FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION IN FRONT OF TWYFORD STORE IN 1910
( LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF COTTTAGE AVE AND MAIN STREET)
Another War… Another Time
America’s War For Independence
With all that is currently going on in the world and America about to celebrate its birthday, I am reminded of a time when our forefathers fought so desperately to win freedom and independence for us. It was a long bloody war with the cards stacked against our forefathers.
What’s that you say? You can’t find Doddridge County, or even West Virginia in the analogs and personal memoirs of the Revolutionary War.
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION AT THE LOCATION WHERE THE CAR WASH IS NOW, 1910
Of course, you can’t, neither WV nor Doddridge County existed in that era. But if you think for a minute that Doddridge County does not hold a rich history among the pages of the Revolutionary War Era, read on.
The fact is that what is now West Virginia is considered by many historians to be the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War. It took place on the banks of the Ohio River with the death of Cornstalk at Point Pleasant.
Ironically, the Siege of Fort Henry at Wheeling, WV was considered by many historians to be the final battle of the Revolutionary War.
At the time of the American Revolution, Doddridge County was still part of Monongalia County in the state of Virginia. It did not become our mother county of Harrison until July 20, 1784. It did not become Doddridge County until 1845, but let’s go back to the Revolution when Doddridge County was still part of western Virginia.
The area now known as Doddridge was on the very fringes of civilization. The roads were nonexistent. Many times, a wagon traveling across the mountains to this area would have to stop long enough for the men to cut down huge trees to make way for the wagon to pass. Sometimes the wagon would get high-centered on a stump because it was left sticking out of the ground to far. It was from this problem that the phrase ‘I’m stumped’, or ‘it has me stumped’ originated.
The few supplies that they needed to acquire required a dangerous trek north to Fort Pitt or perhaps an annual trip across the mountains to Richmond.
The match for lighting fires would not be invented until 1826 making something as simple as lighting a fire become a chore.
The wealthier individuals might have glass for their windows, but most cabin windows west of the mountains were covered with paper that had been coated with bear grease. This might not be acceptable to women today. However, it was by necessity simply the way things were on the frontier.
While George Washington was fighting the war that was raging east of the mountains, this area had its own problems.
Implementing a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy, the British hoped to force the Americans to divert some of their troops from the east to protect their western frontier. To accomplish this, the British escalated their hostilities against the settlers from their headquarters in Detroit by enlisting the help of the Delaware, Mingo, Seneca, Shawnee Wyandotte, as well as the infamous Simon Girty (the white savage), all of whom had allied themselves with the British.
Although historians dispute it by saying he only paid for their services, Lieutenant General Henry Hamilton gained a reputation as a scalp-buying general. This was due to his alleged placement of a bounty on the head of any white scalp that the Native Indian could get.
A year after the colonists declared their independence, things became so horrific between the Native Indians and the white settlers west of the mountains that 1777 became known as the year of the bloody sevens.
As you might have guessed, the now Doddridge County was not a healthy place to bring a family. Still, white settlers began to call this area home. Many of those settlers gained ownership of large portions of land through land grants rewarded to America’s Revolutionary War Soldiers as payment for their service during the birth of our great nation, the United States of America.
Today nearly every citizen in Doddridge County can trace their roots to a Revolutionary War Soldier.
If you can document that fact, you can become an honored member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).
Brave men with names like James Booth, William Crawford, Col. Thomas Cresap, brothers, Thomas and Edward Cunningham, William B. Lowther, and the Morgan brothers have descendants throughout this county.
If you have found this article interesting, I urge you to take the time to read the many books that have been published regarding the history of western Virginia (WV) during the Revolutionary War. I promise that you will find some very interesting reading awaits you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!
God Bless
Patricia Richards Harris, President
Doddridge County Historical Society
304 873-1540 or 304 266-1291
Email: [email protected]
CECIL AND DOC AT THE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION BELIEVED TO BE IN 1910.
MAIN STREET, West Union, WV July 4, 2023.