William Blizzard

Kanawha County, WV

Marker Text: Born in Kanawha County on 19 September 1892. Began work as miner at age ten, and served as field organizer, UMWA. Noted as leader of 1921 Armed March. Indicted for treason but later acquitted. President of District 17 and vice-president of West Virginia Federation of Labor. Retired to Putnam County farm in 1955. Died on 31 July 1958.

Location: In front of UMWA District 17 headquarters, 1300 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV. Erected by the West Virginia Division of Archives and History in 2007.

  West Virginia coal miners of the early part of the 20^th century often looked to a brash young man named William Blizzard for leadership. Blizzard was an outspoken leader whose name is associated with some of the bloodiest confrontations of West Virginia's mine wars. William Blizzard achieved national prominence as a young man of 29 after the Battle of Blair Mountain, in which miners fought a pitched battle against sheriff's deputies and armed guards.

Marker in front of UMWA District 17 headquarters in Charleston, WV.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  Unionist William ‘‘Bill’’ Blizzard was born September 19, 1892, the son of Timothy Blizzard and activist Sarah Rebecca ‘‘Mother’’ Blizzard. He became one of West Virginia’s most influential and controversial labor leaders of the 20^th century. Born in the Cabin Creek district of Kanawha County, Blizzard first became involved with the United Mine Workers of America during the bloody Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912–13. During the next decade, he rose from the rank and file along with Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney.

  In 1921, Blizzard played a key role in the Miners’ March on Logan County by leading the miners in the front lines of the Battle of Blair Mountain. While District 17 President Keeney and Secretary-treasurer Mooney managed events behind the scenes.

Battle of Blair Mountain

Logan County, WV

Marker Text: In August of 1921, 7000 striking miners led by Bill Blizzard met at Marmet for a march on Logan to organize the southern coalfields for the UMWA. Reaching Blair Mt. on August 31, they were repelled by deputies and mine guards, under Sheriff Don Chafin, waiting in fortified positions. The five-day battle ended with the arrival of U. S. Army and Air Corps. UMWA organizing efforts in southern WV were halted until 1933. "

Location: On WV Route 17, approximately 8 miles east of Logan between Ethel and Blair, WV. Erected by WV Celebration 2000, West Virginia Division of Archives and History in 2002.

  From 2002-2008, I lived in Logan County, WV and I often heard of the stories about the Battle of Blair Mountain from local residents. From the mid-1800's residents in the area knew coal existed in the mountains of Logan County, but it was not until the railroad came to the county in 1904 was it possible to mine the coal for commercial use. Once the railroads made it possible to remove the coal to needed markets the coal business in Logan County took off and the population increased with men seeking employment in the coal mines.

  Prior to the construction of the four lane highway, U.S. Route 119 (or as the locals call it Corridor G) from Logan to Charleston, WV, the only way to travel to Charleston was to go over Blair Mountain on WV Route 17. Traveling over Blair Mountain is not the most difficult mountain road crossing a person can make in West Virginia, but you definitely know you are going over a mountain as you travel the road.

Photo taken looking south on Route 17 toward Logan County. This is where you would go up Blair Mountain from the north.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  The details about the Battle of Blair Mountain, including the events in the coal mines that lead to this confrontation, the lives of the miners, the struggle for unions and the political conditions at the time are so extensive, I cannot possibility cover them in my post on this marker. So I will only give a general description of the events here. If you want to learn more a simple search on the internet, using a search engine, like Google or Bing will give you many links about the details with many interesting photos. A web site by the West Virginia Archives and History has several links to articles about the Battle of Blair Mountain.

Seneca Rocks

Pendleton County, WV

Marker Text: Seneca Rocks, an outstanding natural formation, rises over 900 feet high, overlooking the junction of the Seneca and Shawnee trails or Warriors' Path and the site of an Indian village with its legend of "Snow Bird", the Indian Princess. The almost perpendicular strata are of Tuscarora Sandstone of the Silurian Age.

Location: On U.S. Route 33 south of junction with WV Route 28. Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1963.

  If you ever get the opportunity to travel across West Virginia on U.S. Route 33, particularly between Interstate 79 and the Virginia border you will witness some wonderful scenes in West Virginia. When you get to Pendleton County where Route 33 intersects with WV Route 28 you will come to Seneca Rocks. Stopping to view these rock formations is well worth the time. Seneca Rocks and nearby Champe Rocks (further north on Route 28) are the most imposing examples in eastern West Virginia of several formations of the white/gray Tuscarora quartzite. In the early morning mist the jagged outline of Seneca Rocks resembles the bony back of a giant dinosaur.

