U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statementon the following page: ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER XIV. THE FORMATION OF LEWIS COUNTY The system of local government in Virginia before the Civil war demanded small counties. The judicial and administrative work was so centralized in a small body of men that it was practically impossible for the justices to look after the interests of a great number of people scattered over a wide expanse of territory. The business of the county court was usually transacted with four jus- tices present unless there was a levy to be made or offi- cers to be elected, when all the justices were summoned by the sheriff. The presiding justice and three others who lived near the county seat usually made up the court, and the same ones were not necessarily present on two consecutive days. Under such conditions the public business was more or less neglected, especially that in which the people who lived at a distance from the county seat were concerned. For some time prior to 1816 there had been much complaint among the people residing along the upper West Fork, the Buckhannon and the Little Kanawha rivers that their interests were being neglected by the county court, which seemed intent upon developing Clarksburg and the country round about it. It was the age-old complaint of the communities on the frontier — of western Virginia against that part of the Old Dominion east of the mountains, and later of the frontier sections of Lewis County as they began to reach their full development. The progress of settlement in the southern part of Harrison County, though not quite so rapid as around Clarksburg, was very swift. Three or four thousand people were living on the Buckhannon, the upper West Fork and the Little Kanawha by 1816. They demanded a new community center where they could attend court and vote at the general elections without having to travel for long distances from their homes to Clarksburg over the narrow trails which the Harrison County court called roads. The agitation came to a head in the election of 1815 for members of the General Assembly. The leaders of the movement for the division of the county deter- mined if possible to elect members of the House of Del- egates from Harrison County who would see that an, act was passed creating a new county from the southern part of Harrison. They therefore requested Colonel John McWhorter, a rising young attorney of Clarksburg and a native of Hacker's creek, and Col. Edward Jackson, who had served in the preceding legislature, to be their can- didates. Col. Jackson had no opposition, but some of the residents of the northern part of Harrison County, who were opposed to the proposed bill, concentrated their opposition on Colonel John McWhorter, knowing that if they were successful the county could not be divided. The contest was a very unequal one, for all the vot- ing was done at the county seat. It was necessary for Colonel McWhorter, if he expected to be elected, to get out the vote; and for the people of the southern part of the county to come to the polls at some time within the three days that they were open. The Colonel stumped the county, assisted by Joseph Johnson, a prominent lo- cal politician, who afterwards became governor of Vir- ginia. The settlers in the outlying parts of the county responded in great numbers to the call. Dressed in their best homespun and carrying their rifles on their shoul- ders and some jerked venison and johnny cake in their hunting shirts, they made their way to Clarksburg over trails blazed through the forests. The election was made a gala occasion by the voters. Many of them hunted on their way to the polls, and car- ried their game as presents to their hosts at the county seat. The candidates were expected to provide meals and sleeping quarters for the voters. The opposition had eng-aged all the available room in the hotels, but the head- quarters of the "new-county" party were opened at the home of Dr. Williams. So great was the crowd during the three days of the election that Mrs. Williams was frequently compelled to step across the bodies of sleeping men with scarcely room to place her feet, and many could not be accommodated in the house at all. They found more commodious quarters in the nearby woods, where they built huge fires, roasted their venison and slept m the open. Each candidate had a barrel of whiskey sit- ting beside the polling place, and when a voter announced the name of the candidate of his choice he was entitled to help himself. The barrel provided by Colonel Mc- Whorter was emptied first. The farmers from the south- ern part of the county had won. In the following term of the General Assembly Mc- Whorter and Jackson introduced a bill for the creation of a new county from the southern part of Harrison, to be called Lewis, in honor of Colonel Charles Lewis, who was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant. The bill was amended in the Senate, substituting the name of General Andrew Lewis, but the delegates from Harrison stood their ground and when the measure