Fayette County History

Located in southeastern West Virginia in the Kanawha Valley, Fayette County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1831 from parts of Greenbrier, Kanawha, Logan and Nicholas counties. At the time of its formation, Fayette County contained the area from which Raleigh County would later be formed. Fayette was named in honor of the Marquis (Gilbert Motier) de LaFayette (1757-1834), French military hero and American ally during the American Revolutionary War.

First Settlers

The first native settlers in central West Virginia were the Mound Builders, also known as the Adena people. Remnants of the Mound Builder's civilization have been found throughout West Virginia, including in and around Robson, Dothan, Kincaid, Lively, and Ramsey.

One of the more intriguing finds in the county relating to the area's ancient inhabitants were the remains of an old stone wall nearly ten miles long. An Indian legend attributed the wall's construction to an ancient race of white men who lived in the area prior to the arrival of Native Americans. However, archeological evidence in the area surrounding the wall suggests that it was built by pre-historic Native Americans. In 1872, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was laying railway in the vicinity of the stone wall and unearthed many human skeletons and the remains of many animals. Archaeologists can only speculate to the origins and purpose of the mysterious stone wall. Some believe it was a primitive fortification. Others theorize that it was used in the domestication of animals. Still others infer that the presence of so many skeletons suggests that the wall may have had religious significance.

According to missionary reports, several thousand Hurons occupied present-day West Virginia during the late 1500s and early 1600s. They were driven out of the state during the 1600s by members of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy (consisting of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida and Seneca tribes, and joined later by the Tuscaroras tribe). The Iroquois Confederacy was headquartered in New York and was not interested in occupying present-day West Virginia. Instead, they used it as a hunting ground during the spring and summer months.

During the early 1700s, central West Virginia, including present-day Fayette County, was used as a hunting ground by the Mingo, who lived in both the Tygart Valley and along the Ohio River in West Virginia's northern panhandle region, the Delaware, who lived in present-day eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, but had several autonomous settlements as far south as present-day Braxton County, and by other members of the Iroquois Confederacy, especially the Seneca, one of the largest and most powerful members of the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Mingo were not actually an Indian tribe, but a multi-cultural group of Indians that established several communities within present-day West Virginia. They lacked a central government and, like all other Indians within the region at that time, were subject to the control of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Mingo originally lived closer to the Atlantic Coast, but European settlement pushed them into western Virginia and eastern Ohio.

The Seneca, headquartered in western New York, was the closest member of the Iroquois Confederacy to West Virginia and took great interest in the state. In 1744, the Seneca boasted to Virginia officials that they had conquered the several nations living on the back of the great mountains of Virginia. Among the conquered nations were the last of the Canawese or Conoy people who became incorporated into some of the Iroquois communities in New York. The Conoy continue to be remembered today through the naming of two of West Virginia's largest rivers after them, the Little Kanawha and the Great Kanawha.

The Seneca, and other members of the Iroquois Confederacy, claimed all of present-day West Virginia as their own, using it primarily as a hunting ground. Also, war parties from the Seneca and other members of the Iroquois Confederacy often traveled through the state to protect its claim to southern West Virginia from the Cherokee. The Cherokee were headquartered in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee and rivaled the Iroquois nation in both size and influence. The Cherokee claimed present-day southern West Virginia as their own, setting the stage for conflict with the Iroquois Confederacy.

In 1744, Virginia officials purchased the Iroquois title of ownership to West Virginia in the Treaty of Lancaster. The treaty reduced the Iroquois Confederacy's presence in the state.

During the mid-1700s, the English had made it clear to the various Indian tribes that they intended to settle the frontier. The French, on the other hand, were more interested in trade. This influenced the Mingo to side with the French during the French and Indian War (1755-1763). Although the Iroquois Confederacy officially remained neutral, many in the Iroquois Confederacy also allied with the French. Unfortunately for them, the French lost the war and ceded the all of its North American possessions to the British. Following the war, the Mingo retreated to their homes along the banks of the Ohio River and were rarely seen in central West Virginia.

Although the war was officially over, many Indians continued to see the British as a threat to their sovereignty and continued to fight them. In the summer of 1763, Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, led raids on key British forts. Shawnee chief Keigh-tugh-qua, or Cornstalk, led similar attacks on western Virginia settlements in present-day Greenbrier County. By the end of July, Indians had captured all British forts west of the Alleghenies except Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Fort Niagara. Then, on August 6, 1763, British forces under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet retaliated and destroyed Delaware and Shawnee forces at Bushy Run in western Pennsylvania, ending the hostilities.

