U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statementon the following page: ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER XVII. EARLY TRANSPORTATION One of the causes of the agitation which resulted in the formation of Lewis County was the neglect of the Harrison County court to furnish means of transporta- tion for the people of the southern part of the county. There is no doubt that the people of that section had a grievance. Almost immediately following the organiza- tion of the county court that body began the work of creating a network of roads to bring all the settled por- tions of the county into easy communication with one another. Within two years an immense volume of road orders had been passed. Viewers were appointed to locate new roads in practically the whole expanse of the territory of the county. Especially was there an effort to develop the natural route east and west from Weston which had not been given much attention by the county court of Harrison County. The first road order passed by the Lewis County justices appointed viewers to mark a way for a road from near Bulltown to the Elk river above Sutton. Other im- portant roads opened within the first two years of the existence of the county were from the ford of the West Fork river at Weston to Harpold's on Murphy's creek; from Abner Mitchell's mill below the present site of Roanoke to the ford of the river below Henry Camden's (now Jacksonville); from the head of Rush run to First street in Weston; from the forks of the West fork river to the mouth of Crane's Nest Camp; up Dry Fork of Polk creek to intersect the road from the mouth of Free- man's creek to the mouth of Rush run; from Freeman's creek to the Harrison County line at Middle Island creek; from the forks of West Fork to the Haymond salt works. Every road mentioned afterward became an important highway, and practically every one at its establishment gave an outlet for a flourishing settle- ment. Like most of the other roads in northwestern Virginia at that period, these roads were hardly more than trails through the woods. None of them was met- aled. In most cases they led through the primeval for- est where the action of the sun in drying up the ground was not often of much effect. There were no culverts, and as a result the roads were generally muddy. They were not ditched properly, if at all. Yet they were roads, common property of the people of the county, which had been secured at little or no expense, and which held possibilities of being later important arteries of commerce. The roads were not kept in good condition at all. Sometimes they were not even worked by the people who had been designated in the order creating the road Road overseers were frequently in trouble with the courts for "failing to keep the road in repair." At a single session of the county court held in 1821, indict- ments were returned against George Fisher, John Wag- goner, Henry Flesher and John Sleeth, all of whom were in charge of important roads through rather pop- ulous communities. Two of the roads which were not in repair were approaches to Weston, one by the river from the north, the other from Polk creek. The hopes of the early residents of Weston for the rapid growth of the town were not so much in the build- ing of roads, as in the development of slackwater navi- gation on the West Fork river. One of the reasons for the choice of the site as the county seat was the belief that the mouth of Stone Coal creek was the head of nav- igation of the Monongahela. In 1817 a company was in process of formation to canalize the river, which, if it had succeeded, would have made Weston a great commer- cial center. The launching of the enterprise was not a sudden spurt, but followed a long period of agitation accompan- ied by some development. In 1793 the General Assembly passed its first act for the improvement of the Monon- gahela and West Fork rivers, making them navigable for passage by canoes and flatboats. In 1800 it declared the Monongahela a public highway. As we have seen, it was much used by the settlers along its course. Almost from the beginning it was the surest and best highway by which the produce of the upper valley could be taken to market. The prospects for a great increase in the amount of the agricultural produce in the upper valley of the West Fork, if adequate means of transportation could be se- cured, led to the incorporation of the Monongahela Nav- igation Company in 1818. The prime mover in the en- terprise was the indefatigable John G. Jackson, who was the business genius of the early northwest. He associat- ed himself in the enterprise with the leading men of the section. The charter conferred upon the company authority to make the Monongahela and West Fork rivers navigable for rafts, flatboats and lumber by build- ing dams throughout the course of the stream and by diverting the flow of the Buckhannon river into the West Fork by way of Stone Coal creek. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $150,000, of which two-fifths was to be subscribed by the state as soon as the remain- der was subscribed by private parties. The company began work of construction at once. Several dams were constructed, mostly on the lower course of the West Fork in Harrison County. The com- pany did not build any dams in Lewis County, nor did it attempt to divert the waters of the Buckhannon to the West Fork. It was soon discovered that more water al- ready coursed down the channel of the West Fork than the dams could hold back, for during the exceptionally great floods of 1819, most of the improvements were washed out or were completely ruined. Twenty-one thousand dollars had been sunk in the enterprise without apparent result, and the stockholders determined to abandon the project. In 1820 the Board of Public Works ordered a survey from the courthouse of Lewis County to the Pennsylvania line to determine the advisability of taking up the work further. Ten years later proceedings were begun in the courts to have the franchises of the Monongahela Navigation Company de- clared void and to vest them in the Board of Public Works of the state. The opportunity was never taken advantage of by the state. Before long the dams of the company which had withstood the flood were declare(i public nuisances and ordered to be removed by the courts. Thus ended the only serious attempt to improve the navigation of the West Fork river. The people of northwestern Virginia were never able again to secure the aid of the state in a project for making the river navigable. If the roseate dreams of John G. Jackson and other promoters of the enterprise had been fulfilled, Weston, at the head of navigation of the West Fork river would have been the metropolis of central West Virginia. If the project was to fail, it is as well that the work was abandoned before the added volume of the water from the Buckhannon river spread over the rich bottoms of Stone Coal. The trade with Pittsburgh and other points down the river grew in volume notwithstanding the failure of the Monongahela Navigation Company. Flatboats con- tinued to be built and canoes continued to be floated down the river filled with the produce of the settlers. The owners generally returned in canoes, bringing the necessities of life or cash which they had received for their produce. The river was also used for the transpor- tation of poplar and walnut logs which were floated to Clarksburg, and there formed into rafts to be floated to the shipyards above Pittsburgh. The principal interior routes of transportation con- tinued to be the roads which had been constructed through the forests or along the edges of clearings. New roads were located every year, and those in exist- ence were improved. The worst places were corduroyed with poles. Gradually bridges were being provided to enable the traveler to cross the streams at all times. In 1820 a small bridge was thrown across Maxwell's run by the supervisors of three nearby precincts on the order of the county court, but it was an insignificant structure, the work of thirty men for two days. Most of the smaller bridges of the county were similarly constructed by the combining of "companies" f different overseers. A special act was passed by the Assembly in 1826 which enabled the county courts of Lewis and Tyler counties to lay an additional levy of 33 1/2 cents to build bridges, repair roads and locate new roads. The act bore imme- diate fruit in Lewis County. The same year the first bridge of any considerable size in the county was con- structed across Stone Coal creek near its mouth by Jas- per Butcher. It was a rather sorry structure which re- quired considerable repairs in 1832 and was replaced by another bridge after ten years' service. The next bridge to be built by the county was one across the West Fork river at Weston. In July, 1829, the county court appointed Levi Maxwell and John Lorentz commissioners to build a frame bridge across the West Fork river at the western extremity of Second street, to be placed on stone pillars "if in their Opinion it will be best." The bridge was completed the next year "on stone pillars." It remained in use until replaced by the state bridge in 1847-48. In 1832 the court ordered the erection of a large and expensive bridge across the Buckhannon river at the mouth of Jaw-bone run, which stood for many years. The same year bridges were built across Hacker's creek just below McWhorter's Mills, and across Freeman's creek about a mile above its mouth. The latter continued to do service until the present cen- tury, though it was often in poor repair. The efforts of the court for the next few years were confined to meeting the assessments for the construction of the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike. In 1839, the build- ing of bridges was resumed when Abner Mitchell was designated to construct a wooden bridge to span Canoe run near its mouth. From that time forward many of the most important crossings of the county were bridged with more or less permanent structures, some of which have continued in use until almost the present day. A last attempt to clear the West Fork and the Lit- tle Kanawha rivers and render them navigable was made by the court in 1836. A resolution was passed ordering the sheriff to summon the justices to meet at the October term to determine the advisability of letting a contract to clear the rivers of stones, trees and rubbish. A copy of the resolutions was ordered forwarded to the courts of Monongalia, Harrison and Wood counties, but no answers were received, and there is no record of any further action having been taken by the court of Lewis. Prosperity was to come to Weston from the im- provement of the old Indian trail through the Poll-: creek and Stone Coal valleys, which by 1847 was a part of a main highway extending half way across the state. As early as 1823 the General Assembly directed the Board of Public Works to inquire into the expediency of a survey by the principal engineer of the state to fix the location of a road from Staunton to the mouth of the Little Kanawha river. The board reported promptly, affirming the desirability of such a survey. In March, 1824, the General Assembly passed an act providing for the opening of the road "to promote the improvement of that part of the State," and "to reduce the amount of the mileage of the public officers going to and returning from the State Capital." The sum of $1,600 was appio- priated each year out of the revenues derived by the state from Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Lewis and Wood counties to open the road, provided, that the counties named would raise an equal amount. The share apportioned to Lewis County was $400, but the county court seems not to have taken any action toward laying a levy for the construction of the road. Private citizens resolved not to allow the opportunity to pass for want of sufficient funds from Lewis County. They organized a campaign and raised the amount by subscription by the latter part of 1825. Most of the funds raised at this time were expended in making improvements in roads already in existence. The Randolph County court in 1814 had provided that a packhorse road should be laid out from Buckhannon to Beverly; Harrison County had established a ferry across the Buckhannon river and provided for laying out a road from Buckhannon to Henry Flesher's (Weston); Lewis County had established a road from the ford of the West Fork at Weston to the ford of Polk creek above Henry Flesher's, and later (1821) from Lewis Stallman's on Leading creek to the Wood county line on Hughes river. The Staunton and Parkersburg turn- pike followed practically the route of these old trails, which may be said to have been the beginning of the through route from Richmond to the Ohio river at Par- kersburg. The location of the turnpike was not finally fixed for several years. By the end of 1826 it had been sur- veyed only to the mouth of Riffle's run in Randolph County. In order to hasten the work, the General As- sembly directed that the county courts of Lewis, Ran- dolph and Wood counties should each appoint one com- missioner to lay off the remainder of the road by way of Beverly and Weston to Parkersburg. In 1828 the principal engineer was directed to examine the location of the road from Weston to Parkersburg with power to change the location already fixed by the commission- ers. The work of surveying the route was finished the same year. An act of the general Assembly, passed in 1830, pro- vided for the raising of $50,000 by a lottery, the pro ceeds of which were to be divided among the counties of Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Lewis and Wood according to a stated proportion. The act also directed the county court of each of the above-mentioned coun- ties to appoint a superintendent of construction. Two years later the amount appropriated for the construction of the road by the General Assembly was further in- creased, provided the county courts of the four counties through which the road passed should raise an equal amount. The work of construction of the road to Weston was vigorously pushed. With the completion by the Lewis County court of the bridges across the Buckhannon and the West Fork rivers, the turnpike was a fairly good dirt road from Staunton to a point beyond Weston by 1835. The effects of the construction of the turnpike were already being seen in that year in the great num- ber of new settlers who bought lands on Stone Coal and Polk creeks, and in the increased patronage of the Wes- ton Inn and the Weston Hotel. The crowds were made up mostly of emigrants who came as far as Weston and then went either to the Northwestern turnpike at Clarks- burg or followed the trails which led westward from Weston. By 1836 the business of keeping emigrants had become so profitable that Martin Smith, of Stone Coal creek and William J. Rice, of DeKalb, on the Little Ka- nawha river, applied for licenses to keep houses of pub- lic entertainment. The work of completing the road west of Weston was delayed by the slowness of Wood County in rais- ing the amount apportioned by acts of the General As- sembly. In 1837 it was reported that the road was un- completed through Wood and the western part of Lewis. The principal engineer of the Board of Public Works made an examination of the country the following year with a view to eliminating the difficulties with the Wood County court, which seemed satisfied with the Northwest- ern turnpike then connecting Parkersburg with the east. In his report he recommended several alternative routes west of Weston which would have made it join the Northwestern turnpike east of the boundaries of indif- ferent Wood County. The change in the location was not carried out, as the General Assembly had determined to construct the road by the most direct route without regard to the aid received from the county courts. A long step forward was taken in 1838 when the legisla- ture authorized the Board of Public Works to borrow $150,000 for the construction of the road from Staunton westward. Work was begun in earnest in 1838. Large forces of men were engaged at both ends of the line but little pro- gress was made in the eastern section for some time. The Board of Public Works experienced considerable difficulty in securing laborers due to the higher wages paid in the east and to the competition of such works as the Valley turnpike and the James River canal. The difficulties were gradually overcome and the construc- tion of the road hastened somewhat by the large grants of money from the state legislature. No longer com- pelled to rely upon support from the backwoods coun- ties through which the road passed, the promoters had reason to expect that it would soon be completed ac- cording to the best principles of highway construction then known. In 1841 parts of the road were formally placed in operation. The Board of Public Works was given authority to establish toll gates and levy tolls on users of the turnpike, subject to certain restrictions as to max- imum tolls. An act of the General Assembly appointed a com- missioner to sell out short stretches of the road along the Hughes river in the extreme western section of Lewis County Beverly was made a point on the