeting, Judge John W. Mason introduced the five surviving members of the historic convention of Washington hall. He spoke briefly as follows: "A half century is a short time measured by the life of a nation, but it is a long time considered as a part of the life of a man. It is nearly twenty years longer than the average life of an individual. Fifty-two years ago there assembled In this city two conventions — two remarkable bodies composed of about 500 men, taking the two different conventions together. They were among the strongest, the most courageous and the most patriotic men of Northwestern Virginia, assembled for an unprecedented purpose. They performed a great service for their state, and for the Nation, and made imperishable history. "All but six of those 500 men have been gathered to their Fathers. Five of these six remain and are with us today — John J. Davis, of Clarksburg ; George R. Latham, of Buckhannon ; William J. Brown, of Grafton ; Perry Hale, of Weston, and Alpheus Garrison, of Monongalia County. "West Virginia delights to do these men honor, and are truly thankful that the Heavenly Father has spared them for this occasion. But one remains — Dr. W. L. Grant, of Grafton. He is kept away on account of 111 health. It ia not likely that we shall ever have the pleasure of greeting these men together again. The time is not far distant when many of this audience will read in the papers of the day an account of the death of the last man of this historic convention of May and June, 1861. It may then, my friends, be a pleasure to you to remember that you have seen some of these men. It may strengthen your patriotism and inspire in yon an ambition to emulate their noble conduct, should the occasion ever require it." At the conclusion of these remarks, Mr. Mason introduced the five aged men, each of whom responded with a short talk to the audience. At the close of the meeting all of the honored guests were driven to the fair grounds to witness a sham battle between the Cadets and the Regulars. 580 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Chief "State Day" Addresses ADDRESS OF HON. H. G. DAVIS Ladies and Gentlemen : As Chairman of the Semi-Centennial Commission, it becomes my privilege and duty to preside at these exercises in commemoration of important events which occurred in this city fifty years ago, when there came into existence a new Sovereignty — a new member of the sisterhood of States that make up this great and wonderful nation. The official notice should be taken of the Fiftieth Anni versary of the admission of the State was to be expected and the Governor appointed a Commission, composed of fifteen prominent citizens, to formulate plans and direct the preparations for a fitting celebration of the event, towards defraying the expense of which the Legislature appropriated thirty thousand dollars. While the patriotic spirit awakened would be felt by all the people of the State, it was recognized that there should be some place upon which to center the more im portant features of the Celebration. Wheeling Selected. The Commission weighed carefully the considerations advanced in behalf of different cities and selected Wheeling as being the most appropriate, practically all the steps in the formation of the State having been taken here and it having been the first capital. Her citizens were enthusiastic in their desire to show by their works the appreciation of the historic value to them of these early scenes, and well have they done their part. They have devoted their time and means and best talents in their untiring efforts, and what we see here today la the best > evidence of their complete success. That no mistake was made in the selection of Wheeling for the official ceremonies is patent to all. Celebration State-Wide. The Commission felt that the Celebration should be State-wide, and, while lending Its aid in all particulars to Wheeling, it has encouraged as far as possible the holding of approriate services in all parts of the State. To this end the day has been made a State holiday and so proclaimed by the Governor. Financial assistance has been given by the Commission to the county seats. National and State flags have been sent to the 8,000 and odd school houses in the State, and the people urged through Boards of Trade, Chambers of Comerce and other civic organizations to hold meetings with services appropriate to the day. The fra ternal and benevolent Orders have been asked to take proper action, railroads have been requested to recognize the anniversary.by decorating their trains and stations, and appeal has been made generally to all classes of citizens of the State in some way everywhere to make the day memorable. The Commission, through a Com mittee from the State University, selected from a large number of contestants a song and music and a monograph composed especially for the occasion, which have been printed and widely distributed and will be sung and read here and elsewhere throughout the State. Under the direction of the Commission, a souvenir volume is being compiled which will be published in due time and contain an accurate history of the State and its resources and development at the end of the first fifty years of its existence. In a number of other ways the Commision has sought to carry out the purposes for which it wae created, and trusts that its labors have not been in vain. It believes that the people generally will appreciate the sig nificance of the exercises here and elsewhere, that they will serve to increase pride of citizenship, awaken the spirit of patriotism and add to the mental and spiritual stature of all. And, as we. proceed with the observances of the day, let us for a moment look back to the beginning of the period we celebrate. Formation of State. Momentous were the issues