Re: Martins of Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia
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In reply to:
Martins of Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia
Ronald Powell 8/10/05
West Virginia History, Vol. 1
Hampshire County--Hampshire, named for Hampshire, England, was formed in 1754, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties, and is the oldest county in the state; its area is 620 square miles; population about 12,000; seat of justice, Romney. On one of the tributaries of South Branch, in Pendleton county, stood Fort Seybert, a frontier post, the garrison of which was massacred by the Shawnee Indians in May, 1758. On its east bank in Hampshire county is situated the town of Romney, founded by Lord Fairfax, and with one exception is the oldest town in the state. On March 23, 1747, George Washington, then engaged in surveying on the Potomac, witnessed a war dance by more than thirty Indians at the confluence of the North and South Branches. Other streams are the Little and Great Capon rivers, the latter rising in Hardy county.
While Hampshire was created out of a part of Frederick county, its territory was originally a part of Orange county, which was divided in 1738, creating a county known as Frederick. Orange county included all the territory lying north of Augusta and south of the Potomac river. In 1754 it was enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses, "That on the first day of May next ensuing, all that part of the county of Augusta which lies within the bounds of the Northern Neck be added to and made a part of said county of Frederick, and the said part of the county of Frederick so to be added to, shall from and immediately after the first said day of May, the said county of Frederick and the said part of the county of Augusta so to be added to, and made a part of the county of Frederick, as aforesaid, be divided into two counties; and that all that part thereof lying to the westward of the ridge of mountains commonly called and known by the names of Great North, and Cape Capon mountains and Warm Springs mountains extending to the Potomac river, be one distinct county, to be called and known by the name of Hampshire; and that all that part thereof, lying to the eastward of the said ridge of mountains, be one distinct county and retain the name of Frederick." The western boundary is not defined. It was not necessary, for the county extended to the "utmost parts of Virginia," which were bounded west and northwest of the Great Lakes and Mississippi river.
At the time of its organization its settled portion was within the Northern Neck, the royal grant of which was vested in Lord Fairfax, and the county owes its name to an incident related in Kercheval's "History of the Valley." "Lord Fairfax, happening to be at Winchester, one day observed a drove of very fine hogs, and enquired where they came from. He was informed that they were raised in the South Branch Valley; upon which he remarked that when a new county was formed to the west of Frederick to include the South Branch Valley, it should be called Hampshire, after that county in England so celebrated for its fat hogs."
Owing to continuation of the French and Indian war, the county was not organized until 1757, when the first court convened. The presiding justice was Right Hon. Thomas Bryan Martin, nephew of Lord Fairfax. In 1785 Hardy, including the present territory of Grant and a part of Pendleton, were taken from Hampshire county. In 1820 Morgan county was created, taking more of its territory. In 1866 Mineral county was taken from Hampshïre, leaving it its present size. In 1784 Hampshire county had 20,800 square miles, and a population of 14,000. It now has but 600 square miles, and a population of 11,419.
At an early day there were numerous iron furnaces and other manufacturing industries in Hampshire county, but most of these have gone out of commission. The iron industry was dropped on account of the finer, cheaper ore being mined in the Lake regions at the north. Among the early iron ïndustries may be recalled the Hampshire Furnace Company, whose plant was built and operated by Edward McCarty, on Middle ridge, twelve miles south of Romney. The forge for this furnace was near Keyser. An extensive business was carried on by this company, as is seen by the many ponderous account books now in possession of the clerk of the courts at Romney. These books bear date 1816-18; how much earlier the establishment was conducted, no one can tell. The Bloomery Furnaces, ruins of which are still to be seen, were built and operated by a Mr. Priestly, and were being run in 1833. Large quanties of iron were made and shipped over the Capon river on rafts and flatboats. S. A. Pancoast purchased these furnaces in 1846, and after his death they continued in other hands until 1875.
Robert Sherrard built a large stone mill in 1800 at Bloomery, also a woolen mill. William Fox built a merchant mill in Fox's Hollow in 1818, and shipped flour by boat to Georgetown. Hammock's Mills, flour and woolen, was another very early plant. Also, the Painter Mill was a pioneer establishment on North river about a century ago. Colonel Fox established a tannery in 1816 in Fox's Hollow, which was operated until the civil war. Another tanyard was on Dillon's run, and Samuel Gard had another extensive tannery at Capon Bridge prior to 1820. New methods came in and the leather trade in this state had to succumb to the advance of this industry and improved machinery. Distilleries were located at many points in the county. Farmers used to take their grain to these stills as often as they went to mills for flour. Fruits were also taken and given in exchange for brandies--thus the farmer and his family had whiskey and brandy.
Hampshire boasts of having a civil war relic worth preserving. In 1897, Captain David Pugh had (the family now probably have it) the quill pen with which the Virginia Ordinance of Secession was signed April 17, 1861. The pen was never again used, and the ink still clings to the point of the quill.
The honor and distinction of having been first to decorate the graves and erect a monument in memory of Confederate soldiers belong to Hampshire county. The matter was first talked over at the home of Colonel Robert White, in the early spring of 1866, but many were timid about engaging at that time in such ceremony, thinking it would not meet with the approval of the federal government. Yet the matter was agitated, and on June 1, 1866, a goodly number went to the graves and decorated them with flowers. Plans were soon laid for entertainments for the purpose of raising a fund with which to erect a soldiers' monument for the Confederate dead of Hampshire county. Finally, $1,400 were raised, and a white marble shaft secured at Baltimore, the height of which is twelve feet. This was dedicated September 26, 1867, with imposing ceremonies. Besides the soldiers' names, it bears the inscription "The Daughters of Old Hampshire erect this Tribute of Affection to Her Heroic Sons who fell in defense of Southern Rights."
In 1910 in Hampshire county there were towns with population indicated, as follows: Romney, 1,112; Capon Bridge, 213; Springfield, 135; Watson Town, 11.
Romney, the seat of justice, next to if not indeed the oldest town in West Virginia, was laid out in November, 1762, by Lord Fairfax who named it after the town of that name in England, the same being on the English Channel. It stands on a bluff overlooking the South Branch river, sixteen miles south of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at Green Spring Station, which is fourteen miles east of Cumberland City and 164 miles from Baltimore. In 1792 it was shown to the assembly that it was "uncertain and unknown to whom many of the lots in the town of Romney legally belonged, for the reason that the late Lord Fairfax hath made no deed." So on December 27th that year, that body enacted that "the title to said lots shall be vested in the trustees, whose title to them shall be valid in law."
Watson Town, in the extreme southern part of the county, is a famous resort and is visited annually by hundreds of guests. This place was legally established December 12, 1787, on lands owned by Joseph Watson.
Springfield, in the northwest corner, named for the Massachusetts revolutionary battlefield, was established December 16, 1790, at the cross roads on the lands of William and Samuel Aberenthy.