THE History of Barbour County, West Virginia, From its Earliest Exploration and Time. ILLUSTRATED. REPRINTED 1968 MCCLAIN PRINTING COMPANY BY HU MAXWELL. THE ACME PUBLISHING COMPANY, Morgantown, W. Va. 1899. F 247 B2M4 1968 INTRODUCTION, This book is divided into three parts. Part First treats of the State in general; Part Second of the county in particular; and Part Third of biography. The territory now embraced in Barbour County formed a part of Virginia from the first settlement about 1607 till 1863, when it became a portion of West Virginia. During that period it was, in succession, in Essex County, in Spotsylvania, Orange, Augusta, West Augusta, Monongalia, Harrison, Randolph and Barbour. It became a separate county in 1843. The territory east of the Valley River was taken from Randolph, that west was taken from Harrison and Lewis. This book was written in the spring and summer of 1899, and the material (much of it collected long before) was gathered from every available source. Many persons in the county encouraged and assisted the effort; many did not. The county officials, and especially the clerks of the courts, Richard E. Talbott and Granville E. Taft, helped in every way possible. Many others in professional or private life contributed to the success of the work. Where so many did much, it seems partial to single out a few for particular mention; yet justice would not be done if the names of Spencer Dayton, Joshua S. Corder, Lewis Wilson and John Hopkins Woods were omitted. Valuable information, relating to the beginning of the Civil War within Barbour County, was furnished by Colonel George A. Porterfield, of Charlestown, West Virginia. Lists of Confederate soldiers from Barbour were furnished by Benjamin Holly Woodford, of this county, and by George W. Printz, of Randolph. Data concerning agricultural matters were contributed by the Farmers' Institute. In the collection of biographical and miscellaneous notes, special credit is due to A. F. Hawkins, of Philippi, and Winfield S. Lang, of Meadowville. For the names of others who assisted in the most substantial way to make the History of Barbour County a success, the reader is referred to the list of subscribers published in this book. There are three thousand families in Barbour, no member of which took interest in or contributed toward the success of this book. Each one of them probably has a reason for not doing so, which, to himself, is satisfactory. So let them rest. History passes them in silence. Yet, in the criticisms of this enterprise, as of all enterprises, it will be found that those who encouraged it least and contributed nothing to its success, will be first to find fault and the loudest in proclaiming it. Philippi, W. Va., Nov. 1, 1899. |