and tremendous the results of the Civil War, but the only change wrought in the map of the country was in the creation of West Virginia. The Act establishing the State was approved by President Lincoln on June 20th, 1863, and West Virginia stood apart and alone from the old State. It was with saddened heart in times of stress that she saw her youngest daughter depart and go her way. A few years later she learned that the estrangement was SPECIAL ARTICLES': SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 581 only temporary and that with growing strength and vigor the offspring by her side stood steadfast in its affection and pride for the Mother State. The change was made during the days of heroic deeds and when the pages of history were being rapidly turned. The men whose faith and strength of purpose carried them forward to the formation of the State in times of great doubt and foreboding, are those to whom we now pay homage. We come not so much to recount our achieve ments and to enjoy hte sensse of satisfaction they impart, as to do deference to the memory of those who made possible the occasion of our pride. They builded better than they knew by bringing into being a State Which, unlike themselves, lives on and gathers strength as the years multiply, and yet while they live has grown greater than they anticipated, richer than they prophesied, stronger than they Imagined, and more than fulfilled their brightest hopes. The physical features and natural riches of West Virginia have always been at tractive and illusive. The adventurous spirits of the colonial times found pleasure and excitement in the chase within her borders, and pioneers discovered in her woods and hills, her mountains and valleys and encircling waters, the essential ingredients of future empire ; the pathway of progress was made through struggle and adversity, and her early settlers were Impelled by the obstacle they had to overcome. He who laid the foundation of the Nation, the Immortal Washington, in the days of his early manhood within her borders set courses and 'distances in engineering endeavor. The time is not now sufficient to bring before us the names, growing brighter by the polishing effects of time, of the illustrious men who have been her sons or patrons. They are entwined in her history and have given her strength in her infancy and prestige and power in her fuller life. It has been five decades since the star of West Virginia first appeared in the National emblem, and it is by these periods of time we are apt to compare our political Ife and growth. Geographical Location. At the time of her admission into the Union, she was, and is now, smaller than any of the States to the West of her, and, notwithstanding this, her irregular form unables her to reach well in between Ohio and Pennsylvania, to within one hundred miles of Lake Erie, while but fifty miles separate her from the Capital of the Nation, and down to Kentucky her borders go. She stretches forth her arms to the North and East, and in sisterly friendship unites the great Northern and Southern States, between which she lies. She has been described as the most Southern of the Northern States, and in this happy mien she derives the best qualities of both. The peaks and pinnacles • and terraced mountain sides divide and distribute her waters with Impartial favor. They give birth to the Potomac, which broadens into service for the Capital of the Nation, and mingle in the Chesapeake with those which have gone down through the historic James ; to the North by the Cheat and Monongahela they reach at Pittsburg the Ohio and soon join with the waters from the Southwest of the Little Kanawha. Nature has furnished the lines of a great portion of the boundaries of the State in mountains and streams, the Ohio River alone serving her well for nearly three hundred miles along her border. The people of the State have inherited from its rugged nature a spirit of freedom and self-reliance. They have cared rather for the independence of its hills and valleys than the interdependence of cities and towns. Population. In 1860 about the time of the formation of the State, and the nearest figures thereto available, the population was 376,686, or about fifteen persons to each square mile. In 1870 it had grown to 420,014, and in 1910 it reached 1,221,119, or an average of fifty persons to each square mile. It had a little more than three times the population of fifty years ago, the actual increase being 324 per cent, and of 276 per cent from 1870. The percent of Increase in the last decade was greater than in any other ten years since 1880, and was one-third greater than the average of the United States. The population in 1860 was seventeen times and in 1910 twenty-two times as much as it was in 1790. In 1910, compared with 46 per cent for the entire country, only 19 per cent of the population of West Virginia lived in cities; nearly a million of its people living in the country, and, notwithstanding this, five of its cities increased in size over 100 per cent in the ten years from 1900 to 1910. West Virginia's progress in numerical strength Is largely within herself. Although her mining industries are uppermost, she has had little help from immigration, of her total population but 4.7 per cent are foreign born 95.3 per cent being natives of the United States, and 80 per cent saw the first light of. day within her confines. Four out of five of her people, therefore, are native born, and but one in twenty came from foreign shores. 94.7 per cent are white and 5.3 per cent are colored. 