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HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA, BY VIRGIL A. LEWIS, A.M.

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HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA

BY VIRGIL A. LEWIS, A.M.,

STATE HISTORIAN AND ARCHIVIST

Ex-State Superintendent of Free Schools; Member of the American Historical
Association; Member of the American Political Science Association;
Member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association;
Member of the Ohio Valley Historical Asso-
ciation; Author of a general History of West Virginia
etc., etc.

NEW CENTURY EDITION

NEW YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
Copyright, 1896, 1904, and 1912,
by VIRGIL A. LEWIS.

Revised to 1916


INTRODUCTION.
page(s) 3-4

The idea of preparing a history of West Virginia as a
text-book for use in the public and private schools of the
State was not born of a sudden impulse.  For more
than a quarter of a century the author was engaged
in public school work, and nearly all that time in
active classwork in the schoolroom. While so engaged
he became strongly impressed with the fact that any
course of instruction is seriously defective if it does
not include a study that enables pupils to grow familiar
with the history of their own State and people. History
is also entitled to a place in the curriculum because it
possesses high value as a character-builder, because its
subject-matter is in itself deeply interesting, and because
it readily leads into other subjects of the school course.

This book has been prepared for the use of schools,
and its aim is to place in the hands of the children of
West Virginia a faithful, non-sectarian and non-partisan
history of the State in which they will eventually have to
discharge the duties of citizens or residents. As West
Virginia is one of the many States composing the Great
Republic, enough of national history has been interwoven
to enable the pupil to perceive in what manner and to
what extent the local laws, customs and institutions of
the State have been affected by events occurring in the
progress of the Nation.

With the view of making pupils more familiar with the
lives of such characters as have borne conspicuous parts
in the history of the State, and that they may have before
them high examples from their own localities, of what
individuals of this and preceding generations have been
able to achieve in the different walks of life, a consider-
able number of short biographical sketches have been
inserted as foot-notes or otherwise. The small size of the
work does not permit these sketches to be as full as they
should be; but it is hoped that when these have been
read, the interest of the pupil will be sufficiently aroused
to lead to the seeking for more complete information from
other sources, regarding not only those herein mentioned,
but the hundreds of others whose names are prominent
in our annals.

It has been the endeavor of the author to prepare a
volume, however humble, of authentic and unimpeach-
able history. If he has succeeded in his effort, he has
at least contributed something to the cause of public edu-
cation. And it is his hope that this contribution will
enable the pupil to begin that preparation that will, in the
future, make it possible for him to sketch for himself or
others a picture showing in accurate outlines and features
the noted men and events that go to make up the history
of West Virginia.

page 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART 1.
CHAP. I.—A Geographical and Physical View..........    7-13

CHAP. II.—The Mound Builders of West Virginia—Pre-
historic Time......................................   14-23

CHAP. III.—The Founding of European Colonies on the
Atlantic Coast—From 1607 to 1669 ..................   24-34

CHAP. IV.—Exploration and First Permanent Settle-
ment—From 1669 to 1735.............................   35-43

CHAP. V.—Important Events in the Early History of
the State—From 1736 to 1754. ......................   44-58

CHAP. VI.—The French and Indian War—From 1754 to
1763...............................................   59-73

CHAP. VII.—An Era of Peace—Pioneer Settlements—
From 1763 to 1773..................................   74-84

CHAP. VIII.—Lord Dunmore's War—The Battle of Point
Pleasant—From 1773 to 1775. .......................   85-94

CHAP. IX. West Virginia During the Revolutionary
War—From 1775 to 1783..............................   95-114

CHAP. X—West Virginia After the Revolution—From
1783 to 1795.......................................  115-130

CHAP. XI.—West Virginia at the Close of the Eighteenth
Century-From 1795 to 1800..........................  131-138

CHAP. XII.—The Lewis and dark Expedition—Burr-
Blennerhassett Conspiracy—Steam Navigation on the
Ohio River—From 1800 to 1811........................ 139-150

CHAP. XIII.—The War of 1812—Newspapers—From 1811
to 1825 ............................................ 151-160

CHAP. XIV.—Constitutional Changes and Other Events
—From 1825 to 1842.................................. 161-167

CHAP. XV.—Jurisdiction Over the Ohio—Constitutional
Convention—Insurrection at Harper's Ferry—From
1842 to 1860........................................ 168-178

CHAP. XVI.—Division of Virginia and Formation of
West Virginia—From 1860 to 1861..................... 179-185

CHAP. XVII.—The New State—From 1861 to 1863......... 186-189

CHAP. XVIII.—West Virginia Under First Constitution
—From 1863 to 1865.................................. 190-199

CHAP XIX.—The State Under the First Constitution
(Continued)—From 1863 to 1865....................... 200-206

CHAP. XX.—The State Under the First Constitution
(Continued}— From 1865 to 1870.............................. 207-216

CHAP. XXI.—The State Under the First Constitution
(Concluded)— From 1870 to 1872.............................. 217-223

CHAP. XXII.—The State Under the Present Constitution
—From 1872 to 1881............................................... 224-231

CHAP. XXIII.—The State Under the Present Constitu-
tion (Continued)—From 1881 to 1889........................ 232-242

CHAP. XXIV.—The State Under the Present Constitu-
tion (Continued}— From 1889 to 1893........................ 243-251

CHAP. XV.—The State Under the Present Constitution
(Continued)—From 1893 to the Present Time........... 252-274

PART II.
CHAP. I.—The Relation of the State to the Nation..... 275-278

CHAP. II.—The State Government........................... 279-282
The Constitution of the State............................ 283-346
534 Questions on the State Constitution. ................ 347-383
State, County and District Government of West Virginia... 384-398
Population of West Virginia by Counties.................. 399-402
Map of West Virginia..................................... 400-401
Act of Congress Admitting West Virginia into the Union... 403-405
State Officials.......................................... 406-410
THE COUNTIES OF WEST VIRGINIA............................ 411-416



HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT

OF

WEST VIRGINIA.

FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES TO THE PERMANENT
SETTLEMENT OF WHITE MEN IN THE STATE.

PART I.

HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.

A GEOGRAPHICAL AND PHYSICAL VIEW.

