About this Issue
Today�s special 40-page Bicentennial edition of the Press symbolizes more than just our biggest paper ever. It is the culmination of over two months of slumping, bleary-eyed over mounts of copy by our entire staff to bring to you what we believe is the most comprehensive compilation of county history to date.
Why didn�t we issue it on or around July 4 like many other newspapers around the country? That was our original intention back in May when we appealed to our readers to contribute historical pictures, stories and other memorabilia. But as June rolled around, the box we had set up for the material was bare indeed. Approaching deadline, we faced a choice: Should we go ahead with the limited material we have and deliver a July 4 edition, even though it would only superficially touch on history-rich Grant County? Or should we delay until September the edition so that we could launch an in-depth, vigorous campaign to capture the histories and heritage of the some 20 communities that comprise our proud county?
We chose the latter and we promptly promised our readers a bigger and better collection of pictures and stories that would be worth the wait.
Fully conscious of our boast, we began roaming the county, contacting local historians, dropping in on lifelong residents, rummaging through Courthouse records (and in it�s attic) and tendering another invitation to our readers for aid.
Happily, this time the response was over whelming. We were bombarded with over 100 pictures, each capturing some aspect of our past. Although we couldn�t use the entire assemblage, the scores of unique pictures found within these pages were made possible by you. We are indebted to those who dismantled old family albums, and for allowing us to pry apart antique frames so that we could share these moments with others. We solicited only enough advertising (and advertisers have been generous) to meet the costs of producing the paper.
We have sought to reincarnate some local history of every portion of the county. In so doing, we have tapped a variety of sources: books, letters, memoirs, magazines articles and personal interviews to name a few.
Yet, we realized what a monumental task we were undertaking and have barely scratched the surface of the noble heritage of some communities and perhaps completely passed over others. Unfortunately, in some instances, the space devoted to a particular area is proportional to the amount of material available or submitted to us. We are bound to have omitted places, events and people that mean much to people born then and who live there today.
But we sincerely believe we have fulfilled our commitment to you and ourselves of rejuvenating some of the founding qualities of our forefathers that made us what we are today.
In conclusion, we would like to reprint a portion of the late D. W. Idleman�s preface to the �History of the Mt. Storm Community.� Because it so epitomizes our need for preserving the past:
�Man is not wholly living in the present. Life is only a sort of threshold where memories of the past and anticipations of the future meet and intermingle. Human society everywhere today has grown largely out of past experiences and these experiences greatly influence present and future activities. Knowledge, therefore, of present and past history is interesting and profitable.
�Local history is not only interesting to the community, but touches and influences the current of the national life. It is as the mountain springs and streams are to the mighty river�the source from which the river derives its power.�
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Grant County
Grant County was formed in 1866 from hardy. Named for General Grant, later President. At the northwestern corner is the Fairfax Stone, which established the limits of the lands of Lord Fairfax. The county has many mountain peaks and beautiful scenery.
Names in honor of Union General Ulysses Simpson Grant, Grant County was formed from Hardy by an Act of the W. Va. Legislature on February 14, 1866.
The division line started at the Fairfax Stone at the junction line of West Virginia and Maryland, running down the North Branch of the Potomac to the Hardy County line, crossing Patterson Creek Mountain southeastward along the top of the mountain to the Gap below the mouth of Lunice Creek, then with a straight line to the top of Elk Horn Mountain and continuing along the mountain to the Hardy and Pendleton line, along the Pendleton line northwestward to the Tucker County, line back to he Fair fax Stone.
The newly established county comprised 478 square miles with a population slightly over 5,000.
Early settlers were secured at Maysville and Greenland. The first white men came largely from adjoining counties as they followed the South Branch westward.
Maysville was declared the first county seat and the first circuit court met April 19, 1866 in the temporary Courthouse located near John May�s Mill in Laurelton, about � mile west of Maysville. Petersburg and Maysville fought for control of the county seat for 31 years before Petersburg finally secured it.
Presiding over the initial circuit court was Judge E. C. Bunker who remained on the bench until 1868 when James P. Smith took over.
The first county Court consisted of Henry Feaster, Jacob Roby and Michael N. Rady.