582 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Agriculture. It might be "said that her mineral deposits enlarge her area, as in many in stances with thousands of acres of valuable coal seams beneath, the surface is cultivated and fruitful. Two-thirds of the State is in farms, their number, acreage and value compared with 1870 are as follows : Per Cent 1870 1910 of Increase Value farm property $96,714,190 314,736,540 225% Land in farms (acres) 2,580,254 5,521,757 114% Number of farms 39,778 96,685 143% There are in round numbers one hundred thousand farms in the State, and they each have property worth over three thousand dollars. Manufactures. In 1910 there were 2,586 manufacturing plants, nearly half of which were working In lumber and forest products. Their capital was $150,923,000, not quite half the value of the farms. They employed 71,463 persons, and the value of their products was $161,950,000. Mining. It is in mining that the State is making its most rapid industrial progress. In 1863 it produced about half a million tons of coal, an average output now of about three days. At that time Its oil and gas production was Inconsiderable — now it is first in the production of natural gas, first grade oil and hard wood's, and second in coal and coke, Pennsylvania alone surpassing her. Her output of bituminous coal compared with that of Pennsylvania for several years past in net tons was : W. Va. Penna. 1902 24,570,826 98,574,367 1907 48,091,583 150,143,177 1912 68,320,000 159,922,449 Per Cent, of Increase. 1902 1907 1902 to to to 1907 1912 1912 Pennsylvania 52 7 62 West Virginia 95 42 178 For the five years following 1902 West Virginia's per cent of gain was nearly double, for the ten years since 1902 it was nearly three times, and for the last five years six times that of Pennsylvania. In 1902 Pennsylvania mined four times as much bituminous coal as Weit Virginia ; in 1913 it was less than two and one-half times as much. West Virginia has 826 separate mines, 59 of which are each producing over 200,000 tons annually, and they all give employment to over seventy thousand men. Since coal mining began in the State, West Virginia has produced 649,448,201 tons, over one-tenth of which was produced in the past year. In 1912 West Virginia furnished about one-sixth and Pennsylvania about one-third of the entire production of the United States. West Virginia has a greater amount remaining of untouched available coal than Pennsylvania, the estimates by official sources being 149 billion tons for the former and 109 billion tons for the latter. Wealth. Since about the time of the formation of the State, its total assessed value has grown nearly ten fold, it being $126,060,743 In 1867, and $1,114,000,000 in 1911. Statistics of great variety could be produced to show the health and prosperity of West Virginia, her present high position, her rapid advance In all the material and moral affairs of life, the happiness and ambitions of her people, but facts are for moments of greater care. Today we put aside the sterner realities of life and lend our thoughts and feelings to the spirit of the occasion. We Join with our SPECIAL ARTICLES : SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 583 I neighbors and friends in making merry, that we can with light hearts and cheerful mien fittingly observe the day we celebrate. The State was born in sentiment, and in sentiment let us remember its birth. In our felicitations on West Virginia's fiftieth birthday, an occasion fraught with pride in the accomplshments of the past, let us take advantage of the golden opportunity and inaugurate to higher hopes and greater aims the second half century of the State's history. ADDRESS OF MAYOR H. L. KIRK. "My friends, mighty things have been worked out in this, one of the youngest states of the union. A point which was yesterday invisible is the goal of today and will be the starting point of tomorrow. We look into the future and hail the coming of the morn, radiant when this beautiful world which we now inhabit will be ablaze with a radiant splendor of new discovery, which would blind the eyes of those now living were they in their fullness to break in upon us. It seems to me, my friends, that more particularly today than in any other period of the state's history are most manifest all instrumentalities for the bettering of the human race. May the lightning spare the walls of our glorious state and may peace like a ministering angel, and like the shadows of the centuries continue to be upon our splendid Ohio valley, the richest of all the great valleys of the earth. "The possibilities of this valley are incalculable, its wealth, like that of Croesus, can not be estimated, and its inhabitants are among the noblest, manliest and bravest people today beneath God's sunshine. We are in the business of doing things ourselves ; we aren't by any means lying supinely on our backs up here In our West Virginia hills. We are digging coal at a mighty rate, the familiar click of the miners' picks are daily heard in many of our mountain sides as they bring forth the dusky diamonds which bring millions of dollars in our pockets every year. The hum of the mill saw lulls our mountaineers to sleep and awakes them from their slumbers at the dawning of the morn. "We are pumping oil in sufficient quantities every day out of our West Virginia hills to grease all the axles on the earth and have enough left to lubricate the North Pole, and oil the hinges of every industry in the world. Moreover, we have most everything else up here, including the best people beneath the stars. We are just beginning to appreciate in its fullest the true grandeur of our little mountain state, under whose flag all classes and races of men can walk erect In the dignity of unrestricted freedom. Thank God in our great state no man owns another, and better than all, labor is forever free. "We shall soon return from here, my fellow citizens, to our various avocations, the storms as they come and go will beat upon the walls and all about us. Let us