1. Geographical Position of the State. West
Virginia lies chiefly on the western slope of the Appa-
lachian Mountain System, and is situated between
37° 6' and 40° 38' north latitude, and between 0° 40'
and 5° 35' longitude west from Washington. It is
territorially bounded on the north by Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania and Maryland; on the east, by Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Virginia; on the south, by Virginia and
Kentucky, and on the west, by Kentucky and Ohio.

2. Description of Boundary Lines.  West Vir-
ginia is the most irregular in shape of all the States of
the American Union. Why this is so, will appear as
we progress in the study of its history. No legal
description of its boundary lines has been prepared,
but may be given thus: Beginning at a point on the
summit of the Blue Ridge, one mile east of Harper's
Ferry, where the Potomac breaks through that moun-
tain barrier; thence with the said river to the mouth
of the South Branch thereof; thence with the mean-
derings of the North Branch to its source or first
fountain, thence with the meridian passing through
the said first fountain due north to the southern
boundary of Pennsylvania; thence due west to the
southwest corner of Pennsylvania, and thence due
north to the low water mark on the west bank of the
Ohio river; thence with the said low water mark along
the Ohio, to the mouth of the Big Sandy river; thence
with that river and Tug Fork thereof, to the mouth
of Knox Creek; thence to the western extremity of
the dividing ridge now separating Virginia and West
Virginia, and thence with the lines separating the
several adjoining counties of the two States to the
place of beginning. To travel around the state by the
boundary thus described, would require a journey of
1,170 miles.

3. Extent and Area of the State. The total area
of the state is 24,715 square miles, of which 135
square miles are water surface. This area is almost
twenty times that of Rhode Island; twelve times that
of Delaware; five times that of Connecticut; three
times that of Massachusetts, and more than twice that
of Maryland. The longest straight line that can be
drawn across the State is that between a point on the
Blue Ridge, one mile east of Harper's Ferry, and Vir-
ginia Point, at the mouth of Big Sandy river; it
measures 274 3/4; miles.   The longest line that can
be drawn through the State from north to south,
if extended from the northern limit of Hancock
county to a point on Dividing Ridge, on the southern
border of McDowell county, would measure 245 miles.

4. Physical Features of West Virginia. West
Virginia is often called the "Little Mountain State."
This is due to the presence of the western ridges of
the Appalachian Mountain System, which extend
parallel through the eastern part of the State.
These mountains are grouped under the gen-
eral term of Alleghanies, but are known by various
local names in different parts of the State: as the
Greenbrier, Peters', Big Clear, the Yew Pine, the
Gauley, the Black, the Rich, the Cheat, the
South Fork, the North Fork the Jersey, the North
mountains and others.
Amid the lofty elevations the scenery rivals in grandeur
and beauty any to be found elsewhere on the conti-
nent, or, perhaps, in the world. For this reason the
State is frequently spoken of as the "Switzerland of
America."

5. The Plateau Region of West Virginia. The
mountain elevations around the sources of the Tug,
Twelve Pole, Guyandotte and Cole rivers in the
counties of Mingo, Logan, McDowell, Wyoming and
Raleigh, are but a northern continuation of the
Cumberland range of Tennessee and Kentucky,
and they stand upon the Cumberland Plateau,
which extends northward centrally through West
Virginia, to the southern boundary of Pennsylvania.
Upon this elevation lies all the hilly portion between
the mountains and the. Ohio river. This is the most
extensive region of the State; its general character is
that of vast ranges of hills with ever recurring valleys
and ever changing scenes.

6. Elevation Above Sea Level. The altitude of a
country is a subject of much interest, for it not only
determines in a great measure, the climatic conditions
and products, but largely, the character of the inhabi-
tants. The following elevations have been ascertained
by the United States Geological Survey and may
therefore be taken as accurate. At the mouth of Big
Sandy river, the altitude is 510 feet above the Gulf of
Mexico; at Wheeling, 645 feet; at the source of the
Twelve Pole river, 997 feet; at Harper's Ferry, 279
feet above Chesapeake Bay; at the mouth of Tygart's
Valley river, 875 feet; Loudoun Heights, Jefferson
county, 1,000 feet; Little North Mountains, Berkeley
county, 1,000 feet; Sleepy Creek Mountains, between
Berkeley and Morgan counties, 1,500 feet; Mann
Knob, Wayne county, 1,43 7 feet; Powell Knob, Gilmer
county, 1,460 feet; Bragg Knob, Clay county, 1,674
feet; High Knob, Braxton county, 1,720 feet; Milam
Ridge, Wyoming county, 2,500 feet; East River
Mountain and Stoney Ridge, Mercer county, 2,500
feet; Mitchell Ridge, Raleigh county, 3,000 feet; Flat
Top Mountain, between Raleigh and Mercer counties,
3,500 feet; Swope's Knob, Monroe county, 3,000
feet; Big Sewell mountains, Fayette county, 3,500
feet; South Branch mountain, Hardy county, 3,000
feet; Keeney's Knob, Summers county, 3,955 feet;
Cold Knob, Greenbrier county, 4,318 feet; High
Knob, Randolph county, 4,710 feet; Spruce Knob,
Pocahontas county, 4,730 feet; Spruce Knob, Pendle-
ton county, 4,860 feet.  The latter is the greatest
elevation yet determined in the State.

7. The Rivers of West Virginia. The whole of
the State lies within the Mississippi basin, except the
counties of Berkeley, Morgan, Jefferson, Hampshire,
Hardy, Mineral, Grant and Pendleton, which lie east
of the mountains and belong to the Atlantic Slope
drainage. All of the State west of the mountains, is
drained into the Ohio by the Big Sandy, Twelve Pole,
Guyandotte, Great Kanawha, Little Kanawha and
Monongahela rivers, with smaller streams, all of
which flow in a northwest direction. The Big Sandy
river forms the boundary between West Virginia
and Kentucky. The Great Kanawha has its source
in western North Carolina, and its upper course above
its junction with the Gauley river, is known as New
River; its principal tributaries are the Greenbrier, the
Gauley, the Elk, the Coal* and Pocatalico rivers.
The principal tributary of the Little Kanawha is
Hughes river which was once called Junius' river.
The Monongahela, in its course, receives the waters of
the Cheat and Tygart's Valley rivers. That portion
of the state east of the mountains, is drained by the
South Branch of the Potomac, the Opequon and Caca-
pon rivers and several smaller streams.