was finally passed, 18 December 1816, that part of the act providing that the county should be named for Colonel Charles Lewis was left unchanged. The boundaries of the county as set forth in the act were as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of the I Buckhannon river; thence a straight line to the head of the left hand fork of Jesse's run; thence a straight line to the mouth of Kincheloe Creek; thence up the said Creek with the meanders thereof to the dividing ridge between the Waters of the West Fork river and Middle Island Creek; thence a west course to the Wood County line, to include all the south part of Harrison down to the mouth of the Buckhannon River." By an act passed, 4 February 1818, Lewis County received an accession of territory east of the Buckhannon river from Randolph County. The boundaries were as follows: "Beginning at the dividing ridge near the head of the Buckhannon river, thence a straight line to the head of Grand Camp River; thence a straight line to the head of the Left Hand Fork of Big Sand Run; thence with the dividing ridge between Buckhannon and Middle Fork Rivers." Lewis County as thus constituted was bounded on the north by Harrison, on the east by Randolph, on the south by Greenbrier and Kanawha, and on the west by Wood. It had an area of 1,754 square miles. Besides the present territory of Lewis County it included nearly all of the present counties of Upshur, Gilmer and Brax- ton, and parts of Barbour, Webster, Doddridge, Ritchie and Calhoun. As customary in acts providing for the creation of new counties, no town was designated as the county seat. Instead the act named a commission, to consist of Ed- ward Jackson, Elias Lowther, John McCoy, Lewis Max- well and Daniel Stringer, to "ascertain the proper place for holding courts, erection of public buildings, etc." The act provided further that the justices of the peace ap- pointed for the new county should meet at Westfield upon the first court day and appoint such place for hold- ing court as the commissioners named in the act might think proper. The second Monday in every month was designated as the time for the meeting of the justices of the peace. The act also contained the usual provision that the Governor of the Commonwealth should appoint the first sheriff. The county government was organized pursuant to the act of the legislature on March 10, 1817. Philip Re- ger, Thomas Cunningham, John Hacker, William Pow- ers, John Bozarth, Daniel Stringer, John Jackson, John Mitchell, William Hacker, William Simms, William Peterson, Abner Abbott, John Hardman, George Bozarth, Elijah Newlon, Peyton Byrne, Jacob Lowrentz,(Lorentz), Samuel L. Jones and James Keith, all of whom had been appointed justices of the peace by Governor James P. Preston, met at the house of the Rev. Peter Davis, at Westfield, and resolved themselves into the county court of Lewis County. Philip Reger produced a commission from the governor as high sheriff of the county, and after taking the oath of office, the oath of fidelity to the Com- monwealth and the anti-duelling oath, and giving bond, he entered upon the duties of the office. The first work of the court was to fill the remainder of the county offices. Several applicants presented them- selves for each of the places, and the disappointments were many when the results were announced. Daniel Stringer was appointed clerk of the court, Edwin S. Duncan, attorney for the Commonwealth, and John Mitchell commissioner of the revenue. The following named citizens of various sections of the county were ap- pointed constables : Joseph Davis, Henry Reger, George Duvall, Adam Alkire, Isaac Collins, Jeremiah Howell, David W. Sleeth, Walter McWhorter, Walter Wilson and John Peterson. George Bush was recommended to His Excellency James P. Preston, Governor of the Com- monwealth, as a suitable person to fill the office of prin- cipal surveyor of the county On motion of Philip Reger, high sheriff, it was ordered that William Martin and Thomas S. Hacker be and are appointed deputies for the said Reger. They came into court and qualified ac- cording to law. The following named attorneys, most of whom resided at Clarksburg, were licensed to practice in the court of Lewis County: Lemuel E. Davisson, James Pindell and George L Davisson. It will be seen from the bare enumeration of the acts placed upon the record books that the court transacted a great amount of important business on the first day of the session. The next day, 11 March 1817, the constables who had been appointed on the preceding day came into court and gave bond in the amount of $500. The court ordered that the county should be laid off into three districts for the election of overseer of the poor. In the order passed by the court, the natural geographical divisions of the county were followed: "The settlement on the Buckhannon and its waters is to comprise one district, in which Abraham Carper is to superintend the election of overseer of the poor for the said district at the house of John Jackson; That the settlement of the West Fork, Hacker's creek and the waters thereof, do compose