road in 1842, by the machinations of the delegate from Ran- dolph County, although the route was thereby made more roundabout and the construction more difficult. An act of the legislature in 1845 appropriated $30,000 for the completion of the road between Beverly and Weston. By an act passed in 1847, bridges were pro- vided for over the Tygart's Valley river at Huttonsville, over Hughes river, over Stone Coal creek and over the West Fork river at Weston to replace the dilapidated structure which had been completed in 1830. The next year funds were provided for additional bridges, among which, in Lewis County the more important ones were across Polk creek, and across Alum fork near its mouth. The new bridges were solid, substantial structures without the faults of those hurriedly erected at an earlier date by the county courts. Many of them have contin- ued in use until the present time. The Stone Coal, Polk creek, and West Fork river bridges were built by Lem- uel Chenoweth, of Philippi, who had received the con- tract under rather interesting circumstances. He took a model of the bridges he proposed to erect to Rich- mond and entered it in competition with the plans and models submitted by bridge builders from all parts of the country. Few persons paid any attention to his rude unpainted model until he placed the ends on two chairs and then stood in the middle of the bridge. He dared his competitors to do the same, but none of them ventured to try it. The finished structures have proved themselves as strong as the model, as shown by the fact that the bridges across Stone Coal and Polk creeks are still in use after seventy years of constant service, and they are apparently good for another seventy years. In order to make the turnpike fit for a considerable winter travel, an act was passed in 1849 appropriating $60,000 for macadamizing parts of it. The next year the General Assembly authorized the Board of Public Works to borrow $150,000 on the credit of the state to complete the road through the wild lands, and to mac- adamize the sections of the road where there was great- est need for repairs. It was provided by the same act that the maximum grade might be four and one-half per cent "at difficult points where it was unavoidable," be- cause a great deal of trouble had been experienced in securing a suitable location in crossing Rich mountain and other high hills. Some of the bridges having been destroyed by floods in 1852 an appropriation was imme- diately passed to provide for rebuilding them. The amount named in the act was $100,000, which was to be used for planking and macadamizing in addition to the replacement of bridges. Heavy rains following the melt- ing of snow which had laid on the ground through most of the winter of 1852, caused a great deal of damage to the road, apart from the washing away of bridges. Ac- cording to the report of Superintendent John Brannon, of Weston, the road was in very bad condition, owing to the number of serious washouts. The tolls were re- ported to be wholly inadequate for the proper upkeep of the road. The legislature made no new appropriations of importance except to repair damages resulting from floods and hard usage in some sections. In 1860 the turnpike was divided into two sections with a superin- tendent in charge of each, their jurisdictions being di- vided by Cheat mountain. The road was an ambitious attempt of the state of Virginia to establish a route for commerce between the eastern and western parts of the. state. It was the only turnpike of importance entirely owned by the state, and for which the state took all responsibility, north of the Kanawha valley. Its total cost within the present limits of West Virginia was $264,043.07. Of this amount $146,403.47 had been borrowed on the credit of the state, and formed part of the Virginia debt in 1863. That the investment of Virginia in constructing the turnpike was not a profitable one is shown by the fact that only $17,- 080.71 was collected as tolls upon travelers. It was not expected that it would be a financial success for many years, otherwise the Board of Public Works would not have had the burden of constructing it. Private cap- ital could easily have been secured for the task. The state took charge of the construction largely to tap the resources of a hitherto undeveloped section, and to make it commercially dependent upon the business men of the region around Richmond. The results of the building of the road were far- reaching. While it was in course of construction work was provided for many citizens of Lewis County, for which they received payment in cash. It had been facetiously said that the mileage of members of the legislature and the income from digging ginseng had furnished the only sources of ready money in the back- woods counties. Henceforth Lewis County was out of the backwoods. Its citizens had to depend no longer for their income from agricultural produce sold in dis- tant markets, but had markets at home. The labor re- quired to finish the road was even greater than the local supply, and many Irish immigrants, who had just ar- rived in America, were attracted to the work. The great amount of unoccupied lands along the route and the easy terms of purchase offered by the proprietors, led many of them to settle permanently in Lewis County. Their wages were used for the purchase of the necessi- ties of life or were devoted to making payments on land, and the prosperity of the county was thereby increased. The construction camps were a ready market for agri- cultural products. For the first time in the history of the county the people had an important local market. After the completion of the road the market still existed. The steady stream of emigrants gave great prosperity to the