hope, my friends, that the lightning shafts will spare this edifice of today and may God's blessings be showered upon our state. May faith and peace and good will toward men shed their Influence upon the officers who shall occupy Its portals and sit beneath the dome of our state, and may the shadow of the centuries gently hover over the work we have done today. "And now, my friends, I wish to say that this welcome will be felt by us and uttered by me in vain, if you fail to realize its sincerity or fail in tbe relaxing periods of this assembly to enjoy every hour and every minute of your stay with us. And when you go hence we want you to carry the one thought with you, If there is one place in the reign of your activities where the home sense, the sense of friendship, is abiding and sincere, that place is the city of Wheeling, for in deed and in truth you are our welcome guests. "I now welcome you in the name of the great mountain state, West Virginia, In the name of the most progresive city in the state, Wheeling, in the name of every citizen, great and small. I want to say to you that you are now and ever will be our welcome guests." ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR H. D. HATFIELD. "Fellow Citizens of Wheelinng and Throughout our Commonwealth : "We are assembled here today to commemorate the achievements of the fathers of two score and ten years ago. * * * No words can adequately express, or tribute pay, to the grand men who fostered the Inspirations and dreams of a new star to the commonwealths of this republic, and at a time in our nation's life when wreck and ruin threatened our own national existence from internal strife among the same citizenship, the same kin and kindred, who a few years previous to that had shouldered their arms to meet a foreign foe, always doubled and some times five times their number. "I would like to call each patriot's name that participated In the formation of our state, but as that is a physical impossibility, I shall be content with men tioning none, as all should be mentioned and due homage paid to each and every one regardless of his position in life, just so he possessed within his manly bosom the inspiration of the stalwart mountaineer. 584 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA "These men gave to us an empire of natural wealth, which commonwealth could be aptly termed the supreme goddess, when it comes to discussing the accumu lative energy in its crude form, indispensable to the toilers and delvers in the workhouse of Vulcan, which makes possible the motion of the countless wheels of Industry that support myriads of people in every vocation of life. ****** "What if the fathers could come back and view the years passed since their time and see the wonderful developments in the way of railways, the magnificent coal breakers, with the oil and gas, and all of these natural resources found in almost every section of West Virginia, surpassing in quality almost any other state in the union ; the glass factories, tin plate, Iron and nail manufactories. I am sure they would be amazed at our accomplishment, but we would be criticised by them, and justly so, for the great waste we are permitting of these great and boundless gifts of nature. "Gentlemen, we are West Virginians. I am for my state and its citizenship. The welfare of our fellow men is our first and most sacred charge. I want to see each and every man have an equal show with his fellow. I want to see a more complete exemplification of equal rights to all men and that line of demarkation which defines the right of men toward their neighbors. These rights must not be abridged and they shall not if I can prevent it. Human rights must not be sacrificed for property rights. The rights of men are the most sacred. The transgression of this principle makes a pitiful picture indeed if we will follow it from the dark ages down to the present time. The one principle and the basic foundation upon which all superstructure rests in the compilation of this great republic of ours is that principle of human liberty and human justice. "The pathetic picture to which I have just referred of suffering envy, misery, torture, scandal, persecution and misrepresentation of human acts and human rights has been the cause of more wars, the sacrifice of more human lives, the filling of our jails and penitentiaries in the hope of the persecuted to free themselves from the chains of oppression. These oppressions are due largely and more es pecially to the acts of those who cherish ambitions for preferment, and are willing to misrepresent the position and character of any one who supplants them, and have a ready ear for sensations and flash them upon the messenger wires which go to aid, comfort and more fully guarantee the purpose of the designer. Again we have greed, avarice and the blind, unbridled, merciless, selfish ambition of those who are in search of riches. "I would rather spend the rest of my life in a hovel, not unlike my past seventeen years as a professional man, giving what assistance I could to the comfort of the poor and to those who have not had the advantages most of us here present have had. I would rather occupy this position, my fellow citizens, than to have at my command all that wealth could procure and occupy the position in life where I should deny my fellow men of the God-given rights which are due the weak and lowly. Keep Resources at Home. "We have accomplished much in the past fifty years, it is true, but let us enter into a new compact as West Virginians and stand for our commonwealth as no other generation of people have done. Let us indicate in a friendly manner and in an economic way what will be mutually beneficial to the citizenship of our state and to the owners of our natural wealth and call a halt to the