View of Seneca Rocks across from the road. Click any photo to enlarge.

  Seneca Rocks is a prominent and visually striking formation rising nearly 900 feet above the confluence of Seneca Creek with the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River. The Rocks consist of a North and a South Peak, with a central notch between. This vast mountain of pale stone provides cliffs and lofty crags inviting exploration by birds, rock climbers, and agile visitors. Seneca Rocks area is part of the Monongahela National Forest.

  The quartzite is approximately 250 feet thick here, located primarily on exposed ridges as caprock or exposed crags. Seneca Rocks is composed of the Tuscarora Sandstone composed of fine grains of sand that were laid down in the Silurian Period approximately 440 million years ago, in an extensive sand shoal at the edge of the ancient Iapetus Ocean, which once covered what is now West Virginia. The Tuscarora Sandstone has been compacted by great pressures into an erosion-resistant rock called a quartz arenite. Now this rock, once seashore sediments, forms high mountains along the entire length of the Appalachians.

The Civil War/Confederate Cemetery

Greenbrier County, WV

Marker Text: (The Civil War) The Greenbrier area was predominately Southern in its sympathies, and furnished some 3000 men for the army of the Confederacy. It was occupied repeatedly by one or the other of the opposing armies throughout the War.

(Reverse side – Confederate Cemetery) On the hill, 400 yards west, in a common grave shaped like a cross, lie unclaimed bodies of ninety-five Confederate soldiers, casualties of the area, including those of the Battle of Droop Mountain and the Battle of Lewisburg.

Location: On U.S. Route 60 (westbound) off of W. Washington St. on Courtney Drive in New River Library Park, Lewisburg, WV, grouped with another marker called “Lewisburg.”  Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1963.

"The town was filled to overflowing with sick and dying men. Every public building in the place was converted to their service. The pews were taken up in the lecture room of the (Old Stone) church, and its aisles filled with double rows of cots. The Academy, the Masonic Hall, the hotels, offices, and private dwellings were filled to overflowing." - Rose W. Fry

  Confederate General Robert E. Lee, with Wise and Floyd, had been in the Kanawha Valley during 1861. Now in 1862, Federal troops forces held this region in what is now West Virginia, which as rich in salt, a prized commodity during the Civil War. In 1862 the South was anxious to regain the valley, and the North wanted to carry the war across the mountains into central Virginia. Lewisburg, WV was in the middle of these military goals.

Path to entry to cemetery from the parking lot. Two markers are in front of the fence.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  Early in June, 1861, Confederate General Henry A. Wise passed down the Kanawha Valley and General Floyd was also sent into this region. In September, 1861, Gen. Robert E. Lee with 10,000 men marched down from the northwest through Lewisburg and on to Sewell Mountain to encounter Gen. Rosecrans' force under Gen. Cox, who had command in the Valley. When winter set in, the Union troops withdrew and Gen. Lee's troops also departed. Many of Lee's wounded were nursed in Lewisburg.

  Though armies on both sides passed through Lewisburg throughout the Civil War, on May 23, 1862, the citizens of Lewisburg would not be spared the horrors of war on their doorsteps during and after the Battle of Lewisburg. Lewisburg citizens would pass on for generations stories of the day the battle was fought in the streets of the town.

Hatfield and McCoy Markers on HMdb

  I have taken thousands of photographs of historical markers in several states over the years.  I have enough photos to keep me busy posting on my own blog for the next several years.  Therefore, I also contribute photos to the Historical Markers Database, which is a web site dedicated to collecting photos and information about all the historic markers in the United States and other countries using volunteers throughout the U.S.

  Each week their web site highlights a particular historica marker of interest.  This week they highlighted the “Hatfield Cemetery” marker which I contributed photographs as well as posting the Hatfield and McCoy markers on my blog here.  The “Hatfield Cemetery” marker is the second most visited marker viewed on their web site this year with over 14,000 views.  The number of views both on their web site and my blog is due in large part to the History Channel’s series on the feud.  I also contributed all of the markers related to the Hatfield and McCoy feud appearing on the Historical Marker Database so far.

