U.S. Data Repository -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (pages 289-323) Chapter XIV Organization and Government Government is a trust, and the officers of the govern- ment are trustees, and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.覧Henry Clay. Marion County is formed from territory in- cluded in King and Queen, Essex, and King William Counties, which were erected within the eight shires into which Virginia was divided in 1634. Parts of these three counties were formed into Spottsylvania County, named in honor of Alexander Spottswood, in 1721. This county consisted of two parishes, St. George and St. Marks; and in 1735 the parish of St. Marks was erected into the County of Orange, so called for the Prince of Orange. In 1738 the territory was further divided覧out of a part of Orange being formed Augusta, which bore the name of the consort of the Prince of Wales. The Ohio Company, chartered by George II in 1749, was formed for the purpose of settling these western lands. The collection of church rents by the Established Church of Virginia kept dissenters from taking advantage of free- dom from quitrents and taxes, however, so in 1752 the House of Burgesses granted any Protestant who would settle on "the waters of the Mississippi" exemption from levies覧 whether public, county, or parish覧for a period of ten years, which was later extended live years. In the meantime the French and Indian War retarded the development of the section until after the signing of the Peace of Paris in 1763; and the designation of the "Proclama- tion Line" in that same year placed all settlers in the "Indian Country" under the ban of the King. Some of these complications were re- moved when the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations in 1768, transferred to the English, for the sum of $10,- 000, the Trans-Alleghany lands, comprising West Virginia, Ohio and western Pennsyl- vania, with the exception of a reservation in- cluding that part of Marion County lying west of the Monongahela River, which was later ceded by the Indians to a company of traders under the leadership of Capt. William Trent. Virginia, however, refused to recognize the va- lidity of the traders' title to the land and, dur- ing the period extending from 1770 to 1774, the county was considered a part of the "Province of Vandalia," the proposed capital of which was to have been located on the Great Kanawha River, in the southern part of what is now West Virginia. From 1774 to 1776 that part of Virginia west of the mountains, including the northern part of West Virginia and western Pennsyl- vania south of the Alleghany River, was called the District of West Augusta. When the Revolutionary War occurred it was thought that this District of West Augusta would be included in a fourteenth colony, to be called Westsylvania, the formation of which would settle the boundary disputes between Pennsyl- vania and Virginia. Instead of this, however, in 1776 three counties were made out of the territory覧Ohio, Youghiogheny and Monon- galia覧the latter of which took in all the terri- tory drained by the Monongahela River. The first commissioners appointed to settle the claims to the unpatented lands in these three counties were Francis Peyton, Philip Pendle- ton and Joseph Holmes. They had as their clerk James Chew, and they met at Redstone Old Fort (1779) and at Coxe's Fort (1780). which were in that part of the territory now Pennsylvania. The law of Virginia was that every settler who had built a log cabin and raised one crop of corn in the western territory was entitled to 400 acres and the right to purchase 1,000 adjoining acres at a fixed price if he so wished, and it was the duty of this commission to grant certificates upon which land patents were issued to these settlers. Such a certificate read: We, the undersigned commissioners for adjusting claims to unpatented lands in the counties of Monongalia,Youghio- gheny and Ohio, do hereby certify that ............. is entitled to 400 acres of land in Monongalia County on the Monongahela River in right of residence to in- clude his improvements made thereon in the year 1769. Given under our hands at.............. this......... day of....... in the ....... year of the commonwealth. Attest: ............................. Clerk. ............................. ............................. ............................. Commissioners. This certificate was sent with the surveyor's report to the land office at Richmond, and in six months the patent was issued and the set- tler's title to the land completed. This was the settlement right to land. But before this there had been the "tomahawk right," which, al- though not vaHd under law, usually held覧the settler being taxed for his land as if he owned it by deed. A person established this "toma- hawk right" by cutting his name in the bark of some trees and killing others, thus marking his claim. In 1773 Pennsylvania established a court at Hanna's Town and tried to control the terri- tory of the southern Monongahela. Virginia naturally opposed this, and prepared to resist, the governor sending Capt. John Connelly to Fort Pitt with power to collect the militia. Here Capt. Connelly was arrested; but, on be- ing released, he collected some troops and took possession of Fort Pitt in the name of Vir- ginia. On December 6, 