the second district, and that Henry McWhorter do superin- tend the election of overseer at his own house. That the settlement on the Little Kanawha river and its waters do compose the third district and that William Hacker be appointed to superintend the election of overseer at his own house." The overseers of the poor were the only county officers elected by the people. All the others were appointed either by the county court or by the governor upon the .recommendation of the court. Samuel L. Jones acknowledged his acceptance of the appointment of coroner. On motion of Daniel Stringer, clerk of the court, it was ordered that Robert W. Collins be ap- pointed as deputy clerk, and he qualified as the law di- rects. The machinery of the county was in complete running order, and after the transaction of some miscel- laneous business, the court was adjourned until "court in course." Immediately after the adjournment of the court, the commissioners named in the act creating Lewis County to select a site for the county seat, met and organized and then began inspecting the most eligible sites in the county to find the "proper place for holding courts." There were at that time two regularly established towns in the county, Buckhannon and Westfield, both of which had been established at the preceding session of the General Assembly. The people of Buckhannon had expected that in the original bill for the creation of the county some territory would be carved from Randolph, but the meas- ure was not carried through until the next session of the legislature, and Buckhannon was left on the border be- tween two counties with little hope of receiving the cov- eted designation. Westfield had a far better chance, ow- ing to its more central location. It had also a large pop- ulation — five or six families — and had been designated by the General Assembly as the place for holding the first courts. The location of the courthouse there was no doubt an accepted fact among the people of the town. But the designation of the legislature did not always mean that the final action taken would be the same, as happened in the case of Buckhannon when Harrison county was formed. At the following term of court, which met, 11 April 1817, at the home of Mrs. William Newlon of Westfield, the commissioners reported that "the most suitable place for the purpose aforesaid is on the farm of Henry Flesher, lying and being on the West Fork of the Monongahela River, above the mouth of Stone Coal Creek, on the east side of said river, and the particular spot of the grounds on said farm agreed upon by us is on the rising ground east of said Flesher's dwelling house, near the threshing floor of said Flesher, where his stack now stands." Just why the commissioners should have chosen the improved farm of Henry Flesher for the location of the courthouse in preference to the location farther down the river at Westfield is a matter of conjecture. It has been suggested that the location was made at the sug- gestion of John G. Jackson, who had formed grandiose plans to make the mouth of Stone Coal creek the head of navigation on the Monongahela. There is a possibility that the members of the commission from the western part of the county objected to a location so far from the geographical center as Westfield, and they finally acqui- esced in the selection of Flesher's farm as a compromise because it was on the natural route from the Buckhannon settlements to the Little Kanawha river as well as from the upper West Fork to Clarksburg. Upon the receipt of the report of the commissioners the county court passed an order to the effect that suc- ceeding sessions should meet at the point recommended. For some reason, possibly on account of the fact that Flesher's cow had not completely devoured the straw- stack on the site selected, or more probably because no houses suitable for the purpose had yet been constructed on the Flesher farm, the court continued for some time to meet in the Newlon home at Westfield. After acting upon the report of the commissioners the justices next proceeded to take up matters relating to the administration of the new county. They declared that the bills and notes of certain banks in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Tennessee were lawful cur- rency within the county; they ordered several deeds re- corded; they appointed viewers to lay out new roads- and they designated road supervisors to see that the roads of the county were kept in proper repair. Negotia- tions were begun with Joseph Johnson, Lewis Maxwell and John G. Stringer, the new owners of the Flesher farm, for the purchase of the real estate on which Henry Flesher's strawstack stood. After the lapse of two years the deed was recorded. The price paid for the "publick squeare" was $300. At the June term of the court the business transacted was somewhat widened in scope, and with what had gone before, completes practically the whole round of administrative duties of the old county courts of Lewis County. The first letters of administration were granted to James Mays, administrator of the estate of Jon- athan