  You can check out the markers, I posted there by following the above link or you can check out my posts by following the links related to categories for “Hatfield and McCoy Feud” on the right of my blog posts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license.

Daniel Boone

Kanawha County, WV

Marker Text: Across the Great Kanawha River, lived Daniel Boone, the noted frontiersman, from about 1788 to 1795. He represented Kanawha County in the Virginia Assembly, 1791; was Lieut. Col. of Virginia militia during Indian wars.

Location: On U.S. Route 60, in Daniel Boone Park, east of Charleston, WV. I have photographed the marker twice, the second time the marker had been refurbished and moved further west of its original location in the park. Erected by the West Virginia Department of Culture and History in 1979. This marker is located near the prior post of the “Craik-Patton House” within the same park.

  Another stone memorial marker is located across the park road from the state marker, notice the dates on each marker do not match.

Daniel Boone
The Western Virginia
Pioneer 1788-1799
1789 Lt. Col. Of Kanawha Militia
An Organizer of Kanawha County
1791 Delegate to Virginia Assembly
His Cabin was Across the River
from Cave in Cliff Above
He hunted Deer and Made Salt
From a Spring at the Water's Edge
Erected by Kanawha Valley Chapter Daughters of American Revolution
1928

  After you travel around and take photos of a couple of thousand historical markers, you begin to see some trends develop, particularly in regard to specific individuals. One such individual is Daniel Boone. Daniel Boone was one of those bigger than life American frontiersmen and his name appears on many historical markers related to early American history. For example, he is mentioned in yesterdays marker in Kentucky in references to Boone's Road and Boonesborough, KY. and in a prior post called, “Lincoln's Virginia Ancestors.” Daniel Boone traveled a great deal for a person of this period in history and markers throughout several states record those specific moments in his life and our nation.

  Today's marker is simply titled, “Daniel Boone” and I have found about sixty markers with his name in the title of the marker and about 80 or more containing his name in the text. These numbers are probably a conservative estimate and there are most likely many more. In researching some markers I have discovered that Daniel Boone was apart of the underlying story, but he was not mentioned in the marker text itself.

Lewisburg Battle

Greenbrier County, WV

Marker Text: Confederate troops under Gen. Henry Heth here, May 23, 1862, were repulsed in attack upon division of Col. Geo. Crook's brigade. The Old Stone Church was used as a hospital. In his retreat, Heth burned bridge over Greenbrier at Caldwell.

Location: On U.S. Route 60 (eastbound) at corner of Lee and Washington streets; in front of General Lewis Hotel.

"Of all the battlefields that I have studied, I know of none quite so dramatic as Lewisburg (where the battle was), fought in a mountain town, before breakfast, and combining rifle shooting, artillery fire, infantry charges, and cavalry, all in a sleeping little city whose inhabitants awoke to hear the cannon boom and the rifles speak, and who had no time to do anything in the way of escape until it was all over." Quote by Andrew Price, local historian.

  The Battle of Lewisburg occurred on the same day as the Battle of Front Royal, VA on May 23, 1862. The Battle of Lewisburg, a Union victory, occurred as Union troops under the command of Col. George Crook maneuvered from Western Virginia toward Tennessee in the spring of 1862. Union Gen. John C. Frémont, commander of the Mountain Department for the U.S. Army, planned to concentrate his forces in Monterey, Virginia, and then move southwest until he reached the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad near Christiansburg. There, Frémont was to connect with troops under the command of Union Gen. Jacob D. Cox, but Frémont was detained further north in the Shenandoah Valley due to the Valley Campaign of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in the spring of 1862.

The marker is located in front of the General Lewis Hotel in the background and most of the battle occurred at this location.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  Gen. Cox, unaware that Frémont’s troops would not arrive as planned continued with his plans. Three of Cox's four brigades occupied Princeton, VA (now in West Virginia), a town that had been lost to Confederate forces earlier in May 1862, his fourth brigade, under the command of Col. George Crook, moved to Lewisburg. From his position Crook and his 1,600 men were within supporting distance of the troops located in Princeton, but also unknowingly vulnerable to attack from Confederate Brig. Gen. Henry Heth's 2,200 men.

Fort Upper Tract

Pendleton County, WV

Marker Text: Site of Fort Upper Tract, one of the forts erected under Washington's orders to guard the settlements. In 1758, Indians captured and burned it. Captain James Dunlap and 21 others were killed. No one escaped.

