The Progressive West Virginian. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1911-1913, 1912-12-12

! their tools for working iron, and like
wise their plows and farming nipple
ments; while they carried their trustJ
rifles, which they well knew how te
use. They fetched with them, also
sometimes their old folks, always then
children. A stalwart company they
were, and they turned not toward thy
! mighty West, but bent their way
southwark along the foothills of the
Alleghenies and to Virginia instead oi
! Illinois
After many days they halted their
wagons and unyoked their oxen upon
the well-watered highlands of trans
Alleghenian Virginia, and the lane
looked good unto them. and they said
to one another. Here we VIII abide =
So they surveyed and settled upon a
great tract of wild land, which they
paid for with the cash they brought
In hand Here they hewed great tim
bers from the forest and builded them
selves therefrom comfortable homes
substantial houses, barns and out.
buildings; here they cleared out wide
acres, wherein the blue grass sprana
up spontaneously; and corn and wheat
and oats and rye ripened joyfulfy be
meath the kindly Virginia sun; here
they founded schools and raised up
churches unto the Lord, for they were
God-fearing people, although they
feared not man. Here, as the years
went by, they gathered unto them.
selves other men and women of kin.
dred spirit and equal faith, loving lib.
erty, honoring God and pricing above
all else education and true Christian
culture. Year by year they grew into
populous and powerful community,
respected and honored throughout the
Commonwealth
In due time these people became an
integral part Of the political, civil and
social organizations of Trans-Alle-
ghenian Virginia, that great section
Of the ancient Commonwealth wherein
the Wing party found it's strength,
wherein slaves and slavery gained
small foothold, and where, living a
free and open life, the spirit of true
freedom grew masterful and strong;
and here it was when slavery's suIlen
pretensions brought the gloom and ter.
ror of civil war upon the peaceful
land, that kindling patriotism first
burst forth into the mighty flame that
at last illurnined nation; It was mere
men formed the first loyal regiment
in Virginia; it was here that heroic
sons proved their d escent from no less
glorious sires, and made famous for
all time this great county known as
sUpshur.
Pays Tribute to w. Va. Ancestry.
This bringing together of some OF
the sturdiest stock of the two greatest
communities of English blood and
speech, Virginia and New England, and
particularly this bringing together OF
many of the finest types Of the men
and women Of White and Wing Vir.
ginia, that region Of lofty mountains
and deep valleys, Of wide bottom land
and fertile uplands, lying upon. the Al
leghenian and -Alleghenian slopes
of the eastern portion of our CONT
nent, and inhabited by Virginfa's most
daring and liberty-loving population;
this blending of these Virginians with
these settlers from the western from
tiers of Massachusetts, representative
of the flower Of her young men and
women, sprung from the loins of fore
bears who for well nigh two hundred
years had defended and developed her
western borders, has always possessed
for me a peculiar and dramatic inter-
est, and aroused within nae an especial
sympathy with the people of the great
county of Upshur and her institutions,
for |, too, am come straight down from
men who likewise lived and wrought
In the fruitful feeund valley of tho
fruitful In its smiling i
farms, it's numberless busy industries j
fecund in the Astounding crop of great
men and women 1t has given to Mas,
and the natfon-the Ed
wards, the Dudleys, the Fields, the |
SedgeWicks, the Buffers, the South
mayds, the Hawthornes, the Eatons |
and many more-while l am likewise
sprung Of that independent Wing an
cestry which also labored and made |
good within this same ancient free
mems land of acknowledgements Vfr |
ginia; and stand for and represent, /
as do you SO many Of you, my auditors,
this commingling and nurture of those /
common historic traditions and inf1u |
ences which have made not only Mas I
sachusetts and Virginia great, but I
which have likewise nodded and do
now mold upon great and historic lines
Of the men and women today inhabit-
lea known as the State of West Vir-
ginia, and who have already given SO I
much, and will yet give 30 much, to
the upbuilding and sustaining of the {
mighty Republic, of which we now
form an indissoluble part.
While we may pay especial homage
to the illustrious history that illumines
the County of Upshur, none the less
may we West Virginians look upon :.
Upshur as typical of the entire region
Of trans lleghenian Virginia now en-
closed within the boundaries of our
State and Of the people by whom 1t Is
possessed
Vest virglnlans Distinguished People.
In many ways we West Yirginians
are a chosen people, separate and
apart-set apart, as it were-from the
populations now making up the great
bulk of the inhabitants of not only our
newer, but likewise our older States.
And, If | may be pardoned for speaking
II virtues which In some instances
nay mark the characters of many of .
rou, my audience, and for touching
lightly upon what Of dement's you
nay be conscious you possess, / shall
)riefy review the historic reasons
which give to our West Virginia peo-
lie uncommon distinction as a popu-
alton, and, might almost say, as a
ace
We as a people are descended al.
most wholly from pure English and
'cotch-Irish stock Our forebears en-