Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1875-03-20
"REMINISCENCES.
wRirrEx Fos rag NARsIssprsa INDEPENDENT
BY A BERKELEY R0v.
John Wcsf0nhaver and his
Wines.

hmSSs
Several times, in writing out
previous chapters of the reminis.
cences, l have mentioned the name
of John Westonhaver. He was q
decided character and deserves O
special chapter which / propose to
devote to his mem0ry.
He was a German. When he
came to Berkeley, or whence he
came, / am not Informed. His or
iginal trade was blacksmithing.
He had a shop which, with him
hammering away In IL, all aglow,
was a curiosity to me, when first
looked at it with a quite young
pair of wondering eyes. 1t stood
where Richard Bodine's tavern
now is, in what is a part of Hedg-
esville. 1t was subsequently, re-
moved Il short distance westward,
and is now used as a stable, be-
lieve. He dwelt where Mr.. Rick
ard now lives. His first dwelling
was a small primative log one. He
built a stone addition, but never
finished it Having got on the first
coat of plastering, and scored 1T,
preparatory to finishing, 1t was
left in that condition, the yellew
mud remaing unhid for years by
even coat of white wash. The
secret of this was that the old man,
not satisfied with the smaller and
slower pecuniary aims from his
smithy, opened a distillery. Becom-
itself a rather frequent as we'll as
an Improbable customer thereat,
he soon contracted careless habits
suffered his domestic affairs and
smitIfy to fall into neglect. Besides
generous to a fault and exceeding
~ social--a genuine Teuton in this
respect--he treated everybody who
called in, and of course there was
no want of callers at that whiskey-
drinking day.
With old John Westonhaver the
the dram-bottle was the first and
last thing, the alpha and omega OF
social life literally the bottle, for
1t was never accompanied by a
glass. Each participant took i
s'straight'' from his "black Betty"
mine host deeming 1t by no means
impolite to take the first drink
himself. His house was head
quarters for sIeighing parties and
the sleighers described by your en-
tertainIng Hedgesville coriespon-
dent, would have been lucky with
his house still "open" as of yore.
He never was more happy than
when surprised by the arrival OF
SLEIGH after sleigh filled with
young people, who had not waited
for an invitation, because they
knew the jolly old man never stood
on ceremony. During the memo
rable deep snow which marked the
winter OF 1890, / saw more than q
score of sleighs and yankee jump
ersv Ia store box, or crate on green
extemporized runlers) before his
hospitable door at one time. As
one after another of these emptisd
its overweight of bellies and beaus,
the bottle was handed around as
the signal of welcome to all alike.
The merry twinkle of the old Teu-
TOMS eye, as the fun went on with
in. showed that he felt young
again, and that none enjoyed the
occasion more than himself.
Westonhaver was exceedingly
credulous. He had an undying
belief that the 'hills around, OF
which he owned wide scope, were
lnderlaid with coal and even NJ n
precious minerals. In a number
Of places may he seen to this day,
pits dug by him, with his own la
boz. In search for hidden wealth.
He having opened one of his pits
just back of his dwelling, SEINE
wag. aware of his credulity, un-
dertook to play upon 1t. He bat
tered up piece or two OF silver
coin In such a way as TO make 1t
resemble ore, and buried ii in
one of the old mans pits. The
ruse took we'll, and for some time
he dug away with increased alac-
rity, meanwhile keeping the Sc
cret Of his supposed discovery OF
actual silver ere, and becoming
stealthy In his visits to the mine.
No more silver being found, he
began to slack off, and finally the
perpetrator of the joke, unable to
keep 1t to himself longer, exposed
it, to the no small disappointment
and modification Of the silver dig
ger. But John Westonhaver never
gave up the idea that his lands
were rich i'm coal and other min
erals. He died, In fact, with min
erals on the brain.
There Is an excavation in one Qi
the hills just west of HedgesNilie,
not far from one Of Westonhaver's