Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-02-06
EARLY HOMES OF
BARBOUR COUNTY
E. y. Koontz-Notes by S. M. d.
KOOntz.
OLD MILLS ON SUGAR CREEK

thew could be traced by the. old
water mills, though more than lou
Years has swept the avenues OF time
The foundation timbers of many OF
those old mills are still visible espe-
cially when freshet sweeps the sand
from where they lie imbedded in the
( streams. Philip Coontz the first OF
this family to come into Barbour
County built one of the first grlst
mills in this section about the year
1899 about 200 yards below the
mouth of Hunters Fork in what is
now an almost inaccessible place.
! About half a mile below this another
old pioneer by the name OF John Hill
! owned a mill the dam being IN
turn of Sugar Creek near what is
known as "the big rock" the marks
Of the old mill race are still there
which has the appearance OF hav-
4 ing taken months of toll to construct
Not more than so yards above this
stood another saw-and grist mill
owned by Frederick Hill Sr. These
represented the earliest mills of this
section the second group being built
little more permanent and appear
ing in the 30's and 40s.
John Coontz owned a mill which
stood near Huffman on what is now
the Jacob Bennett farm. Frederick
Coontz ST.. in about 1855 had saw
mill and grist-mill on Sugar Greek
near where Mud Gut empties into
that steream. In 1869 Adam Coontz
built large water power saw and
grist mill about 1-2 mile below
the mouth of Hunters Fork. It was
two stories high, built of huge hewn
timbers, a part of this mill was
washed away by a flood in 1885
and the remaining timbers
we're sold for repairs on the Booth
mill on Hunters Fork On Hunters
Fork one Charles Digman owned a
, mill near where Hunters Fork
: school house stands. A great food
and cloud burst washed this mill a
way drowning the owner who was il
the building at the time. Johr
Cross owned another mill little
way below this one while farther
down the stream Frederick Booth
| constructed a combination water anc
4 stream mill both saw mill and grist
/ mill. This dilapidated structure still
}. stands and the owner and builder
: still survives hale and hardy undel
: the weight of SO years. All the
p frame buildings of the seventies anc
E eighties standing in this section
were built Of lumber sawed on these
/ early saw mills. And plenty Of
e lumber cut by the old up and dowr
5 water power saw-mill can be founc
r in this vicinity showing how the
early saving was done. The logs
: being logged in the end instead Of
the top boards were left hanging al
o the end until the log was finished
r A story is told Of Frederick
: Coontz being indicted for refusing
: to grind bag of corn which per
sonal enemy brought to his mill
: he notified the fellow to move the
:. grain when he refused the grain wa.
!. poured out He paid his fine bu
(. claimed he got satisfaction out o
$ the incident.
It Some Local Names
: So far as is known the Pittsbur,
It Big Vein of Coal only shows on tn
d tops Of four hills in this section
on the Alph Moore Hill, the RICH
i Hill and on two knobs Of what i
s known as the "Chiek" Hill, the lat
re ter get its name from a pionee
n BIZ the name Of John England wh
y was nicknamed "Cbick" due to hi
Y fondness for that fowl and his abb
i ity to mimic its noises. He was
''squatter" living near this kno
y which bears his nickname for man
rs years about 1918 later moving t
ne the place near where B. L. G. Rot
q. inson now lives. He is described a
IN very mischievous man, when Henri
Middleton was executing deeds fc
IS hands purchases by the early settler
va from his vast estate in this sectio
England was constantly interruptin
ne the transaction of deed making b
at his pranks and. stories. Middleto
re proposed that he would make him
lg deed for so acres of land around h
as cabin (Which was in the heart
nd what is now the Robinson FARM
ed he would not speak word for or
gh hour. England seeing the profit
r. silence took him up and Meth,
pinching or plaguing by the 9th,
lie, men brought sound from his close
I'M lips-at the end of the hour Mddl
ks ton promptly fulfilled his part of tt
p" contract and England became lar