Fearing more tension between Native Americans and settlers, England's King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. However, many land speculators, including George Washington, violated the proclamation by claiming vast acreage in western Virginia. The next five years were relatively peaceful on the frontier. In 1768, the Iroquois Confederacy (often called the Six Nations) and the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Hard Labour and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, relinquishing their claims on the territory between the Ohio River and the Alleghenies to the British. With the frontier now open, settlers, once again, began to enter into present-day West Virginia.

In 1772, a series of incidents between settlers and Indians in West Virginia ended what had been nearly eight years of peace. During the spring of that year, several
Indians were murdered on the South Branch of the Potomac River by Nicholas Harpold and his companions. About the same time, Bald Eagle, an Indian chief of
some notoriety, was murdered while on a hunting trip on the Monongahela River. In the meantime, Captain Bull, a Delaware Indian Chief and five other Indian
families were living in Braxton County in an area known as Bulltown, near the falls of the Little Kanawha River, about fourteen miles from present day Sutton.
Captain Bull was regarded by most of the settlers in the region as friendly. But some settlers suspected him of providing information to and harboring unfriendly
Indians. While away from home in June 1772, the family of a German immigrant named Peter Stroud was murdered, presumably by Indians. The trail left by the
murderers led in the general direction of Bulltown. Peter's brother, Adam Stroud, had a cabin nearby and seeing smoke rising into the sky, raced to his brother's
cabin. He gathered up what was left of the bodies and buried them. He then headed for Hacker's Creek where he met with several other settlers who agreed to join him in an attack on Bulltown. They killed all of the Indians in the village, including Captain Bull, and threw their bodies into a nearby river. News of Captain Bull's
murder quickly spread across the western frontier.

Following what the Indians referred to as the Bulltown massacre, Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, who had led numerous raids against West Virginia settlers in the past,
began to organize the Indians in a concerted effort to drive the whites from their territory.

In 1773, land speculator Michael Cresap led a group of volunteers from Fort Fincastle (later renamed Fort Henry) at present-day Wheeling, murdering several
Shawnee at Captain Creek. Among other atrocities, on April 30, 1774, colonists murdered the family of Mingo chieftain Tah-gah-jute, who had been baptized under the English name of Logan. Although Logan had previously lived peacefully with whites, he killed at least thirteen settlers that summer in revenge.

Virginia Governor John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, worried about the escalating violence in western Virginia, decided to end the conflict by force. He formed two
armies, one marching from the North, consisting of 1,700 men led by himself and the other marching from the South, comprised of 800 troops led by western
Virginia resident and land speculator Captain Andrew Lewis. Shawnee chieftain Keigh-tugh-qua, or Cornstalk, along with approximately 1,200 Shawnee, Delaware, Mingo, Wyandotte and Cayuga warriors, decided to attack the southern regiment before they had a chance to unite with Lord Dunmore's forces. On October 10,
1774, the Indians attacked Lewis' forces at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, at present-day Point Pleasant, in Mason County. During the battle, both sides suffered significant losses.

Although nearly half of Lewis' commissioned officers were killed during the battle, including his brother, Colonel Charles Lewis, and seventy-five of his
non-commissioned officers, the Indians were finally forced to retreat back to their settlements in Ohio's Scioto Valley, with Lewis' men in pursuit. In the meanwhile,
Lord Dunmore arrived and joined forces with Lewis. Seeing that they were now outnumbered, Cornstalk sued for peace.

Although western Virginia's settlers continued to experience isolated Indian attacks for several years, Cornstalk's defeat at Point Pleasant was the beginning of the
end of the Indian presence in western Virginia. The Indians agreed to give up all of their white prisoners, restore all captured horses and other property, and not to hunt south of the Ohio River. Also, they were to allow boats on the Ohio River and promised not to harass them. This opened up present-day West Virginia and
Kentucky for settlement. Cornstalk was later killed at Fort Randolph near Point Pleasant in 1777 in retaliation for the death of a militiaman who was killed by an
Indian.

During the American Revolution (1776-1783), the Mingo and Shawnee, headquartered at Chillicothe, Ohio, allied themselves with the British. In 1777, a party of
350 Wyandots, Shawnees, and Mingos, armed by the British, attacked Fort Henry, near present-day Wheeling. Nearly half of the Americans manning the fort were killed in the three-day assault. The Indians then left the Fort celebrating their victory. For the remainder of the war, smaller raiding parties of Mingo, Shawnee, and
other Indian tribes terrorized settlers throughout West Virginia. As a result, European settlement in the state came to a virtual standstill until the war's conclusion.
Following the war, the Mingo and Shawnee, once again allied with the losing side, returned to their homes. However, as the number of settlers in the region began to grow, and with their numbers depleted by the war, both the Mingo and the Shawnee moved further inland.


