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

There are few counties IN West vir-
ginfa richer in history than Upshur.
Although this edition does not pur-
port to be history. nor this particu-
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-
~. Mr.. w. B. Outright. a 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 famtliarfze himself
with conditions In this section when
the nation was young and Upshur
was wilderness.
During John Ty1er's administration.
The naval vessel Princeton carried the
presidential party to Mount Vernon
One OF the members q that party was
the secretary Of state, the Hon. Abel
p. 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
OF ths ship. The guns were manned
and preparations were made to fire
a salute. With roar the salute vas
fired. hut the unforeseen happened.
One OF the guns of the battleship
hrrsted arr a hving piece of metal
strucL the Hon. = 3el p. Upshur. He
died 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 184S the flrst 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 10
vote. it was defeated
In March. 1851. an act OF to -ea-
eraI assembly Of Virginia created and
established Upshur county aEd .i:as
same year Buckhannon wa, 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
pioneer moved his family to this sec
ton in the fall OF 1910. The name OF
the pioneer was Edward Jackson and
he lived in rude log cabin on the
river bank, near the present site OF
the town. In 1915. just one hundred
wears ago, the town was surv eyed and
plated inso thirty lots. eighteen OF
which sold at twenty-five dollars eacn.
Those were the days when real es-
rate was minor consideration. But
the times do change; attempt now TO
blly a lot in Buckhannon for twenty
ave dollars!
Several Origins.
Several origins are given TOR tne
the name Buckhannon Town, nWe
the name probably comes from the
river. whose mouth Is near the norIn-
ern boundary Of the county. In the
early days there was an old scoIea
clergyman, who lived in Virgtn1a;
named John Buchannon. re ote
fellow had no regular charge and
spent much of his time tTamplns
through the wilderness as mis-
sionary His bishop once sent him
to the headwaters of the Mononga-
hela river He crossed the n ounta.ns
of the Tygart Valley and headed for
a mission which he had learned waS
located on the West Fork. near the
present site of Weston. e, w3s I'M
able to locate the mission and wan
dered through this territory for sew
eral weeks. He came to the river
which runs north and south through
upshur county and travelled along It's
ba rks. He believed tat this river
had never been discovered OF ex-
plored by any white man, so he set out