U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statementon the following page: ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER XV. THE BEGINNING OF WESTON The improved farm of Henry Flesher became a thriving village soon after its selection by the commis- sioners as the county seat of Lewis County. Shortly after the new county was formed Henry Flesher seems to have conveyed about one-third of his farm, embracing all that part east of the river to Joseph Johnson, Lewis Maxwell and John G. Stringer. Johnson lived near Bridge- port, and was afterwards to become famous as the only man west of the Alleghanies who ever became governor of the State of Virginia. His interest soon passed to Maxwell and Stringer who were both young men, and the former had been a member of the commission which selected the permanent county seat. The new proprietors immediately took measures to develop the old farm as a town-site. Early in 1817, Colonel Edward Jackson was employed to lay off the town into lots and mark the streets. Later a day was set for a great lot sale, and the announcement was posted all over the new county and in Clarksburg. A great crowd was attracted, partly by the desire to secure lots in the new town, partly to partake of the refreshments, partly to meet their friends. It was an occasion long to be re- membered by those who came to the old farm of Henry Flesher, which was then unoccupied, except for a house being built for Lewis Maxwell just opposite the lot designated as the public square. At the end of the day the promoters of the lot sale had no cause to be disap- pointed with their sales. Lots were sold to Thomas M. Batten, James M. Camp, George Conley, Edward H. Jackson, Paulser Butcher, Adam Flesher, Alex Kester, William Moneypenny, Sarah Batton, Richard Johnson, John Sprigg, Moses and John West, Charles West and John Pritchard. The last-named purchaser selected lot No. 22 on the right side of Main street, which was the farthest out in the country of any of the lots sold. The plan of the town as laid off by Edward Jack- son is practically the same as the plan of Weston today, and shows the good sense and vision of the surveyor. His employers were not entirely satisfied with the plan, however, and ten years later they secured an act of the legislature which blocked the head of Main street where the Bland hotel was afterwards built, and extended Water street to connect with Run street. All the streets that now exist in the central part of Weston were surveyed and marked by Colonel Jackson. The lots each contained practically one-fourth acre, having seventy-two and one- half feet frontage and extending back from the street one hundred and fifty feet. Building operations began at once on most of the lots purchased on the day of the sale, and the village soon contained ten or fifteen log houses. There was only one frame building in the town at that time. It stood op- posite the court house and was occupied by Lewis Mar- well for several years until he built a more imposing house a little farther down Center street. Parts of the first house built in Weston are still standing. In January, 1818 the General Assembly passed an act establishing the town as Preston, the inhabitants to have the same rights and privileges which have been noted in the case of Westfield. The following named cit- izens of Lewis County were designated as trustees : Henry McWhorter, Paulser Butcher, William Peterson, James M. Camp and Robert W. Collins. The town was called Preston in honor of James P. Preston, then gov- ernor of Virginia. In the autumn of the same year a new county named Preston was formed from Monongalia, and the name became undesirable for the town; for any- one not acquainted with the geography of northwestern Virginia would probably take it for granted that the town of Preston was the county seat of Preston County. It was very usual in those days for the county seat to bear the same name as the county. The awkward sit- uation was seen immediately by Colonel John McWhor- ter and John Bozarth, who then represented Lewis County in the House of Delegates, and they introduced a bill at once changing the name of the town from Preston to Fleshersville. The new name of course was to commemorate the name of the first settler who had come to the site of the town before the Declaration of Independence was signed. The citizens of the town, particularly the purchas- ers of the original farm, objected strongly to the new name. Henry Flesher, upon selling that part of his farm on the east side of the river, had moved to the other side, and had built his cabin upon what is now a part of the hospital lawn. He had consistently refused to have anything to do with the development of the town. So strong were the objections of some of the influential citizens of the town that at the next session of the legis- lature the delegates from Lewis County