Ernest C. Muntzing was appointed by Judge Bunker as the county�s first circuit clerk and held the office for 15 years. Rounding out the county�s premier officers were S. H. Corn, prosecuting attorney; John R. Dolly, sheriff; Martin Judy, assessor; W. D. Nydegger, county surveyor; and George Harman, superintendent.
D.P. Hendrickson, who was the county�s third clerk, certainly must have been one of the county�s ablest or most popular residents as he held the office for 41 years, from 1880 to 1921.
The population of Grant county was 5, 542 in 1880, 6,802 in 1890, 7,275 at the turn of the century, 7, 838 in 1910, 8,993 in 1920 (its peak population), 8, 441 in 1930 and 8,607 in 1970
The Great Courthouse Feud
The county�s first courthouse built in Maysville in 1868
County officials and crates of dusty records documenting over 11 decades of existence were quietly placed in their new cradle last month. The complete lack of fanfare, which hailed the move into the $1.1 million Courthouse, was a first in this respect.
The abandonment of the 97-year old edifice marked the first time since the county was spawned from Hardy County that there was no raucus outcry of protest from the citizenry over courthouse swapping. By contrast, Maysville, which occupied the honor beginning in 1866 and Petersburg, where it has been lodged since 1897, engaged in an intense and bitter feud over its placement that lasted 31 years.
The county seat was shuffled back and forth no less than three times, exhausting four different buildings and misplacing the county�s bell. (a present by General Grant) in the process. Four countywide referendum votes were held on the matter.
The bickering over which town should possess the county seat involved a mixture of pride, and accessibility�no less important at the time. It must be remembered that in the horse and buggy days in which the harangue occurred, the 10 miles or so between the two towns was not the simple jaunt it is today by auto. Rather, it was a time of consuming expedition at best and quite often a nuisance if the dirt roads were in less than tip top form.
It is no wonder then that Maysville denizens stubbornly clung to their prize, buttressed by the rationale that they were the geographic center of the county. Just as understandable was Petersburg�s ever-proliferating pressure to relocate the county seat there as the most populated section of the county.
In the four elections held on the location controversy, the Mountain top communities invariably sided with the Maysville situated (which offset Petersburg�s advantage in population) the southern end of the county, naturally sided with Petersburg.
The resulting sectionalism spawned hotly contested races for the county Court seats, each party seeking a coalition to further their interests.
A chronology of the highlights of the county seat polemic, which eventually terminated in Petersburg�s favor follows:
Following the formation of Grant County from neighboring Hardy on February 14, 1866, the fledging county�s governing body, the Board of Supervisors, set up temporary quarters in a log dwelling in Laurelton, one mile west of Maysville in the Gap.
On October 18, 1866, Maysville residents John May and his wife, Catherine, donated a small tract of land near their mill free to the Supervisors for construction of a permanent courthouse. The brick structure was completed in October 1868
Maysville remained the county seat until 1872 when, by a special act of the West Virginia Legislature, Petersburg became the new county seat.
The Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church served as the new county seat�s fist place of business until February 19, 1879 when the new Courthouse on Virginia Avenue was completed. The County, Court (which replaced the Board of Supervisors) paid the church�s trustees 4150 a year, in rent for the parish�s use.
On May 17, 1877, County Court commissioners George Harness donated one square acre of land to the court located between his residence and that of William McNemar for construction of a permanent courthouse. Besides Harness, Commissioners (or Justices) at the time included President William Babb, John Sites and Job W. Shell. The contract to build the building was awarded to James Anderson and Stratt (first name unknown) for the tidy sun of $5,450.
First meeting in the new Courthouse was held on February 19, 1879.
On November 04, 1890, the first of four elections was held on where the county seat should be relocated in Maysville. The Court called the election after receiving petitions of at least one-fifth of all voters in the county as required by the West Virginia code on the relocation matter.
It was not until a January 19, 1891 County Court meeting that the votes were canvassed and declared valid over the protests of several Petersburg citizens. The tallies showed 854 for relocation to Maysville and 507 against. Since the state law required a favorable vote of three-fifths or more for passage, the referendum passed by 38 votes.
The court ordered Maysville be declared the county seat again beginning immediately and authorized county records transferred back to the Maysville Courthouse.
