The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-06-02
HIS T0R Or OLD MIDI T0VNl
NOW TIE clI DE FAIRIl0lIT

GlI llgloll|
s'of$ FART eld: Ills
,down5onf Bridge street ,sJonathanH Hay.
mond on east side. Paiat tine. nearsthe
river There were others later. az the
population ii the country and gstowEn,
grew. Later In my next may men.
tion among other incidents that those
now living may sbe more Interesting.
5sS Lindsay BogEess i think published
the first paper. the Marion Pioneer;
John Davis. first devil; and delivered;
the papers to the patrons IN town. He:
could carry the dot easily under one,
arm. i! & 4. ~ .;S
Hig Middletown. as I remember 1t, was
in Monongalia county. having popl..
latlon OF about 400 and was bulltSprin..
cipally on the land of Boze Fleming
Marion county was formed in 1s4e,
from part fA1onongalia and Harrison
counties: The name Of the town then
was changed to Fairmont. The mama.
was proposed by Ebenezer Newcomb
and accented. He was postmaster, fur
niture manufacturer and silk worm
dealer. His Mulberry orchard for
feed Of the worms to make the silk
cones was up on the hill south OF Coal
run, near the mouth of It..
In 1912 when the county was formed
and county seat named and officers
elected and appointed. there was
great enthusiasm and the town .illum-
mated. Ropes were stretched across
the streets and candles for lights at
tnched. This was a free for all jubi-
lee and was kept up all night-bon-
fires and all. Needless to say, there
was free Monongalia rye whiskey AMI
the spirit moved many. quite lively on
those calling themselves the most
loyal. and good stayers.
All the old rusty muskets and guns
were hunted up and brought forth to-
gether5 and let on, and added to the
booze contingent, made 1t the most
wonderful event ever taking place in
that neck OF the woods.
The first officers Of the new county
were: Benz. J. Brice, sheriff; Thos.
L. Borgess., county clerk; Thos. G.
Watson, circuit clerk; Calder Hay.
montl, prosecuting attorney. &
Daniel Thompson was first jailer.
The jail was room up over where he
lived in a log house on north side OF
Madison street, one block from the
river. Holes were sawed in each ga.
BILE to give air. (Not much lIght.)
/ I remember most OF the prisoners
were put in there for debt, many OF
them made no effort to get out, but
preferred to stay in and pay. the debt;
don't know now how long, but proba
bly, owing to the amount OF the debt.
Court for some time was held in
the NJ. u. Church, then situated on
Washington street. obliquely opposite
Matthew Fleming's.
| The jail was completed first, and
built by Elijah Morgan, (the mill
wright, who built the Jack Mill later)
he was made jailer and lived in the
building. n son Of his, Cyrus Morgan
now is living near here.
The court house was built later
by Mr.. Morgan. 1t was then looked
upon as a fine structure. and to us
| boys It was great, not having eve,
seen so mammoth a structure. Sew
eral heavy columns in front support
ed the gable. which extended about
Is feet from the main building: coun
ty clerks Office on right and circuit
clerks left, with wide hall extend
Ing to the court room; from here
n stairway ran up to the two jur,
rooms over the Offices.
The first wedding I knew OF wa:
| VIM. Fleming, son OF James, married :
Miss Mike or Michaels; with my pa
rents had the honor OF being presen
at the affair. We were on hand earl,
to avoid the rush, and see the wedding
party arrive on horse back. The brid,
had on the regulation cap. this wa.
the custom. After being married tn,
bride Immediately tlonned the cap
i I Imagine to notify she was taken an,
no others need apply. There was
large attendance. Dancing was a par
of the programme -and most OF tn,
guests took part. the floor was KEEP
full and hot until n late hour. Thl
was my first sight OF the old Virgini.
reel. SO popular then. The first wed
ing In the early 40's attended was a
Uncle VIM Fleming's on Jefferson
street, opposite Benz. Flemlng's ha
store, James Nichols to Marry Elem