again secured a bill changing the name of the town. This time it bore the nondescript designation of Weston, which has at least the advantage that it can be borne by any town west of Eastport, Maine, without awakening jealousies or causing bitter feeling among the first families. The town has since borne the name without serious opposi- tion. The same year the first postoffice in Lewis County was established at Weston, under William Y. Henry as postmaster. The location of the office and the duration of his term are unknown. The mail was brought once a week from Clarksburg on horseback. Until the opening of the Clarksburg and Weston turnpike in the late 'forties the streets of Weston were under the supervision of the county court, which appoint- ed overseers to keep them in repair. All the citizens of Weston between the ages of sixteen and sixty were compelled to work their own roads and streets. By an order of the county court passed in 1819, the road down the river from Run street to Maxwell's run was made a separate precinct and "all the hands of Weston (were) to work same." The precinct remained unchanged for a quarter of a century, and it was a regular spring and fall occurrence for all the lawyers, merchants and other citizens of high and low degree to take mattocks, picks and shovels and try to put the road in passable condi- tion. One of the first duties of the governing authorities of the town was to secure ground for a cemetery and the public buildings. The trustees of the town obtained from Stringer and Maxwell an acre of ground lying on the hillside at the head of Center street "for the pur- pose of a Publick Burying yard for the Burying of those who may die in the Said Town and its vicinity and for the purpose of erecting thereon a publick meeting house and School house in Such manner as may hereafter be agreed on by the freeholders and house keepers resi- dent in the said town." This tract is known as the Ar- nold cemetery. For half a century after the establish- ment of the town it was the burial ground of most of the dead. The trustees never erected upon the lot the town hall and the sehoolhouse for which purpose it had been donated by the promoters. The courthouse was used both as a meeting place for the trustees and for a schoolhouse for many years afterwards. The people of early Weston seem never to have suffered from too much government at the hands of the trustees. The early prosperity of Weston was largely due to its position as the political center of the county. The location of the courthouse was a prime factor in inducing citizens from the surrounding country to locate in Weston. The court officials of course found it convenient to live near the seat of government. Lawyers and others whose business led them often to the courthouse also located in the town. The crowds who came to the courthouse every court day — and court day came every month — led to the establishment of hotels for their entertainment. One of the first court orders after the establishment of the town gave to Thomas H. Batton the right to keep an ordinary at his house in the town of Weston. An ordinary was a place where meals were served, liquors sold, and lodgings furnished at a certain fixed price. James M. Camp, jailer, militia captain, etc., was given a similar license. Both establishments prospered. Colonel Camp, in spite of his various occupations, found time to be a very hospitable tavern keeper, and it is said that no guest ever went away dissatisfied with the treatment he had received. People who knew Colonel Camp speak feelingly of his kindliness and good breeding. He seems to have been a man of large vision in business matters, but careless of detail, and the large tracts of land which he at one time owned slipped from his grasp because he failed to have his deeds recorded. The county court fixed the prices to be charged by the ordinary keepers. Following is the first schedule of prices in effect: For dieting of every meal's victuals . . . . .25 For a night's lodging . . . . . . . . . . . .12 1/2 For Liquors for Rum per 1/2 pint . . . . . . .18 3/4 For Wine per do . . . . . . . . .25 For Whiskey and Brandy per do . . . . . . . . . . . .12 1/2 Oats and Corn per gallon . . . . . . . . . . .12 1/2 For Horse to Hay 12 Hours . . . . . . . . . .17 For same to pasture 12 hours . . . . . . . . .12 1/2 It will be noted that the prices are expressed in most cases in fractions. This is due to the fact that the Eng- lish sixpense (12 1/2 cents), ninepence (18 3/4 cents), and shilling (25 cents) were the principal coins in circulation. The first homes of Henry and Adam Flesher were heated with wood, but Colonel Camp introduced the burning of "stone coal" which was dug by slaves from the bank on Stillhouse run (now Town run). This bank continued to be the principal source of fuel for some of the residents of the town until about 1826 when the road