*The statement that this river was named for Samuel Cole and
should be spelled C-o-l-e is a mistake. In 1742, John Peter Salley
with John Howard, Josiah Howard and Charles St. Clair, left
Augusta county, Virginia; crossed the mountains; descended New
River to Richmond Falls; thence traveled westward to another
river which they descended, and because "In those mountains we
found great plenty of coals * * * we named it Coal River," and
such it is today. From the mouth of the Great Kanawha they
descended the Ohio which had been discovered by the French
explorer Robert, Cavalier la Salle, in 1669.

8. Source of Six Rivers. From the lofty apex of
the mountain region which connects the counties of
Pocahontas, Randolph and Pendleton, flow six beau-
tiful mountain rivers, five of which drain the
principal part of the State. These are the South
Branch of the Potomac, Cheat river, the Tygart's
Valley river, the Elk river, the Greenbrier river
and Jackson's river, the latter of which has its
source beyond the State line and flows away to join
the historic James river of Virginia. Each of the five
rivers flowing through West Virginia has its first
fountain on the highest elevation of the Alleghanies
and two of them find their way to mingle their waters
with those of Chesapeake Bay, whilst three of them
by way of the Ohio and Mississippi, discharge their
waters into the Gulf of Mexico. This mountain ele-
vation may be called the "Birthplace of Rivers."

9. Where Our History has been Made. It was
here in the valleys of the rivers of West Virginia,
upon the hills and amid the mountain fastnesses, that
the events which go to make up the history of our
State, have taken place. And we are now to learn of
them, that hereafter we may study the history of
other States and of the Nation; but before we can
successfully do that, we must know the history of
our own State. It will be a task of rare interest to
all who shall carefully study it and thus leam how
the territory within the State has been changed from
a howling wilderness inhabited by wild beasts and
savage men, to a land of schools, churches and thou-
sands of happy homes, the abode of a brave and intel-
ligent people who dare to maintain the enduring State
as a part of the great Nation.

" No tyrant here can wield the accursed rod
Where all breathe the atmosphere of God!
This goodly land by Nature's stem decree
Was preordained a land of liberty. "


CHAPTER II.

THE MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS OF WEST
VIRGINIA.

Prehistoric Time—Continued.

1. The First Inhabitants of West Virginia.—

Before entering upon the study of the history of our
State it is proper that we make inquiry regarding
the people who dwelt here before the coming of white
men. Who the first inhabitants were we do not know, for all
the ages through which the New World passed, prior to its dis-
covery by Columbus, are destitute of history and chronology.



called Mound Build-
ers, far superior to the Indians, once existed on this
continent, there can be not the least doubt. From
the Atlantic on the east, to the Pacific on the west,
and from the Great Lakes on the north to the Gulf

the ascent where they stood upon the summit—the first English
speaking people on the top of this, one of the greatest mounds on
the continent; from that day to this it has stood the wonder of all
beholders, and such, if not destroyed by the hand of man, it will
continue to be through centuries to come. The Mound was
opened in 1838, a tunnel ten feet wide and seven feet high being
made along the natural surface to the center (a distance of 111
feet) to a vault. Then a shaft was sunk from the apex to connect
with the tunnel. Two large vaults were discovered which con-
tained human skeletons, copper rings, bracelets, plates of mica,
ivory beads and ornaments. Within two feet of one of the skele-
tons was found the Inscribed Stone.

*This stone was found in the Mammoth Mound in 1838. The
inscription is in unknown characters, resembling those used by
the Scandinavian priests before the introduction of the Roman
alphabet. It has never been deciphered and nothing like it has
ever been found in America. It has attracted more attention
l6 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

on the south, we trace them by the mounds which are
to be found in almost every county of West Virginia,
and throughout the Mississippi Valley and by the
ruined structures in the southwestern part of our coun-
try. But, who were they? What their origin, and
what their fate ? Alas, we shall never know! Contem-
porary history furnishes no aid, for they were isolated
from all the world beside. They have disappeared
from the earth with not a line of recorded history

left behind them.

" Antiquity appears to have begun
Long after their primeval race was run."—Campbell.

2. The Ancestors of the Indians.—Were the Mound
Builders the ancestors of the Indians ? It is not prob-
able that they were. At the time of the discovery of
America, in 1492, many thousands of individuals, ex-
isting in all the various conditions of society, from the
lowest stage of barbarism, to that of a half civilized state,

from scientists and antiquarians at home and abroad than any
other relic found in the United States. The characters are now
conceded to be of European origin, and, if this be true, then there
is evidence that Europeans visited this continent before the com-
ing of Columbus. But who were they? No reply can be made
beyond the fact that they were of those acquainted with some
ancient alphabet known and used along the coast and among the
islands of the European continent. Powell, the antiquarian, says:

"Four of the characters correspond to the ancient Greek, four to
the Etruscan, five to the Norse, six to the Gaelic, seven to the old
Erse, and ten to the Phoenician." Certain it is that these char-
acters were those of the ancient rock alphabet consisting of right
and acute angled strokes used by the Pelasgi and other early Med-
iterranean people and which is the parent of the modern Runic
as well as of the Bardic. How came this Stone to be in a West
Virginia mound is a question which scientists and antiquarians
will continue to ask, but one which will never be answered.

MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS.

were found roaming from place to place in the Ameri-
can wilderness. They were altogether ignorant of the
country from which their ancestors had come, and of
the period at which they had been transplanted to the
New World. And, although there were traditions
among them seeming to cast some light upon these
subjects, yet, when thoroughly investigated, they
tended rather to bewilder than to lead to any satis-
factory conclusions. They knew no more of the
work of the Mound Builders than we do.

3. The Tribal Organizations of the Indians.—
The Indians, though seeming to know nothing what-
ever of any form of national government, nevertheless
existed in great tribal organizations, each having its
distinctive characteristics and name, and each con-
fined, in a way, to certain geographical limits and
under the leadership of ruling chiefs. Thus, in New
England, were the Pequods and Narragansetts; in
New York and Pennsylvania, the Six Nations; in
Virginia, the Powhatans; in Tennessee and other
southern states, the Cherokees, Creeks, Catawbas,
Seminoles and Yamasees, while north and west of
the Ohio dwelt the Miamas, Potawatamies and several
other tribes.