The Dissenting Petersburg residents however claimed the election was invalid because the ballot did not designate any specific building in Maysville. And on March 27, 1891, the Circuit Court upheld the appeal submitted by T. J. Grove and pronounced the election invalid. Judge Jason Armstrong ruled the Court failed to make separate certificates of election results at Mt. Storm and other precincts.
The County Court subsequently appealed to the State Supreme Court but apparently without success.
Undaunted, the Petersburg bloc assimilated another petition drive at the Court�s June 22, 1892 meeting. B. S. McDonald presented 575 signatures asking for another vote. Complying, the relocation question was placed on the ballot for the November 8 general election.
In their January 10, 1893 meeting, the Court announced the official results: 813 for relocation and 596 against. The back-to-Maysville movement this time fell short by a scant 30 votes.
At the June 19, 1895, results were announced showing 906 for and 651 opposed. In the largest turnout to date, pro-Maysville forces were again thwarted by only 27 votes.
Quite possibly, the matter would have ended there had not the Legislature amended the code dealing with relocation on February 14, 1895. The act superseded the three-fifths affirmative vote for relocation with a simple majority. It is not known whether the timely (or untimely, depending on one�s affiliation) act was a result of any sort of pressure from Grant County forces.
At any rate, the Maysville for county seat advocates, armed with new blood submitted the standard petitions to the Court on June 18, 1895. Doing the honors this time was John B. Ford. The Court placed the issue this time on the agenda for a special election to be held August 17, 1895.
On the fateful day 876. County residents cast their vote for relocation while 604 continued to oppose the defection back to Maysville. Although the margin was similar to the three previous elections, this time the verdict was different
At a special session the Court on September 2, the Commissioners officially announced the results and promptly declared Maysville the new county seat and ordered records transported to their former home. In doing so, the County had to overrule Petersburg residents, J. B. Grove, W. A. Ervin, O. M. Smith. T. J. Grove, B. J. Baker and Thomas Welton who pleaded in vain that the 1895 Act was unconstitutional and did not apply to Grant County. Likewise, J. B. Groves move to suspend the relocation order until an appeal could be made to the Circuit Court was nixed.
And so, 23 years after Maysville lost its venerable honor to the �big city,� a certain and short-lived vindication was accomplished.
But barely had the dusty and much jostled about county records been placed on the shelves than Petersburg regained for good the county seat. The 1895 act was declared unconstitutional and the records wee once more ordered back to Petersburg. The Act�s unconstitutionality was decided either in 1896 or 1897. The only mention of the return in he County Court minutes is though a brief bill of $83.15 presented by Sheriff Will C. Smith for �the removing of records back to Petersburg� on January 13, 1897. An amusing comment on the editorial page of the July 16, 1897 edition of the Grant County Press refers to the nullification of the 1895 Act and wryly observes, �Some of our neighbors who suggested in the past that we have our county seat put on wheels for convenience.�
So in Petersburg the county seat stayed. The Courthouse was remodeled and expanded considerably in 1909. The Courthouse in Maysville was sold to the Board of Education on June 18, 1884 where it was used briefly as a two-room schoolhouse. Eventually all evidence of Maysville�s past glory was obliterated when it was torn down to make way for the United Methodist Church which occupies the hill across cook�s store today.
The temporary quarters in Laurelton which served as the county�s first abode of official business was also disassembled by Frank Porter of Maysville who used the original logs to build a new home.
One of the most intriguing anecdotes to spring from the county seat hassle revolves around the immense bell given to the county by none other than general Grant whom the county was named after. During the course of one of the shuttles from Maysville to Petersburg, the bell, which was being transported by wagon, unaccountably disappeared.
The culprits behind the theft were never uncovered nor was the bell ever see again�at least not publically. But according to Lahmansville resident Lloyd Snyder, the bell may still exist and in perfect condition. As Snyder tells it, W. H. Muntzing told him 15 years ago or so that he had seen the bell intact in the hayloft of a barn. Furthermore, Muntzing had chosen to reveal to Snyder the secret whereabouts of the heist bell.
Unfortunately for Snyder and the county, Muntzing suddenly died before spilling its location. To this day, the mystery of the bell�s disappearance r
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Grant County Firsts
Automobile, Airplane Wow Citizens
The first transportation in Grant County was by means of horses and wagons. All merchandise was transported from Keyser, by way of Petersburg, as far south as Upper Tract. Beyond there Merchandise was hauled from Harrisonburg, Va. If these wagons were heavily loaded it took from four to five days to make the round trip.
