The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-26

There are few counties IN West Vir-
g1nia richer IN history than Upshur.
Although this edition does not pur-
BORT to be a history. nor this parttcu-
lar sketch an authoritative treatise
on the history Of the county, 1t is not
considered out Of place to mention
some OF the early history Of the coun-
u. Mr. w. 3. Outright. prominent
attorney OF Upshur. compiled several
years ago The History Of Upshur
county. He recommend this work
to any one who desires to learn
something OF the activities that made
possible Upshur county, and to any
one who wishes to famt1iarize himself
with conditions IN this section when
was wilderness.
During John TyIer's administration,
the naval vessel Princeton carried the
presidential party to Mount Vernon
One OF the members Is that party was
the secretary of state. the Hon. Abel
y. Upshur. This trip was made in
February. 1874, and on the twenty
eighth day Of the month the decks of
the old Princeton were cleared and
the broadsides turned to face Mount
Vernon. President Tyler and his par
ty stood in little group in the bow
of ths ship. The guns were manned
and preparations were made to fire
a salute. With roar the salute was
fired. hut the unforeseen happened.
One Of the guns Of the battleship
hursted ar a lying piece of metal
struck the Hon. y oel F. Upshur. He
died a short time after. upshur
county was named for THIS man.
Early History.
The early history Of the county is
interesting and fled with struggles
In 1848 the first attempt was made
to form Upshur and the plan was to
take portions from Lewis, Harrison,
Randolph and Barbour counties for
this purpose. Strong opposition arose
against this plan and beng taken TO
Vote, 1t was defeated.
f In March, 1851. an act of rs -7fr-
eral assembly of Virginia created and
established Upshur county a;i1 =
same year Buckhannon was named as
the county seat.
Tho County Seat.
At that time Buckhannon was a
town Of considerable size. The town
was settled years before the forma-
ton of Upshur county was ever.
thought Of Although there is no pre-
else date for the settlement OF Buck
harmon. or Buckhannon Town. as It
was called In early days. but the first
ton in the fall Of 1870. The name OF
the pioneer was Edward Jackson and
he lived in a rude log cabin on the
river bank, near the present site OF
the town. In 1915. just one hundred
years ago, the town was surveyed and
plated into thirty lots, eighteen OF
which sold at twenty-five dollars each.
Those were the days when real es-
tate was a minor consideration. But
the times do change: attempt now 10
buy lot In Buckhannon Tor twenty
fiye dollars!
Several Origins.
Several origins are given for Ine
the name Buckhanncn Town, nus
the name probably comes from the
river. whose mouth IS near the DortR-
err boundary OF the county. In the
early days there was an old Sco1ch
Clergyman. who lived in Virginia,
named John Buchannon. TIE ola
fellow had no regular charge ana
spent much of his time tcampins
through the wilderness as q ms
sfonary His bishop once sent him
to the headwaters of the Mononga-
hela river. He crossed the mountains
of the Tygart Valley and headed for
q mission which he had learned was
located on the West Fork, near the
present site of Weston. FSa WIS un-
able to locate the mission and wan
sdered through this territory for sew
eral weeks. He came to the river
which runs north and south through
JIpshur county and travelled along IT'S
banks. He believed tat this river
had never been discovered or ex-
plored by any white man, so he set out
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