1774, the governor moved the court of Augusta County from Staunton to Fort Pitt (now renamed Fort Dun- more). There were forty-two justices ap- pointed, and on February 21, 1775, the first court assembled. One of the first things this court did was to order a ducking stool, which was one of the chief means of punishment at that time. As the Pennsylvania court contin- ued to exist, these two courts, claiming juris- diction over the same territory, caused much trouble. After the Revolution, settlers began to cross the mountains in large numbers, and soon the banks of the Monongahela River were lined with forts and stockades for their protection. The first county seat of Monongalia County was in the southern part of Pennsylvania, near the place where the city of Geneva now stands 覧then the most thickly settled part of the region. The county court held there had both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and was com- posed of justices appointed by the governor from persons recommended by the court itself. The tenure of office was for life, or during good behavior, and the justices received no compen- sation for their services. The sheriff, likewise appointed by the governor, was one of their number. At the close of the Revolution, lands in West Augusta District were claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia, and when the dis- pute was settled in 1781, by the continuance of the Mason and Dixon line, the territory of Monongalia County was somewhat curtailed, and the county seat had to be moved. By an act of the Virginia Legislature in 1782 Mor- gantown was made the new county seat. It is interesting to note that the people of Mo- nongalia County did not join the insurgents in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, although most of them had stills, and the laying of the tax of four pence a gallon meant a great loss to them; for, in the language of a late historian, "Grain was no price. A horse could carry only three or four bushels of grain across the mountains, there to be exchanged for salt at $5 a bushel, and iron at 18 cents a pound. In the form of spirits, the same horse could carry the product of 20 bushels of rye." The settlers in the upper part of the Monongahela Valley stood by the newly organized government, expressing their disapproval of the insurgents in no un- certain terms. In 1819 the basis of a new county was laid when a few settlers made their homes on the farm of Boaz Fleming, situated on the west bank of the Monongahela River. This place was chosen for the new settlement for three reasons: First, because the land there was poor and rough, and not at all adaptable to farm- ing purposes; second, because there was a ferry across the river at the mouth of Coal Run; and third, because there was a "meetinghouse" on a hill near by, a very important considera- tion in those days. The settlement was not then called Fairmont, as it is to-day, but Mid- dletown, which signified that it was midway be- tween Clarksburg and Morgantown, two much older places. During the first few years of its existence, Middletown was but a stopping place for the stagecoach, and the people who made their homes there had no idea that it would ever be more than it was then覧a few huts among the briars of Boaz Fleming's farm. Some time in the same year that Middletown was established an attempt was made to divide the county of Monongalia on account of the dif- ficulties the settlers in the remote parts of the district had in reaching the county seat, but the bill failed to pass the legislature. The county court convened on the first Monday in each month, and the first two days of each session were usually set aside as market days, when all the country people came to town to do their trading, and, incidentally, to settle any small differences. In 1842 the delegates from Monongalia County to the lower House of the General As- sembly of Virginia were William S. Morgan and Joseph F. Harrison, while those from Har- rison were Daniel Kincheloe and Edward A. Armstrong. On January 6, House Bill No, 69, which had been introduced by William S. Morgan, providing for a new county to be formed from parts of Monongalia and Harrison, was presented by the Chairman of the Com- mittee on Propositions, Gen, John J. Jackson, of Wood County. There was some opposition to the bill, but with the assistance of William J. Willey, who represented the district in the Senate, it finally passed the House by a vote of 94 to 26. Section I of this act defined the boundaries of the new county as follows: Beginning at Laurel Point (a corner of the line of Preston County), from thence to the mouth of Maple Run, on White Day Creek; to Barnebas Johnson's meadow; thence a straight line to the low gap on the top of a ridge on the lands of Reverend John Smith, at or near where the road leading from Middletown to Mor- gantown crosses said ridge; and following said ridge to where the old Stale road crosses said ridge; thence a due west line to the line of Harrison County; thence with said line of Harrison County to the line of Tyler County; thence following the line of Tyler County to the Rock Camp Fork of Bingamon Creek; thence to the mouth of Little Bingamon Creek; thence following the main creek down to the West Fork River; thence to Pollens' Fork of Booth's Creek; thence up Huston's Fork of Booth's Creek until a due east line will strike the mouth of Wickwier's Creek; and thence following the Monongalia County line to the place of beginning. A few days later the bill passed the Senate, and, on March 26, 1846, was signed by Lieut.