U.S. Data Repository -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (pages 67-83) Chapter IV Establishing a New Frontier A bold peasantry, their country's pride. 覧Goldsmith. Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel with smile or frown; With that wild whirl we go not up or down. Our hoard is little, but our hearts are great. In striking contrast to a journey such as would be made across the Alleghanies in a modern Pullman was that made by Nathaniel Cochran and his wife in the eighteenth century. After Cochran had returned from his long cap- tivity among the Indians he journeyed to Hagerstown, Maryland, where, in 1789, he married Elizabeth Ford, bringing her and their scanty supply of household goods across the mountains in that same year. Cochran himself walked the entire distance, leading a cow that bore a burden of utensils, including a pot and a skillet; but his wife rode a horse, carrying her spinning wheel in her lap, and having a feather tick hung on her saddle and a bundle of bed clothes fastened at the back. Nathaniel also drove a pig that later on escaped and made its way back to its home sty in Hagers- town. Their first shelter, consisting of a wig- wam made of small trees and brush woven in a circle, was constructed under a large sugar tree in what is now Thoburn. Later they built a house containing one room, but having neither chimney nor windows and but one door, very stout and heavy. The fire was built in the center of the room, and the few rude articles of furniture placed around it. Food was very scarce at first, meat being the only article of which there was an abundance, and the family became so tired of it that Mrs. Cochran cooked pumpkin blossoms, as soon as her vines flowered, by way of variety. Being ignorant of the nature of the wild plants growing in profusion at her very door, she was afraid to use them. When they had cleared the land they planted the apple, peach and pear seeds they had brought with them, and so fertile was the soil that the peach tree bore fruit in three years, an apple tree in five, and they had an abundance of fruit in seven years. Shortly after their first baby, William Coch- ran, was born, two Indian scouts who lived with them reported that the Indians had killed the Mclntires, at what is now Enterprise; consequently, at dusk on the day they heard the news, the little cavalcade started for the fort at the mouth of Cheat River, 30 miles distant, Mrs. Cochran with her baby in her arms riding the horse, and Nathaniel leading the cow. They arrived at the fort at day- break. Nathaniel and the scouts immediately returned home, leaving Mrs. Cochran and the baby, who did not hear from them for seven weeks. Another settler, one of the first in Lincoln District, by the name of Robert East, set up his abode under a large overhanging rock on what is now East Run覧both rock and run having received his name. These examples serve to illustrate the hardihood of some of the early pioneers, whose rude and uncouth man- ner of living was an indication of their ability to adapt themselves to their surroundings. Owing to conflicting claims in the Monon- gahela Valley, no land patents were issued before 1779, but many tomahawk entries were made prior to that time. Jacob Prickett, who located his claim in 1766, seems to have been the first settler in Marion County. In a deposi- tion sworn to by the well-known Capt. William Crawford at Pittsburgh, he says: "Zachal Morgan, James Chew and Jacob Prickett came out in that year (1766) and I was informed by them that they had settled up the Monon- gahela." This deposition may be found in Volume I of the Calendar of Virginia State Papers, issued in 1875 by William Palmer, under authority of the Legislature of Virginia. From information based on the issuance of a patent for land on which previous improve- ments had been made, it would seem that Thomas Merrifield settled on Booth's Creek in 1766, also. In 1772, Jacob Prickett and John, a son of Isaiah Prickett, took up land on Prickett's Creek, and a year later the same John Chew mentioned in the deposition settled on Buffalo Creek. According to some authorities, Capt. James Booth came to the valley of the West Fork prior to 1768 and settled on Booth's Creek, near Briartown, now Monongah. Others state that Captain Booth and John Thomas settled on Booth's Creek, near the present town of Boothsville, in 1770 or 1772覧Captain Booth taking up the land now known as the "old Jesse Martin farm," and Thomas the "old William Martin