to it was discontinued. Aside from the attraction which the town had as the county seat, Weston possessed many advantages over Westfield and most of the other sites of the county which the commissioners might have chosen. As a com- mercial center the location could hardly have been im- proved upon at that time; and the county has been so judiciously pared down in the creation of other counties that Weston remains still the commercial as well as the political center of the county The road along the West Fork river was the natural route of travel for all the res- idents of Collins Settlement to reach the state road at Clarksburg. The old Indian trail through the Polk creek and Stone Coal valleys was the natural route of travel from the settlements on the Buckhannon and the upper Tygart's valley sections to the west. The site was already an important center of roads when it was chosen by the commissioners. It would probably in time have become a considerable center of trade even if the courthouse had been located at Westfield, and it might have become the leading town in the county without the residences of the court officials and the crowds on court days. It was not long after the establishment of the town that its importance as a business center was realized. Weeden Hoffman, who had started a small store at Westfield about 1817 or 1818, moved his stock of goods to the county seat about 1823, locating about where Kaplan's store is now. The first store building was not a large one and the stock of goods was not very ex- tensive, but it was nevertheless a great improvement for the town. People were able to secure their goods without having to go to Lorentz' or Westfield. On ac- count of the small amount of currency in northwestern Virginia at that time most of the receipts of the mer- chant were in produce. Whiskey at ten dollars a barrel, ginseng, hides, butter, maple sugar, honey, beeswax and other products of forest and farm were stored in the wareroom adjoining until the wagons could go to the east. Most of the stock in trade came from Baltimore, and was hauled over the wretched roads in monster cov- ered wagons. Merchants went east on horseback once or twice a year to purchase their stocks, which were deliv- ered in Weston by teamsters who made a regular busi- ness of hauling goods. The charges for transportation were about three cents a pound. The trip one way re- quired eighteen days, though the bill of lading allowed three weeks. The price of the goods was reduced as the distance necessary to transport the goods by wagon was lessened. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad reached Har- per's Ferry in 1839, Cumberland in 1842, Piedmont in 1850, Fetterman (near Grafton) 1852, and Clarksburg in July, 1856. The second store established in Weston was that of R. P. Camden, who commenced business apparently on the corner now occupied by the National Exchange bank, about 1827. The business was continued there and else- where for many years. After 1834 the proprietor of the store was also the postmaster, and the mails were sorted in one corner of the building set aside for the purpose. Other early merchants were Allen Simpson and Mc- Bride and Smith. The county seat was also recognized as an excellent location for the establishment of a mill by several citi- zens. Wheat and corn could be ground in 1819 at the Jackson mill below Weston, and corn at the Connelly mill a short distance out Polk creek. It was thought that Weston was a better location than either because of the number of residents in the town and also because of its being a center of travel. There was considerable ri- valry among the applicants for permission to erect the mill. Joseph Johnson, who was one of the proprietors of the land on which the town was built, in order to increase the desirability of residence on his lots, applied, in April, 1817, to have a commission appointed to condemn land for a mill below the mouth of Stone Coal creek. Before his application could be acted upon he sold out his inter- est in the town site to the other two partners, and al- lowed it to lapse. A little later in the year the court granted permission to John Burnside to erect a mill dam across the West Fork river on Johnson's location. The order was contested by John West, who in the September term of the Superior Court of Lew, appealed from the judgment of the county court. The Superior Court de- clared the judgment of the county court erroneous, but without prejudice to any future application of Burnside. A little later in the year, Daniel Stringer obtained per- mission to build a mill on First street. He and John Burnside erected the first mill in the town on the site of the present mill, in 1818. West secured a certiorari to the action of the county court the same year. After a prolonged contest in the courts, John Wamsley, clerk of the county court, was in 1823, declared