West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1915-04-15
SETTLERS AND CUSTOMS
EARLY DAYS or COUNTY
Reminiscent Sketches of Prominent
Citizens and Incidents IN Preston
County During the Fourth, Fifth
and Sixth Decades of the Nine
teenth Century
,By Jacob Guseman Ma,lick1
CHAPTER V.

Either by grants for meritorious SER
vice in the British army or navy. or bv
purchase. English Barons became
owners OF large tracts OF land I'm the
American Colonies while they were
tributaries of Great Britain. One or
more of those English Barons acquired
large holdings of real estate that. af-
ter the State of Virginia became or
ganized into counties as they now
show on the maps. were found to CON
sisi OF several thousand acres each in
Preston and Barbour counties.
After the organization of the tbir-
teen Colonies into a Federal Union of
the United States and the ratification
or the constitution OF the United States
OF America, those alien Barons were
prohibited from holding real estate IN
the United States.
ihey then transferred their possess
sions OF real estate in the United
States to resident citizens for them IN
dispose of at the best prices and CON
ditions obtainable.
Joseph Fellows and John Greie of
pennsylvania, were made assiFnees NJ
TWO tracts OF land consisting OF sew
erai thousand acres each. situated in
what is now Preston and Barbour
counties. West Virginia, known as the
Puitney and Hornby estates.
The two assignees, Joseph Fellows
and John Greig, appointed SyIvanus
ana John Heermans, brothers. of Lu-
zerne county, Pennsylvania, as agents
TO go and sell the land as best they
could.
In lS47 the two brothers. John and
Syivanus Heermans. who were ne
phews OF Joseph Fellows, came To
Preston county to "spy out the land. %
They soon returned to Luzerne conn
ty, PENNSYLVANIA, and in ApriI 1SAa
aonn heermans moved his family to a
iarm south of Brandonville, that con-
tained near one thousand acres that
Mr. Sylvanus Heermans had previous
~ purchased -of nnss- -,.-aaas.4L--r-l |
eph s. Matlick, who moved to Scot |
land county, Missouri, in 1850. Mr..
John Heermans left the Matlick farm
In 1850 and moved to Greigsville. com |
monty known as Tunnelhill. Greigs-
vile during 1850 to 1852 was the larg- |
est town i'm Preston county.
Ia 1851 Sylvanus and John Heer- |
mans located where is now the town
OF Fellowsville and were the founders |
OF the village, and potential factors i'm |
building needed Industries that gave
the community an impetus of prosper
ity that proved very helpful to the |
nearby farmers and mechanics.
Fellowsville and Greigsville were so
named by the Heermans brothers in
honors of Joseph Fellows and John
Greig. The first steam Touring mill
operated In Preston county was erect
ed in Fellowsville by John Heermans
He built and operated saw mill and
shingle factory propelled by water
power.
The first tanning mills for cleaning
. 49, ~D~N - 'hot NiCliiiy were manu-
featured I'm Fellowsville.
Mr. John Heermans also opened a
store In the new and thriving village
which dispensed a stock of general
merchandise.
About 1859 a discovery was made
In Kentucky that oil could be distilled
from camel coal. A vein of the same
coal was found to exist at FellowsvilIe.
and some capitalists from Baltimore
erected series of retorts on Mr.. John
Ashby's farm Immediately below Eel
louisville, to extract the oil from the
coal. They succeeded in producing an
excellent quality OF Illuminating oil.
and made a shipment or two to Balti-
more, which sold at a good price. but
about that time enterprising men be-
gan procuring oil cheaper by boring
wells and pumping 1t from the earth i'm
southwestern Pennsylvania and West
Virginia, and the distilling process was
abandoned.
These varied industries proved to be
very helpful to the vicinity at that
particular period.
(To be continuod)