European Pioneers and Settlers

Accompanied by Percute, an Indian guide, an expedition led by Captain Thomas Batts, Thomas Wood, and Robert Fallam were the first Englishman to reach the present site of Fayette County. They reached the Kanawha Falls on the afternoon of September 16, 1671. The party then held a simple ceremony honoring King Charles II and Virginia's Governor William Berkley, who had commissioned the expedition.

Christopher Gist was another noted figure to set foot in Fayette County. It is believed that he set foot in the county in 1753 while surveying the Ohio River and surrounding areas for the Ohio Company. He returned to the area the following year, serving as a guide for George Washington's survey party.

Walter Kelly was the first English settler in the county, arriving in 1773. Unfortunately, soon after his arrival, Indians killed him for trespassing on their hunting grounds. The following year, William Morris, Sr. became the first permanent English settler in the county, building a cabin at Cedar Grove at the mouth of Kelly's Creek.

Henry Banks completed a survey of the county in 1785. He had been in the shipping business, but Virginia had commandeered many of his ships to fight the British. Because Virginia had very little money to repay its debt to Banks, in 1786 it granted him a large tract of land in the general vicinity of present-day Fayette County.

The next group of settlers arrived around 1790, on the present site of Ansted. They did not hold legal title to the land. Among the "squatters" were the families of James Lykens, William Parrish, James Taylor, and Bailey Woods.

Important Events During the 1800s

The first county court was held in 1831 at Miles Manser's general store which stood near Ansted, named for the British geologist David T. Ansted who owned the land on which the town was located. It served as the county seat until 1837 when the county's residents voted to make Fayetteville the permanent county seat.

Most of Fayette County's residents supported the Confederacy during the Civil War, primarily because they believed in state's rights. At that time, less than five percent of the county's residentes were slaves.

In 1861, at the behest of General McClellan, Brigadier General Jacob Cox and the First and Second Kentucky Infantry as well as the 12th and 21st Ohio and corresponding artillery and cavalry invaded western Virginia from Ohio. This forced the relatively ill-equipped and ill-trained Confederate forces to abandon Charleston and to retreat into the Kanawha Valley. With the Confederate withdrawal from Charleston, Fayette County found itself the focal point of both the Union and Confederate activities in western Virginia. Confederate forces under the command of General Henry A. Wise, former Governor of Virginia (1856-1860), realized that he had to continue the retreat in the face of superior Union forces. His forces set fire to the Gauley Bridge in Fayette County in an attempt to slow the Union troop movement. According to an eyewitness account from a Confederate soldier, "the bridge was at least 150 yards, and ten minutes after the torch was first touched, the whole bridge was one sheet of flame, and for five or ten minutes afterwards presented one of the most beautiful sights I have ever saw."

The Union forces arrived at Gauley Bridge two days after the Confederate retreat, leaving a burnt bridge and leftover supplies in their wake. Cox triumphantly occupied the Gauley Bridge area, recognizing its importance as a launching point for military operations in the region. He then ordered the construction of fortifications to further strengthen the Union position.

In the late summer of 1861, former political rivals General Henry Wise and General John B. Floyd met to discuss a plan to retake control of the Kanawha Valley. Floyd, like Wise, had previously been Governor of Virginia. Because Floyd had received his commission in the Confederate Army prior to Wise, he was Wise's superior officer. Wise recommended a slow, methodical move back into the Gauley Bridge area while Floyd wanted to attack the Union position immediately.

In mid-August, Floyd advanced his troops toward the Union position in the Kanawha Valley. He started by sending scouts to Sewell Mountain in Fayette County. Here, the Confederate scouts met a small force from the 11th Ohio Infantry and following a brief battle, the Union troops withdrew. For the next several weeks, the two forces engaged in a series of minor skirmishes. At this time, Floyd moved to Sewell Mountain and set up his headquarters at the site known as the Old Stone House or Tyree Tavern. The house, located on the western side of Sewell Mountain along the important James River and Kanawha Turnpike, was constructed by Samuel Tyree in 1824. Throughout the years, many important historical figures stayed at the Tavern including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Andrew Jackson.

By late-August, Wise had fortified his troops at Piggot's Mill, but Floyd sent cavalry under the command of Colonel Albert Gallatin Jenkins, the former third district congressman from Cabell County, to relieve Wise's garrison. Union troops surprised Jenkins enroute, inflicting heavy casualties. Wise's soldiers, who had previously occupied the post, came to Jenkins aid, but Floyd's forces refused to cooperate with the troops from Wise's command. This event expanded the rift already formed between Wise and Floyd.