by the Superior Court guilty of unlawful gaining in issuing the permit. The mill continued to stand, and the punishment of the clerk was apparently the only satisfaction that West re- ceived. West shortly afterward secured permission from the court to construct a mill at Bendale, and from that point of vantage he was able to cut off much of the up-river trade. His mill was not a paying proposition and he abandoned it after a time. The mill at Weston was operated by Burnside for a few years until his interest was taken over by Stringer, who sold it to Thomas Bland in 1830. The mill has since passed through many hands and experienced many vi- cissitudes of fire and flood and decay. Citizens of Wes- ton have at times been obliged to have their wheat ground at the Jackson mill, the McWhorter mill at Jane Lew, the Holt mill at Bendale and even at the Waldo mill above Roanoke. The new proprietor of the mill added a carding ma- chine to his equipment. On account of the number of sheep then being kept in the county, the new depart- ment was well patronized from the start. The house- wives of Weston found it a great convenience as com- pared with the laborious process of carding the wool by hand. Many of the owners of farms near town owned stills in which they worked up their surplus grain and fruit. Since it was impracticable to transport a bulky com- modity like farm produce across the mountains or down the Ohio and the Mississippi to market, and since there was a considerable demand for the product of the stills near home, it was the most profitable way in which sur- plus crops could be utilized, even though whiskey was worth only $10 a barrel. The Fleshers continued the manufacture of whiskey at a still on Buck Knob, which was perhaps the most important one near Weston at that time. A gun shop was established very early in the history of the town, probably by Alexander Kester. A black- smith shop was in operation in the late 'twenties where not only were horses shod, but butcher knives, scythes, hoes, frows, axes and other implements were made for the people of Weston and the surrounding country. Every shoe and every nail used in the opera- tion had to be made by hand in the shop. The first tannery established in the town was owned by Daniel Harpole who had previously operated a tan- nery at McWhorter's mill with indifferent success. After operating the plant for several years, he sold it to John Lorentz about 1825. who added new equipment and op- erated it for a number of years. The business required a capital of about $800 or $1,000 and gave employment to two boys. When it was operated by Lorentz, the plant was located at the head of Run street. Two build- ings, one for the vats the other for preparing the hides, made up the establishment, which long remained one of the most important of the manufacturing plants of Wes- ton. In 1830 the town contained about thirty dwellings representing a population of about two hundred. The streets were in bad shape from the fact that many of the farmers insisted upon hauling logs through them in wet weather. Pigs wandered through the premises of the inhabitants or wallowed in the mud holes. The cattle grazed in the woods near town or in some of the land which had been cleared nearby and left unfenced after several crops- The establishment of good hotels early differentiated Weston from most of the backwoods towns of north- western Virginia. The record book of the county court for 1852 contains a notation to the effect that one Min- ter Bailey had applied for a license to keep an ordinary in the Weston Hotel, and "being of good appearance and likely to keep an orderly house of entertainment," he was granted the desired right by the court. Bailey had lately come across the mountains from Fauquier County and was a member of the Bailey family which had settled on Broad run and later on Freeman's creek. The hotel thus established has remained one of the most noteworthy institutions in Weston from the time of its establishment to the present. It never had a sea- son of depression, never had a great boom. From the first it has remained in the hands of the proprietor or his descendants. For the first twenty years after its es- tablishment it was located in a two-story frame building which stood on the southwest corner of Main and Sec- ond streets, opposite the present site of the hotel. It may well be doubted whether the house has had greater popularity among travelers or greater fame throughout the surrounding country than it enjoyed in the old frame building. Major Bailey was a born host. He knew how to dissipate the fears of timid boys away from their homes for the first time. He would show them his surveyor's compass, or ask them about their parents, and so gain their confidence. Other guests were regaled with tales of his experiences. All were made to feel almost as if they were in their own