transporta tion of these great natural resources to other states, where our raw material is now being conducted, there to be converted into energy which propels the numerous wheels of industry of the manufacturers of finished products, some of which are returned to our own state and sold to Its citizen's. "Why not avail ourselves of these advantages and use our influence to bring about a unity of feeling and action, to induce the manufacturer to establish his business in our own commonwealth, which will guarantee to us a greater, population and a wider Influence. "Let us perpetuate this natural wealth for future generations. Let us say to the manufacturers, We welcome you to our midst with your industries. Let us Join hands for a united effort as loyal West Virginians to bring about an empire of industry of the finished product class throughout the lenght and breadth of our state. Why should this not be done? Gentlemen, I am willing to contribute liberally to this cause and to make any sacrifice necessary for a greater and more glorious commonwealth. "Dedicated as she was to liberty and equity, let us not forget the lesson of the fathers. A concerted effort on our part will bring about an awakening and relieve the unrest and smouldering condition which is both visible and audible in every recess throughout our state. "Every human being, by divine teaching, is our brother ; his rights by law are equal to our own ; the liberty and privileges of all men should be equal. Some of as, I am sorry to admit, have not conceded these principles or adopted the teach- SPECIAL ARTICLES : SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 585 ings of the fathers as the basic fabric upon which we should stand toward our fellow man. It must be so in the future if we are to realize the ambitions and perpetuate the good name that was left for us by the fathers of fifty years ago. The rights of all men are equal ; no race or color, no previous condition of servi tude, can change the rights of men If the Declaration of Independence, with' its adopted amendments, is literally construed and carried out in letter and in spirit. * * * * t * * "It was Lincoln who stilled the storm after a long, direful struggle between patriots who were always ready to shoulder their arms against a foreign foe. It was due to his foresight and almost superhuman strategy that made possible a greater and stronger North American republic. A grand nation, commencing at the Atlantic and going to the Pacific, you will find a continent of happy homes; three million people have increased to one hundred million. "Liberty and labor have been the foundation stones upon which all of our ac complishments have been achieved. Let us go forward in the great work of the future, imbued with the one principle that all men have equal rights. The man acts well his part who loves his fellow men the best ; who is most willing to help others ; who Is truest to obligations, has the best heart, the most feeling, the deepest sympathy, and who freely gives to others the right that he claims for himself. "Let us join hands for a greater and more glorious commonwealth and use as our motto 'Liberty, Fraternity and Equity,' the three grandest words of all. Liberty gives to every man the fruits of his own labor ; fraternity, every man of right Is my brother ; equity, the rights of all are equal. Let us go hand in hand for a better commonwealth. We have just begun. West Virginia stands on a pedestal where she can command obedience from all other states as far as natural resources are concerned. I stand with you the great common people of West Virginia." 586 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Ode to West Virginia By J. R. Taylor. As a house that Is builded with labor. With life and with love and with tears, Having danger and death for a neighbor, Made strong with the hands of the years ; As a dream that is builded with yearning. More sweet than the frannkincense spilt, 'More bright than the sunset that's burning E'er so wert thou built As a home that is touched with the sadness. Of those who have loved us and passed; That echoes e'en yet with the gladness Of childhood and innocence vast ; That fills us with memories pleasant, Though far from the vision remved, 'Till the past is half-merged with the present. E'en so art thou loved ! As a mountain, cloud-dim and sky-crested, That looks o'er the level below,- It's sides with Srping's magic invested While the summit is sparkling with snow : — Majestically, lovely, unchanging, A tower to the uttermost land, Allure to the spirit far-ranging, E'en so dost thou stand ! As the future that stands In' the distance, Sunbright 'mid a splendor of sheaves. And beckons with smiling insistence The courage that hopes and believes ; As the future that waits but the coming To yield to the comer it's all, Wealth, thought and great industries humming, E'en so dost thou call ! As a state where God's freedom is cherished, A shrine where man's thought is preserved, A land where all rancor has perished, A place where humanity's served; A field where all human endeavor Shall broaden and prosper and live, Loved home of our fathers, forever. E'en so shalt thou live ! SPECIAL ARTICLES : SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 587 The Banquet. In the evening, at 6:30 o'clock, a banquet was given at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The banquet hall was prettily arranged in potted plants, palms predominating, and in cut flowers, a basket of beautiful roses adorning each table. As the guests entered the hall, Meister's orchestra played the strains of the new state song. A few minutes after the other guests were seated, Governor Hatfield and 'ex-Senator Davis entered and amidst an ovation were escorted to the speakers' table. The following menu was