At the beginning of September 1861, Wise advanced his force and defeated Union troops near Hawk's Nest in Fayette County. At this time, the Confederacy held the advantage in the region, but General W.S. Rosecrans was bringing Federal reinforcements from the north that would once again turn the tide back in favor of the Union. Following Rosecrans' arrival, the battle of Carnifex Ferry occurred. Facing superior forces, General Floyd was forced to retreat. On September 21, 1861, approximately two weeks after the battle of Carnifex Ferry, Robert E. Lee arrived at Meadow Bluff, and he took command over both Floyd's and Wise's troops.

Two important historical side notes surrounding Robert E. Lee occurred while he was in Fayette County. During his stay in the Kanawha Valley, Lee began growing his famous white beard and while he was on Sewell Mountain he first saw his famous military horse "Traveler."

On the 25th of September, General Wise was orderd to turn over his command to General Floyd. On November 1, 1861, General Floyd, along with his 4,000 troops, launched a surprise attack on the Federal forces in the general vicinity of Gauley Bridge. The battle raged for several days, until finally, on November 11th, Federal forces forced the Confederates to withdraw. The Union Army continued pressing their advantage against General Floyd, and drove him out of Fayette County.

On September 10, 1862 the Confederate Army, under the command of General William W. Loring, General Wise's replacement, returned to the county and launched an attack on Fayetteville. Fierce fighting occurred throughout the day as Federal troop resorted to a bayonet charge to hold off the Confederate advance. By late evening, the Confederacy had lost 17 men while the Union had lost 13. During the night, the Union forces, under the command of Colonel Siber, retreated from the city.

During this time, General Loring ordered a cannon placed on Cotton Hill, overlooking the city. Lt. Joel Abbott was assigned the duty, and a famous legend surrounds the fate of this Confederate cannon. After the war, Abbott wrote that when it came time to remove the cannon he was forced to leave it on the hill and hide it in ravine because the terrain was too difficult to manage. Since this story, many have traversed the area around Cotton Hill, searching for the fabled Confederate cannon.

By September 11th 1862, the Confederate forces had pushed the Union troops from Fayette County. Loring eventually recaptured Charleston and even created and ambitious plan for the invasion of Washington County, Pennsylvania, but poorer than expected recruitment put that plan on hold. He was then ordered to return to Kanawha Valley to fortify his position there. Unhappy with this order, he disobeyed it and prepared for an invasion of Pennsylvania. However, in response to his insubordination, Loring was relieved of his command.

General Loring was replaced by General John Echols. As ordered, he reestablished the Confederacy in the Kanawha Valley. However, on October 28, 1862, he began a strategic withdrawal from the region in the face of reports of a superior Federal force moving into the area. Echols continued his retreat through the Valley leaving Fayette County behind.

The Confederacy made one final attempt to control Fayette County in 1863. Artillery from General McCausland's legion bombarded Fayetteville on May 19 and 20. During this time, canon under the command of Sergeant Milton W. Humphreys employed the method of indirect firing for the first time. This method of attack is now universally used in militaries across the globe. Finally, by mid-afternoon on May 20, the Confederate forces stopped firing and left the area. For the rest of the war, the Union Army controlled Fayette County.

In 1895, a preparatory school for West Virginia University was founded in Montgomery. After being converted to a trade school in 1917, its named was changed to the West Virginia Institute of Technology. Popularly nicknamed West Virginia Tech or the "M.I.T." of the mountains, the West Virginia University Institute of Technology continues to serve the people of West Virginia.

County Seat

Fayetteville was settled by Abraham Vandal in 1818 and was originally called Vandalia. When Vandal platted the land in 1836 he named the city in honor of the Marquis de LaFayette. The town was incorporated in 1883. The original county court house was constructed in 1838 after the town approved a tax levy of $1,500 for its construction "near the dead chestnut tree in Vandal's rye field."

References

Donnelly, Clarence S. Historical Notes on Fayette County, West Virginia. Oak Hill: np, 1958

Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. 1993. History of Fayette County, West Virginia. Oak Hill: Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.

McKinney, Tim. 1988. The Civil War in Fayette County, West Virginia. Charleston: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1988.

Authors

Dr. Robert Jay Dilger, Director, Institute for Public Affairs and Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University.

Steve Kovalan, undergraduate history and political science major, West Virginia University.


January 24, 2002.

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