homes. The at- mosphere of the hotel is still largely that of the old times when the citizens of Weston and travelers sat around the spacious fireplace and discussed the relative merits of Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, or expressed their disgust at the government of Virginia as adminis- tered by the politicians east of the mountains for the benefit of their own section. Next to the urbanity of Major Bailey, the success was due to the abilities of Mrs. Bailey as a housewife. "Any man could run a hotel with such a landlady as Mrs. Bailey," said one of the visitors. The venison always roasted to just the proper turn, the delicious wild turkey roasted or fried in its own fat, but above all the fried chicken, prepared as only Mrs. Bailey knew how, spread the fame of the establishment far and wide. The bar at the Bailey house was the best in the town in the early 'thirties. It consisted of a small space in one corner which was enclosed by a railing like a postoffice window. The purchaser came to the window, paid for his drink, drank it and gave way for another customer. It sometimes happened that the guests be- came too hilarious. Then the barroom would be locked and the key would suddenly disappear. It was of no use for the guests to protest. Major Bailey was very sorry, but the key was nowhere to be found. On one occasion the crowd became too noisy to be controlled, and the proprietor went to the river bank and cut a stout limb from a sycamore tree. Using it as a club he cleared the room in a very short time. The Weston Inn was established at the head of Main street in 1827 by Lucinda Lazell, but it never at- tained the popularity of the Weston Hotel and the later Bailey House under Major Bailey. Within a few years it was sold to Thomas Bland, and for a long time there- after continued to be one of the leading hotels of the section — second to the Bailey House in Weston — but better than the hotels in the neighboring towns. It con- tinued to block Main street at First street until it was destroyed by fire late in the century. Following the construction of the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike, a wagon shop was established in Weston about 1842 by W. W. Warder, a young man just graduated from Rector college at Pruntytown. Some of the best wagons of the day were made in the shop. When the lumber, stone and other material was hauled for the construction of the Weston State hospital, many of the old wagons made in Warder's shop were impressed into service. Many of the farmers who had not previous- ly been able to own wagons, furnished material in re- turn for the finished product. Rapid as was the material development of the town, the educational development was very slow. There was no concerted attempt of the citizens to secure good schools, such as took place in other and smaller com- munities at the same time. The people were content to depend upon subscription schools established by such teachers as could secure a sufficient number of pupils. There were no theaters in Weston until several years after the Civil war, but the citizens did not suffer from lack of theatrical entertainments. In 1838 a Thes pian society was organized by some of the younger peo- ple for the purpose "of studying the masterpieces of the drama and presenting the best popular selections of the day." The use of the courthouse was granted to the so- ciety by the county court, but after the first two or three performances, the permission was withdrawn- The society did not suspend performances, but secured another hall. At intervals until the beginning of the Civil war, plays were presented at various places, and the society was even reorganized after the close of the war for a brief, but very popular existence. Some of the plays presented were worth while, but others, like "East Lynne," could hardly be justified as worthy of study. The young men of the town organized a debating society about 1840, which enjoyed a brief existence. The religious organization of Weston was far be- hind that in the country districts round about. While churches were being organized on Freeman's creek, Skin creek, the Collins settlement and even at Bulltown, the citizens of the county seat had not a single church of any denomination. No church building had been erected there until 1844, twenty-seven years after the first es- tablishment of Preston. Other towns in northwestern Virginia were in a like situation. The circuit riders con- sidered them stony fields, not easily susceptible to culti- vation. It may be that the county preachers, with their backwoods manners, were made fun of when they at- tempted to preach in the towns, and their sermons, de- livered in language more forceful than grammatical, were probably laughed at. Many religious meetings were held at the courthouse by different denominations, but there does not seem to have been any