served: Caviar Canape a la Russe Olives Salted Almonds Celery Chicken Essence En Tasse Fresh Crab Meat, a la Newburg Larded Tenderloin of Beef a la Clamart New Peas Potatoes a la Parisenne Creme De Menthe Punch Roast Royal Squab, a la Polonaise Iced Nesselrode Pudding Assorted Cakes Roquefort Cheese Bent's Crackers Demi Tasse De Cafe Nolr Stratford Magnesia Spring Water Stratford Ginger Ale Cigars. The following is a list of the guests: Richard Robertson. H. S. Martin. Dr. E. A. Hildreth. M. L. Brown. J. A. Blum. J. J. Holloway. Joe Holloway. W. W. Holloway. O. G. Beans. Harry Clayton. Harry C. Hervey. Howard Sutherland, Washington, D. C. D. B. Williams, supt. B. & O. R. R. Co. Dr. I. C. White, Morgantown. Geo. A. Laughlln. Dr. J. M. Callahan, Morgantown. Wm. P. Hubbard. Samuel V. Woods, president state senate. H. W. Gee. Prof. H. M. Shockey. T. S. Riley. John A. Hess. J. W. Dawson, Charleston. W. E. Stone (2). Daniel Willard, pres. B. & O. R. R. Co. Seaton Alexander. Geo. B. Woods. A. E. Schmidt. Russell Irvine. W. B. Irvine (10) Geo. W. Lutz. H. L. Kirk, mayor. G. O. Nagle. W. H. Colvig. Fred J. Fox. W. S. Brady. Jas. W. Ewing. Alexander Glass. Randolph Stalnaker. F. L. Committee, Elm Grove. O. S. Marshall, New Cumberland. R. B. Naylor. C. A. Robinson. George Heard, Pittsburg, Pa. A. S. Hare (2). J. G. Hearne. A. B. Paxton. A .F. Brady. John Coleman. George Baird. David Kraus. John T. McGraw, Grafton. Henry N. Hess. J. C. Brady. J. E. Morgan. C. E. Peters. G. E. Lawyor. C. N. Hancher. D. G. Brown. H. E. Dunlap. Peter Barchman. Chas. Bachman. Lewis Bachman. A. T. Sweeney, S. O. C. Wm. A. Hankey. Geo. E. Stifel. H. S. Sands. W. E. Rownd. S. C. Driehorst. A. T. Hupp. Hal. Speidel. R. M. Addleman. C. W. Bates. Arch Wilson. W. P. Wilson. J. B. Taney. Otto Schenk. H. C. Ogden. C. H. Copp. Rev. Jacob Brittingham. Dr. W. S. Fulton. H. M. Russell. J. N. Vance. H. C. Franzheim. Ben S. Baer. Eugene Baer. Elmer Hough, Wellsburg. T. B. Sweeney. John H. Clark. A. G. Martin, Fairmont. F. F. Faris. Geo. Craig. Baird Mitchell. E. W. Oglebay. Geo. E. House. A. W. Paull. Samuel W. Hartman. L. E. Sands. C. W. Jeffers. Robert L. Boyd. Dr. J. L. Dickey. C. B. Taylor. B. Walker Peterson. S. Bruce Hall, New Martinsville. Frederick Gottlieb, Baltimore, Md. H. G. Bills. Maj. J. G. Pangborn, 588' SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA H. F. Behrens, Jr. Capt. Leery, U. S. A. F. L. Ferguson. Edgerton Vance. A. C. Whitaker. R. E. Byrum. A. F. Ulrich. R. A. Goshorn, Geo. W. Eckhart. W. R. Keyser. Pittsburgh, Pa. Edward Wagner. Chas. Voitle. Dr. S. L. Jepson. W. G. Creamer. Lloyd Eneix. Robert Hazlett. Hon. Howard Sutherland, congressman-at-large, of Elkins, presided as toastmaster. Addresses Were made by Hon. Henry G. Davis, Governor Hatfield, George M. Shriver, second 'vice president of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad; Major J. H. Pangborn, also of the B. & O.; Congressman John W. Davis, Judge John W. Mason, of Fairmont; Senator Sam V. Woods, Hon. Wm. P. Hubbard and H. C. Ogden. Senator Davis in a kindly manner expressed especially his apprecia tion of the cooperation of Wheeling in the preparation and management of the celebration. Governor Hatfield spoke especially of the earlier struggles and present problems of the state, referring to the accomplish ments of the fathers who builded and of the great resources for which he pleaded the necessity of conservation. He brought all the guests to their feet when he proposed a toast in ginger ale, to Wheeling, "the best city in the state." A moment later, he proposed a similar toast to Sen ator Davis and this also was drunk standing. Governor Hatfield complimented the citizens of Wheeling, too, on the grounds that they have stood, always, he said, for progressive legislation and at a time, two, when the legislatures were not disposed to lend a willing ear. At this time, however, he stated, the laws which Wheeling legislators demanded two years ago are being enacted. He urged econ omy along all lines and closed by thanking the citizens of Wheeling for their support in administering the affairs of the state. Judge Mason briefly spoke of his creed in optimistic vein which evoked hearty applause. Expressing his opposition to "the knocker", he said he believed that this old world is the best place in creation, that this hemis- sphere is the best place in this worlff, that America is the best place In his own Ward is the best ward in Fairmont. Mr. Shriver's address was this hemisphere, North America is the best of all the Americas; that the United States is the best part of North America, that West Virginia Is the best part of the United States; that Marion is the best county in the state, and that Fairmont is the best City in Marion county, and that both retrospective and prospective in its treatment of the relations of the Baltimore and Ohio railway to the development and prosperity of Wheeling and West Virginia. He properly referred to this railway as a most important factor In the founding of the new state. Major Pangborn, who did so much toward making the company's ex hibit one of the big. features of the celebration, was introduced at this point and spoke for five minutes in a pleasant vein. He caused a laugh when he stated that he was one of two men who started with the first engine toward Wheeling and that he had stood, throughout the trip, on the rear step, in order to be in a position "to take to the woods" In the * event that anything happened. Congressman Davis responded to the toast "West Virginia" In a brll- SPECIAL ARTICLES : SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 589 liant and pointed oration, closing with an exhortation to answer the knock of opportunity. Senator Woods, after briefly extending his felici tations, pictured a future Wheeling whose creek would