Location: On U.S. Route 220 on the northbound side of the road in Upper Tract, WV, about half way between Petersburg to the north and Franklin to the south.

  Today's marker is related to my prior post on Fort Loudoun in present day Winchester, VA. In 1755, George Washington arrived in Winchester to supervise the construction of Fort Loudoun and other frontier forts along the western frontier in Virginia during the French and Indian War. In present day, West Virginia there are several state historic markers indicating the location of these early forts.

Photo taken looking south on U.S. Route 220, south branch of the Potomac would be on the left of the photo.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  According documents left by George Washington, Fort Upper Tract was built between August 21 and November 9, 1756, by a Lieutenant Lomax and 20 soldiers probably aided by local settlers. Washington directed the fort's construction from wood in a quadrangular shape with walls 60 feet long and bastions in all four corners. The fort was to have barracks, a powder magazine, and other necessary buildings all built within the walls. The actual completed form of the fort is unknown.

  According to documents left by William Preston, the fort was destroyed in an Indian attack on April 27, 1758 and eighteen militiamen were killed at the fort. A letter in the Augusta County court records, written following the attack on the fort indicated some of the militiamen killed at the fort were reinforcement sent to Fort Upper Tract from Hog’s Fort in Brock Gap, about 22 miles to the east. Captain Dunlap, himself killed in the battle, had requested help upon spotting Indians in the area. The reinforcements arrived just before the fort was attacked. Local settlers Ludwick Fulk and William Elliot, their wives, and one stranger died with the militiamen.

Jackson's Mother

Fayette County, WV

Marker Text: In Westlake Cemetery is the grave of the mother of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The monument at the grave was placed by Captain Thomas Ranson, who had fought in Jackson's old brigade in the War between the States.

Location: On U.S. Route 60, eastbound side of the road across from the street leading to the Westlake Cemetery, Ansted, WV.

Photo taken looking east on U.S. Route 60 with the town of Ansted in the background. Cemetery mentioned in the marker is up the street to the left across the street from marker. Click any photo to enlarge.

  In an earlier post, I included a marker about the location of the birthplace of “Stonewall” Jackson's Mother in Loudoun County, VA. Today's marker is about the place of her death thirty-three years later in Fayette County, WV in Ansted. At the time of her death, Ansted was in Virginia. West Virginia did not come into existence until 1863 during the U.S. Civil War.

  Julia Beckwith Neale Jackson Woodson (1798-1831) was the mother of Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. Julia sadly had a short and tragic life and reportedly was very intelligent and a devout Christian, but life in the early 1800's in what is now West Virginia was not easy and many families faced tragedy each day.

Jackson's Mill

Lewis County, WV

Marker Text: Site of boyhood home of Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The first mill was built about 1808 by his grandfather, Col. Edward Jackson, who became a leader in border affairs. It is now the site of the W. Va. 4-H Camp for Boys and Girls.

Location: North of Weston, WV near the entrance to Jackson's Mill off County Route 10 (Jackson Mill Road) across the road from the old homestead historic site.

Photo taken looking west toward entrance to Jackson Mill Conference Center entrance and Jackson Family Cemetery.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  Colonel Edward Jackson, a Revolutionary War figure, originally settled the mill on the West Fork River in 1800. Three generations of Jacksons operated mills at this site which boasted saw and grist mills, a carpenter shop, blacksmith forge, quarters for twelve slaves, numerous barns/outbuildings, and a general store on 1500 acres of prime forest and pasture land.

  Jackson’s Mill is located near Weston, WV in Lewis County and was the boyhood home of future Confederate Gen. Thomas J. ‘‘Stonewall’’ Jackson. The site was first settled by Thomas J. Jackson’s grandfather, Edward, around 1800. He constructed a house, gristmill, and sawmill on the property.

Hatfield Cemetery

Logan County, WV

Marker Text: Capt. Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, 1839-1921, is buried here. He was the leader of his clan in the bitter family feud with the McCoys. A life-sized statue, modeled from photographs and imported from Italy, marks his grave.

Location: On WV State Route 44, south of Stirrat and north of Sarah Ann WV. Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1963.