tangible re- sult until about the year 1830. The Rev. John Talbott, a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, became a permanent resident of Weston. He gathered all the Methodists of the town together into a small class which met at first in the home of Elias Fisher. Later, when the number of members had outgrown the accommodations, he secured permission to use the courthouse for regular preaching services every two weeks. In 1831 the class at Weston was added to the Lewis circuit, of which Jona- than Holt was then assistant pastor. Later pastors were Thomas Williams, B. F. Sedwick, Thomas Baker, Joseph Ray and David Cross. The class grew and prospered during the ten years following its organization. In 1840 the quarterly con- ference of the Lewis circuit appointed a committee con- sisting of Elijah Flesher, Daniel Turney and Matthew Holt to secure funds, draw up plans and supervise the construction of a church building in Weston. The result was that late in 1844 the Methodists were established in their own church, a small brick structure located on the site of the present church. Though it was not a large structure and though it was lacking in the facili- ties which are found in even the country churches of to- day, being lighted with lard lamps, it was sufficient for the needs of the congregation until 1874, when a more commodious church was erected. The new church was a community enterprise. All denominations were given the right to use it for their meetings, and they no longer had to depend upon the court room. The Rev. Daniel Helmick of the Methodist Protestant church would preach at stated intervals. There were then two families of Episcopalians in the town, who had to depend upon occasional services of visiting rectors. The Baptists, Presbyterians and Meth- odist Protestants did not have a very great following in 1844. The Methodist church received a wonderful im- petus from its having the first building in the town, but it was soon much weakened by a division within its ranks. The general conference of the church in 1844 split over the question of slavery, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South was formed with a membership embracing most of the classes south of the Mason and Dixon line. Largely through the influence of the Holts the church at Weston determined to remain in the north- ern branch of the church, though most of the Methodist churches in the southern part of the county voted to join the southern branch. A number of the Weston Meth- odists withdrew from the church and formed a separate organization. About 1847 they erected a church build- ing on Center street on the lot now occupied by Linn Brannon. The southern church never was strong, and it finally died out about 1880. The Sunday school of the Methodist church was in full operation in 1846, when it was reported that its membership was fifty scholars. The West Virginia conference of the Methodist Episco- pal church, which was held in Weston in 1851, was an occasion long remembered by the people. Pastors who followed the Rev. Cross before the Civil war were W. D. F. Lauck, Caleb Foster, Moses Tichnell, Gideon Mar- tin, W. C. P. Hamilton, Franklin DeHass, James L. Clark, J. S. Patterson, S. R. Dawson, Samuel Steele, T. H. Monroe, A. J. Lyda, J. Hare, H. C. Sandford, J. W. W. Bolton and A. B. Rohrbough. A parsonage was con- structed in 1866. 'Squire George H. Oliver came to Weston in the early part of 1844 when he was a young man. The ap- pearance of the town and its people made a vivid impres- sion on his mind, and later he wrote a description of the town at that time. Most of the buildings of the town were then on upper Main street and on First and Second streets nearby. Lower Main street was then out in the country, and the Moore house, which had been erected by the Rev. John Talbott some years before, was con- sidered a country mansion. The new home of John Brannon on First street, according to popular opinion, was much too fine a house to be located so far from town. Log houses were in the great majority. The best houses in the town were a story and a half in height, built of poplar logs hewn to shape, over which weather- boarding had been nailed. The aristocrats among the houses had brick chimneys. Few of the buildings had ever come in contact with a paint brush, and the result was a dilapidated and woebegone appearance. In the majority of the houses the interior had not been finished. Some of them had only a single room furnished in which the family cooked, ate, slept and received their guests. Others had two rooms finished, and the remainder post- poned to some future date. There was only one brick building, the residence of M. W. Harrison, on the west side of Main street. On the corner now occupied by the National Exchange bank, stood an old rambling one- story frame structure owned by Hoffman and Camden, which was then