Some of the teamsters were Walter Strader, Arch Redman, Jobe Redman, Lee Shobe and R. W. Bright.
The roads were only plain dirt roads, and in the winter, at times the mud was knee deep to a horse.
The mail and passengers were carried in stagecoaches from Petersburg to Keyser with a change of horses at Medley and Burlington.
A stagecoach left Petersburg in the morning and arrived at Keyser in the evening and one left Keyser in the morning and arrived in Petersburg in the evening.
The first mail transportation by automobile from Petersburg to Keyser was carried by George Shank. There were no bridges over the streams, and when the waters were high the mails were water bound.
Grant County has two railroads. The Western Maryland was built by Henry G. Davis and Thomas B. Davis in the closing years of the nineteenth century. It traverses the western end of the county, and has been the outlet for much coal and timber. The other now a branch of the Baltimore and Ohio was known as the Hampshire Southern and was built by John J. Cornwell and W. B. Cornwell. It came to Petersburg in the year of 1910. At first it operated separately a freight and a passenger train later a mixed rain, and finally passenger traffic was abandoned.
The railroad has been an outlet for much lumber, pulpwood, and stock, especially before the days of trucks, and an inlet for grain, feed, and merchandise of all kinds.
When automobiles first began to travel on the roads they created much excitement. Dogs barked, horses ran and chickens flew. People would phone to their neighbors that an automobile was on its way. When a picnic or a tournament was scheduled, the committee in charge would advertise that no automobiles would be allowed on the ground. Rumor has it that the Grant county Court passed an order prohibiting automobiles to travel on the highways of the county.
In 1907 the first automobile came to Grant County. It was a Ford and was owned by Bob Baker.
Walter Ervin came along with the next one that steered by a tiller. John Parks purchased a one cylinder Reo, and Asa Alt a two cylinder 1909 Maxwell.
The aut9omobile simulated the greatest road-building program in the history of the world, and has revolutionized travel and transportation.
The first airplane to land in Petersburg was sometime during the early 1920�s and created as much excitement as the automobile did at an earlier date.
Petersburg has no landing field for passenger planes, but has a field for emergency landings.
Since the last war a few hatcheries have shipped chicks here by plane.
In August of 1949, conservation Officer Harrison Shobe, with Hugh Allen Jr. as pilot of a Piper cup plane successfully stocked Stony River Lake with two hundred fifty trout fingerlings. This was the first attempt in West Virginia to stockfish from the air
Published on May 10,1950
County Education in 1904 �Fairly Good�
(By Rev. Lawrence Sherwood)
Fifty years ago there was a great interest throughout the State of West Virginia. This interest centered in an attempt to find out the history of education in each of the counties and communities of the State. These local histories, along with other related matter were put into a book, � The History of Education in West Virginia�, which was published in Charleston in 1904.
The purpose of these local histories and the purpose of the book was to show to all of the world that West Virginia was not the �backward state� that most outsiders thought it was. The book was printed primarily to be taken to the Great Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held at St. Louis in 1904,
In this book were two pictures that dealt with Grant County. One is of �Edward F. Vossler, Pioneer Educator of grant County.� The other shows the Petersburg school, set in an open field with a large group of students around it. This open field was later to become the very populated North Main street; and the school building was later to be remodeled into the attractive dwelling beside of the present day Pepsi-Cola plant.
Perhaps it will be of interest to quote the entire write up on Grant County. This shows that our area had done between 1866 and 1904. The article was written by Jos. L. Rexrode, superintendent.
�Grant County, named in honor of General Grant, was formed from the county of Hardy in 1866. It is situated in the eastern panhandle of the State and surrounded by the counties of Mineral, Hardy, Pendleton and tucker. It is not wholly made up of mountains and hills as shown upon most maps of the State. It possesses that portion of the South Branch Valley in and about Petersburg, whose soil is very fertile and well adopted to corn and wheat growing. To it also belongs the part of the Alleghenies from Mineral to Tucker County, which is covered with fine timber and whose surface is under laid with coal containing the new mines of Henry, Bayard and others.
