U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statementon the following page: ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER XXIV. THE POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION The outcome of the war determined that the United States was a nation, that the western part of Virginia should henceforth form a separate state, and that the former slaves should be citizens of both. The surren- der of Lee at Appomattox did not solve all the prob- lems of government of either nation or state, but brought many new problems of only less difficulty in its train. Though reconstruction was primarily a national and state problem, yet in Lewis County it caused such a tremend- ous upheaval in politics that it has influenced the whole later history of the county. The marks of the period are yet visible on our political and social life. The constitution adopted by the state of West Vir- ginia abolished the unsatisfactory system of county courts with both judicial and administrative functions, and in its place substituted a new and complex system of local government. The township system, borrowed from New York and the New England states, partly super- seded the county as a unit. Each county was to be di- vided into from three to ten townships, each with its own officers and each transacting business in township meet- ings. The officers were a supervisor, a clerk, surveyors of roads, and an overseer of the poor, elected annually; one or more constables, elected biennially; and one or more justices elected quadrennially. There were also a treasurer, three school commissioners and two inspectors of elections. In place of the county court as an adminis- trative body was the board of supervisors, consisting of the supervisors of all the townships in the county, meet- ing regularly at the county seat. The judicial business of the county was for the most part divorced from the administrative. The county officers were a sheriff, a recorder, a prosecuting attorney, a surveyor of lands and, in Lewis County, two assessors. The county court of Lewis County, in preparation for the change in government, appointed Jesse Woofter. Esais Petty, John S. Anderson and Mansfield McWhor- ter as commissioners to lay off the county into town- ships. The board met at Weston and, with the aid of the surveyor of lands, fixed the boundaries of the townships. The southern part of the county which had been the first election district under the constitution of 1852, now Col- lins Settlement, formed one township and was called Battelle, in honor of Gordon Battelle, a Methodist preacher and head of the Northwestern Academy, who had done much to counteract the influence of the eastern politicians in trying to lead the west into secession. The second election district formed the township of Weston. It included practically the territory in the present dis- tricts of Skin Creek and Court House, the only differ- ence being that east of Weston the northern boundary was the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike. The ter- ritory north of the turnpike and east of the West Fork river formed the third township under the name of Jane Lew. The territory drained by Polk creek, Freeman's creek and Leading creek formed the township of Willey, named in honor of Waitman T. Willey, one of the first United States senators from West Virginia. The first board of supervisors consisted of Robert Crawford, of Battelle; George I. Marsh, of Weston; (township); Noah Life, of Jane Lew (township); and Richard B. Hall, of Willey. Henry Brannon was the first clerk of the board and Francis M. Chalfant, the first treasurer. The transaction of business by the board of super- visors was frequently delayed in the beginning by the number of deadlocks, due to the even number of super- visors. Within a few months after the plan went into operation, a new township under the name of George- town was created out of the township of Weston with the addition of a strip of territory from Jane Lew. It embraced the territory now included in Skin creek dis- trict. The name was changed to Lincoln after the Pres- ident had been re-elected in 1864. In June, 1865, the name of Weston township was changed to Sheridan, partly because General Philip H. Sheridan had driven the Confederates out of the Shenandoah valley and de- feated them at Five Forks, partly because he was an Irishman. The difficulties of setting a new and unfamiliar gov- ernment in operation were not decreased by the fact that it had to be inaugurated in time of war often in the presence of contending troops. Civil government could hardly be effective under any system when conditions were as they existed in 1863. The township system was unpopular almost from the start. There were too many officials, for in addition to all the usual county officers there were added as many officials for each township, and the amount expended for salaries for all seemed out of proportion to the services which they rendered. Then too, the former county offi- cers failed for two or more years to deliver their books to the new justices of the peace. The county was at great additional expense on account of the payment of bounties for enlistment, for relief of the families of sol- diers and for many other extraordinary expenditures made necessary by the war. In order that the people should have means of communication, it was necessary for the county to take over the turnpikes and operate them at great additional expense because the turnpike companies were unable to keep them in repair after they had been cut to pieces in winter movements of troops and supplies. Bridges were destroyed or badly damaged, and had to be replaced after the war. In order to meet the increased expenditures it was necessary for the board of supervisors to increase the taxes. Such an action was sure to lead to complaint against the board, no matter how economically it ad- ministered the affairs of the county. The assessment of real estate in 1866, as provided by state law, raised a storm of protest from all sides. Assessors John P. Peter- son and William A. Watson increased the average val- uation on lands from $3.18, as it was in 1861, to $6.11 per acre, exclusive of town lots in both cases. The board of supervisors immediately passed a resolution declaring it to be their judgment that the assessment was too high. On account of the fact, they said, that the county was much of the time occupied by contending armies which depleted the numbers of the live stock and the means of subsistence, the lands had been neglected and were act- ually worth less than before the war. After