be a culvert and whose hill would be cut away and be replaced by a magnificent boule vard. Mr. Ogden spoke of the influence of the newspapers in the formation of the state. In this connection he paid a deserved tribute to the late Archibald W. Campbell, the late John Frew and others. Hon. W. P. Hubbard, after brief reference to the spirit of the occasion, appropriately introduced a letter of Waitman T. Willey to C. D. Hubbard, written at Morgantown on May 6, 1861, and expressing confidence in the ultimate formation of a new state by constitutional methods. The Ball. The social events connected with the celebration were closed by a ball which was attended by notables from different parts of the state. A feature of the evening was the attendance of the West Virginia Uni versity Cadets, who were the guests of Hon. Earl W. Oglebay. The tumult and the shouting dies — The captains and the kings depart — Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. Lest we forget — lest we forget ! Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre All valiant dust that builds on dust — And guarding calls not Thee to guard — For frantic boast and foolish word Thy mercy on Thy people Lord ! — From Budyard Kipling's "Recessional.' 590 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA Coat of Arms, State of West Virginia. The joint committee on state seal, appointed by the first West Virginia legislature, in 1863, was composed of Peter G. Van Winkle of Wood County, L. E. Davidson of Taylor County, William L. Crawford of Hancock County, Daniel D. T. Farnsworth of Upshur County, Edwin Maxwell of Harrison County, and Greenbury Slack of Kanawha County. The Great Seal of West Virginia By Hon. Stuart F. Reed, Secretary of State. When the morning dawn of June 20, 1863, fell silently on the mountains and valleys of West Virginia, the state had no organized government. Before the shadows of evening fell a legislature had been organised and the first governor and other state officials had been inaugurated at Wheeling, the state's first capital. It was a day of banners and flags, speeches and songs, parades and huzzas. The state's natal day fell on Saturday, and on the following Monday, June 22, the legislature met to begin real work. There was a government then, but the new child of the Republic had no seal or coat of arms. The Officers of the West Virginia Semi-Centennial Commission. Historian of the Semi-Centennial Commission SPECIAL ARTICLES : JOURNALISM 591 second joint resolution, therefore, to be adopted was one authorizing the appointment of a committee to "devise and report suitable devices and inscriptions for the seals of the state." The committee went immediately to work, employing J. H. Diss DeBar, of Doddridge County, to make drawings in compliance with their suggestions. The design agreed upon was finally adopted in September, 1863, and the state was then ready to attach her Great Seal to the numerous documents which by law and long custom were considered incomplete without such insignia. The words "seal" and "coat of arms" in the United States have practically the same meaning. When the design is impressed upon state papers or public documents, is is referred to as a seal, and when it is used for illustrative purposes or on flags, it is usually called a coat of arms. The history and traditional significance of these emblems of nations and of states constitute one of the most interesting subjects in the story of civilization. We of the territory of the thirteen original states have no difficulty in tracing that strain of heraldic reverence that causes us unconsciously to make our state coat of arms in some way a symbol of our state pride and patriotism. When the Revolution was over and Washington and his armies had gained our independence, the "American Eagle and Shield" took the place of England's "Lion and Unicorn." The spirit of ancient heraldry remained but mr of iJ 3 ancient glory had fled. F- ., *., i under Richard III, established a College of Arms in 1483, which institution exists today to guard the history and traditions of hei cherished heialdry and settle all questions relating to Coats of Arms or her Great Seal. America has been too busy to do anything like that, and the seals of many of the states are, through carelessness and inattention of engravers and printers, changed as the years go by. West Virginia's beautiful emblem did not escape this reckless law of variation. Year by year changes were made until many of the state'3 litliographed forms were decorated by caricatures that bore but little resemblance to the original drawing of Mr. Diss DeBar. In some of these engravings of the obverse side of the Great Seal of West Virginia, the sheaf of wheat and the lumps of mineral had been omitted; the wild ivy had been taken from the rock; the axe had been transformed into a maul, the miner's pick had lost its identity and the two human figures had assumed garbs the like of which never haunted even the wildest dreams of the committee which submitted tie original design in 1863. In 1910 the secretary of state began to send these burlesque engravings to the Junk pile and the new blanks and forms are beginning to show a West Virginia Coat of Arms which seeks to preserve the beautiful con ception of the fathers of the state as expressed a half century ago. To many people the preservation of our, Coat of Arms, as originally designed, would seem a trivial matter. We Americans live in a com mercial environment, with but little time for sentiment, while Great Britain, with a domain upon which the sun is said never to set, reverences her ancient seal because it combines the past and the present. England's Coat of Arms is a summons to the dead of eight centuries to walk again through her abbeys and palaces. The poet's song and the 592 