- Gov. John M. Gregory. The new county was named Marion, after the famous Revolutionary leader, Francis Marion; the honor of selecting a name being accorded to Thomas Conaway, later a sheriff. Middletown, the largest settle- ment, was made the county seat, and February 4, 1843, its name was changed from Middle- town to Fairmont, the fact that there was an- other Middletown in Frederick County necessi- tating the change. On March 15, 1847, the original territory of Marion County was in- creased when an act was passed providing that the line run between the counties of Monongalia and Marion, shall hereafter run so as to include within the county of Marion all territory on the wafers of Buffalo Creek. The following is the record of the first county court held in the new county, which convened in the dwelling occupied by William Kerr, on Main Street: Virginia, Marion County, to wit: In pursuance of an Act of the General Assembly, entitled "An Act establishing the County of Marion, of parts of Monongalia and Harrison, passed January 14, 1842, a court was held for said County of Marion at the house, late the residence of Alexander Fleming, in Middletown, in said county, on this 4th day of April, 1842, being the first Monday in said month. Present, John S. Barnes, Thomas S. Haymond, Thomas Wat- son and William Swearingen, gentlemen, justices of the peace of said county, duly commissioned, qualified and sworn, according to the provision of said Act," It was "Ordered, that the court adjourn to the Methodist Epis- copal Church in this town, where the future sessions of the same shall be held until further ordered." This church was on Washington Street, and we find in the record of April 6, it Ordered, that John S. Chisler be appointed commis- sioner to conduct the improvement to be made by this county agreeably to a previous order of the court, and to have the basement story prepared suitably for two jury rooms. Zebulon Musgrave was appointed crier of the court, and John Nuzum, William J. Willey, Isaac Means, Matthew Fleming, Leonard Lamb, George Dawson, Leander S. Laidley, Elias Blackshere, David Cunningham, Absalom Knotts, Albert Morgan, Benjamin J. Brice, David Musgrave, Hillery Boggess, William T. Mor- gan, John Clayton, Thomas Rhea, William Cochran, John S. Smith, John Musgrave, Wil- liam B. Snodgrass, William Bradley, Thomas A. Little, Jesse Sturm and Henry Boggess qualified as justices of the peace. The at- torneys who received permission to practice in this court were Gideon D. Camden, William C. Haymond, Burton Despard, Charles A. Harper and E. Lowman. It is interesting to note that on May 2, 1842, "Francis H. Pier- pont was given leave to practice in this court, and was duly qualified." The first deed, made April 1 and recorded April 4, 1842, trans- ferred a tract of land from Nicholas Sheep to Edwin Tower. The second deed was made on April 9, and was recorded the same day. It transferred a parcel of land from Richard Nuzum and Mary, his wife, to Enos L. Nu- zum, and was one of the few early deeds in which the woman's name was not signed with an "X," it being a noticeable fact that a much larger proportion of women than of men were unable to sign their own names. In the first deed book of Marion County is also an in- denture recorded by Waitman T. Willey, clerk of the court of Monongalia County, conveying a tract of 4,000 acres of land and appurte- nances thereof to John Hanway and Edwin W. Tower for the sum of $4. 1 3, the same having been bought at public sale for unpaid taxes dating from 1836 to 1839, two years before. The estate bought for such a trifling sum was entered on the commissioner's book in the name of James Galbreath's heirs. Another deed for a 2,000-acre tract is recorded, the purchase price being 97 cents, unpaid taxes. Prior to 1852 when the State of Virginia adopted a new constitution, the sheriff of a county was commissioned by the governor of the commonwealth, who selected him from the three oldest members of the county court, which was a self-perpetuating body. The duties of the office usually devolved upon a deputy, and Thomas F. Conway was acting in that capacity when Marion County was formed. The county court at its first meeting appointed Elias Dudley coroner, who was recognized as sheriff ex- oficio until the election of Benjamin J. Brice on June 6, 1842. Other officers elected to serve the new county were Thomas L. Boggess, clerk; William C. Haymond, commonwealth's attorney; and Austin Merrill, surveyor. Thomas L. Boggess held his position until 1858, but Benjamin J. Brice was succeeded by the fol- lowing, elected in the years indicated: Isaac Means (1844), John L. Barnes (1846), Wilham J. Willey (1848), Matthew Fleming (1850), Hillery Boggess (March 1, 1852), and Thomas J. Conoway (July 5, 1852), the latter having acted as principal deputy during the terms of his predecessors. In addition to recording the first will pro- bated in the new county覧that of William Boyles覧the session of court which convened April 5, 1842, Ordered, that Zebulon Musgrave, the crier of this court, be appointed to make a written contract