place." At any rate, it is certain that Captain Booth, being a man of strong intellect and forceful character, played an important part in the early life of the border. David Morgan settled on the Monongahela about five miles below Fairmont, between the mouths of Prickett's and Paw Paw Creeks, where in 1772 he and Nicholas Woods erected the first cabins in Paw Paw District. Other settlers of this and the years immediately suc- ceeding were Peter Straight, William Snod- grass, Henry Button, Thomas Button, John Dragoo, and the man Cochran before men- tioned. The Ices were prominent among the early settlers of Marion County覧Frederick Ice, the first member of the family in this part of the country, coming to a place near the present town of Barrackville from the forks of the Cheat in 1767 or 1768. Here he took up for each of his four sons覧Adam, Abram, Andy and William覧a farm laid out in 200-acre plots, for which $15 apiece was paid to the Indians; and here, too, is buried his son Adam, the first white person born west of the Alle- ghanies. In 1770 Thomas Helen built the first cabin in what is now Lincoln District, locating it about one mile below Worthington; and in 1775, Richard Nuzum established a settlement in Union District when he set up his habitation on Tygart's Valley River, three miles below Valley Falls. Among other early settlers were Asa Hall, who came to Marion County from the forks of Cheat shortly after 1782, and William Hay- mond, who, with William Barnes, owned the land on which Palatine was built. Capt. James Morgan was one of the first comers to Winfield District, as were the Hartleys, but the exact date of their location in this section is unknown. The Flemings, John and three of his brother William's sons覧Nathan, Boaz and Benoni覧emigrated from Delaware in 1789, and settled on the land on which the city of Fairmont is built. Among other names that are familiar to all the inhabitants of this section by reason of their being applied to natural features of the county, or to towns, are Koon, Metz, Downs and Glover. The men and women who braved the dangers of the wilds to plant new homes beyond the mountains were, of necessity, strong, fearless, persevering characters, inured to toil and hard- ships, who fenced in their tiny seedling trees to keep the wild deer from nibbling the tender shoots, and tended their growing crops with their rifles and hunting knives ever near at hand. They were generous, kind, and helpful, strangers always being welcomed at their firesides without question, and hospitably pressed to accept the best their cabins afforded without thought of payment in return. It was no unusual thing for a woman to ride eight miles at night through snow and sleet to aid a neighbor in time of sickness. Many were the privations they suf- fered. On one occasion Josiah Prickett and his wife. Charity Taylor Prickett, the first white woman that crossed the Alleghanies, who had been hoeing corn, had nothing for their noonday meal but unsalted greens. On return- ing to the field the woman found that she was too weak to carry her young babe up the hill, so her husband sent her home, saying he would get some meat. Presently she heard the crack of his rifle and saw him returning, bearing a deer. "And," says the descendant of this worthy couple, who at 81 years of age remem- bers the story as she often heard it from the lips of her great-grandmother, "after that they feasted on unsalted venison for many days." Perhaps in no other way is the resourceful- ness of these pioneers so evident as in the imple- ments they constructed from the materials they found at hand. At first springs furnished water for domestic use, but after a time shallow wells were dug and lined with stone. A sapling to which was tied a wooden bucket was attached to a long sweep placed about 1 feet from the center of the well. The bucket was lowered to the water and immersed by means of the sapling, and then it rose to the top of its own accord. Such as this was the "Old Oaken Bucket" cele- brated in song. Tubs, barrels, hogsheads and buckets were constructed of hickory staves held together by wooden hoops. A wooden milk bucket was called a "piggin." This bucket had one stave a little longer than the rest to serve as a handle by which it could be held while the milking was being done. Washboards were simply boards in which ridges were cut. These were unlike the modern article in shape, being 3 feet wide at the top and tapering to 1-1/2 feet at the bot- tom. Troughs of all kinds, including