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA soldier's fame make sacred and beautiful this mystic emblem of her sovereign will. It has held carnival and parley with thirty generations of England's fair women and brave men and has been an actor in the grandest episodes of her history. Says a noted English writer, "No charmed life of fairy love surpasses in wonder and incredible incidents the life of the Great Seal. It has smiled at the feasts of kings and starved in garrets. In vain have earth, fire, air and water banded together for its destruction. Once hurled into the Thames it invoked the raid of a waterman and was restored to the King's House. Thieves have stolen it and melted it down, and sold It for old metal. It has been buried beneath the. ground. Over and over again, ruffians, armed with murderous instruments, have broken it into minute pieces, but still the Great Seal remains, entire, beauteous and flawless as ever." HISTORICAL NOTES. 1 The report of the Committee on State Seal for West Virginia designated a seal with an obverse and a reverse side, to be used when the Coat-of-Arms is made in the form of a medallion. As a matter of fact, the seal used for State purposes shows only the obverse side. The description given by the Committee for the Great Seal is as follows: | Obverse Side. — "'The obverse to bear the legend 'State of West Virginia.'" the Constitutional designation of our Republic, which, with the motto 'Montana semper liberi,' ('Mountaineers are always free') is to Be inserted in the circumference. In the center a rock with ivy, emblematic of stability and continuance, and in the face of the rock tie inscription, 'June 20, 1863,' the date of our foundation, as if 'graved with a pen of iron in the rock forever.' On the right of the rock, a farmer clothed in the traditional hunting shirt peculiar to this region, his right arm resting on the plow-handles, and his left supporting a woodman's axe, indicating that while our territory is partially cultivated it is still in process of being cleared of the original forest. At his right, a shear of wheat and a cornstalk. On the left of the rock a miner, indicated by a pickaxe on his shoulder, with barrels and lumps of mineral at his feet. On his left, an anvil partly seen, on which rests a sledge-hammer, typical of the mechanic arts, the whole indicating the principal pursuits; and resources of the state. In front of the rock and figures, as if just' laid down by the latter, and ready to be resumed at a moment's notice; two hunter's rifles, and surmounted at the place of contact by the Phrygian Cap or 'Cap of Liberty' indicating that our freedom and independence were won and will be maintained by arms." Reverse Side. — "The reverse of the Great Seal to be encircled by a wreath composed of laurel and oak leaves, emblematic of valir and strength, with fruits and cereals, productions of our state. For device of land scape: In the distance on the left of the disc, wooded mountains; and on the right a cultivated slope with the log-frame house -peculiar to this region. On the side of the mountain a representation of the viaduct I SPECIAL. ARTICLES : JOURNALISM " 593 on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Preston County, one of the great engineering triumphs of the age, with a train of cars about to pass on it. Near the center a factory, in front of which a river with boats on the bank, and to the right of it, near the foreground, a derrick and shed appertaining to the production of salt and petroleum. In the loreground a meadow with cattle and sheep feeding and reposing, the whole indicating the leading characteristics, productions and pursuits of the State at this time. Above the mountains, the sun emerging from the clouds, indicating that former obstacles to our prosperity are dis appearing. In the rays of the sun the motto 'Libertas e fidelitate ('Liberty from Loyalty') indicating that our freedom and independence are the result of faithfulness to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the national Constitution.'' Mr. Diss DeBar, the designer of the Coat-of-Arms, was an educated Frenchman who brought a Swiss colony to Santa Clara, Doddridge County, West Virginia. He was appointed by Governor Boreman to act as commissioner of immigration. &94 SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY QE WEST VIRGINIA For INDEX to the History, see pp. 295-302. For LIST OF SPECIAL ARTICLES, see pp. 303-304. West Virginia Environs and Advantages' By SrUART F. REED The radius of the circle shown here is approximately 255 miles. Within the area thus circumscribed we find the Capital of the Bepublic and several of the world's greatest cities. In institutions, arts, indus tries, and in variety and value of natural resources, this area has no known counterpart on the globe. West Virginia, midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, occupying the center of this wonder ful circle, has been uniquely de scribed as "the most northern of the southern slates and the most south ern of the northern states; the most eastern of the western states and the most western of the eastern states." Over 80 steam and electric rail roads are in operation within the State and across her borders. The great Ohio Eiver marks her western boundary for nearly 300 miles and" receives the commerce of five inland rivers, all improved for navigation. West Virginia has 6,'>61 miles of railway track of all kinds, with au assessed value of $199,399,500. Number school teachers employed, 9,593. Annual expenditure for education, $6,076,395. Population (1910) 1,221,119. Assessed value of all taxable property, $1,250,- 000,000. June 20, 1913. Ks -3.<>S- \\ 7i TSBURC ffita .RAILROAD MAP OF WEST. VIRGINIA C E NTER OF THE GREAT CIRC LE BY STUARTf REED Sccmr*** o> *rtx%. CHARLESTON WE5T VIRGINIA.