4. The Indians of West Virginia.—That part of
the present State of West Virginia south of the Great
Kanawha river was claimed by the Cherokees, while
the region drained by that stream and its tribu-
taries, was occupied by the Shawnees, one of the
most warlike tribes with which the white people came
in contact; they had towns within the present county
18 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

of Greenbrier, and a large one at the mouth of Old
Town creek, in Mason county; this latter they aban-
doned about the year
1763. That part of
the State between the
Little Kanawha river
and the present site of
Wheeling, was the
hunting ground of the
Mingos, who had their
towns on the northern
bank of the Ohio, near
where Steubenville
now stands. The val-
ley of the Mononga-
hela river was occu-
pied by the Delawares,
while the region now
embraced in the coun-
ties of Morgan, Berke-
ley and Jefferson, was
the home of the Tus-



caroras, which tribe removed from North Carolina
in 1712, and, becoming one of the Confederated
Tribes afterward known as the Six Nations, set-
tled here. Tuscarora creek, which flows through
the city of Martinsburg, derives its name from this

tribe.

5. The Supremacy of the Six Nations.—The most

powerful Indian Confederacy in America was that
of the Six Nations, or the Five Nations, before

MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS.

it was joined by the Tuscaroras; until then, it was
composed of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagos,
Cayugas and Senecas. The names of rivers and
lakes in western New York indicate the former resi-
dence of these tribes. Fierce and warlike, they tri-
umphed over the Eries, Susquehannas and other eastern
nations. Then turning southward, they carried their
victorious arms to the Tennessee, and westward to
the shores of Lake Superior, and in 1675, they com-
pelled allegiance on the part of the Delawares, Shaw-
nees and other tribes.  Thus, by conquest, they
established their title to all the territory between
the Alleghany mountains and the Great Lakes, and
thus their rule was supreme in West Virginia.
The Indians residing here acknowledged their su-
premacy.

6. The West Virginia Hunting Grounds.—During
the period of Indian occupation, West Virginia was
a favorite hunting ground for many tribes. Over
these extensive wilds, herds of bison, elk and deer
roamed at will, all the way from the Alleghanies to
the Ohio, and bear and much other game abounded in
all this region. Here the Indian built his wigwam
along the courses of the streams, and then chased
the game through the dense forests, or wended his
way along the war-path against the foe of his own
race who had dared to trespass upon his hunting
grounds.

7. Indian Battlefields Within the State.—Long
before the coming of white men to West Virginia,
the Indians quarreled and warred among themselves
20 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

and engaged in many bloody battles. Traditions
of these struggles were preserved and communi-
cated to the white settlers when they came to occupy
the land. A bloody battle occurred about the year
1700, opposite the mouth of Antietam Creek, now in
Jefferson county, on the Potomac river, between the



Delaware and Catawba tribes. Every Delaware en-
gaged, except one, was killed and every Catawba car-
ried away a scalp. Other engagements between the
savage warriors took place at the mouth of Opequon,
near the mouth of the South Branch of the Potomac,

MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS.

21

and at Hanging Rocks, now in the county of Hamp-
shire. This latter was, perhaps, the most fiercely



contested battle which the Indians ever fought among
themselves in West Virginia.
22 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA

8. Indian Geography of West Virginia.—These
Indian inhabitants knew all the country in which
they lived and had given names—many of them pretty
ones—to all the prominent landmarks and rivers of
the State.   Far to the northward and southward
stretched a vast mountain system, and the Indians
called it Ap-pal-ach-ia, meaning '' the endless moun-
tains." They clambered over the mountains so long
covered with snow and they called them the "Alle-
gha-ny," signifying "the place of the foot print," or

" the impression of the feet."

9. Indian Names of West Virginia Rivers.—The

Indians warred for the possession of the Ohio Valley
and the name " Ohio" was given to the river, mean-
ing the " river of blood.'' The Big Sandy river was
called the " Chat-ter-a-wha," the " river of sand-bars";

the Guyandotte river, the " Se-co-nee," the narrow
bottom river''; the Great Kanawha river was the  "Ken-in-she-ka," meaning in the Shawnee language "the
river of evil spirits" but the Delawares called it the
Kan-a-wha, "the place of the white stone.'' O-nim-go-how was the name of the Little Kanawha river;

Po-co-tal-i-co meant '' plenty of fat doe"; Cole river
was the "Wal-hon-de" of the Delawares, signifying the
"hill creek"; the Shawnees called Elk river, "Tis-
kel-wah," "river of fat elk," but the Delawares called
it "Pe-quo-ni," "the walnut river"; Paint creek, a
tributary of the Great Kanawha river, was known to
the Delawares as "Ot-to-we," or "deer creek"; Gau-
ley river was the " To-ke-bel-lo-ke" of the Dela-
wares, meaning the " falling creek"; the Greenbrier

MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS

23

river was known to the Miamas as the " We-ot-o-
we," while the Delawares called it "O-ne-pa-ke";

Blue Stone river was the " Mo-mon-go-sen-eka,"
"the big stone creek," of the Delawares who called
East river the " Ta-le-mo-te-no." The Shenandoah
was "the river of the stars"; the Po-to-meck has
been changed to its present form; the South Branch
of the Potomac was the " Wap-pa-tom-ica," and the
North Branch the "Co-hon-go-ru-ta", meaning the
"river of the wild goose;" the Delawares called the
river on which they lived the " Mo-non-ga-he-la"
signifying the '' river of caving banks." " Weeling,''
"the place of the skull," was the name of Wheeling
creek, and from it we have the name of the principal
city of the State.

10. The Indian as a Factor in Our History.—
Such was West Virginia, its inhabitants and geogra-
phy, before the coming of white men, who were des-
tined to build homes in the wilderness, but in doing
this, they were to dispute its possession with the
Indians, who for more than a hundred years waged a
fierce and relentless warfare upon the white settlers.
But it was a struggle between civilization and barbar-
ism and the result was the final supremacy of the
former. The people who once occupied West Virginia,
and made much of its history, have been driven out
of the territory now embraced within the State, driven
beyond the Mississippi to the western part of the Con-
tinent.