keepers of hotels. Ordinaries sprang up at the foot of Buckhannon mountain, at the present site of Camden, at Steinbeck's (below Alum Bridge) and at the import- ant road junction at Linn. Minter Bailey erected on the northwest corner of Second and Main streets a three- story brick hotel building which was perhaps the largest in central West Virginia at the time of the formation of the State. A regular line of stagecoaches was establish- ed to run between Weston and Staunton. The hauling of manufactured goods over the mountains from Balti- more was largely given up on account of the fact that they could be shipped to Parkersburg and then hauled to Weston much more cheaply. The establishment of the road thus for a short time changed the course of commerce in the county. The Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike was one of the principal causes of one of the greatest eras of busi ness prosperity ever experienced in the county. Lateral roads were constructed almost immediately following the completion of the road, which connected the county seat with points north and south of the turnpike. The most important of these were the Weston and Charles- ton, the Clarksburg and Weston, the Weston and Gauley Bridge, the Weston and Lewisport, the Weston and Fairmont, the Buckhannon and Little Kanawha, and the Weston and West Union turnpikes. The first of these roads to be established was the Weston and Charleston turnpike, which was authorized by the General Assembly in 1836. The road was to be constructed by a joint stock company in accordance with the policy of the state at that time. The capital stock was $10,000, three-fifths of which was to be appropriated by the legislature and the remainder to be raised by levy, donations and subscriptions in the counties of Lewis and Kanawha. Braxton county had no part in the con- struction of the road, which did not pass through the territory of that county. In 1837 Lewis County raised $1,000, of which $300 was raised by levy and the remain- der from a subscription among the people. Kanawha County furnished its quota by 1842, when a commis- sioner was appointed to supervise the location and con- struction of the road. The route as finally determined upon followed the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike to the present site of Linn, where it crossed to Stewart creek by way of State Road run. It passed through the present villages of Glenville, Lettergap, Normantown, Stumptown and Millstone, and reached the Elk river at Clendenin. The act of the legislature apparently did not contemplate a real connecting link between the northern and southern parts of the state. The appropriation was entirely in- adequate for the construction of other than a dirt road. It was well graded, however, and furnished a far better means of communication than any that had previously existed in that section. The immediate effects of the Weston and Charles- ton turnpike upon the development of the extreme west- ern part of Lewis County was out of all proportion to the cost of the road. It has continued to exercise great influence over the development of Gilmer, Calhoun and Roane counties. By 1842 the town of Hartford was es- tablished at the point where the road reached the Little Kanawha river. When Gilmer County was formed, this town became the county seat. The whole district drain- ed by the West Fork of the Little Kanawha river and by Steer creek was opened up to settlement. So great was the rush to these lands, and so brilliant the future apparent for that region that the citizens began a move- ment for the formation of Gilmer and Roane counties shortly after the opening of the road. It was the prin- cipal route from the West Fork to the Great Kanawha river until the construction of the Weston and Gauley Bridge turnpike nearly twenty years later. The other roads constructed following the comple- tion of the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike will be reated in another chapter. They exercised a tremen- dous influence over the history of the county, but not perhaps as great an influence as they would have had but for the advent of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad into northwestern Virginia at this time. The new and more powerful agency of transportation had come to take the place of the slow moving wagon on the dirt road even before the completion of the Staunton and Parkersburtj turnpike. While Virginia was attempting to construct a canal from the James river to the Kanawha valley which would capture the trade of the entire west for Rich- mond and Norfolk, a group of Baltimore capitalists was engaged in constructing the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road to the west. The locomotive reached Harper's Ferry in 1833 and Cumberland in 1842. The effect was immediately felt in the quiet dales of the West Fork. Merchants who had previously hauled all their goods from Baltimore now hauled them from the nearest rail- road stop. They were thus enabled to sell them cheaper, and the citizens of the county were enabled to buy greater quantities of manufactured goods. It was no longer necessary to drive cattle all the way to Baltimore to market. They could be shipped part of the way, and they brought more per head at home because part of the expense of marketing them at home had been elim- inated. The railroad was pushed farther westward until it was opened as far as Fetterman in 1852. In 1856-7 the Northwestern Virginia railroad was completed from. Grafton to Parkersburg. The final completion of this last link enabled the business men of Lewis County to have their goods hauled all the way by rail with the ex- ception of the distance from Clarksburg. -----------------------------------------------------------