with Daniel Thompson for the upper room of his dwelling house for the jail of the county; provided that the said Thompson first make the necessary improvements in order that the same be secure for prisoners, for the use of which the said crier is authorized to pay said Thompson $5 per month for the use of said room for a jail; and it is( ordered that the same Daniel Thompson be ap- pointed jailor of the said county of Marion. This "County Jail" was the upper half -story of a little log house which had holes cut in the gable ends for windows and was situated on Washington Street. As these openings were minus iron bars, or other means of guarding the prisoners, and discipline was lax, escape was easy. However, the chief offenders confined in this jail were debtors, and they usually thought twice before they decided to take "French leave," for, although the lodgings were not as comfortable as they might have been, they had plenty to eat, which was more than they would have had, probably, if they had escaped. On April 6, on the day after the town crier was authorized to make his contract with Thompson, the following is recorded: Ordered, that Ebenezer Newcomb, Matthew Fleming and John Moore be appointed to receive proposals for the building of a jail on the selected ground in the town of Middletown, of the following dimensions, to wit: The jail for criminals to be two stories high, thirty-six feet long, sixteen feet wide, with an entry on the lower floor six feet wide; a wing building for the jailor, twenty-four by sixteen feet, and it shall be their duty to advertise to receive proposals for building said walls with brick and tile and also for building the first story of the main building out of stone, and report to the next Court. On May 2 the court accepted the bid of Leonard Lamb for building the jail of Marion County for the sum of $2,495, "said building to be completed on or before January 1, 1843." It is said that many of the justices opposed the building of this jail, asserting that there "were no criminals in this county," and affirming that "they trusted in God that there never would be," From the record of June 6, 1842, we find that the amount ordered paid for the ground on which was erected the first pubHc building was $200, and in the first deed book we find under date of December 5, 1842, a deed transferring from James Kerns and Sousannah, his wife, and Matthew Fleming and Eliza, his wife, to the Justices of the Peace, in and for the county of Marion, for and in consideration of the sum of $200, to be paid out of the county levy of said county, the land on Adam Street 50 feet front and extending back to Porter Alley through lots Nos. 9 and 10, and 50 feet front off of Nos. 15 and 16 adjoining, including the tract on which the jail is built, being the same tract or lot of land purchased by the said justices at the last April term of the county court of said county, for the purpose of erecting the court house and jail thereon. This deed was recorded December 6, 1842. As the brick of the jail was laid up with a sand and lime mortar of very inferior quality it was an easy matter for the prisoners to es- cape. With a sharp knife the mortar could be scratched away, and after the first brick was removed liberty was a question of minutes only. However, in the courthouse yard there stood a whipping post, and persons guilty of trifling misdeeds, such as petty thieving and disturbing the peace, were sentenced to a certain number of lashes across the bare back, the maximum pen- alty being forty. Many cases never came to court at all. Sometimes, at social gatherings, when the men of the party had taken too much apple brandy or rye whiskey, heated arguments arose. In such cases the fist fight was the only court of appeals. The wrangling would suddenly stop and the debaters, bared to the waist, would proceed to settle the dispute on the spot. Then, too, the churches had their part in settling controversies. In 1847 there arose a dispute between William Nuzum and Alfred Fleming, two elders of the Presbyterian Church, over a division line. William Fleming, instead of appealing to the court, took the matter be- fore the session of his church, which readily took charge of the trial. After all the testimony had been given and was being summed up, it was learned that the parties wished to forget their disagreement and become reconciled, A committee was appointed and it drafted the fol- lowing, which was placed in the session records: We, the undersigned, agree to subscribe to the follow- ing consideration, to wit: 1st: We acknowledge that we have done wrong to- wards the church and each other in many instances, and we hereby confess our heartfelt sorrow for these wrongs. 2nd: And we mutually ask forgiveness of God, one another and the church, and hereby tender our forgive- ness to each other. 3rd: And we promise for all time to come to do all we can to cultivate a spirit of peace and confidence in each other and the church to which we belong. 