" A moment, and the pageant's gone;

The red men are no more.
The pale-faced stranger stands alone
Upon the river shore."         —Paulding.
CHAPTER III.

THE FOUNDING OF EUROPEAN COLONIES ON THE
ATLANTIC COAST.

From 1607 to 1669.

1. The Partition of a Continent.—No sooner did
Columbus make known to Europe the existence of a
New World, than many nations hastened to possess
portions of it. Spain was the country that aided
Columbus in making the discovery and that kingdom
proceeded to conquer its newly acquired possessions,
and by these triumphs, the civilizations of Mexico
and Peru perished from the earth. Prance was not
slow to profit by the discovery of Columbus. Far
away, hundreds of miles toward the Arctic Circle,
she took possession of the country along the St.
Lawrence and around Lake Champlain, and hastened
to plant colonies. Between the Spanish possessions
on the south and those of France on the north,
lay a territory extending from the 34th to the
50th parallel of north latitude, and stretching from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. England laid claim to
all this region, basing her right upon the discov-
eries of John and Sebastian Cabot, who were the
first to explore the eastern coast of North America,
they having sailed from Labrador to the Capes of
Virginia in the year 1498.

24



FOUNDING OF EUROPEAN COLONIES.

25

2. How West Virginia was Settled by White Men.

—West Virginia being an inland State, was not settled
by emigrants from Europe, as were the States along
the Atlantic Coast. It was from these that the white
settlers of West Virginia chiefly came, and if we
would properly understand the history of our own
State, we must, before beginning its study, leam some-
thing of the colonization of the States from which the
people came to settle ours.

3. Colonization of Virginia.—Virginia, of which
West Virginia was so long a part, is the oldest Amer-
ican State. One hundred and fifteen years passed
away after the discovery by Columbus, and in that
time, no white man had found a home in all the
country from the Everglades of Florida to the Pine-
clad hills of Nova Scotia. But the time was now at
hand when civilized men should come to found a
great nation in America. In 1606, the English King,
James I., granted a patent for territory in America
to a corporation composed of men of his kingdom,
to be known as the Virginia Company of London,
and the object was the founding of a permanent col-
ony in the New World.

4. Collecting the Colonists.—The Company im-
mediately set about the work before it, and colonists
to the number of one hundred and five were speedily
collected in and about London, and a little fleet, which
was to bear them from the shores of the Old World
to the wilds of the New, lay at anchor at the docks
of Blackwall, and here, on December 19th, 1606,
the colonists went on board, and the next day
26 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

the ships anchored at London. Three small vessels,
that would not now be thought worthy to attempt the
passage of the Atlantic, composed the fleet. They
were the " Susan Constant" of one hundred and
twenty tons burden, commanded by Captain Chris-
topher Newport, and carrying seventy-one persons;

the '' God-speed'' of forty tons, Captain Bartholomew
Gosnold, and having on board fifty-two persons, and the
"Discovery," a pinnace of twenty tons, Captain John
Radcliffe, bearing twenty-one persons. The number of
persons on board aggregated one hundred and thirty-
four, of whom twenty-nine composed the ships' crews
and the remaining one hundred and five were colonists.

5. The Departure from England.—On Saturday,
December 20th, 1606, the ships dropped down the
Thames river, but they were buffeted by contrary
winds and, January 1st, 1606-7, they cast anchor in
the Downs. Here, for six weeks, continuous storms
detained them in sight of England. But at length the
tempest abated. Again the sails were spread and the
little fleet stood out to sea. Gentle winds wafted it
onward and the shores of England faded from view, and
the blue hills of Ireland disappeared in the distance.
The ships were steered to the southwest, and, in time,
reached the Canary Islands. There they took in a sup-
ply of water, and five days later, sailed for San Domingo.

6. The Colonists at Sea.—Winds drove the fleet
onward over the billows and on February 24th,
1606-7,* it cast anchor at San Domingo. April the

*This manner of the double dating of events occurring between
the 1st day of January and the 25th day of March, in all the years

 10th ensuing, the voyage was continued, and the ships
were steered northward in hope of finding the long-
sought haven. On April 14th they crossed the Tropic

of Cancer and on the 21st, at 5 o'clock in the evening,
they were overtaken by a terrific storm of wind, rain
and thunder, but the ships out-rode it, and on April
26th, the watch descried land to the westward.

between 1582 and 1752, is observed by writers of that period.
Until the last named year, the 25th of March was regarded as
New Year's day, or the first day of the year, and since that time
the 1st day of January has been so regarded. England and her
American colonies adopted the latter method in 1752, in com-
pliance with an act of Parliament, which provided that the calen-
dar according to which the year begins on the 25th of March,
should not be used after the 31st day of December, 1751, and the 1st
day of January ensuing should be called and known as the first day
of the year 1752, and each succeeding year, throughout the Brit-
ish Dominions. From this it will be seen that the method of
double dating here used, is very necessary, for if we regard March
25th as the beginning of the year, then the ships reached San
Domingo February 24th, 1606 ; but if we consider the year as be-
ginning on the 1st day of January, then the ships anchored at San
Domingo February 24th, 1607.
28 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

7. The Fleet on the Coast of Virginia.—Because of
unfavorable winds, these founders of the oldest Ameri-
can State were tempest-tossed on the restless ocean
for long weeks and months, during a portion of which
time many were ill, and Robert Hunt, their preacher,
was so sick that it was thought that he could not
survive. It was the 26th day of April—one hundred
and twenty-eight days after the departure from Black-
wall—when they entered the mouth of Chesapeake Bay,
and upon the capes on either side, they bestowed the
names of Charles and Henry, in honor of the sons of
King James, the first of whom was afterward the unfor-
tunate Charles I., and the second is known to history
as Prince Henry. The ships, after entering the bay,
lay at anchor for several days at Old Point Comfort.