the high values of Peterson and Watson had been further in- creased twenty-one per cent by a state board, the super- visors again protested, declaring: "Recuperation can- not follow exhausting taxation aggravated by fictitious enormous values." It is possible that the purpose of the supervisors in passing the resolution was political. The increase in values could have been balanced by a decrease in the rate. Though the rate of levy was slightly reduced the taxes of the citizens steadily increased. The township system was blamed; the officers were blamed; the new state was blamed; and the radical Republicans were blamed. There was much discontent. At this juncture many of the ex-Confederates returned to West Virginia and in some counties attempted to take the reins of government in their own hands. The problem of estab- lishing a satisfactory local government in the face of their criticism became more difficult. Soon after the surrender of Lee, when it was seen that most of the Lewis County soldiers in the Southern army would return to their homes, a mass meeting of citizens was held at the courthouse to take measures to prevent others from returning and to drive out those who had already come home. Strong resolutions were drafted by a committee, said to have been composed partly of men who had first come to Weston with Un- ion troops, and these resolutions were adopted by the convention. There is good reason to believe that the mass meet- ing did not represent the real sentiment of the majority of Lewis County. The general belief seemed to be that the ex-Confederates had accepted the results of the war, and the Lewis County people were willing to forget the part they had played during the conflict. Even during the struggle there was an absence of bitterness rather remarkable considering the tension under which the peo- ple were laboring. When an act of the West Virginia Legislature was passed in 1863 declaring forfeited the property of citizens of the state who were then serving the states in rebellion against the United States, the Lewis County board of supervisors refused to take ac- tion against the property of any former resident. Even Jonathan M. Bennett, who had continued to serve as First Auditor of the Virginia government at Richmond all through the war, found all his property intact upon his return to Weston. The board of supervisors heard a complaint made by him, shortly after his return, that he was assessed with property which he did not own, and the books were ordered corrected. The ex-Confederates, upon their return home, were confronted with laws which prevented their exercising the right of suffrage. A voter's test act, passed in 1865, required each voter to take an oath that he had "neither voluntarily borne arms against the United States nor aided those who had engaged in armed hostillity against the United States." Fearing that the registration laws were unconstitutional, a decitizenizing amendment was submitted to the people by the legislature. Under the operation of the registration law, the amendment was passed in Lewis County by a majority of 99. It is esti- mated that three hundred white men were disfranchised in the county as a result of its ratification. A contest was at once begun by the ex-Confeder- ates to secure the right of suffrage for all white men — the same rights which the radical Republicans in West Virginia seemed willing to accord to the negroes. In the November elections of 1866, less than six months af- ter the passage of the amendment, the board of super- visors found it expedient to throw out the returns from six precincts because a number of persons had voted there whose names were not on the books. The Re- publicans lost the assessorship in the first district on ac- count of the fact that their candidate was not a citizen of the county at the time of the election, and great was the rejoicing in the Democratic ranks. The ex-Confederates were aided by the Democrats, who made common cause with them as a party of op- position, in their attempts to secure control of the county government. Their efforts to secure the suffrage met with determined opposition on the part of those who had espoused the Union cause. A bitter struggle marked all the elections from this time forth for a number of years. The political struggle soon became so desperate that the feeling soon extended beyond political matters. In 1869, one of the ex-Confederates declared that the Republicans "had become partial and political even in their business dealings." He advocated a boycott on the business of all the Republicans if they maintained their attitude. The Republicans were again successful in the elec- tion of 1867, but it was apparent that the election the next year would be fiercely contested. Governor Bore- man had appointed as the board of registration for Lewis County, James Corley and James Conrad of Battelle and Richard B. Hall of Willey. It was their difficult duty to register all the citizens of the county who were entitled to vote and to refuse to register all those who came under the provisions of the "decitizenizing amend- ment." The board summoned forty-two voters, whose names had previously appeared on the books, to show cause why they should not be denied the right of suffrage. After a hearing at the county seat twenty-eight names were struck off the books, seventeen without the intro- duction of any testimony whatever but simply because they failed to appear in answer to the summons. The action was denounced as high-handed and arbitrary by the Democrats. Accusations were made that the regis- trars were actuated by ulterior motives, in view of the fact that all but three of the persons summoned lived in Battelle township, the home of two members of the board. The action aroused great resentment, with the result that in the election which followed many voters turned to the party of opposition. The campaign was also complicated by the introduction of the question of taxation. Promises were made by the Democratic can- didates for supervisor that if they were successful they would reduce the expenses of the county government. The result of the election was that in spite of the dis- franchisement of every citizen who could be disfran- chised under the law the entire local ticket of the Dem- ocrats was elected in every township except Willey. In accordance with their promises to their constit- uents the new board of supervisors began to make whole- sale reductions in salaries. The salary of the clerk, which had been $200, was cut in half; the prosecuting attorney had to content himself with $200 instead of $400; and