4th: We further solemnly promise for all time to come with the assistance and in entire dependence upon divine grace, which we feel is sufficient, through a proper use of the means to be used, to enable us to exert that in- fluence, which alone can repair the unhappy breach which has thus been made in the church, among our friends, and in the community; to which end we pray God that in the future we may live lives of piety and devotedness to the services of our Divine Master, always having a conscience void of offense toward God and man, and that we may be faithful stewards of the mani- fold mercies of God, which He has committed to us. 5th: And lastly, we new ask an interest in the prayers of the church, that we may be enabled to perform the solemn obligations into which we have this day entered, in the presence of God and these witnesses in testimony whereunto we have set our hands, the day and year above written. Parties: William Nuzum, J. T. Fleming, Alfred Fleming. Witnesses: W. P. Harshe, George Irvin, J. S. Smith, John Jones. N. B.覧We also desire that our pastor read this paper to the congregation from the pulpit. However, in spite of the good intentions of these men, the breach widened until their famiHes allied themselves with other churches. As the district became more thickly settled and more prosperous, one little court room in a private house was no longer sufficient, and in May, 1842, the first court house was contracted for at an expenditure of $3,150.75. When this new building was completed, two years later, it was considered a very fine structure. It was a two story affair, made of red brick, surmounted by a cupola which contained a clear toned bell. At the front, six heavy wooden columns supported a gabled roof which projected from the second story. The jailor's residence was connected with the court house on one side, and with the jail on the other. Both of these buildings were likewise made of red brick and each contained six rooms. As there was no special passageway from the jail to the court house except the one in front, the prisoners had to be taken back and forth through the jailor's home. Under the Virginia Constitution of 1621 the inhabitants of that State were allowed to vote, but later suffrage was limited to freemen alone. Again, only householders were allowed the privilege. Every few years the laws were changed, sometimes restricting the suffrage, and again granting it to all freemen. In a conven- tion in 1775 an act was passed providing that all white men in the District of West Augusta who shall have been for one year preceding in the pos- session of 25 acres of land with a house and plantation thereon, or 100 acres without house or plantation there- on, claiming an estate for life at least in said land, in his own right, or in the life of his wife, shall have a vote. However, the convention of 1850 entirely eliminated property qualifications, and every white male citizen of the Commonwealth of the age of twenty-one years, who had been a resi- dent of the state for two years, and of the county, city or town where he offered his vote, for twelve months next preceding an election, was allowed the right to vote. Before election day the people expressed their desires in regard to the next officers of the government very freely. There was always great excitement, much loud talking and some- times there were riots. Processions and pole raisings, ox roasts and barbecues were features of the campaign. People from all over the county came to Fairmont and went to Morgan- town and Clarksburg to join in the celebrations. Bright and early on the day appointed for the election, crowds of people began to gather. The polling place was located on a street corner, and the election was in charge of two clerks and the town crier. Every man knew how every other man voted. The voter gave his name and the name of the candidate for whom he wished to vote, the crier shouted them out at the top of his voice, and the clerks recorded them. This proceeding offered heavy inducements to bribery, but one of our aged residents says that "in those days every man was honest, and the candidates were selected because of their fitness for the of- fice, and not because of the money they were willing to spend." On election days there was even more excitement than at any other time during the campaign, and whiskey flowed freely. Often the mobs in the streets had to be quieted, or dispersed by officers. From 1842 until 1852 Marion County was represented in the General Assembly of Virginia by Zedekiah Kidwell, William S. Morgan, John Clayton, Thomas S. Haymond, James T. Arnett, Eu- genius Boydston and Ulysses N. Arnett. After 1850 Marion County had two delegates in- stead of one in the lower House and the ses- sions were biennial instead of annual. William J. Willey was the only representative from Marion County in the upper House of the General Assembly, the district being composed of Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Barbour and Marion. The only resident of Marion County who represented his district in Congress during this period was Thomas S. Haymond, chosen in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alexander Newman, of Ohio County. He served from December 3, 1849, to March 3, 1851, in the Thirty-first Congress. The Hon. James Neeson represented the county in the Constitutional convention of Virginia in 1850-1851. Even in the earliest days the State of Vir- ginia drilled her male citizens in military tac- tics. On the first Saturday of every month all the able-bodied men between the ages of twenty- one and fifty appeared at one of the drilling places and practiced for a certain length of