8. The Founding of Jamestown.—On May 12th
the sails were again unfurled and the ships were steered

FOUNDING OF EUROPEAN COLONIES.

into the mouth of a magnificent river, which the
natives called Powhatan, but to which the Colonists
gave the name of James, in honor of their beloved
sovereign. The voyage was continued up the river
to a point about fifty miles from its mouth, and here on
May 13th, 1607, these cavaliers went on shore and laid
the foundation of Jamestown, the oldest permanent
English settlement in America. This was thirteen
years and six months before any other English colony
was established in what is now the United States.

9. Settlement of Massachusetts.—From Massa-
chusetts came some of the pioneer settlers of West
Virginia. This was the second American State per-
manently settled by the English. One stormy day in
December, 1620, a little ship named the "Mayflower"
hove in sight off the bleak shore of Cape Cod, on the
coast of Massachusetts. On board the ship was a
band of devoted Christian people, who, more than two
months before, had left England, and during all that
time had been buffeted by wind and wave on the
broad Atlantic; but the voyage was now past, and, at
last, when all had almost given way to despair, these
heart-sick men and women reached the long-looked-
for harbor, and upon the 21st of this mid-winter
month, after having spent some time in exploring,
the weary voyagers landed at Plymouth Harbor, which
they named after the place they had left behind them
in their native land.  Such was the beginning of
New England.

10. Colonization of Maryland.—The "Ark" and
the "Dove"—names emblematic of safety and peace
30 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

—were two historic ships. They bore the first colo-
nists to Lord Baltimore's province of Maryland, a State
now so intimately connected with our own. It was
October, 1633, when the settlers, two hundred in
number, went on board and the ships sailed from
Gravesend, near the mouth of the Thames river.
They touched at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, and
November 22d, steered for the Azores, and then for the
West Indies. Reaching Barbadoes, the vessels were
detained for some time and did not reach Chesapeake
bay until the 27th day of February, 1633-4. At
Point Comfort both vessels received supplies. Thence
they proceeded slowly up the bay, and on the 27th of
March—thirty days after passing the capes of Vir-
ginia—amid the booming of cannon from the ships,
the immigrants went on shore and founded St. Marys,
the oldest settlement in Maryland. Here had landed
the men who were to make this State famous as the
home of liberty-loving people.  Many early West
Virginia settlers came from Maryland.

11.—The First Colonists of South Carolina.—
South Carolina soldiers served in West Virginia dur-
ing the Indian wars, and the history of the people of
that State is, therefore, connected with the early
annals of our own. The colonists, two hundred in
number, destined for South Carolina, left England in
1669.   The ships that conveyed them, were the
"Carolina," the "Port Royal," and the sloop "Al-
bemarle." Leaving England, the little fleet put in
at Kinsale, Ireland, for additional emigrants. Then
the sails were spread, and, the "Carolina," with

FOUNDING OF EUROPEAN COLONIES.

31

ninety-three passengers on board, in the lead, the
pilots steered for the West Indies. The ocean was
crossed, but the "Albemarle" went down before a
hurricane at Barbadoes, and the " Port Royal " met
a similar fate among the Bahamas. A sloop was pur-
chased at Barbadoes to convey the rescued passengers,
but she was parted from the " Carolina " by a storm
on the high seas and was driven into a port at the
Bermudas. There, too, the " Carolina " cast anchor,
but both vessels sailed on the 26th of February,
1669-70, and early in March, reached Seewee, now
Charleston, and thence proceeded to Port Royal
Harbor. Here they remained until April, when the
voyage was continued to Kiawah, now Ashley River,
where the emigrants went ashore and laid the
foundation of Charleston, the first English settlement
in South Carolina.

12. The Land of William Penn.—Many of the
people of West Virginia now trace their ancestry back
a century or more to Pennsylvania homes. The name
of the ship that bore William Penn to Pennsylvania-
was the "Welcome," and the account of her voyage
is a sad recital. When out from port but a few days,
the smallpox appeared among the passengers, and
before land was sighted, a third of them were dead.
The "Welcome" was tempest-tossed, but she outrode
the storm, passed the capes at the entrance of Dela-
ware bay, and four days later, October 27th, 1682, cast
anchor where New Castle now stands.

13. The Coming of the Founders of Georgia. —
Another historic ship left England in 1732. It was
32 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

the "Anne," of two hundred tons burden, Captain
Thomas, and having on board two hundred colonists,
men, women and children, destined as the founders
of Oglethorpe's province of Georgia. The "Anne"
left the English coast November 17th, 1732, and on
January 13th, 1732-3, reached Charleston Harbor
on the coast of South Carolina. Thence passing on
to the Savannah river, the colonists went ashore on
its right bank and began building Savannah, the old-
est city in Georgia. These were the founders of the
last one of the thirteen original colonies; that is, those
existing at the beginning of the Revolution.

14. The Beginning of the States was the Be-
ginning' of the Nation.—From these small beginnings
great states have developed and with others, they have
united and formed the great Nation—the United States
of America, of which the State of West Virginia is one.
From these States on the Atlantic coast, which we
have mentioned, many people came to settle in West
Virginia; especially is this true of Pennsylvania and
Maryland. But the great mass of those who first
found homes in our State came from that part of
Virginia east of the Blue Ridge, and that the story
of the two Virginias, inseparable as it is, may be
studied connectedly, we must return to that little
Colony planted on the banks of the James river in
1607; for around it as a central point is grouped the
early history of the Virginias, as well as much of our

national history.

15. The Character of the Virginia Colonists.—

We have seen how the first settlers came to Virginia.

FOUNDING OF EUROPEAN COLONIES. .

33

The early annals of the Colony abound with evidence
that they were a devoted Christian people, who saw and
recognized not only the guiding hand of Providence
in all their affairs, but, in the wilderness, were firm
believers in the teachings of Christianity. The prin-
cipal mover of the organization of the Virginia Com-
pany of London was Richard Hackluyt, himself a
minister and prebendary of Westminster. The Com-
pany gave to the colonists, when ready to sail, a
series of orders, the last of which was as follows:

"Lastly and chiefly, the way to prosper and achieve
good success is to make yourselves all of one mind,
for the good of your country, and your own, and to
serve and fear God, the Giver of all goodness; for
every plantation which Our Heavenly Father hath
not planted shall be rooted out." Rev. Robert Hunt
was the first minister in Virginia, and before the erec-
tion of a church at Jamestown, the people prepared a
place of worship by attaching a piece of sail-cloth to
three or four trees as a protection from the sun,
and for a pulpit a bar of wood was spiked to two
trees. There met the first church organization of
Virginia, and the first of English speaking people in
America.