Photo taken looking north on Route 44.  Marker for historical designation of the cemetery is below state marker and the cemetery is on the hill to left across the bridge.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

  When the violence between the two families ended, the strangest irony of the feud was the two main family leaders who escaped the direct consequences of the feud, unlike their family members. With all the death, suffering and violence around them, both Devil Anse Hatfield and Ole Randolph McCoy were left unharmed. Both lived well into their 80's. Randolph McCoy was the first to die in 1914 at the age of 88 from burns suffered in an accidental fire.

View of Hatfield’s grave from the road leading to the cemetery.

  William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, who had long proclaimed his skepticism about religion became a born again Christian at the age of 73 and was baptized for the first time.

  "Devil Anse" Hatfield spent the last fifteen years of his life quietly and peaceably living on a small farm he owned in Logan County along Island Creek in Sarah Ann, West Virginia. He raised a good many hogs and but seldom left his community. Once an enterprising amusement manager wanted to profit from Hatfield's fame almost convinced him to go on the vaudeville stage. He made preparations to do so but abandoned the idea when an old indictment for his arrest was produced. Authorities agreed to suppress the indictment on condition he would agree to remain at home the rest of his days.

Hatfield-McCoy Feud

Mingo County, WV

Marker Text: The death in 1882 of Ellison Hatfield, brother of "Devil Anse", from wounds he received in an election-day fight in Pike County, Kentucky, with three sons of Randolph McCoy, and their subsequent killing by the Hatfields, triggered America's most famous family feud. The feud continued six years across the Tug River and brought death to an untold number of Hatfields, McCoys, and their kinsmen.

Location: WV Route 49 (Railroad Avenue), at junction with Laurel Street in Matewan, WV. Erected by the West Virginia Department of Archives and History in 1970.

  Dutch Hatfield stated that he knew only one thing for sure about the feud: If someone says he knows the true story of the battle, he doesn't. No one knows the truth, he says. Nor will it ever be known. The truth was buried with the people who fought and died in this rugged mountain terrain during the years of the feud. From interview with Dutch Hatfield, Newtown, WV, the grandson of Ellison Hatfield.

  Historical markers related to the Hatfield-McCoy Feud are located in both West Virginia and Kentucky. This marker located in Matewan, WV indicates the feud began with the death of Ellison Hatfield in 1882 following the election-day fight across the Tug River into Kentucky and the subsequent Paw Paw Tree incident in Kentucky. There are markers in Kentucky on both the Election-day fight and Paw Paw Tree incident.

  Yesterday's marker from Kentucky about the Killing of Asa Harmon McCoy indicated the start of the feud with this incident. I don't claim any expertise on the history of the feud. Based on what I have read and the stories I heard while living in this area a few years ago. A person's viewpoint on the feud greatly depends on many things, such as, which side of the river one lives, whose family one identifies, and how much a person's view was influenced by media reports of the time. I am not sure anyone could give an exact point where the feud began.

  Link to a List of Books and Articles on the Feud provided by West Virginia Division of Cultural and History.  Hatfield-McCoy Feud in an article from the Beckley Post-Herald on August 7, 1957.

Howard's Lick/Jackson Home

Hardy County, WV

Marker Text: Howard's Lick, (3 Mi. W.), or Lee White Sulphur Springs, was once owned by Gen. Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary War fame. It was owned later by Charles Carter Lee, brother of the beloved Gen. Robert E. Lee.

(Reverse Side) Here John Jackson and wife, great-grandparents of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson, settled about 1750 and here was born Edward Jackson, grandfather of the great military genius, before the family moved to the Buckhannon River.

Location: On WV Route 259, just north of Mathias, WV north of the turn off for Lost River State Park. Erected by the West Virginia Department of Culture and History in 1980.

  Today's marker is about the intersection of the lives of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson among their families here in the Lost River Valley in Hardy County, WV.

  Thomas “Stonewall” Jonathan Jackson was the great-grandson of John Jackson and Elizabeth Cummins (also known as Elizabeth Comings and Elizabeth Needles). John Jackson was a Protestant who moved to the American Colonies from Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland. While living in London, he was convicted of the capital crime of larceny for stealing £170; the judge at the Old Bailey sentenced him to a seven-year indenture in America. Elizabeth, a strong, blonde woman over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, born in London, was also convicted of larceny in an unrelated case for stealing 19 pieces of silver, jewelry, and fine lace, and received a similar sentence. They both were transported on the prison ship Litchfield, which departed London in May 1749 with 150 convicts. John and Elizabeth met on board and were in love by the time the ship arrived at Annapolis, Maryland. Although they were sent to different locations in Maryland for their indentures, the couple married in July 1755.

