West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1909-05-13

West VIRGINIA
Account Of The Settlement Of Little
Mountain State.
ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Paper Road by Harry Hart st Com
meneement OF Tunnsiton
High School.
rs PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Is now west virginia, Morgan Morgan by /
name, came TO Mill Creek Berkeley county,
and made that place his permanent home.
Another of the same name settled at what |
Is now Morgantown in 1863, and this set
tier was the first permanent one west of |
the Allegheny mountains.
Then came the revolutionary war and
the trst battle was fought at Point Pleas
ant. In this great struggle which was to |
decide whether we should be free and in |
dependent the hardy mountaineers of
Western Virginia, for there were numer-
Gus settlers in this part of the old state,
Hooked TO the standard of the continental
army and fought side by side with Wash
iigton to the close Of the war.
After the revolution the different Indian
wars and the mountainous character of
the country tended 10 keep the settlers
out OF the mountains, only the most hardy
daring TO face the dangers and difficulties
to be met with between the Alleghenies
and the Ohio. However, in spite OF the
hardships, the country filed up and by
1879 there were numerous industries
throughout the state. The farming at that
time had become quite extensive. The
refining and making OF salt, an absolute
necessity, employed many people along
the Kanawha.
Iron furnaces at that time were all over
the country, for then all the blacksmiths
made their own iron from the ore. The
river trade along the Ohio was also very
active and consisted chiefly inataking the
farm products, the salt, and the iron to
market.
The came the civil war, and when the
| mother state seeded from the union and
joined the southern confederacy the loyal
mountaineers OF Western Virginia stood
by the union they had sworn to defend,
and all through this great struggle this
state gave it full share ofmen 10 the union.
And when on June 20, 1868, we became
the state of West Virginia we did not
have wealth to start with, for all the taxes
had gone to the treasury of Virginia and
the people, always poor, were doubly so
| on account of the war.
Nevertheless, we elected officers and
made our first capital at Wheeling, after
ward moving it to Charleston.
At this time the war was just over and
the country was in a terrible condition,
for there had been several confederate
raids into the state and the fact that the
men were away allowed much OF the
country to grow up into wilderness.
To such an extent was this true, that
when those who had fought in the war
| returned it was to find their homes i'm
ruin, their fields grown up with filth, and
their families gone. Under any other
circumstances the returning soldiers would
have been completely discouraged, but
some had won and some had lost, so they
became brothers and began anew to till
the soil and pursue their other vocations.
The war had caused Slump" in bust
ness and in everything. But after awhile
they began to develop the natural re-
sources Of the state.
They began to develop in earnest the
coal fields of the state and TO take the
product OF the mines to market. Soon
this became one of the leading industries.
After the coal industry comes the oil and
gas, in the production OF which this state
holds a high place. At the present time
the white sand' oil is the purest oil i'm
the world and the report of the biologists
show that it will last for long time.
As the coal and oil industries began to
prosper the iron furnaces began todecline.
because we could by this time get the
Michigan iron cheaper than We could get
out the native ore. But thisdid not hinder
the manufacture Of iron and steel into all
Kinds OF machinery, for we have the coal,
oil, and gas with which 10 melt t.
AT the close Of the civil war we had two
railroads in the state-the b. Il o. and
the G. & o. Now we have numerou..
railroads all over the state, with branches
running up every river.
At the present time the greatest OF all
the industries in the state is that of coal.
in which we hold the second place, but
we have the greatest coal area OF any state.
We have vast amounts of glass sands
and the manufacture Of glassware and
window panes is very important in
dustry.
We also have the largest lampblack fac.
tory in the world.
At the present time we have n very
good system Of free schools, with several
normal schools, preparatory schools. and
some good private schools and colleges.
In the financial and commercial stand.
ing Of the state we have large amount
OF taxable property, which shows that
there is a large amount Of money in the
state. We also have upwards Of 200
banks and not failure in the history
Of the state. We arc situated not far from
tidewater and with plenty of railroads
we can get the product Of state 10 market
easily.
We have large manufacturing concerns
everywhere, with hundreds Of mines and
numerous other activities which 90 10
build up a state.
A 10 the future, we believe West Vir.
ginia 10 have the greatest Of any state
by manufacturing. in that we have the
manufacture Of glassware, Of iron and
steel, Of cement, and Of great manv
other articles. OF getting out Of the quar.
ries the building stone, Of which We have
vast amounts. BY the large forests Of
timber which can BE- turned into lumber.
By the oil and gas which will greatly help |
The state 10 become a great manufactur-
ing state. But the greatest Of all that
viii make this a great state IL is coal and |
lam products, Of which coal we have ON |