16. The First Efforts to Establish a School in
the United States.—The first effort to establish a
school of any character in the United States, was
made at Jamestown in Virginia. The Virginia Com-
pany, composed, as it was, of men desiring the intel-
lectual development of the colonists, ever urged the
importance of education, and in 1619, it supplemented
34 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

the &1,500 collected, by a donation of 15,000 acres of
land to aid the Indian Mission school at Henrico.
But this was not the only effort in this direction. In
1621, the devoted Rev. Patrick Copland, chaplain
of an East India ship, collected funds to aid in the
establishment of a Free School in Charles City, Vir-
ginia, the said institution to be known as the East

India School.

17. From the Sea to the Mountains.—For a num-
ber of years after the founding of Jamestown the
settlements were confined to the valley of the James
river, but at length the population increased until the
homes of civilized men extended far into the interior,
and this, too, despite the fierce warfare carried on by
the Indians.  In 1670, there were 40,000 English
speaking people in Virginia, so that by that time
thousands of homes dotted all the landscape from the
sea to the mountains. These hardy pioneers had
extended the domain of civilization even to the base
of the Blue Ridge, but no one had dared to found a
home beyond that rocky barrier. So with Virginia's
sister colonies to the north and south.  They had
greatly increased in population and had extended set-
tlements, but none of them west of the mountains.
But "Westward the Star of Empire takes its way."
West Virginia lay in its line of march and it is, in
point of settlement, the oldest American State west of
the Appalachian mountains, and no other common-
wealth has. a more interesting or instructive history

than it.

CHAPTER IV.

EXPLORATION AND FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.

From 1669 to 1735.

1. Exploration of John Lederer.—The first white
man within the present limits of West Virginia was
John Lederer. He was a German by birth and was
an authorized explorer in the employment of Sir
William Berkeley, a Colonial Governor of Virginia.
Lederer made several journeys into the wilderness to
the westward. On one of these, he crossed the Blue
Ridge, in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, in what is
now Jefferson county, West Virginia. From here he
appears to have journeyed farther to the west over
the mountains into what is now Hampshire county,
and, probably, visited the valley of Cheat river. This
exploration was made in 1669.  A map of the
same has been preserved on which is a delineation of
the Potomac river, represented as being divided into
two branches.

2. The Discovery of the Ohio River.—By a singu-
lar coincidence, at the same time that John Lederer
was exploring the mountain region of West Virginia,
a representative of another nation beyond the sea,
saw the western part of the State, when descending
the Ohio river. This was Robert Cavelier La Salle,

one of the most eminent French explorers of the New
SB
36 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

World. It was in the year 1663, that Europeans
heard of the Ohio river, and the first intimation of
its existence came from the Indians to Dollier, a
French missionary in Can-
ada.  It was reported to be
almost as large as the St.
Lawrence.   This informa-
tion inspired the adventur-
ous spirit of La Salle with
a desire to behold the
great river.   Accordingly,
with Indian guides, he be-
gan his journey by way of
Onondaga, New York. In
October, 1669, he reached
the Allegheny river which



STATUE OF LA SALLE
LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO.

he descended to its junction with the Monongahela,
and thence continued down the Ohio as far as the
falls—now Louisville, Kentucky. There his guides
deserted him and he was compelled to make his way
back to Canada alone. The first white men who
reached the Falls of the great Kanawha, were Thomas
Batts, Robert Fallam, and Thomas Woods, who, with
Jack Neasam, left the Appomattox Indian town on
the Appomattox river, in Virginia, September 1, 1671,
and fifteen days later arrived at the Falls.

3. Expedition of Governor Spottswood over the
Blue Ridge.—Alexander Spottswood was one of the
most distinguished individuals that controlled the
destiny of Colonial Virginia. Hardy pioneers had
extended civilization over the eastern part of the

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.

37

Colony, but of the region to the westward, nothing
was known; the time was now come when white men
should penetrate the vast wilderness and return to
tell the story of its wonderful resources. Governor



ALEX. SPOTTSWOOD.

Spottswood equipped a party of thirty horsemen, and,
heading it in person, left Williamsburg. then the
capital of Virginia, on June 20th, 1716.

*Alexander Spottswood, who led the party, was born in 1676, at
Tangier, then an English Colony, in Africa, his father being the
resident surgeon. He was a thoroughly trained soldier, serving
on the Continent under the Duke of Marlborough. He was dan-
gerously wounded at the battle of Blenheim, in 1704, when serv-
ing as quartermaster-general, with the rank of Colonel.  He
arrived in Virginia in 1710, as Lieutenant-Governor under George
Hamilton, the Earl of Orkney, and his administration was the
most able of all the Colonial rulers. He, in connection with Rob-
ert Carry of England, established the first iron furnace in North
America. In 1730, he was made Deputy Postmaster-General for
the American Colonies, and it was he who promoted Ben-
jamin Franklin to the position of Postmaster for the province
of Pennsylvania. He rose to the rank of Major-General and,
38 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

4. The Party on the Summit of the Blue Ridge.

—Pressing onward through King William and Mid-
dlesex counties, they reached the Blue Ridge, which
they passed by way of Swift Run Gap. Crossing the
Shenandoah river, the intrepid governor and his party
pushed onward across the Shenandoah Valley and up
the mountains until, on September 5th, 1716, on one
of the loftiest peaks of the Appalachian range, prob-
ably within the present limits of Rockingham county,
Old Virginia, they halted and drank a health to King
George. What a spot! never before had the voice of
civilized man been heard amid this mountain fast-
ness. Here Robert Brooke, one of the party and the
king's surveyor-general, conducted the first scientific
observation ever made upon the Appalachian mount-
ains.

5. The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe.—The

party returned to Williamsburg and gave the most
glowing description of the country which they had
visited, and for the purpose of inducing emigration to
this far western land, Governor Spottswood established
the Trans-Montaine Order, or Knights of the Golden
Horseshoe, giving to each of those who had accom-

when on the eve of embarking with troops destined for Cartha-
gena, died at Annapolis, Maryland, June 7th, 1740. He owned the
house in which Lord Cornwallis afterward signed the articles of

capitulation at Yorktown.