unoccupied. The south side of First street was vacant from the Bland hotel at the head of Main street to the corner of Center street; from that point eastward was a cornfield. One hewn log house stood on the opposite side of First street. Center avenue had three houses on each side, not including the court- house and jail. On the east side of the street the house farthest down was the two-story brick residence of Lewis Maxwell on the lot now occupied by W. W. Bran- non. All the land north of the Maxwell home and east of Center avenue was included in Maxwell's meadow. It was enclosed, of course, in order that the cows which ran loose in the town could not get in. The stake and rider fence along Center avenue was at that time one of the most modern fences in the county. The old-fashion- ed worm fence could not always be depended upon to turn the Weston cows, trained as they were through years of experience in getting their food from forbid- den pastures. There were three buildings on each side of Court avenue occupied as residences by the elite of the town. In all there were about fifty dwellings. It is hardly correct to call the principal thorough- fares of the town streets. Main street had never been graded. It was still under the control of the county and was worked by the people of the town under the super- vision of Cabell Tavenner, the leading member of the Weston bar, who had probably been chosen for the posi- tion because he was of slender build and could not wield a pick as successfully as some of the others. There were neither horses nor plows; every bit of dirt had to be moved with pick and shovel. There were no sidewalks. "In some places there were some slabs — two laid side by side and spiked to cross pieces laid along for the pur- pose." At the corner of Main and Bank streets there was a very low place which became almost impassable in the fall and winter. Four-horse teams frequently became mired there, and had to be pulled out. As a temporary sidewalk across the alley, which had all the advantages of a drawbridge, the people built a trestle-work with slabs laid on top of it. In winter it was a not uncommon occurrence for the citizens of Weston to lose their foot- ing on the icy slabs and fall into the almost unfathoma- ble mud below. A board sidewalk would have been a novelty. There were in Weston five stores owned respectively by Weeden Hoffman, R. P. Camden, Alexander Scott Withers, McBride and Smith and Addison McLaughlin; three saddle and harness shops, owned by Thomas lusher, John Morrow and George A. Jackson; three tailors' shops owned by David Bare, John Flesher and James Ferguson; and two clock peddlers selling brass- wheel clocks which were just then superseding wooden- wheel clocks in the mountains of northwestern Virginia. Conrad Kester then owned the gunsmith shop and W. W- Warder the wagon shop. Benjamin Pritchard and Pres- ton Dawson were the two blacksmiths in the town, and there was also a shop about a mile out the Polk creek road operated by Elijah Flesher. Pritchard was consid- ered especially good on edged tools, and most of the butcher knives used in Weston at that date came from his shop; Flesher specialized in hoes, frows, and axes; and Dawson devoted his time principally to making horseshoes and shoeing horses. Allen Simpson and George W. Sleeth were the two cobblers, and both were overworked. They made all the shoes and boots worn in the town and in the surrounding country with the ex- ception of ladies' fine shoes which were brought from the east and sold by some of the merchants. John Lor- entz still owned the tannery. Isaac P. McBride and Jesse Woofter were cabinet makers, and Thomas W. Morris, John R. Beall, Joseph Minter, and William Beard were house carpenters and joiners. There was no meat market in the town, and none was needed, for all the citizens raised their own hogs. When butchering time came, most of the people employed Joseph Minter, whose skill in securing just the right scald, and whose knowledge of how to cut up the carcasses were unex- celled. There were then two physicians in Weston — Dr. William J. Bland and Dr. N. B. Barnes. Dr Bland is the first one who came to Weston. 