The History of Upshur County, West Virginia
The actual history of Upshur antedates the period of recorded events; relates to the peoples who lived on this continent prior to its discovery; embraces the epochs of settlement, colonization, nationality and disruption of Virginia; refers more particularly to the early settlers on the waters of the Buckhannon and West Fork rivers and their troubles with the Indians, the local political agencies which brought about the formation of the county, her complete records, including Upshur's share in the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, the life of her people, commercial, industrial, economic, social, educational and religious; also the family records of a thousand persons who have taken part in the settlement and county periods.
Within this volume will be found a very instructive chapter on the Birds of Upshur, by Rev. Earle Amos Brooks, a native born son who is authority on ornithology and whose reputation spreads to the ends of this nation.
The plan of this history proper embraces three divisions. The first is a condensed history of West Virginia ; the second is an elaborate, carefully-prepared county history, and part third is a biography.
Part First was written by Hu Maxwell, author of county histories of Tucker. Randolph and Barbour, and joint author of County History of Mineral and a text book on History and Government of West Virginia.
Parts Second and Third in the fall of 1906 and spring of 1907 and the material (much of collected years before) was collected from every available source. To those who aided in collecting the data for this book we are indebted and for the names of those who assisted in the most substantial way to make the History of Upshur a success, particular reference is directed to family history.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I.
Explorations West of the Blue Ridge... 19-24
CHAPTER II.
Indians and Moundbuilders... 25-28
CHAPTER III.
The French and Indian War... 29-38
CHAPTER IV.
The Dunmore War... 39-46
CHAPTER V.
West Virginia in the Revolution... 47-56
CHAPTER VI.
Subdivision and Boundaries... 57-65
CHAPTER VII.
The Newspapers of West Virginia... 66-70
CHAPTER VIII.
Geography, Geology and Climate... 71-82
CHAPTER IX.
Among Old Laws... 83-88
CHAPTER X.
Constitutional History... 89-104
CHAPTER XI.
John Brown's Raid... 105-108
CHAPTER XII.
The Ordinance of Secession... 109-112
CHAPTER XIII.
The Reorganized Government of Virginia... 113-119
CHAPTER XIV.
Formation of West Virginia... 120-125
CHAPTER XV.
Organizing for War... 126-137
CHAPTER XVI.
Progress of the War... 138-146
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About this time the lands on the Greenbrier River were attracting attention. A large grant was made to the Greenbrier Company; and in 1740 and 1750 John Lewis surveyed this region, and settlements grew up in a short time. The land was no better than the more easily accessible land east of the Alleghany Mountains; but the spirit of adventure which has always been characteristic of the American people, led the daring pioneers into the wilderness west of the mountains, and from that time the outposts of settlements moved down the Greenbrier and the Kanawha, and in twenty-two years had reached the Ohio River. The frontiersmen of Greenbrier were always foremost in repelling Indian attacks and in carrying the war into the enemy's country.
The eastern counties grew in population. Prior to the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1755, there were settlements all along the Potomac River, not only in Jefferson, Berkeley and Hampshire, but also in Hardy, Grant and Pendleton Counties. It is, of course, understood that those counties, as now named, were not in existence at that time. /div>
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