�As to the educational position and development of the county, we do not claim first place and we would resent the idea of being placed last.
�Hardly had the free school system been heard of, when the people of the western part of Hardy County said, � Give us a new county and its name shall be a monument to the memory of the great general.�
�Thus, the first free school of Grant county came into existence with the organization of the county, numbering the first year about fifteen or twenty. They were taught principally in log houses with a space between floor and ceiling of little more than six feet. They were built upon the theory. �The smaller the space, the easier to warm.� Since, the number has increased to sixty-six, the great majority of which are roomy and comfortable. For the great improvement in school buildings and the furniture there is perhaps no man in the county deserves more credit than Edward F. Vossler, who was born and educated in Germany, and located in Grant County early in his life. He was the first county superintendent of the county, and has ever since been in some way connected with the public schools. As a member of the First Free School Legislature under the new constitution he was chosen as a sub-committee with State Superintendent W. K. Pendleton to frame the Free School of Law of 1873
�Of the superintendent who followed were: William K. Davis from 1879 to 1885; J. C. Judy, from 1885 to 1889; H.W. Kuhn from 1889 to 1891, and Joseph L. Rexrode, the present superintendent, who has served the office since 1891. Under the supervision of the schools by the later, about twenty-five new houses have been built, nearly all of which have been furnished with modern desks and moderate supply of apparatus.
�The examinations for teachers for a number of years have been rigid. Therefore, a scarcity of teachers. The motto of the examiners has been, �better a little sort than have a surplus of inferior teachers.�
�The first year�s uniform examinations did not diminish the teacher� roll in the county. At the close of the examination for the first year under the uniform system, no applicant failed, and no teacher was turned away with a lower grade than formerly held under the county board.
�The school system of the county is in a fairly good condition and we believe that there is a growing sentiment toward a longer term and better teachers� wages.
Published on April 29, 1953
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Falls: Inter-Potomac Industrial Edition 1908
Assessor of Grant County, of Falls, West Virginia
A. J. Berg
The office of County assessor has been filled for the last five years by Mr. A. J. Berg, of Falls. He was first appointed in 1902, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. S. T. Kessel. The people of Grant County are very exacting in their demands of their county officers, but Mr. Berg gave such satisfaction during his first two years as Assessor that he was re-elected in the fall of 1904. His term of office will expire January 1908, and he is now spoken of as his own probable successor. Born on a farm and raised to hard work, he naturally possesses that sturdiness of character and honesty of purpose, which in the long run are worth more than diamonds.
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From Our Files: Inter-Potomac Industrial Edition 1908
Greenland Gap Hotel, Greenland, West Virginia
Just at the west entrance of the famous picturesque Greenland Gap is to be found one of the best country inns that it ever befalls the lot of the wayfarer to know. This hotel is the property of Mrs. Mary E. Nydegger, but the hotel and the general store, which is near, is managed by Samuel Nydegger, a most jovial and accommodating landlord. Traveling salesman invariably makes it a point to reach Greenland in the evening as the needs of both horse and man are always carefully looked after.
Greenland Gap Hotel�Grant County Press April 16, 1897
The store belonging to Jesse Hays of Greenland burned Saturday night with all its contents. The fire was discovered about 10 o�clock in the night, and was then about the door in the rear of the building and on the outside, which points substantially to incendiary origin.
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T. M. Michael Justice of Peace, Greenland, WV
Inter-Potomac Industrial Edition 1908
T. M. Michael, son of Adam Michael, was born at Greenland, was reared on the farm, which he now owns and schooled at the local public schools.
In 1891 he, with S. Life, entered the mercantile business at Greenland, WV, under the firm, name of Life & Michael, but after three years, he sold out to his partner and devoted his entire time to farming.
Squire Michael is an ardent Republican and has often been a delegate to Congressional and County conventions. In 1899 he was appointed justice of the Peace for Union District to fill the unexpired term of Squire Lyon; elected to the same office in 1900, and re-elected in 1904, which goes to prove that the people have explicit confidence in him. He also served his district as a member of the Board of Education, having first filled the office by appointment, then by election. He was married in 1905, to Miss Clara Kessel, daughter to S. T. Kessel of Arthur, Grant County, West Virginia