Mays, deceased. He was also appointed guard- ian of the infant children of Mays. The first levy of the new county was a poll tax of $1.05 on each tithable. The court also approved a list of claims amounting in all to $174.41, which were mainly for rent of a temporary courthouse, stationery and office furniture, extra ser- vices of county officers and claims of two of the commis- sioners appointed to locate the seat of justice of the county. The complete list of claims is as follows: To Mrs. Newlon for use of home to hold court in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 To Jacob Minter for making one writing desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.50 To Clerk of this Court for extra services (four months) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33 To same for books for use of county . . . 18.39 To same for paper for use of county . . . 10.83 To Robert W. Collins, Clerk of the Su- perior Court for books furnished for use of County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.37 To same for paper . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.17 To Edwin S. Duncan, Esq., Attorney for the Commonwealth in the Court for his services for four courts . . . . . . . 16.33 To Sheriff of Lewis County, for extra services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50 To Lewis Maxwell, Commissioner to lo- cate the seat of Justice for Lewis County 30.00 To John McCoy for same . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 _________ $174.31 Meanwhile the circuit court for Lewis County was being put in operation. In April, 1817, "the Honorable Daniel Smith, one of the judges of the General court present to hold a Superior Court in the Eleventh judicial district of the Commonwealth," came to the county and set up the "Superior Court of Law for Lewis County." Robert W. Collins was appointed clerk. He took the several oaths and gave bond in the amount of $10,00Q John G. Jackson was appointed prosecutor for the Com- monwealth. Edwin S. Duncan and Oliver Phelps were given leave to practice in the court. The first grand jury to be empanelled in the county consisted of William Hacker, foreman, William Simons, William Bennett, James Allen, Daniel Harpold, Alexander West, Samuel Bonnett, John Bailey, Thomas Batten, David Smith, John Starcher, John Life, Jacob Bonnett, Mark Smith, George Fisher, Adam Flesher, Paulser Butcher, Jacob Bush and Robert Simpson. It returned indictments, all for assault and battery, against the following named citi- zens of the county: Zechariah Westfall, Samuel Hall, John Hall, Levi Nutter, Joshua Russell, Travis Walker, Adam Alkire, Jacob Bennett, Mark Hershman and Jacob Romine. A petit jury was summoned upon the indict- ments. In September, 1817, Judge Smith returned for the regular term of court which met every six months. In 1819, Lewis County was made a part of the Fifteenth judicial district and Judge Lewis Summers, perhaps the most distinguished jurist in northwestern Virginia be- fore the Civil war, came to Weston to hold court. The county court of Lewis County held a session for the transaction of judicial business in June, 1817. A grand jury composed of George Dobson, foreman, John Brown, Peter Hardman, Samuel Stalnaker, William Moneypenny, John Cline, Jacob Wolf, Samuel Oliver, Minter Bailey, Emanuel Alkire, Daniel McCann, George Stealy, David Wolf, Paulser Butcher, William Peterson, Jr,. Martin Life and Jacob Abbott, returned one indict- ment against Presley Hamilton for keeping a tavern and retailing liquor without a license. The usual indict- ments returned to a county court were for assault and battery, profane swearing, failing to observe the Sab- bath day, horse-racing and against road overseers for failing to keep their roads in repair. The overseers usually laid the blame on their companies. At first in- dictments were also made against some of the citizens of the county for failing to work on the roads when called The overseers generally filed a plea in abatement and were allowed to "go without day". In 1819, the court found Lucy, the female slave of Thomas Batton, guilty of having murdered her infant. She was sentenced to be hanged in the courthouse yard at Fleshersville. Her value was appraised at $500, and ordered to be certified to the auditor of public accounts for the reimbursement of her owner. In 1819 the following named citizens of the county were appointed school commissioners by the county court: Joseph McCoy, John Mitchell, Asa Squires, David W. Sleeth, Edward Jackson, Lewis Maxwell and Aaron Gould. The first term of court at the permanent seat of jus- tice appears to have been held in 1818 in a house then being constructed for Lewis Maxwell just across the street from the public square. It is said that Judge Smith sat on a chair placed on Maxwell's workbench. The records were carried about on the person of the clerk or left at his home for the next year or two. Work on the permanent courthouse was not begun at once, partly owing to the dissatisfaction of the peo- ple of Westfield with the site chosen for the county seat and the threatened appeal