'Squire Oliver say? of him that "he traveled through this county where there were no roads, through the woods and over the hills. . . . . The night was never too dark or the weather too stormy to deter the doctor when there was a call He did not stop to inquire if the party were able to pay the bill" but saddled his horse and was away as soon as the call came. His practice extended over all of Lewis. Upshur and Gilmer and parts of Harrison and Braxton. Dr. Barnes was also an able physician, and he also re- garded his profession as a means of prolonging life rather than of making money. His health would not permit him to expose himself to the elements as Dr. Bland did, and his practice therefore included only Wes- ton and the country in the immediate vicinity. The Weston bar in 1844 was a brilliant one. It was composed of eight lawyers, all of whom made their mark in the development of northwestern Virginia. The old- est in point of service was Colonel John McWhorter, who had been instrumental in the formation of Lewis County. He was an able lawyer, but given to lapses of memory. Cabell Tavenner, son-in-law of Alexander Scott Withers, was the recognized leader of the bar. He is described as a "slender, rather delicately featured man who combined logic with fluent speech and grace- ful delivery." Matthew Edmiston, later destined to make his mark in the judiciary, was then a new comer from Pocahontas County. Another very young lawyer was Jonathan M. Bennett, whose early education had been gained in the country schools of the Collins settlement, who had studied one year in Weston, served as deputy sheriff, and had been admitted to the bar in 1842. 'Squire Oliver says that he was better as thinker than as a speaker. Addison McLaughlin had lately come from Nicholas County where he was so popular that he was elected to the legislature before he was twenty-one years of age. He later moved to Braxton and championed the creation of Webster, whose county seat was named Ad- dison in his honor. Others were Jonathan Holt, Lewis Maxwell and Dexter Williams. Politically they were divided. McWhorter, Holt, McLaughlin and Maxwell were Whigs and Tavenner, Edmiston, Bennett and Wil- liams were Democrats. The postoffice in 1844 was conducted by George A. Jackson. The mail arrived once a week by horseback from Clarksburg. On Sunday afternoons toward the hour of four the citizens could be seen wending their way to the postoffice where they collected in a group and talked over questions of the day until a blast from the post boy's horn announced his coming. The mail was quickly sorted, and the return mail prepared and handed to the postboy for his return trip usually within twenty minutes. About twenty-five newspapers were regularly received by the citizens of the town. The Whigs divided their allegiance between the Richmond Whig, the Louisville Courier and the National Intelli- gencer, published at Washington. The Democrats sub- scribed for the Richmond Enquirer, then under the able editorship of Thomas Ritchie. A few subscribed for the Pittsburgh Christian Advocate, Several copies of the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper, and the Saturday Even- ing Post furnished all the current literature which came to the county. The Clarksburg Scion of Democracy was the only newspaper published in northwestern Vir- ginia which had any circulation in Weston. The circulating medium in use, aside from the pro- ducts of farm and forest, were Spanish silver dollars; French five franc pieces with the head of Napoleon I; English threepence, sixpence and ninepence; a few dimes, quarters and half dollars struck by the Philadelphia mint; and the banknotes of banks at Baltimore, Knox- ville, Richmond, Philadelphia and Wheeling. Two schools were in operation in Weston during the late fall and winter of 1844-45. Mrs. Mary Wilson and daughters, Anne and Fronie, had a school for young la- dies and small boys in their house, and a Mr. Foster, a Yankee direct from Vermont, taught a school attended by the larger boys. The latter school had sixteen pupils, of whom eight were taught the higher branches for $1 per month, and eight were classified as primary stu- dents at seventy-five cents per month. Some little diffi- culty was experienced by the pupils in solving the prob- lems in Pike's Arithmetic, which counted in pounds, shillings and pence instead of in dollars and cents. The Weston housewife in 1844 had practically the same equipment as the housewife of pioneer days. There were but two stoves in Weston, one in each of the hotels. The baking was done in Dutch ovens buried in embers at the capacious fireplace. Wild turkeys were dressed and hung up by the legs above the fire. A platter on the hearth caught the drippings which were poured over the fowl from time to time until it was done. The older inhabitants say that the old-fashioned roasts were bet- ter than those prepared today with the modern utensils of the ultra-modern housewife. The first piano in Weston was brought over the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike from Parkersburg in the summer of 1844. It was purchased by Mrs. Wilson, whose daughters had attended a school in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where music was one of the accomplish- ments taught. Weston in 1844 was without any manufacturing in- dustries except for the wagon shop, the tan yard and the combined grist and carding mill, which was still run by water power. There was not a single steam engine in the town and only one in the county at that time. -----------------------------------------------------------