Lady Spottswood, who became the wife of Governor Alexan-
der Spottswood, in 1724, was Anne Butler, daughter of Richard
Brayne, of Westminster, England. She derived her middle name
from James Butler, Duke of Ormond, her god-father. There are
many descendants of the issue of this marriage in Virginia and

West Virginia.

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.

39

panied him a miniature horseshoe; some of these were
set with valuable stones, and all bore the inscrip-
tion, Sic jurat transcendere monies—Thus he swears to
cross the mountains. These were given to all who
would accept them with the understanding that they
would comply with the terms implied in the inscrip-
tion.

6. Shenandoah the Home of Savage Men.—The
valley region includes all the territory lying between
the Blue Ridge on the east and the Alleghany moun-
tains on the west. The first quarter of the eighteenth
century passed away and savage men roamed back and
forth through all its wide extent, and quarreled and
warred among themselves for the possession of the
hunting grounds, then a howling wilderness. But
the time was near at hand when those who were to
settle the land, were to occupy it. The Shenandoah
Valley was to be redeemed from the sway of barbarous
men and made the dwelling-place of civilization.

7. No Definite Western Boundaries of Virginia's
Border Counties.—Virginia was the first state in the
world composed of separate political divisions based
upon the principle of representative self-government.
In 1634, twenty-seven years after the founding of
Jamestown, the colony was divided into eight counties
or shires, similar to those of England. Virginia ever
tried to keep civil government abreast of her most
adventurous pioneers, and to accomplish this, the
House of Burgesses—the legislative body of the Col-
ony—continued to make provision for the formation
of new counties.   These were usually established
40 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

with defined boundaries except on the west, where the
county extended indefinitely into the wilderness, so
that the settlement on the utmost bounds of civiliza-
tion would be included.

8. Exploration of John Van Matre.—About the
year 1735, John Van Matre, a representative of an
old Dutch family of New York, traversed the valley
of the South Branch of the Potomac. He was an
Indian trader making his headquarters with the
Delawares, a part of which tribe then resided on the
Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania, whence he jour-
neyed far toward the south to trade with the Cherokees
and Catawbas. Returning to New York, he advised
his sons, if they ever removed to Virginia, to secure
lands on the South Branch, these being, as he said,
the best he had seen.

9. Morgan Morgan, the First White Man to Find
a Home in West Virginia.—John Lederer came as an
explorer; Governor Spottswood and party came as ad-
venturers ; John Van Matre came as an Indian trader,
but his sons,whom he advised regarding the fertile lands
of the South Branch, were not to be the first to estab-
lish a home within the State. Morgan Morgan was
the name of him who reared the first cabin home in
West Virginia. The year was 1726-7, and the place
was the vicinity of the present village of Bunker Hill,
on Mill Creek, in Mill Creek magisterial district, in
what is now Berkeley county. Morgan Morgan was a
native of Wales, from whence he emigrated in early life
to Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Church of
England and noted for his exemplary piety. With the

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.

soberness of a sound mind and the earnestness of a
pious heart, he went about doing good, but forgot not
his own household. Late in life he became a minis-
ter of the church, and was a power for good in that
wilderness land. Such was the character of the man
who established the first Christian home in West Vir-
ginia.

10. The Founding of Mecklenberg, now Shep-
herdstown.—One mile below the present town of
Shepherdstown is what has been known for nearly
two hundred years as the "Old Pack-horse Ford,"
which was the only crossing of the Potomac river
east or west of it. By way of this ford came the Ger-
mans from Pennsylvania, who found here the gateway
to the fertile lands south of the Potomac. Hither
came a number of them as early as 1727-8, and once
across the river they saw on all sides the grey lime-
stone, reminding them of similar scenes in the Father-
land, and here they halted. They built a little village
which they called New Mecklenberg, from the city of
that name in Germany. Thus was founded the old-
est town in West Virginia. Thirty-four years later
the Virginia House of Burgesses legally established
the town and afterward changed the name to that of
Shepherdstown, in honor of Thomas Shepherd, who
laid it out.

11. The Van Matre Patent.—It has been stated that
John Van Matre, the Indian trader, advised his sons
to secure lands on the Virginia frontier. One of them,
Isaac Van Matre, visited that region about the year
1727, and so pleased was he that, in 1730, he and his
42 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.

brother John, received from Governor Gooch a patent
for 40,000 acres of land which they located and sur-
veyed the same year. Much of it was in what are now
Jefferson and Berkeley counties.

12. Joist Kite's Colony.—In 1731, the Van Matres
sold a part of these lands to Joist Hite, who, in the
year 1732, with his family and three of his sons-in-
law, George Bowman, Jacob Chrisman and Paul Fro-
man, and other persons to the number of sixteen fam-
ilies, left York, Pennsylvania, and cutting their
way through the wilderness, crossed the Potomac at
the '' Old Pack-horse Ford,'' and thence proceeding
up the Valley, found homes in the vicinity of Winches-
ter. These settlements were made in what is now
Frederick county, Virginia, and, therefore, not within
the present borders of this State, but we make men-
tion of them, for they exerted a great influence upon
the early settlements within the present boundaries of
Berkeley and Jefferson counties.

13. Other Early West Virginia Pioneers.—In
1730, and the years immediately following, a number
of daring frontiersmen found homes in West Virginia.
They settled principally upon the Opequon, Back
creek, Tuscarora creek, Little and Great Cacapon,
along the Potomac and in the South Branch Valley.
Some were Scotch-Irish and Germans, but these were
not the only people who found early homes in West
Virginia; for in its occupation and settlement, there
were blended almost all of the elements of European
civilization which were transplanted to our country.
For awhile these distinct elements maintained their

EARLY HISTORY OF THE STATE.

43

individuality, but a long series of Indian wars, together
with the Revolution, forced them into a united whole,
and so complete was the assimilation that instead of
a later divergence they have by common interests
become more firmly bound together.

" Our forest life was rough and rude,
And dangers closed us round ;

But here amid the green old wood,
Freedom was sought and found."

— Gallagher.