the county superintendent of schools was to receive $125 instead of $200. The expenditures for other purposes were also curtailed. There was never a day within the next two years that the political situation in the county was forgotten. The ratification of the 15th amendment in 1870, which granted full suffrage to the negroes, caused still more liberal Republicans to turn from their party. The in- vitation extended by the Methodist Episcopal church in Weston for negroes to attend services on one occasion was held up before the public as evidence of the de- praved character of the whole race of radical Republi- cans. When two of them later attended the services at the colored church the Democrats held up their hands in horror. The mother-in-law of one of the township offi- cers of Braxton County froze to death on her way to visit relatives; the next week the Democratic organ told a story of the horrible cruelty of a radical Republican official, who had turned a defenceless woman, 98 years old, out in the cold to perish, and her body to be eaten by hogs! Even the Ku Klux Klan, an organization form- ed farther south for the purpose of frightening negroes away from the polls, made its appearance in Lewis County, Alfred Smith, of Weston, was attacked while out Stone Coal, but he escaped. A woman was reported tarred on Big Skin creek. Some of the Republicans were badly frightened. The organization in Lewis County was probably the work of irresponsible boys, and it was de- nied that it had any political significance. Republicans made political capital out of the occurrence, however. In the election of 1870 the issues before the people were the same as at preceding elections — the disfran- chisement of the white men and the high cost of gov- ernment. Many of the more liberal Republicans tem- porarily joined the opposition party in attempting to re- store the right to vote to the intelligent white men who had followed the cause of the old state during the war, and had demonstrated beyond a doubt an equal willing- ness to follow the fortunes of the new state. Most lib- eral-minded men, including the Republican governor, J. J. Jacob, were willing to let the old issues die and sub- stitute for them live issues connected with the internal development of the state. The Democrats, encouraged by the prospect of a large reinforcement, redoubled their efforts to carry the election They formed one of the most thorough or- ganizations of their party that the county has ever known. A committee was appointed in every school dis- trict in the county to see that every voter was registered and that he went to the polls. Intimidation of the regis- trars was resorted to in some instances. The Demo- cratic county central committee caused the arrest of several of the registrars for failing to register citizens entitled to the suffrage. The radical Republicans also waged a vigorous campaign. Both parties turned to the Irish vote in order to carry the election. Two of the candidates for county offices on the Democratic ticket and one on the Republican ticket were Irishmen who had lately been naturalized. A campaign of abuse was di- rected by the Democrats against "Waldo Goff's Boy" (General Nathan Goff), who had been nominated for Congress by the Republicans, and his military record was held up to public scorn. On the eve of election there were 560 voters not reg- istered, distributed among the townships as follows: Jane Lew, 85; Willey, 112; Battelle, 179; Sheridan, 78; and Lincoln, 106. So great was the discontent among the liberal Republicans and so thorough the Democratic campaign that, in spite of their great handicap, the county went Democratic by a majority of 145. The movement was state wide. The next week the Weston Democrat came out with streamer headlines — "VIC- TORY PRAISE GOD! THE WHITE MAN FREE AT LAST!" Immediately below it was the Democratic hymn of thanksgiving: "Sound the loud timbrel O'er Egypt's dark sea. Jehovah hath triumphed; The White Man is free." The Flick amendement to restore the privilege of voting to those who had been disfranchised in 1866, was referred to the people by the Legislature in 1871. At a special election the result in Lewis County was: for ratification, 740; for rejection, 86. Though there was only a light vote, the result of the election showed the almost unanimous desire of the people of the county to have the matter settled in favor of votes for white men. The more radical Democrats, having gained con- trol of the Legislature, wished to go farther and destroy all traces of Republican rule in the state by the adop- tion of a new constitution. It was freely charged by the Republicans that the leaders of the Democratic party wished to return as far as possible to the system in vogue in Virginia before the formation of West Virginia, and thus destroy all progress that had been made. Lewis County voted against the calling of the convention by a majority of 130, and voted against the constitution, as submitted, by a majority of 332. The new constitution was ratified by the state at large. Though the people of Lewis County favored votes for white men they were not yet ready to go the full length of supporting all the measures of the Democratic party. Grant carried Lewis County again in 1872, but as usual Democratic township officers were elected in all the townships of the county except Willey. The new constitution provided that the minor civil divisions of the county should be called districts and that a county court should take the place of the board of supervisors. One of the first acts of the county court after the adoption of the new constitution was to pro- vide for the reorganization of the township government. The county court left the boundaries as they were, but took advantage of the opportunity to erase the names given in honor of statesmen on the Union side and to sub- stitute for them the geographical names given to the communities. Battelle township became Collins Set- tlement district; Lincoln became Skin Creek; Jane Lew became Hacker's Creek; and Willey became Freeman's Creek. Even the name Sheridan ceased to designate the Irish stronghold, which henceforth was known by the very inappropriate name of Court House. The trend toward the Democratic party which had begun in 1870 continued after the enfranchisement of the ex-Confederates by the Flick amendment. Begin- ning with the election of 1874, the Democrats carried the county at every election for twenty years. Few Re- publican candidates for any of the county offices were successful at the polls. -----------------------------------------------------------