those in which soap was made, were hewn out of logs with an ax or a mattock. Buckeye was even used for this purpose, but was so porous that when the troughs were used to catch maple sap the water ran out as fast as it came in. This defect was overcome by charring the in- side, a process which effectively closed the pores. Brooms were made of hickory saplings 2 or 3 inches in diameter by beginning at the larger end and whittling shavings in the oppo- site direction. The shavings were 12 to 14 inches long and were cut very fine so that they would be flexible. This process was continued until they could not be held back easily, after which the remaining pieces of wood were re- moved, the ends reversed, and shavings whittled from the small end toward the larger, leaving about one inch between the two bunches. Each round of the second turn of shavings was made a little longer than the former row, so that when the longest were drawn down and tied with a rawhide string the end would present an even appearance. The early housewife placed her dough in baskets to rise. These baskets were made of hickory splits woven together and had remov- able lids. After the bread was placed in the basket the lid was put on and the whole was set in the chimney corner to keep warm. Butter was worked and salted in bowls hewn out of sugar maple or gum trees. A wooden butter paddle was also made for working the milk out of the butter. Cream was placed in a leather bag and shaken and kneaded until the butter came. Sometimes a coffee pot or similar vessel was used in which to shake the cream. If the butter was slow in coming, a silver coin was dropped into the sour cream, or a hot poker was thrust into it, to drive the witches out. Candle moulds were made of straight sumac or elder branches hollowed out and placed on a board frame. Strings were passed through these tubes and then melted tallow was poured in and let harden. When the tallow had cooled, the mould was held over the fire until the candles became slippery, after which they could easily be removed. A snuff grinder, or spice mill, for they were similar, was a curious- looking implement consisting of a hollow piece of wood 8 or 10 inches long and a small stick rounded at one end, the latter being used to crush the contents of the mill. Poking-sticks were implements used in teas- ing the fire to make it burn more rapidly. This implement was a small sapling and took the place of an iron poker. Shovels were made of hickory or tulip wood; the smaller implements, used in removing ashes, being whittled out of boards, and the larger ones, used in handling grain, being carved out of logs. The latter were similar in size and shape to our modern steel scoops. Mauls were cut roughly out of small hickory trees 5 or 6 inches in diameter, the handle, however, being finished with a pen- knife in leisure hours. Mallets were square blocks of wood with a hole bored through the center of each in which to insert a handle. The very early ones were simply pine knots. Gluts, or wooden wedges, were made of dogwood and hickory, and were indispensable in splitting rails, slabs, flooring, rafters, clapboards, shingles and lath. For the log rollings, long hickory poles were cut, trimmed, and laid away to dry and season. Spiles were made of sumac or elder branches with the pith removed. These were used in collecting the sap from maple trees and for springs, cider kegs and wine barrels. Whetstones were made by hewing a piece of hickory wood to the desired shape and burying it in the ground. It required from six to twelve months for the hickory to petrify. Locks were very crude and did not in the least resemble those used today. The door lock consisted of a wooden latch held by a notch in a peg at the door jam. The latch turned on a peg opposite the notch, and a rawhide string attached to it ran through a gimlet hole to the outside. The expression, "Our latch- string is always out," was a familiar one among the hospitable settlers. Instead of modern steel horsepower rakes, wooden hand dumping implements were used. To the early farmer this rake was indispens- able, although when it was used on stumpy or rocky ground it must have proved a source of much annoyance and vexation. This rake had teeth on both sides of a square board, which was free to turn when the teeth came in con- tact with any object, and it was necessary for the operator to hold it down on the level to keep it from dumping except when such a perform- ance was desired. Pitch forks were made of small