Gauley Bridge

Fayette County, WV

Marker Text: Here New and Gauley rivers unite to form Great Kanawha River. Piers still stand of old bridge destroyed by the Confederate troops in 1861. Here Thomas Dunn English, author of the ballad, "Ben Bolt", wrote "Gauley River".

Location: On U.S. Route 60 in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia.

  Gauley Bridge is a small incorporated municipality in Fayette County located at the confluence of the Gauley and New Rivers, where the two streams join to form the Kanawha River. Gauley Bridge due to its geographic location serves as the eastern gateway to the Kanawha Valley.

  The town achieved notoriety during the Great Depression of the 1930s when hundreds of unemployed workers, many of them Southern blacks, swarmed into Gauley Bridge to take construction jobs. They served as labors on the construction of the nearby Hawks Nest dam and tunnel. The tunnel was driven three miles through Gauley Mountain, and tunnel workers almost immediately began to sicken and die. The cause was silicosis, a disease well known in Europe but not in the United States at that time. The death toll has been estimated at more than 750, making the Hawks Nest disaster among the worst industrial accidents in U.S. history.

  The name Gauley Bridge derived from the presence of a wooden covered bridge used to carry traffic across the Gauley River over the James River & Kanawha Turnpike which came through here beginning in the early 1820s. Gauley Bridge being the eastern gateway to the Kanawha Valley was of strategic importance during the Civil War.

Dick Pointer

Greenbrier County, WV

Marker Text: Enslaved African, noted for bravery in defense of Fort Donnally during Shawnee attack May 29, 1778. He was granted his freedom by James Rodgers in 1801. Land granted to other defenders; his 1795 pension petition, supported locally, denied. Reportedly, citizens built cabin for Pointer, who died in 1827. Buried with military honors in the African-American cemetery on Church St.

Location: On Church Street, Lewisburg, across from the Old Stone Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, within the boundaries of an old African-American cemetery. Erected by the WV Celebration 2000 – West Virginia Division of Archives and History in 2003.

  Dick Pointer was described as a large powerful man with very black skin, he was the slave of Colonel Andrew Donnally. Dick Pointer was credited with saving more than seventy human beings, the greater number being women and children from the tomahawk and scalping knife of the Indians.

The Dick Pointer marker and to the left is a stone monument dedicated to Pointer as well.  Photo of the brass plaque is below.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  Donnally owned the valley, or at least a large part of it, where he erected the stockade to protect the settlers from Indian forays. The fort was a single log house, two stories high, and a kitchen one and a half story high, with a passage way of eight feet between them. The stockade was eight feet high made of split logs. The fort stood on the east side of Raders creek, in Williamsburg District, ten miles north of Lewisburg. According to a newspaper article in 1969, it is reported that the door from the old Fort Donnally may be seen in the State museum in the Capitol at Charleston.

Craik-Patton House

Kanawha County
Charleston, West Virginia

Marker Text: Built 1834 as "Elm Grove" by James Craik, grandson of Geo. Washington's personal physician. Sold to George Smith Patton, 1858, and retained by family until end of Civil War. Born here was father of noted World War II general Geo. S. Patton. Moved to Lee St. from original Virginia St. location in 1906. Acquired by City of Charleston in 1968 and leased to Colonial Dames. Moved to park 1973.

Location: On U.S. Route 60 (Kanawha Blvd E) east of Charleston and west of Daniel Boone Park, Charleston, WV.

Photo taken looking east on U.S. Route 60, the entrance to the Daniel Boone Park is just beyond the marker on the right.  Interstate 64 is above the retaining wall on the left.

  Today's marker is about an historic house once located within the main section of Charleston before being moved to this location in 1973. Originally located on Virginia Street, the Craik-Patton House was moved to Lee Street in the early twentieth century. The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of West Virginia, as part of the nation's Bicentennial celebration, acquired the house and moved it to Daniel Boone Park.

Fort Lee

Kanawha County, WV

Marker Text: A western frontier outpost, guarding settlers against the Indians. Built here in 1788 and named for Gen. Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, one of Washington's most trusted officers. Later Lee was governor of Virginia.

