The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-02-13

would be ordinarily consumed in the
same time by an equal nuaber of PEI
sons. Such, indeed was the state of
srtfcrIng among the inhabitants
consequent on this scarcity, that the
year liza iscallc's in the tradi,ionary
legends of that day, the starving
years and sucl we're, The exerti6ns
ofWiIliam Lowther to mitigate that
suffering, and so great the success
with which they were crowned, that
his name has been transmitted to their
descendants, haIlowcd by the blessings
of those, whose wants he contributed
So largely TO relieve.
These were the principal settle
mcnts begun in North Western
Virginia, prior 70 the year liza.
Few and scattered ms they were, no
sooner was il know, that they were
commenced than hundreds focked to
them from different parts, and sought
there the qualifications OF their re.
spcctive predictions. That spirit OF
adventurous emigration which has
since peopled, with suchunpreceientcd
rapidity, the southwestern and western
States, and which was then beginning
to aeyclope itself ovcrcamc the fond
attachments of youth, and impelled its
possessors to the dreary wilderness.
Former homes, encirclcd by the
comforts of civilization, cndeared by
the grateful reccllectipns Of by.gone
days,and not unfrequently consecrated
as the. spots where their parents had
first inhaled the vital fluid, we're
readily exchanged for 1.-THE variety of
untrled being, the new scenes and
changes, which were to be passed be-
fore the trees of the forest could be
supplanted by the fruits of the field,
or society be reared in the solitude Of
the. desert. With capability to
sustain fatigue, not to be subdued by
toll, and with chccrfulncss not easily
TO be depressed; patience which
couhi mock at suffering, and daring
which nothing could daun,, every
difficulty which interviewed, every
obstacle which was intsrpossd between
them and the accomplishment of the
objcctscftheir pursuit, was sulmountcd
or removed: and in a comparatively
brief space Of time, they rose to the
enjoyment Of many Of those gratifca.
lions which are experienced in earlier
and morelpopulous settlements. Tha,
their morals should, for a while, have
suffered deterioration, and their
manners and habits, instead of
.approximating those ofrcfncd society,
should have become, perhaps, more
barbarous and 'uncou'h, was the
inevitable consequence of their situa-
ton, and the certain result of circum-
stances which they could not control.
When that situation was changed, and
these circumstances ceased to exist,
rapid progress was made in the
advancement of many sections of the
country to the refinement Of civilized
society.
l ".aa 80
In the year 1774, the peace, which
had subsisted with bss little violation
since the treaty of 1863, received an
interruption which checked for while
the emigration to the northwestern
frontier, and involved its infant
settlements in war with the Indians.
This result has been attributed to
various causes. Some Ia We asserted
that it had its origin in the murder Of
some Indians on the Ohio river, both
above and below Wheeling, in the
spring of that year. Others suppose
it to have been produced by the
instigation of British emissarics and
the influence Of Canadian traders.
That it was not caused BY the
murders at Captina, and opposite the
mouth of Yellow creek, is fairly
inferrlble from the fact that several
Indians had been previously murdered
BY the whites in u period OF the most