to the General Assembly, partly through the lack of funds. In 1819, the justices were summoned by the sheriff for the purpose of taking action regarding the construc- tion of a permanent courthouse. Two brick kilns which had been burned by James M. Camp, were tendered to the court for use in building the new structure. They were inspected by a commission appointed by the court and were reported to be "good merchantable brick." The court accepted them. Colonel Edward Jackson, Henry McWhorter and Jonathan Wamsley were ap- pointed to contract with a superintendent for construct- ing the building. At the session of the court held in February, 1820, Jacob Lorentz, Joseph McCoy, R. W. Collins and John Mitchell were appointed to submit a plan for the structure. Another committee, consisting of James Allen, Henry McWhorter and R. W. Collins, were appointed on behalf of the court to let the contract which should "be advertised in some publick newspaper in the Town of Clarksburg as well as at the front door of the courthouse of this county." Only the walls, doors and windows were to be contracted for at first, and the court gave notice that only $500 would be paid to the contractor the first year. The committee for submitting a plan for the struct- ure made their report at the next term of court recom- mending the construction of a courthouse thirty-six feet long and thirty feet wide. Later an allowance was made for an addition for the clerk's office. The contract was let to James M. Camp, who, besides being a building contractor and brickmaker, was also the jailer, captain in the 133rd regiment of the Virginia militia, coal bank owner, real estate dealer, trustee of the town of Weston, tavern keeper and justice of the peace. The building was ready for occupancy some time in 1821. According to the description given by Squire Oliver, who saw the building as it was in 1844, it was not a model of archi- tectural beauty. "It would make you laugh," he says, "to see such a building. It was constructed of brick, two stories high with a cupola enormously high, all out of proportion, and when the wind would blow, which it often did, it would sway the whole building. It was, after the style of most of the dwellings, only partly fin- ished. The jury rooms were unplastered. In fact, it never was finished." The courthouse was used for a great variety of pur- poses. Some of the religious societies in the making held their meetings there; new and struggling congregations listened to their circuit preachers discoursing from the rostrum; the trustees of the town of Weston shaped the policies for development of the town in the jury room; a few terms of school were taught in the building, the classes being dismissed during the glorious period when court was in session; home talent plays were staged and public meetings were called to meet in the old building which continued to be the courthouse of the county until a more imposing structure was erected in 1856-7. The courthouse yard was "pailed in" in 1832 at a cost of $64. The county was without a permanent jail until 1824, the prisoners being kept in a building adjoining the home of Jailer James M. Camp, which was erected in 1818 of logs two feet thick. In 1823 a commission was appointed for the erection of a suitable jail. The next year, in accordance with the report of the commissioners, a jail was constructed on the public square. The walls were solidly built of sandstone, but the flues of the chim- neys were so large that prisoners frequently climbed up them and escaped. In order that prisoners for debt should not be con- fined too closely and also that they might have an op- portunity to go about their business and raise money to pay their debts, the court directed Adam Baird to lay off prison bounds not to exceed ten acres in extent. The bounds at first practically followed the limits of the town of Weston, and also included part of the lands on the west side of the river. Within the bounds the prisoners were allowed to go at will; but they could not go outside the bounds without being in custody. A room was re- served for them in the second story of the jail where they slept at night. Lewis County in 1820 contained a population of 4,347, of whom 125 were colored. The settlements were still confined mainly to the West Fork and Buckhannon river valleys with a few on Elk river and on the tribu- taries of the Little Kanawha. There was little danger that the settlers in the outlying portions of the county would be numerous enough to demand separate county governments for many years. NOTE — The statement that Joseph Johnson was a part owner in the Flesher land on which Weston was built is based on his own declaration made late in life. The original deed conveys the land to Maxwell and Stringer, and Johnson's name was not mentioned; nevertheless his great interest in the campaign and in the building up of the town gives color to his statement of financial interest. As the craftiest politician of his section, his desire to keep the transaction secret is easily explained. -----------------------------------------------------------