Location: 1100 block of Kanawha Boulevard, near junction with Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia next to the Kanawha river. Erected by the West Virginia Department of Archives and History in 1974.

  Today's marker mentions an early frontier fort that once stood here at the intersection of Kanawha Boulevard and Brooks Street in Charleston, West Virginia.

Photo taken looking west on Kanawha Boulevard and Brooks Street is to the right.  Another marker in the background is called First Gas Well. (Click any photo to enlarge)

  Early settlers of the Virginia frontier, now West Virginia, began moving south of the Potomac River about 1719. The Native American Indians had misgivings about the early settlers, but since their arrival was gradual and in small numbers, they at first had a degree of tolerance. For the first thirty years the settlers and Indians lived to some extent in peace and tolerance of one another, often trading.

Champe Rocks

Pendleton County, WV

Marker Text: Near Champe Rocks is the home and grave of Sergeant John Champe who was sent by General Washington and Major Lee to kidnap Benedict Arnold, the traitor, from within the British lines. The daring plot almost succeeded.

Location: On U.S. Route 28 & WV Route 55 (northbound) approximately six miles north of Seneca Rocks. Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1963.

  Yesterday, I wrote about John Champe who lived in Loudoun County, VA during the American Revolution and the marker “A Revolutionary War Hero.” John Champe a notable sergeant-major of Maj. “Light Horse Harry” Lee's celebrated partisan legion, earned honorable fame as a result of Lee's "Memoirs of the War", which told of Champe's patriotic and heroic adventure as a fake "deserter" to the British ranks in order to capture the traitor Benedict Arnold.

  Champe Rocks is named for John Champe because he reportedly lived for a short time in the narrow river plain near these rocks. The Champe Rocks are two sandstone masses that rise on the east side of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River, six miles north of Seneca Rocks along State Route 28 & 55 in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Champe Rocks can be seen from this marker. They stand some 900 feet above the valley floor and overlook the narrow river plain.

Gen. Robert E. Lee

Fayette County, WV

Marker Text:  Near here, at highest point on the Midland Trail, Gen. Robert E. Lee had headquarters during his campaign in West Virginia in 1861. His famous war horse, "Traveler," was brought to him here from the Andrew Johnston farm in Greenbrier County.

Location:  On U.S. Route 60 on the left while traveling eastbound, 2.25 miles west of border with Greenbrier County.

"Traveller is my only companion, I may say my only pleasure. He and I, whenever possible, wander in the mountains and enjoy sweet confidences." Quote from letter written by Robert E. Lee following the Civil War about his affection for his old horse.

Photo taken looking east on U.S. Route 60. Difficult to stop and view the marker on this road.

  At the outbreak of war, Lee was appointed to command all of Virginia's forces, upon the formation of the Confederate States Army, he was named one of its first five full generals.

  Lee's first field assignment was commanding Confederate forces in western Virginia (now West Virginia), where he was defeated at the Battle of Cheat Mountain and was widely blamed for Confederate setbacks.

"Oakhurst" Golf Club

Greenbrier County, WV

Marker Text: Site of the first organized golf club in United States. It was formed, 1884, on the "Oakhurst" estate by owner, Russell W. Montague, a New Englander, and Scotchmen: George Grant, Alexander M. and Roderick McLeod and Lionel Torrin.

Location: On U.S. Route 60 east of downtown White Sulphur Springs at the intersection with junction with WV Route 92. Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1965.  Marker is group another marker title, “Dry Creek Battle.”

  The Oakhurst Golf Club course is located approximately two miles northeast of White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County off the Big Draft Road on Montague Drive. I found this marker particularly interesting, because the golf course is located in the same area where I spent some of my summers as a child, visiting relatives that lived along Big Draft Road. My father was born north of this location at the end of Big Draft Road.

  Oakhurst Links, near White Sulphur Springs, was the first organized golf club and course in America. The Oakhurst Links property began as the farm of Russell W. Montague, a native of Dedharn, Massachusetts who moved to Greenbrier County, West Virginia in 1876. Montague was joined in founding the club in 1884 by George Grant, a retired British army officer; Alexander and Roderick MacLeod from Scotland; and Lionel Torrin, who was the owner of a tea plantation in India, avid golfer, and regular summer visitor. Frazer Corron, a local carpenter, made golf clubs for the club members.