time. Usually the women prepared gingerbread and cider with which to regale the soldiers. If a man failed to be present, and could not offer an acceptable excuse, he was forced to pay a large fine. These muster places were in every district, those near Fairmont being on Hamil- ton's Hill and near Meredith's farm. Every year there was a grand muster, when all the companies of Marion County (each consisting of one hundred men) met at one place and had drills under a Revolutionary veteran sent over by the Virginian Government. At such times the people came for miles to see the prac- tice. Another feature of the grand muster was speech making, and, as musters were usually held just before election day, the speeches were generally made by politicians who were candi- dates for office and took this method of an- nouncing it and soliciting votes. On muster days whiskey flowed freely覧a barrel with a gourd hanging nearby being set in an open square for the use of the public. The first inhabitants of Middletown, like those of most frontier settlements, were almost entirely shut off from the rest of the world, for there were neither railroads, steamboats, nor mail service. The people had to go as far as Morgantown to get their mail and to pay an exorbitant price for postage. At first there were no envelopes, the paper being folded and sealed with wax. On December 11, 1820, a post office was established at Fairmont under the name of "Polsley's Mills." This post office stood in what was then the little town of Palatine and Jacob Polsley was appointed postmaster. The regular mail route was from Uniontown to Clarksburg, the rate of postage being 25 cents for each letter. The "Mills" was dropped a short time before 1843, and the office was known simply as "Polsley's." The persons who followed Jacob Polsley as post- masters were John H. Polsley (1822), Ebe- nezer Newcomb (1827), and William H. Eyster (1850-1853). On January 20, 1843, the name of the office was changed from "Pole- ley's" to "Fairmont." The first post office in Grant District was es- tablished in 1833 at Reed's Tavern in Booths- ville, with Robert Reed as postmaster; and the first in Mannington District at a place called Beatty's Mills覧four and a half miles from Mannington, on Buffalo Creek. The name of this office was later changed from Beatty's Mills, to "Logansport," and still later to "Brant." In Lincoln District William J. Willey kept a post office in his private house on Buffalo Creek in the town which is now Farm- ington, known as "Willey's Post Office." Others were located in Winfield District at Meredith's Tavern, in Union at the place where Colfax now is, and in Paw Paw at Rivesville. The one last mentioned was established in 1840, and Elisha Snodgrass was the first post- master. Since there were neither trains nor steamboats to carry the mail this duty was performed by the stagecoach. The mails were placed helter- skelter in a big canvas bag which was fastened with a padlock and key. When the stagecoach driver passed a post office he tossed his bag down from the top of the stage, and the post- master took it to the post office and there un- locked it. Then he went through the mail, sorting out all that belonged to him and putting the rest back into the bag, which he relocked and gave to the stage driver. At the next post office a similar performance was gone through. These were not the days of free delivery. Everyone had to go to the office to get his mail, an inconvenience that was cheerfully put up with for the sake of the news received. On January 20, 1843, the town of Fair- mont was incorporated under the new name覧 William C. Haymond being elected mayor. He was followed in turn by John J. Moon, elected in 1845; E. L. Boydston, in 1847; Thomas G. Watson, in 1849; Albert Shore, in 1851, and James Neeson, in 1852. Mannington was established on lands granted in 1776 by the governor of Virginia to Robert Rutherford, of Winchester, Virginia. The first house was built by Wesley Clayton in 1843, and a tavern was built soon afterward by Samuel Koon, the place being given the name of Koons- town. In 1852, however, the name was changed to Mannington, in honor of the chief engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, then in course of construction. Rivesville was laid out in 1837 on land belonging to Elisha Snodgrass. Palatine, now incorporated with Fairmont, was established in 1838, on land purchased from John S. Barnes and William Haymond. In 1839 a town was laid out near the fork of Booth's Creek, where a post office had been established at Reed's Tavern at an earlier date. This settlement was called Booths- ville, a name which it still bears. Farmington, situated on Buffalo Creek, a few miles above Fairmont, was first called Willeytown, being named for Waitman T. Willey and his brother, who were its first set- tlers. They were engineers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and it was partly due to their skill that the railway was successfully ex- tended through the county. The stone house which the brothers built and lived in is still standing in good condition. Metz was so called for Joseph Metz, who was the first in- habitant of that place. The village was first known as "Beehive Station," from the fact that Mr. Metz kept a number of beehives. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -