The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1921-08-12

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Tales
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II was quite piece d luck that
the Boy Scouts Of II. 9. Drnmm,s
Troops selected as their camp site
some land owned by j. W. Google
on Priekett's creek near the Google
camp, on which there Is q real old
house, for they have been hunting
through this house and they have
found many old papers that are in.
teresting and valuable because Of
judging from the appearance the
house Is very old. There is one
large room on the ground floor and
q smaller one. The larger has an
old fashioned fireplace In It, the
chimney Of which is built Of stone
up along the outside Of the house.
IN the other room there is an old
rickety stairway which leads to the
upper story Of one room. There Is
some interesting old furniture in
the upstairs, including q spinning
wheel and other spinning apparatus.
The papers were found when the
Scouts started to clean out the
house, thinking that they would use
II for sleeping in case Of rain.
However they decided not to sleep
there because there are quite a
number Of hornets quartered in the
house. The papers were found scat
tered over the floor Of the ground
floor.
was visiting the camp yesterday
and he found the oldest paper,
which Is dated 1922. It is a deed
for the property. Quite a number
Of the papers are deeds showing
That the land changed hands several
times. Another deed dated 1856
is made out between a Clement
Patterson and his wife, Mary Jane
Patterson. Another old paper is
dated 1s48 and it seems to be some
sort Of legal document but the writ
ing is SO faded that it is hard to
read. BY far the most interesting
papers are some letters written by
Eers in the Civil War. There
are two Of these letters both from
Union soldiers.
One is from D. L. Baker to Aaron
Morgan, who 1t seems lived on the
property for some time for there
are many receipts made out to him
and letters to him in the house.
In this letter Baker tells about
some excitment that they had
where he is stationed, the place not
given. The letter was written on
a Saturday night, April 12, 1862.
1t tells how James Downey and one
of the Flemings went up to a place
Called Texas and then to the old
Lilley place where they were taken
prisoners by some soldiers Of the
rebellion. After capturing the men
the rebels wanted some more liquor
and they sent Fleming after it'but
he made his escape. Some Of the
rebels then became drowsy from
the effects Of liquor and the remain
ling captive, Downey, was taken by
one man to Levi Ashcraft'g where
Ashcraft was dispatched to get
John Writer so he could be there
when they killed Downey. The
rebel in charge Of Downey went to
sleep and then Downey told the wo-
men in the house that he was one
fthe rebels and that he would go
out on the point to watch for the
Union soldiers. He took Ash
crafts ammunition and gun and
by his ruse made effective his es-
cape and arrived in Fairmont the
next day. He informed a company
of Yankees in Fairmont= OF the
presence Of the 20 rebels and they
set out for them the next day. The
majority Of the rebels were killed
in the engagement and the rest
were captured.
The writer then tells Of tire
mendous battle that was fought in
Tennessee" 1t is the battle of
Pittsburg Landing. He tells how
the Union forces were first repulsed
and So cannon captured and then
how they were reinforced until
they numbered $4,000. They then
advanced on the rebels and killed,
wounded or captured the entire
rebel force.
Another letter is from a Union
soldier written to his sister whose
name is not given. The mans
name is James Baker and he writes
the letter from Piedmont where he
is stationed. 1t is dated April 10,
1855. He tells his sister how he
likes the service into which he was
drafted. He thought that the war
would soon be over for "the rebels
can not do trick beside the Yam
KEGS" He also tells Of lynching
party in which James Boyd was
lynched because he shot John Riley.
The company with which he was
quartered had prospects Of coming
to Fairinont at that time.
Some Of the letters are very hard
TO read because Of the faint writing
and also because Of the quaint
spelling used. One Of the deeds
was to q person who could not sign
his own name and on it he has made
his mark. Considering that they
have no theen kept in any orderly
manner the papers are remarkably
well ofegefVed