forked trees with two or three prongs, or by splitting the end of a sapling 6 or 8 inches and binding it at that point with an iron ring to prevent further splitting. Plows were clumsy implements which were slow to develop, for the soil was so loose that very little preparation for planting was neces- sary. About the only iron on an early plow was a crude point fastened to the end of the moleboard with three or four nails. Before the wooden-toothed harrows were constructed, the virgin soil was made ready for seeding by dragging a large branch of a tree over the loose ground. Sickles were at first used to cut the grain, but the process of harvesting was slow and laborious. Later, scythes and cradles were in- troduced, but few could afford them. Flails were implements used in separating grain from the sheaves. They were made of two pieces of hickory wood fastened together by a raw- hide string. Many of these flails may be found in old barns around Fairmont. They were used for threshing grain until chaff-piler thresh- ers, which were run by horsepower, were intro- duced. This machine, the chaff piier, seemed a wonderful invention until about 1850, when the cleaner came into use. The latter created so much excitement that people traveled for miles to "see how the machine worked." An important sale took place near Prickett's Fort in Marion County, in the fall of 1807, the articles sold being the personal effects of Josiah Prickett, deceased. The appraisers of the estate were Raynear Hall, John Jolliffe and Horatio Morgan, and they received as com- pensation for their work 50 cents apiece. The sale crier was paid $1, and the clerk, Elisha Holt, was paid 50 cents. The will of Josiah Prickett was written in April, 1807, by Ray- near Hall, for which work he received 50 cents. Charity Prickett, the widow of the de- ceased, was the executrix, and John Hoult, the executor of the estate. The following is the bill of sale: Sold to the following Persons: Charity Prickett 覧 3 Pewter Dishes, 12 Plates, 1 Basin, 12 Spoons, 5 Brass do, $12; tinware, $1.25; Queensware, bottles and tea ware $2.50; 1 Pewter teapot, .75 cents; cotton cards, worsted combs and Sheep Shears, $1.00; 2 tables, 1 Chest and 7 Chairs $6.25. To Job Prickett.覧 Saddle & Bridle, $7.00; Rifle Gun, $15.00. To Charity Prickett,覧 Wearing Apparel, $10; 36 lbs. wool, $9.00; big Wheel, little wheel and reel, $4.00; Bed & bed covering, 2 bedsteads, $16.00. To Job Prickett:覧 3 books & looking glass, $1.75; 3 barrels, 5 tubs, 2 half bushels, I bucket $4.50; 5 tubs, 5 guns & 1 tray $2.00; Bed, Bedstead & Cover- ing $5.00; Scraps of Leather, $1.25. To Charity Prickett 覧 4 bags, $1.50. To Job Prickett 覧 Shoemaker's Tools, $1.25. To Charity Prickett 覧 3 pots, 2 trammel, 1 Dutch oven, 1 frying pan, fire shovel, flatiron $5. To Job Prickett 覧 Sundry old tools, 75 cents, Horse gears & Pack Saddle, $4.50; I log chain, 1 plow, I pitchfork $2.50; 1 plow & Hangers, 1 Shovel plow & I shovel, $7.00; Cutting knife, steel & 1 ox ring $1.00; Wagon $30. To Charity Prickett 覧 1 Loom, Hangings and reed $5.00; 2 kettles and bales and 1 Washing tub $5.00. To Job Prickett 覧 1 Gray Horse $60.00; 1 Gray Filley, $35.00; 1 Brown Horse, $60.00. To Charity Prickett 覧 I Sorrel Horse $30.00; 1 brown cow, white face $10.00; I red cow, white face, $12.00; 1 churn & conch shell, 75 cents; 6 geese, $2.50; Cash wagon boxes, $1.30; 1 saddle $5.00; Bay colt $16.21. To Robert Ferrel 覧 1 hackle, scythe and cradle, $22.50; 4 sheep, first choice, $8.00. To David Snider 覧 2 Steers, yearlings, 1 black & 1 white Heifer, $13.25; 1 Red heifer & 1 black bull $10.00. To John Tonoray 覧 1 Yearling Calf, $3.50. To William Jolliffe, Jr.覧 I Black & I White Heifer $8.25. To Jasper Boner 覧 Brindle Bull, $3.75. To Amos Boner 覧 4 Sheep, second choice, $5.12. To Job Prickett 覧 14 hogs, $18.00; Blacksmith tools $3.00; 1 Slide, 25 cents; 1 pied cow & calf, $12.00; 1 flax brake and log slide, 50 cents; I yoke of steers and yoke, $40.00, I black steer, white face, 2 year old, $5.00, 2 calves, $2.50; 24 acres of grain that was growing, $30.00; I scythe and part of a cradle, 24J/2 cents; Stilliards, $4.00; 2 red heifers and 2 year old steer, $7.50; Saddle bags and bridle $1.00; 2 axes, 1 auger $2.18; 2 broad hoes 1 mattock and grubbing hoe, $2.17; 1 fallow harrow $2.25; 3 old sheep and five lambs, $1 1.83. To John Boner 覧 4 old sheep and last choice, $3.25. To Jacob Prickett 覧 1 flock harrow, $1.25. To John Dragoo 覧 1 Hoe, 8 cents. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -