Preston County Through Time

Where found: WVGES: Physiographic Provinces and Bedrock Geology — regional Greenbrier deposition at about 330 million years ago

The date is an approximate regional age for Greenbrier deposition, not an exact date for every limestone bed. Greenbrier limestone is not widespread at the surface; folding and deep erosion explain its local exposures.

The museum identifies specimen 73 as Mississippian and from Preston County, but does not establish its exact collecting location or formation.

Modern place names locate the evidence; they do not imply that present-day communities or county boundaries existed at the time.

Where found: WVGES: Historical Geology of West Virginia — sedimentation and coal-forming environments; see date caveat in Research Notes

The broad period dates the depositional setting, not every individual sandstone bed. Renton identifies local Pottsville sandstone at Coopers Rock; modern cliff exposure occurred much later.

Sandstone and coal formation describe overlapping environments, not a strict before-and-after sequence. Coopers Rock is a county-border-area example.

Numerical boundaries follow the ICS June 2026 chart. WVGES’s older overview contains outdated numerical dates; it is used for depositional processes, not those dates.

Modern place names locate the evidence; they do not imply that present-day communities or county boundaries existed at the time.

Where found: WVGES: Historical Geology of West Virginia — sedimentation and coal-forming environments; see date caveat in Research Notes

The interval describes the accumulation of coal-forming material, not a single moment of completed coalification. Upper Freeport is one example among the county’s coal beds.

Regional plant research is not a Preston County fossil inventory. The historical resource assessment is not a current reserve estimate.

Numerical boundaries follow the ICS June 2026 chart. WVGES’s older overview contains outdated numerical dates; it is used for depositional processes, not those dates.

Modern place names locate the evidence; they do not imply that present-day communities or county boundaries existed at the time.

Where found: John J. Renton, A Geology Field Trip — local formations and folds, printed pp. 3–6 and Figure 6

The dates represent a regional mountain-building episode, not direct dating of each Preston County fold. The GSA abstract concerns southern Appalachian rocks.

Bull Run’s possible relationship to the Ligonier Syncline requires detailed local mapping. Proximity alone does not establish that the stream follows the fold axis throughout its course.

Modern place names locate the evidence; they do not imply that present-day communities or county boundaries existed at the time.

Where found: Springer, Kite, and Schmidt (1997), Cave sedimentation, genesis, and erosional history in the Cheat River Canyon, West Virginia — GSA Bulletin 109, 524–532; university record and abstract

The Pleistocene began about 2.6 million years ago; this epoch boundary is not an established origin date for the canyon. The local cave study examines a shorter interval within that history.

The study’s average incision estimate of 56.0–63.2 millimeters per thousand years is a long-term, study-area estimate. It does not imply steady annual erosion and should not be extrapolated to calculate the entire canyon’s age.

Modern place names locate the evidence; they do not imply that present-day communities or county boundaries existed at the time.

Where found: Phase III Archaeological Data Recovery of Site 36WM278, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, §4.1, p. 27; reports isolated Preston County fluted-point finds, citing Norona (1958) and Richard E. Jensen (1970). Earlier references not yet independently verified. Supporting statewide context: Richard L. Rosencrance, “Paleoindian Artifacts of West Virginia” (2018)

Where found: Virginia statutes establishing Frederick and Augusta counties; Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; e-WV, “Augusta County” and “Frederick County”

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Library of Virginia, Dictionary of Virginia Biography, “Samuel Eckerlin (1703–1782)”; e-WV, “The Frontier”; Ephrata Cloister, “The Eckerlin Brothers”

Where found: Library of Virginia, Dictionary of Virginia Biography, “Samuel Eckerlin (1703–1782)”; e-WV, “German Dunkards”; Ephrata Cloister, “The Eckerlin Brothers”

Where found: Alexander Scott Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare (1831), pp. 89–90; S. T. Wiley, History of Preston County (1882), pp. 24–25; Preston County, “History of Preston County, West Virginia”

Where found: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, “Mason-Dixon Line”

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 364–365

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Samuel T. Wiley, History of Preston County, West Virginia (1882), pp. 28–29; West Virginia historical marker, “Brandonville”

Where found: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, “West Augusta” and “Monongalia County”

Where found: The Diaries of George Washington, Volume IV, September 25, 1784 — Library of Congress PDF, page 50; editors’ note 3 on PDF page 51

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia, vol. I (1914), p. 77

Where found: Preston County Economic Development Authority, “Aurora”

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia, vol. I (1914), p. 260

Where found: Morton, A History of Preston County, vol. I, ch. X, p. 90 (printed page)

Where found: Samuel T. Wiley, History of Preston County, West Virginia (1882), pp. 46–47

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. X, p. 91 (printed page)

Where found: Samuel T. Wiley, History of Preston County, West Virginia (1882), p. 47; FamilySearch Research Wiki, “Monongalia County, West Virginia Genealogy”; West Virginia and Regional History Center, A&M 0026

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, p. 215 (printed page)

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. X, p. 92 (printed page)

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. X, p. 95 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia General Assembly, Acts of Assembly, 1810–1811, Chapter 104 (CIV), “An Act Establishing several Towns,” passed January 23, 1811, pages 110–111; Kingwood established in Section 2.

The original act’s heading on page 110 confirms Chapter CIV (104) and January 23, 1811. Section 2 on page 111 establishes “King Wood” from lots and streets already laid out in Monongalia County and names the five trustees. This is the legal establishment of an existing settlement, rather than the date it was first laid out.

Section 4 empowers the trustees of the towns covered by the act to regulate house construction, settle lot-boundary disputes, and adopt bylaws consistent with Virginia and United States law. It also specifies a dwelling-house condition for town privileges and provides for filling trustee vacancies. Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage. Morton’s account is retained as the original research reference.

Where found: Virginia General Assembly, Acts of Assembly, 1817–1818, Chapter 32 (XXXII), “An Act dividing the county of Monongalia,” passed January 19, 1818, pages 32–34.

The complete act was reviewed on printed pages 32–34. Section 1 defines the territory separated from Monongalia County and names the new county Preston. Section 8 makes the act effective upon passage on January 19, 1818. The act does not explain the choice of the county’s name; the naming after Governor James Patton Preston is supported by the retained e-WV reference.

Section 3 appoints Thomas Byrne, Felix Scott, William Irwin, William Marteney, and John M’Whorter as commissioners to select the permanent location for courts and public buildings. It directs the first justices to meet at William Price’s house and allows them to choose a temporary court location pending completion of the public buildings. The act itself does not name Kingwood as the permanent county seat; that eventual outcome is distinguished from the act’s provisions.

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia, vol. I (1914), ch. X, printed p. 165

Morton explains that, before 1851, the sheriffalty was normally filled by the senior justice recommended by the county court and commissioned by the governor. He specifically identifies John Fairfax as the first sheriff and says that Fairfax sold his commission to Joseph D. Suit, who performed the duties as deputy.

The county-creation act directed the first justices to take the sheriff’s bond, but it does not name Fairfax or Suit. The appointment and deputy-service distinction in this entry is therefore attributed to Morton’s county history rather than presented as a detail established by the 1818 act itself.

The exact date of Fairfax’s appointment has not been established. The entry is dated only to 1818, the year Preston County was organized.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. X, p. 97 and ch. XXIV, p. 216 (printed pages)

Section 3 of the county-creation act directs the first justices to meet at William Price’s house on the first court day after the county takes effect, administer the required oaths, take the sheriff’s bond, and appoint and qualify a clerk. It also permits a temporary court location while permanent public buildings are arranged. This is evidence of the legal instruction, rather than proof that the meeting occurred on a particular day.

Morton’s 1914 history, volume I, page 97, identifies Price’s tavern as the place where the county was organized; page 216 discusses the temporary Old Red Courthouse. The account of the actual meeting remains attributed to Morton. The timeline date is retained as 1818; no exact meeting date is established here. The related OnView photograph is a later view of the tavern, not a photograph of the 1818 meeting.

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, vol. I (1914), ch. XXIII, pp. 203–204; National Park Service, National Road

The 1818 date marks completion of the Cumberland–Wheeling connection, not the beginning of construction or the road’s later western extensions. Morton’s 1914 history supplies the local market connection; the National Park Service corroborates the broader chronology. Morton’s characterization of prosperity is retrospective, not a quantified measure of economic growth.

The Hagans Homestead nomination documents Harrison Hagans’s later promotion of feeder roads. These connections should not all be dated to 1818. During construction beginning in 1811, the future Preston area was still in Monongalia County, Virginia. Preston was created January 19, 1818. The Maryland portion now in Garrett County was then in Allegany County; Maryland’s 1816 completion date concerns its section of the road.

The linked e-WV image is a map titled “Map of the National Road between Cumberland and Wheeling,” credited there to the Library of Congress and to Description of the United States & Travellers Directory. It is a map, not a photograph of the 1818 opening. A matching original Library of Congress catalog record and item-specific reuse statement have not been verified. The image is linked at e-WV and is not reproduced here.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, p. 216 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia General Assembly, Acts of Assembly, 1825–1826, Chapter 104, “An act extending the limits of the town of King Wood, in the county of Preston, and for other purposes,” passed January 11, 1826, pages 95–96.

The original act resolves two differences from Morton’s account on page 216: its heading gives January 11, 1826, rather than January 12, and Section 1 prints Charles Byrn, rather than Charles Payne, alongside William Sigler and William Price. The date and name in this entry follow the original legislation. The spelling Byrn is retained as printed, without assuming a different spelling or identity.

Section 1 extends the provisions of the January 23, 1811 town-establishment act to the added area. The public lot at the east end of High Street is included conditionally, when the county court lays it out. Section 2 requires a full survey and plat, county-court approval, and recording in the deed book; an attested copy of the recorded plat may serve as evidence in boundary disputes. Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. The act does not establish when the required survey and plat were completed.

Where found: National Register of Historic Places, Red Horse Tavern additional documentation, Section 8; Brookside Historic District nomination, Section 8, p. 12

Where found: Preston County Economic Development Authority, “Brandonville”

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, pp. 204–205 (printed pages)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1827–1828, chapter 82, “An act adding a part of the county of Randolph to the county of Preston,” pp. 53–54 (passed February 29, 1828)

The original act supplies the exact date, February 29, 1828. Its preamble reports residents’ complaint that Randolph’s courthouse was fifty miles away and their separate election eighteen miles away, compared with twenty miles to Preston’s courthouse and three miles to a separate election in Preston.

Section 2 authorizes the Preston County Court to direct its surveyor to run and mark the boundary when necessary; Randolph may send its surveyor to participate. It requires two plans or maps showing courses, distances, and notable places, approved by the county courts and recorded in each county. The act does not establish when that survey and recording were completed. Section 3 preserves collection of unpaid public dues and officers’ fees by Randolph’s sheriff. Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage.

Morton describes the 1828 and 1838 annexations together as including much of the later Union district and the site of Aurora. His combined description does not establish which of those places entered Preston in 1828 rather than 1838; this entry therefore follows the boundary landmarks in the 1828 act.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XIV, p. 138 (printed page)

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, pp. 217–220 (printed pages)

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Virginia General Assembly, Acts of Assembly, 1833–1834, Chapter 91, page 105.

The 1834 and 1836 laws are separate legislative actions concerning the proposed route through Evansville. Neither act establishes that the turnpike was actually relocated. Whether residents funded the additional expense and which route was ultimately built remain unresolved research questions.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Virginia General Assembly, Acts of Assembly, 1835–1836, Chapter 104, pages 82–83.

The 1834 and 1836 laws are separate legislative actions concerning the proposed route through Evansville. Neither act establishes that the turnpike was actually relocated. Whether residents funded the additional expense and which route was ultimately built remain unresolved research questions.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

The original legislation confirms the passage date and title: Chapter 74, January 13, 1836, beginning on printed page 50. Section 1 applies to people who were not citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It prohibits them from driving, or allowing, their horses, hogs, sheep, or cattle onto land belonging to a citizen residing in Preston County without the owner’s permission, whether the land was enclosed or unenclosed. The act continues onto the following page; its complete enforcement provisions have not yet been reviewed.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1835–1836, chapter 15, “An act establishing a new regiment in the county of Preston,” pp. 16–17 (passed March 9, 1836)

Section 1 begins the district boundary at the Monongalia–Preston line on the west bank of the Cheat River, follows the river upstream to a point opposite David Albright’s farm, then crosses to and includes that farm. It continues to John Bishoff’s farm on the road from Crab Orchard settlement to Green Glades in Maryland, follows that road to the Maryland line, and returns by the Maryland, Randolph, and Monongalia county lines. These are the historical boundaries described in 1836, rather than present-day county lines.

David Albright and John Bishoff are named as landholders whose farms serve as boundary landmarks; the act does not identify them as officers or establish their militia service. Crab Orchard settlement and the road to Green Glades provide contemporary evidence of local place names and a travel route. The act spells the surname Bishoff and names the places Crab orchard and Green glades.

The 104th Regiment continued with its enrolled militia except those detached into the new 148th. Section 2 provides for the new regiment to be divided into battalions and companies under existing militia law. Section 3 directs the oldest field officer of the 104th residing within the new district, or otherwise its colonel commandant, to arrange and supervise field-officer elections with legal notice and report the result to the executive. Section 4 preserves the commissions of officers transferred into the new regiment and requests replacement commissions from the governor. Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage; it does not supply the date of the elections or first muster.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1835–1836, chapter 100, “An act to provide for the construction of a road from the Ohio river by Morgantown, to the Maryland line,” pp. 76–79 (passed March 15, 1836)

Section 1 names Presly Martin of Tyler County, Thomas P. Ray and Richard Watts of Monongalia County, and Harrison Hagan of Preston County as directors, joined by four directors appointed by the Board of Public Works. It follows the road location authorized by the March 10, 1835 act and the Brandonville-to-state-line location directed by a February 11, 1835 resolution. This is construction legislation following earlier location measures, rather than proof the road was completed on March 15, 1836.

The act’s heading names the Maryland line, while Section 1 describes the endpoint as the state line in the direction of Smithfield on the National Road. The February 14, 1838 act likewise uses the state line in the direction of Smithfield; the timeline’s 1839 entry names the Pennsylvania line. The wording here preserves Section 1’s route description; reconciling the terminal route across the successive acts remains a research question.

Sections 2–3 allow county and individual contributions in money or labor, with valuations reported to the Board of Public Works. For each $3,000 applied locally, the state was to pay $2,000, up to $12,000 in total state funding. Section 4 requires a bonded treasurer. Section 9 permits county assessments capped at one-half the taxes payable on the same property, subject to the specified county-court attendance or summons requirements; individuals could discharge their assessments through road labor at a court-set value.

Sections 5–7 authorize construction contracts, land and material acquisition under existing turnpike law, and toll gates after each twenty-mile section is finished. Tolls could not exceed the rates allowed on an equal section of the Northwestern Turnpike. After repair and other expenses, remaining toll income was to be apportioned among the Commonwealth, counties, and individual subscribers according to their contributions, with no dividend on a contribution below $25.

Section 10 permits a superintendent paid no more than $1 per day of necessary work. Section 11 provides that if the road was not completed within ten years of passage, work done by individuals or counties would be forfeited to the Commonwealth. Section 12 makes the act effective upon passage. These provisions establish authorization and conditions, not the actual dates of construction, toll collection, or completion.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1836–1837, chapter 228, “An act incorporating the Preston mining and manufacturing company,” p. 214 (passed March 25, 1837)

The complete three-section charter appears on printed page 214. Section 1 names H. R. Roby and allows other persons to associate with him in the future; it does not list additional incorporators or establish the identities of actual stockholders. The initials H. R. are retained as printed.

Section 1 grants the rights and powers, and imposes the restrictions and regulations, of the general manufacturing and mining incorporation act passed February 13, 1837. Those general provisions are incorporated by reference and are not reproduced in this charter.

Section 2 sets the authorized capital-stock range at $10,000–$100,000, divided into $100 shares, and permits purchase and holding of no more than 1,000 acres in Preston County. These are charter limits, rather than evidence of capital actually subscribed or acreage actually acquired. Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. The charter establishes legal incorporation and authorized purposes; it does not establish when or whether mining or manufacturing operations began.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1836–1837, chapter 241, “An act to incorporate the Cheat river mining, lumber, salt and iron company,” p. 220 (passed March 27, 1837)

The complete three-section charter appears on printed page 220. The act’s heading uses the shorter description Cheat river mining, lumber, salt and iron company, but Section 1 gives the corporate name as The Cheat River Mining, Salt, Lumbering and Iron Manufacturing Company. This entry follows the corporate name in Section 1.

Section 1 prints Harrison Hagan and Elisha M. Hagan, without a final s, alongside Buckner Fairfax, and permits other persons to associate with them later. The names here follow the original act; the charter does not establish the identities of later stockholders. The authorized purposes expressly include lumber preparation and salt production as well as mining and manufacturing iron and other metals.

Section 1 incorporates by reference the rights, powers, restrictions, and regulations of the general manufacturing and mining incorporation act passed February 13, 1837. Section 2 authorizes $30,000–$200,000 in capital stock, divided into $100 shares, and purchase and holding of no more than 10,000 acres in Preston County. These are charter limits, not evidence of capital actually subscribed or land actually acquired. Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. The charter does not establish when or whether the authorized operations began.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1838, chapter 144, “An act to provide further for the completion of the road from the Ohio river at the mouth of Fishing creek, to the state line in the direction of Smithfield,” pp. 101–102 (passed February 14, 1838)

Section 1 authorizes a $12,000 loan from the unappropriated internal-improvement fund to the road’s board of directors for completion of the route. This is a repayable loan, distinct from the state funding tied to local contributions authorized in the March 15, 1836 construction act. The charter of a new company or a new road is not created by this act.

Before any portion of the loan could be paid, the directors had to execute a mortgage to the president and directors of the Board of Public Works on all real and personal property held by the road’s board and on the net income from its tolls and receipts. The mortgage was to be recorded in the Monongalia County Court clerk’s office. Interest was payable semiannually; principal was repayable in ten equal semiannual installments beginning with the fourth semiannual interest payment.

Section 2 permits the Board of Public Works to borrow if the internal-improvement fund cannot supply the loan, subject to the applicable general legislation or the fallback terms referenced in the 1836 act. The borrowing rate could not exceed five percent per year, and the rate charged to the road’s directors had to equal the rate paid by the Board of Public Works. Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. Authorization does not establish whether the loan was drawn, repaid, or followed by completion of the road.

The original act describes the endpoint as the state line in the direction of Smithfield; it does not expressly call it the Pennsylvania line. This entry follows that wording. It also references the 1836 act whose heading names the Maryland line; comparison with the 1839 continuation act remains necessary to resolve the route wording across the series.

A separate act printed immediately below on page 102—chapter 145, passed April 6, 1838—permits examination of a proposed route alteration from Morgantown westward to Joseph Morgan’s mill on Buffaloe Creek. The change required a report to, and approval by, the Board of Public Works. That is a distinct legislative action from the February 14 loan and is preserved here as a related research lead.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1838, chapter 62, “An act to add a part of the county of Randolph to the county of Preston,” pp. 57–58 (passed April 4, 1838)

The preamble explicitly links this act to the February 29, 1828 annexation. It explains that running the earlier boundary unexpectedly excluded some petitioners who faced the same difficulties reaching their courthouse, muster grounds, and separate elections as the residents included in 1828. This was a second transfer, rather than a duplicate date for the earlier act.

Section 1 places the starting point on the line run and marked under the 1828 act, at the western summit of Alleghany Mountain, and identifies the endpoint as the mouth of Muddy Run on the east side of the Cheat River. The mountain spelling follows the original legislation; the act does not name Aurora or the later Union district.

Section 2 provides for Preston’s surveyor to run and mark the new line when the county court considers it necessary, with Randolph’s surveyor permitted to participate. Two maps showing courses, distances, and notable places must be approved by the county courts and recorded in each county. Section 3 preserves Randolph’s sheriff’s authority to collect unpaid public dues and officers’ fees from residents of the transferred territory. Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage. The act does not establish when the new survey and maps were completed.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1838, chapter 126, “An act to authorize a survey of a road from a point at or near the German Settlement to a point on the Morgantown and Beverley road,” p. 90 (passed April 6, 1838)

Section 1 directs a survey from a point on the Northwestern Turnpike at or near German Settlement to a suitable point on the Morgantown and Beverley road east of Laurel Hill, together with an estimate of the probable cost. The spelling Beverley follows the original legislation.

The act directs a route survey and probable-cost estimate; it does not authorize construction funding or establish that the survey or road was completed. Section 2 makes the act effective upon passage.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1838, chapter 142, “An act to provide for the construction of a road from Brandonville to the North-western turnpike,” pp. 99–100 (passed April 7, 1838)

Section 1 confirms Harrison Hagan, Israel Baldwin, and Benjamin Jeffers as directors, joined by two directors appointed by the Board of Public Works. It specifies the previously surveyed and located route from Brandonville through Kingwood to a suitable point on the Northwestern Turnpike near Evansville. It adopts the construction plan and applicable conditions of the March 15, 1836 Fishing Creek–Morgantown road act (chapter 100, pp. 76–79).

Section 2 permits subscriptions and donations from individuals and the Preston County Court in money only. Section 3 appropriates $10,000 from the public treasury, payable on the terms and in the proportions established by the 1836 act. That act provides $2 in state funding for each $3 applied locally; the 1838 act allows proportional state payments whenever $1,000 has been paid by individuals and the county court. The appropriation is an authorization, not evidence that the full amount was disbursed.

Section 3 also adopts applicable provisions governing the court and directors, the treasurer’s duties and bond, and the Board of Public Works. The treasurer’s bond is to be deposited in the Preston County clerk’s office. Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage. The act does not establish when construction began or the road was completed.

The timeline separately records incorporation of the Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville Turnpike Company on March 13, 1837. This 1838 act authorizes construction and funding under a board of directors; its text does not expressly state that it repeals or replaces that company’s charter. The relationship between those arrangements requires comparison with the original 1837 act.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, pp. 204–205 (printed pages)

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1839–1840, chapter 157, “An act incorporating the Preston rail-road, lumber and mining company,” p. 122 (passed March 7, 1840)

Section 1 gives the corporate name as The Preston Rail-Road, Lumber and Mining Company. Mining, rather than Mineral, is the wording of the original charter. The act spells the incorporators’ surnames Weaver, Ludington, Hagans, Hagans, and Fairfax.

Section 1 sets capital stock at no less than $50,000 and no more than $500,000, divided into $100 shares, and permits the company to purchase and hold up to 10,000 acres in Preston County.

Section 2 incorporates by reference the general manufacturing and mining company act of February 13, 1837, and the general railroad company act of March 11, 1837. It also permits the company to improve navigation below the falls in such manner as it prefers. Those general acts have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 3 leaves stockholders’ private property liable for a proportionate share of company debts after company funds are exhausted. Section 4 makes the charter effective upon passage. All four sections appear on printed page 122.

The charter authorizes these activities; it does not establish that the railroad or navigation improvements were built, that mining or lumber operations began, or that the stated capital was subscribed or land acquired.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, p. 221 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1840–1841, chapter 118, “An act incorporating the trustees of the Preston academy,” p. 121 (passed January 2, 1841)

Section 1 incorporates the twelve named individuals as The Trustees of the Preston Academy. The original act spells the name Izrael Baldwin and identifies William Brown without a middle initial. It places the proposed academy in Preston County; the Kingwood location is supplied by the accompanying West Virginia Memory entry.

Section 1 allows the trustees and their successors to acquire, hold, lease, rent, sell, or otherwise dispose of property for the academy. The authorized holdings of lands, goods, and chattels may not exceed $30,000 in amount or value, and sale of real estate requires at least a majority of the trustees. This is a property limit, not a state appropriation.

Section 2 authorizes appointment of officers and tutors and adoption of lawful bylaws, rules, and regulations. A majority of trustees constitutes a board for business, and the board fills vacancies caused by death, resignation, or legal disability.

Section 3 requires the treasurer to receive academy money and property, disburse it as ordered by the board, and give a bond approved by the trustees. It provides for recovery against the treasurer and sureties upon ten days’ previous notice.

Section 4 reserves the General Assembly’s power to modify or repeal the charter, and section 5 makes it effective upon passage. All five sections appear on printed page 121.

The act establishes the corporate trustees and their powers; it does not establish that a building was completed, classes began, tutors were hired, or property was acquired on January 2, 1841. The separate Captured entry concerning the academy building in 1841 remains a distinct research question.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1840–1841, chapter 44, “An act adding to the county of Preston a part of the county of Monongalia,” p. 61 (passed March 15, 1841)

The title and section 1 both establish a transfer from Monongalia County to Preston County. The previous timeline title and description reversed that direction. The act agrees with the direction reported in the former Morton-based research lead IN-0176; that lead has been consolidated here rather than retained as a second event. Morton’s cited pages have not been newly checked in this act review.

Section 1 begins the boundary at the existing county line where it crosses Cheat River, runs a straight line to the England Ore banks on the top of the mountain, a straight line to the Osburn farm positioned to include its dwelling house in Preston, and then due north to the Pennsylvania line. These historic landmarks have not been located on a modern map in this review.

The county courts may direct their surveyors to meet, run, and mark the lines whenever necessary. The surveyors must prepare two plans or maps showing courses, distances, remarkable places, and necessary explanations, returning one to each county court for recording in its clerk’s office. Preston’s county levy is to pay reasonable compensation for the surveyors’ services. The act does not establish that these surveys or maps were completed.

Section 2 preserves the authority of Monongalia’s sheriff or other collector to collect unpaid public dues and officers’ fees from inhabitants of the transferred territory, with accountability as before the act.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage, March 15, 1841. All three sections appear on printed page 61.

Where found: National Register of Historic Places, Red Horse Tavern additional documentation, Sections 8 and 9

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, p. 221 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1841–1842, Resolution No. 8, “Resolution directing a survey and location of a turnpike road from Morgantown to the Northwestern turnpike road,” p. 167 (adopted February 25, 1842)

Resolution No. 8 was adopted February 25, 1842. Its full text appears on printed page 167. It directs both survey and location of the best practicable route for a turnpike road, rather than merely a general road survey.

The Board of Public Works is authorized and instructed to direct the principal engineer to do this work as soon as the public interest will admit. The resolution names the office, not an individual engineer, and sets no fixed completion date.

The proposed route begins at Morgantown in Monongalia County and is described as going by Kingwood to the Northwestern Turnpike at or near German Settlement in Preston County. The phrase by Kingwood is preserved from the original; this resolution does not establish a surveyed alignment or the course of a completed road.

The resolution does not specify a construction appropriation, incorporate a turnpike company, or establish that the survey, route location, or construction was completed. The cost-and-advantages report required by the preceding Romney road resolution, No. 7, is not part of No. 8.

This is a separate measure from the April 6, 1838 survey act concerning a route from near German Settlement to the Morgantown and Beverley road east of Laurel Hill. Resolution No. 8 does not expressly amend or repeal that act.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1841–1842, chapter 176, “An act to incorporate the Monongalia iron company,” p. 106 (passed March 12, 1842)

Section 1 incorporates Evan T. Ellicott, Andrew Ellicott, Elias Ellicott, and future associates under the name The Monongalia Iron Company, for manufacturing iron and other articles in Monongalia and Preston counties. The original confirms all three names as given in the earlier timeline summary.

Section 1 grants the rights, privileges, and powers, and imposes the restrictions and regulations, of the general manufacturing and mining company act passed February 13, 1837. That general act has not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 sets capital stock at no less than $100,000 and no more than $250,000, divided into $1,000 shares. It permits purchase and holding of up to 30,000 acres in Monongalia and Preston counties; the limit covers holdings in the two counties together, not 30,000 acres in each.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. All three sections appear on printed page 106. The charter does not establish that the authorized capital was subscribed, land acquired, or manufacturing operations begun.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1841–1842, chapter 183, “An act to establish the town of Brownsville in the county of Preston,” p. 112 (passed March 26, 1842)

Section 1 identifies the landowner as John Garner and limits the proposed town to no more than twenty acres, including his dwelling house. It locates the property on the Northwestern Turnpike near the forks of Sandy Creek in Preston County.

The town establishment is conditional on the land being laid off into lots with convenient streets and alleys. The act does not establish when that layout was completed, the final acreage, or the precise boundaries of the resulting town.

Section 2 appoints Conrad Whitsel, Robert Knolls, Job Jaco, Nathan Hull, and John Garner as trustees. These spellings follow the original act. Before exercising their duties, the trustees must swear before a Preston County justice of the peace to act faithfully and impartially.

Section 3 applies the provisions of the Evansville establishment act from its second section onward to Brownsville as if re-enacted here. The printed marginal reference identifies that act as Virginia Acts, 1833–1834, chapter 245, pp. 303–304. Those incorporated provisions have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage, March 26, 1842. All four sections appear on printed page 112. Passage of the act alone does not establish that the town layout or trustees’ oaths had been completed that day.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, p. 221 (printed page)

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXII, p. 199 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1844–1845, chapter 131, “An act to incorporate the Preston navigation and manufacturing company,” pp. 111–113 (passed February 15, 1845)

Section 1 authorizes subscription books at Kingwood under John Ambler, Gustavus Cresap, J. G. Ambler, James Averill, D. C. Ambler, and Buckner Fairfax, at a time the commissioners appoint. Any four may select other places and persons to receive subscriptions. These are subscription commissioners; the act does not establish that books actually opened or subscriptions were received.

The initial subscription amount is $10,000 in $20 shares. Section 1 specifies navigation for boats and rafts from Ice’s Ferry to Horseshoe Bottom, manufacture of iron and lumber, and connected branches of business. The historic endpoints have not been mapped in this review.

Sections 1–3 incorporate specified provisions of the general turnpike-company law, including subscriptions, meetings, voting, stock transfers, election and removal of officers, toll offences, and duties of the president and directors. Section 2 provides for the company to take the name The Preston Navigation and Manufacturing Company and corporate rights from and after its first general meeting. The act alone does not date that meeting or establish that organization was completed.

Section 3 applies the turnpike law’s land-and-material acquisition provisions to lateral canals up to eighty feet wide and up to one acre at one place for a dam abutment, tollhouses, or other fixtures. The referenced general law has not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 4 requires work to begin within two years of passage and be completed within fifteen years thereafter, with forfeiture of navigation rights and tolls for failure to meet those conditions. Section 5 makes wilful trespass or injury to company property a misdemeanor unless a higher-grade offence or other specific law applies.

Section 6 permits tolls at places selected by the company, at fair and reasonable rates prescribed by the Board of Public Works upon application. This is authority to obtain a tariff and collect tolls, not proof that rates were approved or tolls collected.

Section 7 permits purchase and holding of up to 1,000 acres in Preston County in connection with manufacturing operations. Section 8 permits capital increases up to $500,000. Section 9 makes the act effective upon passage, February 15, 1845. All nine sections span printed pages 111–113; the charter does not prove that land was acquired, capital raised, manufacturing begun, or navigation improvements completed.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1846–1847, chapter 178, “An act incorporating the Evansville literary society in the county of Preston,” p. 168 (passed March 20, 1847)

Section 1 confirms all nine names as listed, including E. E. Menshall. It incorporates them with all others who are or may become members under the name The Evansville Literary Society of Preston County. Its reference to existing members distinguishes incorporation from the society’s initial organization; the act does not date that earlier organization.

Section 1 grants perpetual succession, a common seal, capacity to sue and be sued, and powers to acquire, hold, lease, sell, rent, or otherwise dispose of property for the society’s use. Lands, goods, and chattels held under this authority may not exceed $20,000 in amount or value. This is a limit on holdings, not a state appropriation or proof of assets actually held.

Section 2 permits admission of additional members, appointment of a president, treasurer, and other officers, and adoption of bylaws, rules, and regulations consistent with state and federal law. Section 3 requires the treasurer to receive society money and property and give a bond, with security and penalty set by the society, for faithful performance; recovery against the treasurer and sureties requires ten days’ previous notice of the motion.

Section 4 reserves the legislature’s power to modify or repeal the act. Section 5 makes it effective upon passage, March 20, 1847. All five sections appear on printed page 168. The charter does not specify a library collection, meeting place, program of activities, or the society’s duration of operation.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, p. 208 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1847–1848, chapter 228, “An act to incorporate the Cheat river tollbridge company,” pp. 254–256 (passed January 15, 1848)

Section 1 authorizes capital subscriptions of up to $10,000 in $25 shares for a toll bridge at the road’s crossing of Cheat River. Any one of the named commissioners at either Brandonville or Kingwood may oversee books there. The original confirms all eight names, including John P. Burns. It does not establish that the books actually opened.

Section 2 applies specified provisions of the general turnpike-company law to subscriptions, meetings, voting, incorporation, stock transfers, and election and removal of officers. Section 3 makes incorporation as The Cheat River Tollbridge Company conditional on 100 shares being subscribed, equivalent to $2,500. Passage alone does not establish that this threshold was met.

Section 4 applies the general law’s provisions for directors’ duties and land acquisition, allowing no more than one acre for each bridge abutment and one acre for the tollhouse. The incorporated general law has not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 5 authorizes toll collection once the bridge is completed. Examples include three cents for a person on foot, six and one-quarter cents for a horse and rider, and fifty cents for a four-wheel riding carriage or stage. It also lists livestock and other vehicle rates. Section 6 requires repayment of excessive tolls plus a five-dollar penalty and provides a ten-dollar daily penalty after the bridge has remained unsafe for one month, together with liability for injury damages.

Section 7 requires the bridge to begin within two years of passage and be completed within three years thereafter, on pain of forfeiting the right to collect tolls. The act does not establish when construction began or whether the bridge was completed.

Section 8 authorizes the Board of Public Works to subscribe for two-fifths of the company’s capital under the general state-subscription conditions of February 11, 1832. Payment is to come from the remainder of the 1847 Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville road appropriation after existing demands are discharged. The preamble dates the earlier road measure March 16, 1847, while section 8 says February 16, 1847; that internal discrepancy requires comparison with the original 1847 measure.

Section 9 permits Preston County’s court to subscribe an amount it considers proper and fund it by a county levy, provided all justices have been summoned and a majority attend to consider the subscription. These state and county provisions authorize subscriptions; they do not prove that money was subscribed or paid.

Section 10 preserves the General Assembly’s right to improve river navigation and the rights of any navigation company. Section 11 makes the act effective upon passage, January 15, 1848. All eleven sections span printed pages 254–256. The act identifies the crossing by its road and river, without a modern coordinate or a named bridge site.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1847–1848, chapter 219, “An act to incorporate the Cheat river navigation company,” p. 238 (passed March 13, 1848)

Section 1 confirms all eight commissioners’ names, including John Rude. Any of them may act. It authorizes subscription books at Ice’s Ferry and Kingwood and at other places and times under persons they consider proper. This is statutory authority to receive subscriptions, not evidence that books actually opened.

The commissioners replace the president and directors of the Monongahela Navigation Company for subscriptions authorized by the March 19, 1847 act supplementary to that company’s incorporation act. The subscriptions are for improving Cheat River navigation as directed in the supplementary act. That 1847 measure has not yet been examined for this entry, so the geographic limits and detailed requirements incorporated from it remain to be checked.

Section 2 makes incorporation as The Cheat River Navigation Company conditional on 500 shares, or $25,000, being subscribed by solvent persons fully able to pay. It grants the applicable rights, privileges, and immunities, and imposes the applicable provisions, regulations, and restrictions, of the Monongahela Navigation Company incorporation act passed March 10, 1847. That earlier charter has not yet been examined here. Passage alone does not establish that the subscription threshold was reached or the company organized.

This is a distinct charter from the February 15, 1845 Preston Navigation and Manufacturing Company act (IN-0034). The 1845 act specified boats and rafts between Ice’s Ferry and Horseshoe Bottom, included iron and lumber manufacturing, and provided for $10,000 in initial subscriptions in $20 shares. The 1848 act instead expressly relies on the two 1847 Monongahela Navigation Company measures and a $25,000 incorporation threshold. It does not state that it renames, replaces, revives, or repeals the 1845 company; an operational or succession relationship would require further evidence.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage, March 13, 1848. All three sections appear on printed page 238. The act does not establish that river improvements were undertaken or completed.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1847–1848, chapter 193, “An act to incorporate the Kingwood and West Union turnpike company,” pp. 216–217 (passed March 25, 1848)

Section 1 expressly locates the starting point at or near West Union on the Northwestern road in Preston County. The route proceeds to Kingwood and then to a point on the Beverley road west of Laurel Hill in the direction of Morgantown in Monongalia County. Beverley follows the original spelling; Morgantown itself is not specified as the road’s endpoint. The historic West Union site and the final route alignment have not been mapped in this review.

Section 1 authorizes $10,000 in capital subscriptions in $25 shares. All nine commissioners’ names match the earlier summary, including Jacob Stertsman and E. M. Hagans. Any one of the three commissioners at each named place may oversee the subscription books. The act does not establish that books actually opened or subscriptions were received.

Section 2 provides for incorporation as The Kingwood and West Union Turnpike Company when 160 shares, equivalent to $4,000, have been subscribed. It applies the general turnpike-company act passed February 7, 1817, with specified exceptions. The company need not make a summer or side road; the road must be cleared at least forty feet wide, improved between twelve and eighteen feet wide, and have no grade exceeding four and one-half degrees. The general act has not been separately examined for this entry.

Sections 3–4 direct the Board of Public Works to subscribe $6,000, or 240 shares, representing three-fifths of the capital, after two-fifths has been paid or subscribed by persons other than the commonwealth who are solvent and fully able to pay. State payments are to be proportional to payment of the private subscription and made from treasury money not otherwise appropriated. These provisions do not prove that subscriptions or payments occurred.

Section 5 permits Monongalia and Preston county courts to subscribe amounts they consider proper, provided all acting justices are summoned and a majority in the subscribing county vote in favor. Section 6 directs the county courts to pay land or material condemnation expenses incurred within their counties, and to fund those expenses and authorized county subscriptions by levies on taxable subjects other than tithables.

Section 7 makes the act effective upon passage, March 25, 1848. All seven sections span printed pages 216–217. The charter does not establish that the company organized or the road was built or completed. The earlier 1842 Morgantown–Kingwood–Northwestern Turnpike survey resolution concerns related geography, but this act does not expressly identify it as the adopted survey or an earlier charter.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1847–1848, chapter 244, “An act authorizing the sale of a piece of land in Preston county and the application of the proceeds to a school in West Union,” pp. 269–270 (passed April 1, 1848)

The preamble reports that Francis Deakins of Georgetown conveyed land in 1801, then in Monongalia County and by 1848 in Preston County, to trustees named in the deed and their successors, in trust for the use and benefit of a school in Mount Carmel. The act does not name those trustees or give the acreage, boundaries, or deed recording reference. The 1801 deed has not been separately examined.

The preamble attributes the account of the burned schoolhouse and proposed replacement to a petition signed by neighborhood residents, including several trustees. It describes West Union as about three-fourths of a mile from Mount Carmel. The act does not date the fire or establish when either school opened; the historic sites have not been mapped in this review.

Section 1 authorizes the trustees holding the land to sell and convey all or as much as necessary at public auction after thirty days’ notice of the time and place of sale. Proceeds are to fund erection of a schoolhouse and support of a school in West Union. Mount Carmel inhabitants must participate equally with West Union inhabitants in the benefits of the school for their children.

Section 2 makes the act effective upon passage, April 1, 1848. Both sections and the preamble span printed pages 269–270. The authorization does not establish that a sale took place, how much it raised, or that a replacement schoolhouse was built or the school operated.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1848–1849, chapter 49, “An act to authorize separate elections in the counties of Preston, Ohio and Monongalia,” p. 25 (passed March 8, 1849)

Section 1 requires a separate poll at the house then occupied as Jacob Guseman’s residence in Preston County, at the same time as any future election in which all the county’s lawful voters were required to vote. Separate poll means an additional voting location for the same election. The act does not identify a town, district, road, or parcel for Guseman’s residence; its location has not been established in this review.

Section 2 permits separate polls in Ohio County elections at the usual places for charter elections in the several wards of Wheeling. Section 3 requires a poll at the storehouse then occupied by E. G. Brooke at Laurel Point whenever all lawful voters of Monongalia County were required to vote. These provisions concern their respective counties and do not establish Preston County voting locations in Wheeling or Laurel Point.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage, March 8, 1849. All four sections appear on printed page 25. The act establishes or authorizes polling locations; it does not document a particular election held at Guseman’s residence, identify election officers, or change voter qualifications.

Where found: Historic American Engineering Record, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: Kingwood Tunnel, HAER WV-16, pp. 1–3

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. X, pp. 99–100 (printed pages)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1850–1851, chapter 171, “An act to increase the capital stock of the Kingwood and West Union turnpike company,” p. 116 (passed March 24, 1851)

Section 1 authorizes $10,000 in additional capital to finish the company’s road to Kingwood and extend it to Morgantown. The company may select the route and termini at or near Morgantown. The act does not specify intermediate places, a surveyed alignment, or a particular terminal site.

Section 2 authorizes and requires the Board of Public Works to subscribe three-fifths of additional amounts for which individuals and the county courts of Monongalia and Preston have subscribed two-fifths, until the full capital increase is subscribed. For the full $10,000 increase, these proportions would be $6,000 from the state and $4,000 from other subscribers. State payments must proceed pari passu, or proportionally alongside payments by individuals and other subscribers, in sums needed for completion and extension. Construction costs may not exceed $400 per mile.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage, March 24, 1851. All three sections appear on printed page 116. The act does not establish that the full capital was subscribed or paid, that the extension was built, or a completion date.

This measure concerns the same company authorized by the March 25, 1848 charter, chapter 193 (IN-0038). That charter described a route from West Union to Kingwood and then to a point on the Beverley road west of Laurel Hill in the direction of Morgantown; the 1851 act specifically authorizes finishing to Kingwood and extending to a company-selected endpoint at or near Morgantown. The two acts document distinct stages of legislative authorization.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1850–1851, chapter 246, “An act to incorporate the Spruce run manufacturing company,” pp. 167–168 (passed March 28, 1851)

Section 1 names William F. Deakins, F. W. Deakins, John Ambler, and I. G. Ambler, together with future associates, as the incorporators of The Spruce Run Manufacturing Company. The initials I. G. are retained as printed; the act does not expand them. No identification with a differently initialed Ambler in another charter is asserted.

The stated purpose is manufacturing cotton, wool, and other articles. Section 1 applies the rights, privileges, powers, restrictions, and limitations in title eighteen, chapter fifty-seven of the Code of Virginia concerning joint stock companies. Those Code provisions have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 sets capital stock at no less than $10,000 and no more than $100,000, divided into $25 shares, and authorizes purchase and ownership of up to 1,000 acres in Preston County. These are charter limits, not evidence of capital actually raised or land acquired. The act does not identify a factory site, watercourse, parcel, or community within the county.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage, March 28, 1851. All three sections span printed pages 167–168. Incorporation does not establish when or whether a factory was built, manufacturing began, or the company continued in operation.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1850–1851, chapter 174, “An act to incorporate the Leading creek and Buffalo creek turnpike company,” p. 117 (passed March 31, 1851)

Section 1 describes the route from a point on the Beverly and Fairmont turnpike near Leading Creek bridge, by the valley of Leading Creek, the mouth of Clover Run on Cheat River, and the valley of Buffalo Creek, to the Northwestern turnpike and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad near its crossing of Cheat River in Preston County. Beverly follows the spelling in this act. The charter does not provide a surveyed alignment or establish that construction occurred.

Section 1 authorizes capital subscriptions of up to $10,000 in $25 shares. At William Ewing’s, the commissioners are William Ewing, William Harper, William Marsh, Francis Tolbert, and T. M. Purington; at Beverly, David Blackman, Eli Butcher, William Faris, and Garrison Stalnaker; and at Kingwood, Elisha M. Hagans, Israel Baldwin, Thomas Brown, Charles Hooton, and Thomas Beavers. Any three of the respective commissioners may oversee the books at each location. Any three of the named commissioners may also appoint agents for other locations. Thomas Beavers was omitted from the earlier summary. The authorization does not establish that subscription books actually opened.

Section 2 provides for incorporation as The Leading Creek and Buffalo Creek Turnpike Company upon subscription of 120 shares, equivalent to $3,000. It applies chapters 57 and 61 of the Code of Virginia, with exceptions: no summer or side road and no stone or gravel covering are required. The road must be cleared at least 30 feet wide, constructed at least 16 feet wide, and have a grade no steeper than five degrees. The referenced Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 3 directs the Board of Public Works to subscribe 240 shares, valued at $6,000 and described as three-fifths of the capital stock, once satisfied that three-fourths of two-fifths of the capital has been subscribed by non-state subscribers who are solvent and able to pay. Against the full $10,000 capital, that qualifying amount is $3,000, or 120 shares. State payments must proceed pari passu, or proportionally alongside payments on other subscriptions. These conditions do not prove subscriptions or payments occurred.

Section 4 directs the Board of Public Works to borrow the amount of the state subscription under chapter 67 of the Code of Virginia, at no more than six percent annual interest. Construction costs may not exceed $400 per mile. The referenced borrowing provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage, March 31, 1851. All five sections appear on printed page 117. The charter does not establish that the company organized, the road was built, or any completion date.

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 373–374

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, p. 208 (printed page)

Where found: Historic American Engineering Record, HAER WV-13, B&O Railroad, Rowlesburg Bridge, written historical and descriptive data (transmitted 1984); Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1086

1851 is the bridge construction date reported by HAER, not the date of the Smithsonian photographs. Box 19, Items 714 and 716 are cataloged as undated. Item 716 explicitly identifies a Fink bridge; Item 714 uses the broader description of a Cheat River bridge near Rowlesburg.

HAER’s sequence places the Fink generation before the Bollman bridge of 1870. Identifying the bridge targeted during the 1863 Jones–Imboden Raid as the Fink generation is an inference from that chronology and the wartime reports.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. X, p. 99 (printed page)

Where found: Historic American Engineering Record, B & O Railroad, Tray Run Viaduct, HAER WV-18, pp. 1–6

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 183, “An act to incorporate the Morgantown and Independence railroad company,” p. 155 (passed November 30, 1852)

Section 1 describes a railroad from the Pennsylvania state line at or near the mouth of Cheat River, by Morgantown in Monongalia County, to an eligible and convenient point on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at or east of Independence in Preston County. It also authorizes provision of what is necessary for convenient transportation. The act supplies no surveyed alignment or exact junction site; Kingwood is a subscription location, not a specified point on the railroad route.

Section 1 authorizes subscriptions totaling $200,000 in $25 shares. The Morgantown commissioners are John Hanaway, William Lazier, Nicholas Pickenpaugh, and James Evans; the Kingwood commissioners are William G. Brown, John P. Byrne, Elisha M. Hagan, and John A. Dilly. Hanaway, Hagan, and Dilly follow the printed act. Any three of the Morgantown commissioners may designate other subscription locations and agents. The act authorizes subscription books; it does not establish that books opened or subscriptions were received.

Section 2 provides for incorporation as The Morgantown and Independence Railroad Company when $50,000 of the capital stock has been subscribed, equivalent to 2,000 shares at $25 each. Subscription procedures and corporate rights and restrictions follow the Code of Virginia’s general railroad-incorporation provisions where consistent with this act. Those Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 3 expressly permits connection with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at the designated point. If the authorized capital proves insufficient, the company may increase it as necessary, borrow money, issue evidence of the loans, and pledge company property for principal and interest. It may build as much of the line as subscriptions allow and has five years from passage to commence construction. This is a commencement period, not a five-year completion requirement.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage, November 30, 1852. All four sections appear on printed page 155. The charter does not establish that the subscription threshold was reached, the company organized, or any part of the railroad was built. Any relationship to later railroad companies or constructed lines requires separate evidence.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 492, “An act incorporating the town of Fellowsville,” p. 322 (passed November 30, 1852)

Section 1 makes Fellowsville a town corporate as The Town of Fellowsville, including the lots, streets, and alleys already laid off and those to be laid off in the future. It confers the powers and applies the provisions of chapter 54 of the Code of Virginia. The act supplies no metes-and-bounds description, acreage, or attached plat. The referenced Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 2 establishes five trustees as the town council, with three able to act. Trustees are to hold office for one year or until successors are appointed and qualified, following the act’s wording.

Section 3 authorizes Robert Knotts, Sylvanus Heermans, Isaac Travis, Edward Thorp, and Philip W. Payne, or any two of them, to conduct the first election for trustees on the first Monday in March next after passage, meaning March 1853, under the referenced Code chapter. These men are election organizers; the act does not appoint them as the first elected trustees or report the election result. Section 4 sets annual officer elections for the first Monday in March.

Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage, November 30, 1852. All five sections appear on printed page 322. The act establishes incorporation and the prescribed election arrangements; it does not establish the settlement’s founding date, that the scheduled election occurred, or the later duration of municipal government.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, p. 208 (printed page)

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 493–494

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 254, “An act authorizing the incorporation of the Cranberry Summit and Brandonville turnpike company,” p. 190 (passed February 10, 1853)

Section 1 describes the road from Cranberry Summit on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to the Maryland and Ohio turnpike at Brandonville, both in Preston County, upon or near the location made by Thomas Scott and other commissioners appointed by the county court. This identifies prior route-location work, but the act supplies no map or detailed alignment and does not establish construction or completion.

Section 1 authorizes capital subscriptions not exceeding $8,025 in $25 shares. Section 2 names the subscription commissioners: at Cranberry Summit, William B. Crane, James Hays, E. M. Hagan, and James C. McGrew; at Jacob Guseman’s store on Muddy Creek, Jacob Guseman, Joseph Miller, and Jacob Crane; and at Brandonville, Harrison Hagan, A. C. Leach, Jacob Fike, and Joseph Ritenhour. Any one of the respective commissioners may oversee the books at each place. Any three of the named commissioners may appoint agents for other locations. All eleven names match the earlier summary, including the spellings Hagan and Ritenhour. The act does not establish that books actually opened.

Section 3 provides for incorporation as The Cranberry Summit and Brandonville Turnpike Company when 107 shares have been subscribed, equivalent to $2,675, subject to the provisions of the Code of Virginia. Those Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 4 directs the Board of Public Works to subscribe 214 shares, described in the printed act as three-fifths of the capital stock, after satisfaction that three-fourths of two-fifths of the capital has been taken by non-state subscribers who are solvent and able to pay. State payments must proceed pari passu, or proportionally alongside payments on other subscriptions. The printed figures are internally inconsistent: 214 shares at $25 equal $5,350, which is two-thirds of the $8,025 capital authorized in section 1, while three-fifths of $8,025 is $4,815. The stated 107-share incorporation threshold and 214 state shares together total 321 shares, or $8,025. The printed numbers and fraction are preserved without deciding which, if any, is erroneous; no correction or later amendment has been established in this review.

Section 5 directs the Board of Public Works to borrow the amount of the state subscription. Section 6 makes the act effective upon passage, February 10, 1853. All six sections appear on printed page 190. The act does not establish actual subscriptions, borrowing, payments, company organization, or road construction.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, “An act to incorporate the Gnatty creek and West Union turnpike company,” p. 192 (passed February 16, 1853)

Section 1 describes a route from the Clarksburg road and Buchanan turnpike at or near the mouth of Gnatty Creek, by Philippi in Barbour County, crossing Cheat River at the mouth of Clover Run in Randolph County, to West Union in Preston County. Buchanan is the wording printed in this scan; the earlier summary used Buckhannon. The correct identification of that turnpike requires separate corroboration. The act provides no surveyed alignment or exact junction site.

Section 1 authorizes $18,000 in capital subscriptions in $25 shares. Subscription books are to be opened at William Ewin’s in Randolph County under William Ewin, Solomon Parsons, Jacob Sturm, John N. Hall, and John C. Ratcliff, or any three of them. Any three of those commissioners may appoint agents and other subscription locations. All five names match the earlier summary. The act does not establish that books opened or subscriptions were received.

Section 2 permits incorporation when three-fourths of two-fifths of $5,000 has been subscribed for the road section west of Tygart’s Valley River, or when the same proportion of the remaining capital has been subscribed for the other section. These thresholds calculate to $1,500 for the western section or $3,900 for the remaining $13,000 section. They are alternative section-based triggers, not a requirement to subscribe the entire $18,000. Chapters 57 and 61 of the Code of Virginia apply; those provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 3 directs the Board of Public Works to subscribe three-fifths of the capital in either section after satisfaction that solvent non-state subscribers able to pay have taken three-fourths of two-fifths of that section’s capital. State payments must proceed pari passu with individual subscriptions. The board is to borrow the necessary state funds under the May 25, 1852 coupon-bond act, which has not been separately examined. These provisions do not establish actual subscriptions, borrowing, or payments.

Section 4 requires a road at least 16 feet wide with a grade no greater than four degrees. Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage, February 16, 1853. All five sections appear on printed page 192; the $300-per-mile cost limit above the act belongs to the preceding legislation and is not a provision of this charter.

The scan’s heading appears as Chap. 253. The act is cited here by its full title, passage date, and printed page without resolving the chapter numbering. The heading and route use Gnatty, while the corporate name in section 2 is printed Guatty Creek and West Union Turnpike Company. Gnatty is retained as the entry’s principal name, with the printed variation recorded here. The charter does not establish actual company organization or road construction.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 112, “An act authorizing one of the existing banks to establish a branch at Kingwood in the county of Preston,” pp. 83–84 (passed February 23, 1853)

Section 1 permits the Bank of Virginia, Farmers Bank of Virginia, Bank of the Valley, Exchange Bank of Virginia, Northwestern Bank of Virginia, or Merchants and Mechanics Bank of Wheeling to establish an office of discount and deposit at Kingwood. The six names identify eligible existing banks; they do not document six Kingwood branches. The earlier title Bank branches established overstated what the act proves.

Section 1 sets branch capital at no less than $50,000 and no more than $200,000, at the stockholders’ discretion. Section 2 permits capital transfers from the parent bank and existing branches, sale of additional stock, use of the bank’s contingent fund, or a combination chosen by the bank’s president and directors. Any stock sold must bring at least its par value. These are permitted funding methods, not evidence that money was raised or transferred.

Section 3 places management with a board elected in the same manner, with the same powers, qualifications, and tenure as directors of the participating bank’s existing branches. The election may occur at a general or special stockholders’ meeting. After the parent bank’s president and cashier notify the executive of the stockholders’ election of directors, the executive must appoint three state directors, serving until the next annual stockholders’ meeting and until successors are chosen and qualified. The act does not name directors or specify a total board size.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage, February 23, 1853. All four sections span printed pages 83–84. The act does not identify which bank accepted the authorization, establish a branch opening date or premises, or prove that a Kingwood branch operated. Any connection with the later Preston Bank of Virginia or Bank of Preston requires separate evidence.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 475, “An act providing for taking the sense of the voters of Preston county in relation to the removal of the present seat of justice of said county,” p. 309 (passed March 14, 1853)

Section 1 authorizes polls at Preston County’s several voting places on the day fixed by law for electing members of the next General Assembly. March 14, 1853 is the act’s passage date, not a date supplied for the vote itself. The act does not state that election day as a calendar date.

The choices are retention of the seat of justice at Kingwood or removal to the east side of Cheat River at the wire suspension bridge. Poll books must have one column for the Town of Kingwood and another for the East End of the Wire Suspension Bridge spanning Cheat River, with each voter’s name entered under the chosen location. The act does not supply a parcel description, name a town at the proposed site, or identify a new courthouse location more precisely.

Section 2 assigns conduct of this vote to the officers conducting the General Assembly election. Their powers, duties, and liabilities follow the April 22, 1852 law concerning commissioners and officers conducting county-officer elections, insofar as consistent with this act. That referenced law has not been separately examined.

Section 3 requires election commissioners to total and certify the results from the county’s voting places to the Preston County court clerk, who must file and preserve them for future reference. Those certified returns and any surviving poll books are research leads for establishing whether the vote occurred and its result; they have not been examined for this entry.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage, March 14, 1853. All four sections appear on printed page 309. This act authorizes taking the voters’ sense; it supplies no vote totals, automatic relocation rule, construction appropriation, or evidence that the county seat moved. Those outcomes require separate records.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 511, “An act to incorporate the town of Kingwood,” pp. 338–339 (passed March 22, 1853)

Chapter 511 begins at the bottom of printed page 338 and continues at the top of page 339. Its heading confirms passage on March 22, 1853. Section 1 makes Kingwood a town corporate as already laid off, or as it may later be laid off, into lots, streets, and alleys. The act supplies no metes-and-bounds description, acreage, or new plat.

Section 1 gives The Town of Kingwood the powers conferred on towns by chapter 54 of the Code of Virginia. That referenced Code chapter has not been separately examined for this entry; its detailed powers and election rules should not be inferred from this act alone.

Section 2 provides for seven trustees composing the council, with four able to act, and a sergeant. Section 3 names James C. McGrew, William G. Browne, and Israel Baldwin as commissioners to conduct the first election, any two being sufficient. They are not appointed as the first trustees by this act. Browne is the spelling printed in the original.

Section 3 schedules the first election for the first Monday in June next, meaning June 1853, under the referenced Code chapter, with annual elections thereafter in conformity with that chapter. Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage. The act does not report that the election took place or name the elected officers; election returns or town records are needed for those outcomes.

Kingwood had already been established as a town by the January 23, 1811 act documented in IN-0210. The 1853 act expressly makes it a town corporate and supplies this municipal structure; it should not be treated as the first settlement or first legal establishment of Kingwood. The act does not expressly repeal the 1811 act or explain the full legal relationship between the two enactments.

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 514–515

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 517, “An act to incorporate the town of Bruceton in the county of Preston,” pp. 340–341 (passed March 28, 1853)

Chapter 517 begins at the bottom of printed page 340 and continues at the top of page 341. Its heading confirms March 28, 1853 and names the town Bruceton. Bruceton Mills is the timeline’s modern community identification; the act does not name it Bruceton Mills or document a name change from that form.

Section 1 appoints A. J. Bell, N. R. Harding, and Charles Kanter as commissioners for Bruceton. It directs them to cause a survey and plan to be made showing each lot, public street, and alley, the size and number of lots, and street and alley widths, with any explanations or remarks they consider proper. These are survey-and-plan responsibilities; the earlier description that the town was governed by these commissioners did not distinguish their role from the elected trustees.

After the commissioners approve the plan, section 1 requires entry in the town’s books and subsequent recording in the office of the court of Preston County. The recorded plan is to be evidence of the boundaries of the lots, streets, and alleys. The act supplies no acreage, metes-and-bounds description, or actual plan. Town books and county court records are research leads for determining whether the survey was completed and recorded and for locating the resulting plan; those records have not been examined for this entry.

Section 2 permits qualified town voters to elect three trustees on the first Saturday in June next, meaning June 1853, and annually thereafter. Trustees have the powers and duties of town trustees under the Code of Virginia and continue until their successors qualify. The act does not appoint the three named commissioners as trustees or identify the officers conducting the election. The referenced Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 3 permits vacancies caused by death, resignation, or otherwise to be filled at any time in the manner of the original trustee election. Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage. The act establishes the legal framework but does not report an election result, name elected trustees, or prove completion or recording of the town plan.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 317, “An act to incorporate the Pleasant valley and Tunnelton turnpike company,” pp. 218–219 (passed March 30, 1853)

Chapter 317 begins near the bottom of printed page 218 and continues at the top of page 219. Its heading confirms March 30, 1853. Section 1 permits subscriptions up to $10,000 in shares of $20. Section 2 makes incorporation conditional on fifty shares being subscribed, equivalent to $1,000. The passage date establishes the charter authorization, not proof that the subscription threshold was met or the company organized.

Section 1 authorizes Samuel Graham, Mahlin Hartley, Thomas Watson, David C. Miles, James Reed, Peter M. Heartley, Lemuel B. Menear, Robert Freeburne, Aquilla A. Fortney, David M. Riley, Buckner Fortney, Godfrey G. Murdock, John Weaver, Henry Le Bosquet, Caleb Coun, James C. McGrew, John Bowers, William N. Jarret, and William B. Weaver each to open subscription books at times and places each considers proper. Any three of those named may appoint additional persons with the same subscription-book authority. These are authorizations, not evidence that books actually opened. Spellings including Mahlin Hartley, Peter M. Heartley, Aquilla, Freeburne, Coun, and Jarret follow the printed act.

Section 1 places the starting point at or near Ice’s ferry over Cheat River on the Maryland and Fishing Creek turnpike, then directs the road by or near the Pleasant valley meeting house in Preston County, between the lands of James Reed and David C. Miles, by Zinn’s mills, to Tunnelton station on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The wording by or near should not be tightened to an exact meeting-house location. The act supplies route landmarks rather than a surveyed alignment or parcel boundaries and does not authorize a new bridge at Ice’s Ferry.

Section 2 subjects the company to the Code of Virginia concerning turnpike companies and their roads, with stated exceptions. No summer or side road is required. Stone or gravel covering is not generally required; on marshy ground the company may use stone or timber as most convenient. The road must be cleared at least thirty feet wide, constructed at least sixteen feet wide, and have a grade no greater than four degrees. The referenced Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 3 directs the Board of Public Works to subscribe for three hundred shares, equivalent to $6,000 at the stated $20 share price, once satisfied that solvent non-state subscribers able to pay have subscribed three-fourths of two-fifths of the capital stock. On the $10,000 capital basis, that qualifying amount is $3,000. State payments must proceed pari passu with other subscribers’ payments, meaning proportionately alongside them. Section 4 directs the board to borrow the state subscription amount according to law. These are conditional financing provisions, not evidence of subscriptions, borrowing, or payments actually made.

Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage. All five sections are present on pages 218–219. The act does not establish actual organization, construction, completion, toll collection, or a later road alignment. The six-percent borrowing limit and $400-per-mile cost ceiling printed earlier on page 218 belong to the preceding Guyandotte Turnpike act, chapter 316, and are not provisions of this charter.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 393, “An act to incorporate the Fellowsville mining and manufacturing company,” p. 263 (passed March 31, 1853)

Chapter 393 is complete on printed page 263. Its heading confirms March 31, 1853. Section 1 names Sylvanus Heermans, Joseph Fellows, and Zeno Albro, followed by the clause “and such other persons, not less than fifteen, as may be hereafter associated with them.” This preserves the act’s provision for additional associates; it does not identify them or document an actual membership roster.

Section 1 states the purpose as mining for and manufacturing mineral, vegetable or animal substances in Preston, Barbour, Randolph, and Taylor counties, and transporting those substances to market in and from those counties. It does not identify particular mines, factories, products, parcels, or operating sites. The name Fellowsville alone does not establish the location of a plant or mine.

Section 1 grants corporate rights and powers subject to applicable Code of Virginia rules, regulations, and restrictions, insofar as consistent with the act. Those referenced Code provisions have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 sets capital at no less than $10,000 and no more than $500,000, divided into $100 shares. It permits purchase and holding of land in the four named counties, not exceeding 10,000 acres at any one time. This is an aggregate ceiling across the counties, not a separate 10,000-acre allowance for each county, and is not evidence that land was acquired or capital paid.

Section 2 also authorizes ownership and use of boats needed to transport the company’s products to market. It does not name a waterway, document boats actually owned, or authorize a particular river improvement. Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves to the General Assembly amendment, alteration, or modification of the charter.

The act establishes corporate authorization, not proof of actual organization, land purchases, mining, manufacturing, or transportation operations. The 3,000-acres-per-county provision and three-year organization period at the top of page 263 belong to the preceding act, not chapter 393; the intervening Spotsylvania company’s $50 share price also does not apply here.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1852–1853, chapter 332, “An act to incorporate the Doddridge and Preston turnpike company,” p. 225 (passed April 11, 1853)

Chapter 332 is complete on printed page 225. Its heading confirms April 11, 1853. Section 1 authorizes subscriptions up to $30,000 in $25 shares. Section 2 provides incorporation when 360 shares have been subscribed, equivalent to $9,000. The act’s passage does not establish that the subscription threshold was met or that the company organized.

Section 1 describes the route from some point on the Salem and Harrisville turnpike in Doddridge County, by way of West Milford in Harrison County, to Evansville in Preston County. It does not fix the starting junction, supply a surveyed alignment, or identify intermediate parcels or stream crossings.

Subscription books may be opened at Amaziah Bee’s house in Doddridge County under Amaziah Bee, Franklin Maxwell, Jeptha F. Randolph, Allison Barnet, and Ephriam Bee, any three acting; at West Milford under E. W. Patton, James Boring, A. S. Holden, A. M. Austin, and Morgan Ross, any three acting; and at Evansville under Moses J. Robinett, Julius C. Kemble, Hiram B. Hanshaw, John B. Young, and Samuel Evans, any three acting. Any three of the named commissioners may designate other places and persons to receive subscriptions. These are authorizations, not evidence that books opened. Ephriam Bee follows the spelling printed in the act, rather than the earlier entry’s Ephraim Bee.

Section 2 subjects the company to chapters 57 and 61 of the Code of Virginia, with exceptions: no stone or gravel paving or covering is required, and no summer or side road is required. The turnpike must be constructed at least sixteen feet wide, with a grade not exceeding four and a half degrees. Those referenced Code chapters have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. This charter contains no express state subscription or borrowing provision and does not establish actual subscriptions, organization, construction, completion, or toll collection. The thirty-foot clearing width, fifteen-foot construction width, and four-degree grade printed at the top of page 225 belong to a preceding act, not chapter 332.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Preston County Economic Development Authority, “Terra Alta”

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXII, p. 200 (printed page)

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 499–500

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXII, p. 201 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1855–1856, chapter 380, “An act incorporating the Preston coal and iron company in the counties of Hampshire, Hardy and Preston,” pp. 258–259 (passed February 21, 1856)

Chapter 380 begins in the lower part of printed page 258 and concludes at the top of page 259. Its heading confirms passage on February 21, 1856. Section 1 names Frederick Pentz, Samuel L. Mitchell, William Kensen, John C. Ernenpietsch, and John W. Whitlock with future associates as The Preston Coal and Iron Company. Kensen and Ernenpietsch follow the printed act.

Section 1 states the purposes as mining coal and other minerals, manufacturing iron, and transporting the same to market in Hampshire, Hardy, and Preston counties. It grants corporate rights and privileges subject to the Code of Virginia and amendatory laws concerning mining and manufacturing companies, except where inconsistent with this act. Those general laws have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 specifies 25,000 shares of $50 each, equivalent to $1,250,000 in stated capital. It authorizes purchase, receipt, and holding of land not exceeding 17,000 acres across Hampshire, Hardy, and Preston counties. The acreage ceiling is combined, not an allowance for each county; the stated capital is not evidence that it was paid in.

Section 3 authorizes David D. Vorhees, Robert O. Glover, and their appointees to receive subscriptions. They are to designate the time and place by notice published in a newspaper of their choice. They are subscription commissioners, distinct from the five persons named in section 1. The act does not identify a subscription location or document that subscriptions were received.

Section 3 also provides that lands and mines then owned or later purchased by the persons first named, or any of them, form part of company capital at prices agreed with the subscription commissioners. Those prices must be disclosed when subscriptions are received. This provision contemplates existing and future property contributions but identifies no particular tract, mine, location, acreage actually held, or completed transfer.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves alteration or amendment to the General Assembly. All four sections are present on pages 258–259. The act does not establish an operating mine or ironworks, actual production, paid subscriptions, or the location of facilities within Preston County. The Rowlesburg company’s capital, land, and Cheat River navigation provisions above chapter 380 on page 258 belong to a separate act.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1855–1856, chapter 379, “An act to incorporate the Rowlesburg lumber and iron company in the county of Preston,” pp. 257–258 (passed February 26, 1856)

Chapter 379 begins at the bottom of printed page 257 and concludes on page 258. Its heading confirms February 26, 1856. Section 1 names Owen D. Downey, Thomas C. Williams, John A. Lloyd, Charles Finley, and Charles M. Bishop, together with future associates, as The Rowlesburg Lumber and Iron Company. Its purposes are mining for coal and other minerals, manufacturing iron and other products of its lands, and erecting and operating sawmills in Preston County. General Code of Virginia corporate provisions and amendatory laws apply insofar as consistent with the act; those general laws have not been separately examined.

Section 2 specifies 2,500 shares of $100 each, equivalent to $250,000 in stated capital. The lands and mills of Owen D. Downey and his associates are to continue as part of that capital at a price agreed with the subscription commissioners. The company may purchase and hold 10,000 acres in Preston County. Property received as stock remains liable for the named individuals’ debts incurred in Preston County in the lumber and iron business. These provisions refer to existing property and business obligations, but do not identify particular tracts, mills, valuations, or debts or show the amount of capital actually paid.

Section 3 directs Owen D. Downey, Charles Findlay, Thomas C. Williams, John A. Lloyd, and Charles M. Bishop, or a majority, to receive subscriptions at Rowlesburg and at other places and times they designate. Each subscriber must pay $10 per share at subscription. The act prints Finley in section 1 and Findlay in section 3; both forms are preserved here rather than silently normalized. The act directs subscriptions but does not document their receipt.

Section 4 permits removal of rocks and other navigation obstructions on Cheat River from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge at the mouth of Salt lick run to the river’s sources, or on its tributary streams. For company business it also permits booms, reservoirs, aqueducts, locks, gates, ways, bridges, and other necessary works. It expressly grants no right to obstruct free navigation on the river or its tributaries, or to enter or damage other persons’ lands or property without the owners’ consent. This is authorization, not evidence that particular improvements were built or navigation work completed.

Section 5 permits stock transfers on the company’s books according to its bylaws, with debts and outstanding engagements due to the company satisfied from the stock before transfer or dividend, unless the directors consent. Section 6 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves amendment or modification to the General Assembly. All six sections are present on pages 257–258.

The charter does not establish the location of a particular mine, ironworks, or sawmill, or report actual production or completed river works. The February 27, 1858 amendment in IN-0064, now checked against chapter 399 on page 242 of the 1857–1858 Acts, authorizes 30,000 acres across Preston, Tucker, and Randolph counties. Chapter 400 on that same page, passed March 15, 1858, subsequently specifies 15,000 acres across those counties. These later amendments do not change what the original 1856 charter provided. The company charter should also be distinguished from Rowlesburg’s separate town incorporation in IN-0063.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIV, p. 222 (printed page)

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia, vol. I, p. 273 (printed page)

The National Archives scan was visually checked on September 14, 2026. On the first image in this catalog record, the Masontown row is on the left-hand page, about two-thirds of the way down. The handwritten entry reads “William G. Mason” and “3 July 1856.”

Source citation: National Archives, Postmaster Appointments for Preston County, West Virginia, Record of Appointments of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971, microfilm publication M841, roll 140, image 30439_065525-00442 (digital object 78783821).

The appointment register documents Mason's appointment as postmaster; it does not explain the town's name or establish the date of its layout or platting. The naming, founder, and first-postmaster attribution comes from the Town of Masontown's official “About Us” page.

Morton, volume I, printed page 273, was visually checked on September 14, 2026. His account places William Mason’s store construction in fall 1855, the village layout in 1856, and the auction prices at $5 to $7 per lot. The title uses “laid out” to match his wording. This precise citation replaces the earlier unlocated Morton reference; the entry is now Verified to source.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 410, “An act to incorporate the Virginia coal and iron company,” pp. 247–248 (passed January 29, 1858)

Chapter 410 begins at the bottom of printed page 247 and concludes on page 248. Its heading confirms January 29, 1858. Section 1 names John M. Pancake, Joseph C. Pancake, E. M. Armstrong, and William A. Vance, with future associates, as The Virginia Coal and Iron Company. These names follow the printed act; the initials E. M. are not expanded.

Section 1 authorizes mining for coal and other minerals; manufacturing, dealing in, and transporting to market iron, coal, lumber, and other mineral and vegetable articles upon or from company lands; and erecting and operating sawmills. Applicable Code of Virginia provisions and amendatory laws govern insofar as consistent with the charter. Those general laws have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 sets capital between $50,000 and $1,000,000 in $25 shares. The named individuals, or a majority, may choose the time and place for subscription books, accept subscriptions in land at an agreed price, and set the amount payable when subscribing. At general meetings each stockholder has as many votes as shares. These provisions authorize funding methods and voting rights, not proof of paid capital, land contributions, or actual meetings.

Section 3 permits landholding in Hampshire, Hardy, Tucker, and Preston counties, with an aggregate ceiling of 15,000 acres and no more than 5,000 acres in any one county. The four counties identify permitted landholding areas; the act does not establish that facilities operated in each county or locate particular mines, mills, or parcels.

Section 3 also permits subscriptions for and ownership of stock in the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad Company, or a railroad chartered from the head of the North Branch of the Potomac, or a point north of it, to intersect that railroad or the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This is investment authority and does not document any stock purchase or completed connection.

Section 4 permits railroads, tramways, or other roads to carry coal, minerals, or vegetable substances from company lands to a railroad or other improvement constructed or to be constructed in Hampshire and Hardy counties, with the consent of the relevant railroad company. Roads over other owners’ lands require their consent or a contract with them. The clause should not be generalized into an unrestricted right to build across Preston or Tucker County, and it does not itself establish an actual route or completed road.

Section 5 gives the company six years after passage to commence operations, not to complete all works. Section 6 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves alteration or modification to the General Assembly. All six sections are present on pages 247–248. The charter does not establish actual organization, subscriptions, mining, manufacturing, sawmill operation, or transportation works. The Pulaski company’s tramroad provision above chapter 410 and the Laurel company’s provisions below it concern separate companies.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 411, “An act to incorporate the Laurel iron and coal company in the counties of Monongalia and Preston,” pp. 248–249 (passed February 13, 1858)

Chapter 411 begins in the lower part of printed page 248 and concludes at the top of page 249. Its heading confirms February 13, 1858. Section 1 names Meredith Clymer, Jno. W. Seymour, and Rudolph C. Winterhoff, together with future associates, as The Laurel Iron and Coal Company. The description expands the printed abbreviation Jno. to John, consistent with the retained WV Memory reference.

Section 1 authorizes manufacturing iron and other articles, mining coal and other minerals, and transporting the same to market in Monongalia and Preston counties. It applies Code of Virginia provisions and amendatory laws concerning manufacturing and mining companies except where inconsistent with the charter. Those general laws have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 sets capital between $100,000 and $1,000,000, divided into $50 shares, and permits purchase, receipt, and holding of land up to 15,000 acres across Monongalia and Preston counties. That is a combined ceiling, not 15,000 acres in each county. The act does not identify actual holdings, paid-up capital, or the location of a mine or manufacturing site.

Section 3 authorizes Charles Carville, John Albert Winterhoff, and their appointees to receive subscriptions until a president and board of directors are elected. They must announce subscription times and places in newspapers of their choice. These subscription commissioners are distinct from the three persons named in section 1. The act does not document receipt of subscriptions or an election.

Section 3 provides that lands, mines, manufactories, and equipment then owned or later purchased by the persons first named, or any of them, form part of company capital at prices agreed with the subscription commissioners and disclosed when subscriptions are received. It contemplates existing and future property contributions but supplies no inventory, parcel description, valuation, or evidence of a completed transfer.

Section 4 permits the president and directors, or a majority, to borrow money for company use on terms they consider expedient, pledge or mortgage all or part of the company’s estate, improvements, privileges, effects, and assets, and issue bonds with or without coupons. It does not state a particular loan amount, interest ceiling, lender, or completed financing.

Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves alteration or amendment to the General Assembly. All five sections are present on pages 248–249. The act establishes corporate powers, not proof of actual organization, mines or works operated, production, transport, or borrowing. The six-year commencement period and railroad powers above chapter 411 on page 248 belong to the preceding Virginia Coal and Iron Company act, not this charter.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 294, “An act to incorporate the town of Brandonville in the county of Preston,” pp. 195–196 (passed February 24, 1858)

Chapter 294 begins at the foot of printed page 195 and concludes at the top of page 196. Its heading confirms February 24, 1858. All four sections have been examined in the original scan.

Section 1 makes Brandonville a town corporate under the name The Town of Brandonville, including lots, streets, and alleys already laid off and those subsequently laid off. It supplies no metes-and-bounds description, acreage, or town plat. It confers the powers given to towns by chapter 54 of the Code of Virginia; that general law has not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 2 provides for seven trustees composing the council, four of whom may act, and a sergeant. It does not name the trustees or appoint the three election commissioners to those offices.

Section 3 authorizes William McKee, Harrison Hagans, and Joseph Ritenour, or any two of them, to hold the first election for the town officers on the first Monday in June next, meaning June 1858, under chapter 54 of the Code. It provides for annual elections thereafter. The act does not record an election result, actual officeholders, or the commencement of municipal operations.

Section 4 makes the act effective upon passage. The Rowlesburg incorporation act that follows on page 196 is a separate charter; its mayor, five councilmen, voter qualifications, April election, and election venue do not apply to Brandonville.

The previous title described this as reincorporation following an 1837 act. Chapter 294 does not mention, amend, or repeal an 1837 incorporation act. The existing March 13, 1837 entry IN-0020 has a town-incorporation title but a description concerning the Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville Turnpike Company. That mismatch remains unresolved pending examination of the original 1837 legislation. This entry therefore states only the incorporation directly supported by the 1858 act.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 209, “An act to incorporate the Horseshoe and Pheasant run turnpike company,” pp. 139–140 (passed February 27, 1858)

Chapter 209 begins near the bottom of printed page 139 and concludes at the top of page 140. The heading confirms February 27, 1858. All three sections have been examined in the original scans.

Section 1 authorizes subscriptions up to $15,000 in $25 shares. The route starts at Chisholm’s mills in Preston County, reaches the head of Horseshoe Run in Tucker County, goes down that run to Samuel Rudolph’s, then to George Parsons’, up Cheat River to the mouth of Pheasant Run, up Pheasant Run to its head, and from there to the Beverley and Buffalo Turnpike at John S. Hart’s. Beverley follows the printed spelling. The act gives route landmarks, not a surveyed alignment or the precise sites of the named mills and residences.

Section 1 directs subscription books to be opened at St. George, Tucker County, under Rufus Maxwell, George Parsons, William R. Parsons, Job Parsons, and James Long, or any three of them. A majority of the commissioners may appoint other subscription places. This direction does not establish that books were actually opened or money received.

Section 2 makes incorporation conditional on $5,000 in subscriptions, equivalent to 200 shares of $25. The act’s title calls it the Horseshoe and Pheasant run turnpike company, while the operative corporate style is printed The Horseshoe and Pheasant Run Turnpike Road. That wording difference is preserved here. The statute does not show that the subscription threshold was met or the company organized.

Section 2 subjects the company to Code of Virginia provisions for turnpike companies, with specified exceptions. It requires no summer or side road and no paving or covering with stone or gravel. The road must be 20 feet wide including side ditches, with a grade not exceeding 4½ degrees. The company may macadamize portions it considers expedient. The width includes ditches and should not be described as a 20-foot traveled roadway; the grade is stated in degrees, not percent. The general Code provisions have not been separately examined for this entry.

Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. It establishes authority and construction requirements, not proof of completed construction, toll collection, or operation. The county subscription and five-year commencement provisions farther down page 140 belong to the separate Masontown and Independence Turnpike Company act, chapter 210, not this charter.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 295, “An act to incorporate the town of Rowlesburg in the county of Preston,” p. 196 (passed February 27, 1858)

All six sections of chapter 295 appear on printed page 196. The heading confirms passage on February 27, 1858. This is the date of incorporation legislation, not an election date or proof of the settlement’s founding.

Section 1 makes the existing and future lots, streets, and alleys of Rowlesburg a town corporate named The Town of Rowlesburg. It confers town powers and subjects the corporation to chapter 54 of the Code of Virginia. It gives no metes-and-bounds description, acreage, or town plat. Section 5 incorporates that Code chapter insofar as consistent with the charter; the general Code provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 2 provides for a mayor, five councilmen, and a sergeant. The sergeant has the powers and duties of a constable within the corporation. The act restricts the electorate to white male town inhabitants aged 21 or older who had resided in the town for six months and in Virginia for two years before the election. These racial, sex, age, and residence restrictions are features of the original charter, not present-day voting requirements.

Section 2 sets annual elections on the first Saturday in April and provides for the mayor and councilmen to continue in authority until that date in the succeeding year and until successors are qualified. Section 3 makes the mayor an ex officio justice of the peace within town limits.

Section 4 authorizes Russell Finnell, H. H. Wheeler, D. Wonderly, junior, T. F. Hebb, and William Hall, any three of whom may act, to hold the first election on the first Saturday in April next, meaning April 1858, at the house of Mrs. Maria Hooton. They are election conductors, not appointed mayor or councilmen. The act does not identify the successful candidates or establish that the election occurred.

Section 6 makes the charter effective upon passage. The Brandonville election provision at the top of page 196 and the Grafton amendment below chapter 295 are separate acts and do not supply Rowlesburg provisions.

This town charter is distinct from the Rowlesburg Lumber and Iron Company’s February 26, 1856 incorporation in IN-0058 and its February 27, 1858 landholding amendment in IN-0064. The existing town entry has been strengthened with the original act; no duplicate entry was added.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 399, “An act to amend and re-enact the 2d section of an act passed February 26th, 1856, incorporating the Rowlesburg lumber and iron company in the county of Preston,” p. 242 (passed February 27, 1858)

Both sections of chapter 399 appear on printed page 242. The heading confirms passage on February 27, 1858. Section 1 expressly amends and re-enacts section 2 of the February 26, 1856 Rowlesburg Lumber and Iron Company charter; this is an amendment to that company’s landholding authority, not a new incorporation.

The 1856 charter, chapter 379, section 2, permitted 10,000 acres in Preston County. Chapter 399 authorizes purchase and holding of 30,000 acres in Preston, Tucker, and Randolph counties. The 30,000-acre figure is a combined allowance across the three counties, not an allowance in each county. The statute does not identify parcels, sellers, purchase prices, or completed acquisitions.

The phrase in the county of Preston in the act’s title identifies the company’s earlier incorporation legislation. This amendment does not establish the location of a main office. That claim has therefore been removed from the description. Section 2 makes the amendment effective upon passage.

Immediately below, chapter 400 on the same page, passed March 15, 1858, again amends and re-enacts section 2 of the 1856 charter and specifies 15,000 acres in Preston, Randolph, and Tucker counties. It also restates 2,500 shares of $100, property contributed as capital, and the proviso preserving liability for earlier Preston County lumber-and-iron debts. The February 27 allowance should therefore be read as one stage in the charter’s amendment history, not an unchanged long-term entitlement.

The heading of chapter 400 prints Rowlesburg lumber and coal company, while its operative text identifies the Rowlesburg lumber and iron company and replaces section 2 of the same 1856 charter. This discrepancy is preserved here rather than treated as evidence of a distinct company. Chapter 400 is separately dated March 15 and is not part of the February 27 act.

The $20,000–$100,000 capital and 2,000-acre Harrison County provisions above chapter 399 belong to the preceding act. The Hardy Coal and Iron Company charter below chapter 400 is also separate legislation. Neither supplies provisions for the February 27 Rowlesburg amendment.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 293, “An act providing for the election of a constable in the town of Independence in Preston county,” p. 195 (passed March 2, 1858)

All five sections of chapter 293 appear on printed page 195. The heading confirms passage on March 2, 1858. This is the date of the legislation, not the date of the first election.

Section 1 directs the voters of Preston County residing in Independence to elect one county constable on the fourth Thursday in May next, meaning May 1858, and on the same day every second year thereafter. The act does not itself list additional voter qualifications.

Section 2 locates the election at the house of John Howard in Independence and requires it to be superintended, certified, and ascertained in the same manner as other county elections. John Howard is identified as the householder, not as an appointed constable or election commissioner.

Section 3 prohibits town voters from voting for any other county constable. It expressly preserves elections for constables of the district containing Independence by district voters residing outside the town. The town election therefore did not replace all constable elections in the surrounding district.

Section 4 requires the elected constable to reside in Independence and gives him the same powers, duties, and fees as other Preston County constables. His office could be vacated and a vacancy filled in the same manner. The act does not limit those powers to the town or identify the person actually elected.

Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage. The statute establishes the election arrangements; it does not document that an election was held, its results, or service by a particular constable. The Brandonville incorporation act below it on the same page is separate legislation.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 430, “An act to incorporate the Airey lodge No. 131 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Rowlesburg in the county of Preston,” pp. 259–260 (passed March 4, 1858)

Chapter 430 begins at the foot of printed page 259 and concludes on page 260. The heading confirms March 4, 1858, the lodge number 131, the spelling Airey, and Rowlesburg in Preston County. All eight sections have been examined in the original scans.

Section 1 constitutes A. L. Hooton, William Hall, Thomas Owens, Russell Finnell, and their associates a body politic and corporate as Airey Lodge No. 131 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Rowlesburg in the County of Preston. It grants perpetual succession, the ability to sue and be sued and make contracts, a common seal, and the power to purchase, take, and hold land, buildings, goods, chattels, and money for the corporation’s benefit. Applicable Code provisions also apply; those general provisions have not been separately examined.

The continuation of section 1 on page 260 sets capital between $2,000 and $10,000, divided into $25 shares. This is authorized capital, not evidence of actual subscriptions, paid capital, or ownership of a particular lodge hall or parcel.

Section 2 directs a stockholders’ meeting in Rowlesburg, as soon after passage as convenient, for adopting bylaws and electing trustees, at a time and place appointed by A. L. Hooton, William Hall, Thomas Owens, and Russell Finnell, or a majority. At least $1,000 must first be subscribed, equivalent to 40 shares. Annual meetings are to follow. This subscription requirement precedes the meeting; section 1 itself constitutes the corporation and does not make incorporation conditional on that amount. No meeting date, address, elected trustees, or completed subscription is reported.

Section 3 treats the stock as personal estate, transferable on the corporate books under the bylaws. Section 4 provides a procedure for recovering unpaid subscriptions or installments and money owed by a delinquent treasurer and his sureties, by motion in a Virginia court of record after ten days’ notice. These provisions do not document any actual default or litigation.

Section 5 requires the trustees to obtain a treasurer’s bond with good security in an amount they consider reasonable. Section 6 permits the remaining trustees to fill vacancies caused by death, resignation, removal from Preston County, or legal disability. Section 7 allows duly authorized real-estate leases, contracts, and conveyances to be executed and acknowledged by the president or another person specially authorized by the trustees.

Section 8 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves amendment, alteration, or modification to the General Assembly. The statute establishes legal incorporation and governance powers; it does not establish when the lodge first organized, began meetings, acquired a hall, or commenced its activities.

The lodge provisions above chapter 429 and the Wheeling Odd Fellows hall amendment in chapter 429 on page 259 are separate legislation. Royal Arch Division No. 170 of the Sons of Temperance, chapter 431 below the Airey act on page 260, concerns Farmington in Marion County and is also separate. Their investment powers, voting rules, capital figures, and dates should not be assigned to Airey Lodge.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 210, “An act incorporating the Masontown and Independence turnpike company in the county of Preston,” p. 140 (passed March 23, 1858)

All five sections of chapter 210 appear on printed page 140. The heading confirms March 23, 1858. This is the date of the charter legislation, not proof that the company organized or construction began.

Section 1 describes the route from Masontown in Preston County, by Springdale, to the Pennsylvania, Morgantown and Beverley Turnpike Road in the direction of Independence, at a point about two miles west of Three Fork in Preston County. Beverley and Three Fork preserve the act’s spelling. The stated endpoint is a junction with that turnpike in the direction of Independence, not an express requirement to reach the town itself. The act supplies no surveyed alignment or modern road identification.

Section 1 authorizes $2,500 in subscriptions in $25 shares. It directs books to be opened at Independence under John Howard, Samuel Rodgers, Jacob Weaver, George D. Zinn, and Philip Manear, or any three, and at Masontown under agents appointed by a majority of those commissioners. This direction does not document actual opening of the books or receipt of subscriptions.

Section 2 makes incorporation as The Masontown and Independence Turnpike Company conditional on 20 subscribed shares, equivalent to $500. The subscribers and their executors, administrators, and assigns would be incorporated under the referenced general turnpike incorporation regulations. Those general regulations have not been separately examined; the act does not show that the subscription threshold was reached.

Section 3 authorizes the Preston County court to subscribe on the county’s behalf for 60 shares or $1,500, or such amount as it considers proper. The stated $1,500 is three-fifths of the $2,500 capital. Before a county subscription, the court must be satisfied that two-fifths, equivalent to $1,000, has been subscribed and paid or secured to be paid by solvent subscribers other than the county. This is county authority, not a state appropriation, compulsory county expenditure, or evidence of an actual subscription or payment.

Section 4 allows five years to commence work, not five years to complete it. Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage. The charter does not report a completed road, toll collection, an operating company, or construction expenditures.

The 20-foot width, maximum grade of 4½ degrees, and exemptions from stone or gravel surfacing at the top of page 140 belong to the preceding Horseshoe and Pheasant Run charter, chapter 209, in IN-0062. They are not stated construction standards for this company. The West Union and Glennville charter below chapter 210 is also separate legislation.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 432, “An act incorporating the Sons of Temperance in the town of Rowlesburg in the county of Preston,” p. 261 (passed March 24, 1858)

All three sections of chapter 432 appear on printed page 261. The heading confirms passage on March 24, 1858. Section 1 gives the corporate name Rowlesburg Division No. 280 of the Order of the Sons of Temperance and places it in Rowlesburg, Preston County.

Section 1 names William Hull, Albert L. Hooten, Charles M. Bishop, William Graham, and John H. Borice, together with others already regularly associated with them. Those spellings follow the original act. Hooten should not be silently changed to Hooton based on other Rowlesburg legislation, and the statute alone does not resolve personal identities across the records.

The reference to persons already associated indicates that incorporation recognized an existing association. March 24 is the date of legal incorporation, not necessarily the division’s founding or first meeting. The act does not state its organization date, membership count, meeting place, or record of temperance activities.

Section 1 grants perpetual succession, a common seal, the ability to sue and be sued and plead in court, and the power to purchase, sell, and hold land, buildings, goods, and chattels for the order’s purposes. Combined real and personal property may not exceed $3,000 in value. This is a property-value ceiling, not stated paid capital, an acreage limit, or proof of actual assets or a lodge hall.

Section 2 requires assent from a majority of all members for purchases or sales of real or personal property in the order’s name and for its benefit. This is a majority of the entire membership, not simply those attending a meeting. Section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. Neither provision documents an actual transaction.

The treasurer’s bond, trustee vacancies, and one-acre Farmington land allowance above chapter 432 belong to the preceding Royal Arch Division act, chapter 431. The Fox Hill Division and Masonic Temple Association acts below it are also separate legislation. The Rowlesburg act does not itself appoint trustees or prescribe a treasurer’s bond.

The earlier description’s comparison with later state and national prohibition has been replaced with the specific provisions supported by this act. The original establishes incorporation and legal powers; it does not document the division’s later influence, longevity, or activities.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 88, “An act to incorporate the Preston Bank of Virginia at Kingwood in the county of Preston,” pp. 68–72 (passed March 29, 1858)

Chapter 88 begins near the bottom of printed page 68 and ends on page 72 before chapter 89. Its heading confirms March 29, 1858. All 27 sections have been examined in the original scans. The bank provisions above its heading on page 68 belong to the preceding charter, not to the Preston Bank.

Section 1 incorporates James C. McGrew, William G. Brown, Gustavus Cresap, Abner Ravenscraft, John A. Dille, Harrison Hagans, Henry Smith, Henry Startzman, William H. Grimes, John J. Brown, and future associates as The Preston Bank of Virginia at Kingwood in the County of Preston. It applies Code chapters 56, 57, and 58 insofar as consistent, with all directors elected by stockholders. Those general Code chapters have not been separately examined. The act does not appoint the named incorporators as directors or identify an elected board.

Section 2 sets capital between $100,000 and $500,000 in $100 shares, payable in money, Virginia state stocks, or state-guaranteed bonds valued no higher than their current market value. These figures are authorized capital, not a report of actual subscriptions or assets. Section 6 permits an increase by a three-fourths vote of stockholders, subject to the prescribed proceedings for new stock except further treasurer publication.

Sections 3–5 require a signed and sealed directors’ certificate identifying the corporate name and location, capital subscribed and paid, current coin held, stockholders’ names and residences and their holdings, and intended opening time. It must be recorded in the Preston County clerk’s office and copied to the state treasurer. Before banking may begin, the treasurer must be satisfied that the certified capital is genuinely subscribed and paid and that the bank owns current coin equal to one-fifth of that capital, and must publish authorization. These are requirements, not evidence that a certificate was filed or the bank opened. The certificate and published authorization are specific leads for further research.

Sections 7–9 establish state-prepared, numbered, registered, and countersigned circulating notes backed by deposited public securities. Section 8 requires at least $75,000 in qualifying Virginia public-debt certificates or state-guaranteed bonds bearing six-percent interest, valued no higher than par or current market value, in exchange for an equal amount of authorized notes. The bank may loan and circulate those properly executed notes and no others. Interest on the deposited securities ordinarily goes to the bank, subject to the treasurer’s authority to redirect it for note redemption. This is a banknote-security system; the act does not establish modern deposit insurance or prove any notes were issued.

Section 10, continuing onto page 70, provides for protest when notes are not redeemed in gold or silver, notice to the president or cashier, and treasurer action after ten days of nonpayment unless a good legal defense exists. The treasurer may apply and sell the deposited trust property to redeem circulating notes. Section 20 provides twelve-percent annual damages, in lieu of interest, after a demanded redemption is refused, plus protest costs. These are statutory safeguards, not evidence of an actual default.

Sections 11–13 limit paper circulation to five times the bank’s own coin and registered circulation to paid capital, restrict further loans or discounts when the coin ratio falls short, and protect capital against withdrawals and dividends while deficiencies remain. Section 12 separately requires loans and discounts equal to at least half the capital stock. Section 16 uses half of circulation in its conditions for restoring withheld interest; the different printed denominators are preserved rather than silently harmonized. Banking is prohibited if capital falls below the statutory minimum.

Section 14 limits payments as money to gold, silver, and the bank’s own authorized notes. Unless situated in a town or village of at least 1,000 inhabitants, the bank must maintain a redemption agent in the nearest of Richmond, Norfolk, Alexandria, Lynchburg, Winchester, or Wheeling. The charter does not supply Kingwood’s population or identify the agent actually appointed. It prescribes penalties for failure to establish the required agency and annual publication of agents.

Sections 15–16 require quarterly financial statements including securities deposited, debts, bills of exchange discounted, loans to directors, and monthly coin, circulation, and deposit figures. The bank is to conduct discount and deposit business as well as issue notes, with ordinary business at its location and sworn reporting. Late reports, inadequate security, or specified circulation and lending deficiencies can cause interest on deposited securities to be withheld. These reporting provisions do not themselves document actual operations.

Sections 17 and 22 govern return or replacement of deposited securities, cancellation and replacement of banknotes, and exchange of coupon bonds for registered stock. Sections 18–19 prescribe winding-up procedures: redemption of at least 90 percent of notes and deposit of money for the balance, followed by two years of published notice and a bond with at least three sureties securing redemption of outstanding notes presented within six years of the bond’s date. These are procedures for a possible closure, not a record that this bank closed in a particular year.

Section 21 makes stockholders ratably liable from their private estates, to the amount of stock owned, for circulation and debts when the bank fails to redeem notes or pay debts. Sections 23–25 cover reimbursement of state note-printing expenses, examination of securities and records by the legislative committee on banks, destruction of canceled notes, and felony penalties for unlawful overissue. The penalties do not establish that any officer committed an offense.

Sections 26–27 permit dissolution by legal proceedings for charter violations, make the act effective upon passage, and reserve legislative alteration or repeal while preserving remedies for previously incurred liabilities. This establishes incorporation and regulated authority, not a verified opening date, specific banking premises, paid capital, note circulation, or operating history.

This charter should be distinguished from the February 23, 1853 authorization in IN-0049 for an eligible existing bank to establish a Kingwood branch. Chapter 88 creates the named Preston Bank corporation; it does not state that it continued or replaced a branch authorized in 1853. The Weston bank charter beginning on page 72 is separate legislation.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1857–1858, chapter 417, “An act to incorporate the Woodlawn coal and iron company in the county of Preston,” pp. 251–252 (passed April 8, 1858)

The heading of chapter 417 on printed page 251 clearly states April 8, 1858. The previous timeline date was March 8, 1858; it has been corrected against the original legislation. Chapter 417 continues at the top of page 252, and all nine sections have been examined.

Section 1 names W. Tyler Duvall, Jno. M. Holmes, Gustavus Cresap, J. Pindall Cresap, and Robert E. Cowan, with future associates, as The Woodlawn Coal and Iron Company. The description expands the printed abbreviation Jno. to John, consistent with the retained earlier reference. Its purposes are mining coal and other minerals and manufacturing iron and other articles in Preston County. Applicable Code provisions for manufacturing and mining companies and amendatory laws apply except where inconsistent; those general laws have not been separately examined.

Section 2 permits real and personal estate with a combined value not exceeding $1,000,000 and limits landholdings in Virginia to 7,000 acres at any one time. The acreage provision is statewide, not a separate allowance in each county. These limits do not identify actual property, a mine or works location, or completed acquisitions.

Section 3 sets capital between $500,000 and $1,000,000, divided into $50 shares. It permits bonds totaling no more than $100,000 outstanding at any time, with a term no longer than 20 years from their date and interest of six percent annually, payable semiannually. The president and directors may choose denominations, timing, and disposal terms subject to the Code. This is financing authority, not evidence of actual capital paid or bonds issued.

Sections 4 and 5 authorize the five named persons, or any three, to receive subscriptions, designate times and places through newspaper notices published in Morgantown and New York City, and determine the amount payable by each subscriber when subscribing. The act does not fix a specific subscription venue, report subscriptions received, or establish a New York office.

Section 6 gives each stockholder one vote for each share at general meetings. Section 7 provides for a president who is a director and four other directors. The named persons, or any three, set the first election by subscribers; until then, the named persons exercise directors’ powers and designate one of themselves acting president. The act does not identify an elected president or board or report an election result.

Section 8 allows special stockholders’ meetings to be called by a majority of directors or one or more stockholders holding one-fifth of the capital stock. Section 9 makes the act effective upon passage and reserves amendment, alteration, or modification to the General Assembly. Legal incorporation and corporate powers do not establish actual mining, manufacturing, output, or the location of works.

The Virginia slate and Virginia Mills slate-company provisions above chapter 417 on page 251 are separate legislation. The Virginia Water Power and Manufacturing Company charter below its conclusion on page 252 is also separate; its January 27 date, acreage allowances, and capital figures do not apply to Woodlawn.

Where found: Preston County Economic Development Authority, “Tunnelton”

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, p. 61 and errata

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXII, p. 200 (printed page)

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 518–519

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XV, p. 143 (printed page)

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1861, chapter 106, “An act to incorporate the Preston and Augusta Rail Road Company,” p. 202 (passed March 30, 1861)

All five sections of chapter 106 appear on printed page 202, HathiTrust image 208, in the Richmond Acts of Assembly for 1861. The heading confirms March 30, 1861. The act is from the Richmond legislature, not a later Wheeling session.

Section 1 authorizes subscription books in Preston County under William G. Brown, Robert E. Cowan, James C. McGrew, John J. Brown, and John A. Dille; at Staunton under John D. Imboden, Alexander H. H. Stuart, Alexander F. Kinney, Hugh W. Sheffey, and Bolivar Christian; and at other places under persons designated by a majority of those commissioners. It authorizes receiving subscriptions of $1,800,000 in $50 shares to constitute capital not exceeding $2,500,000. Those are distinct printed figures, not evidence of paid capital or actual subscriptions.

The route in section 1 starts at a convenient point near Portland in Preston County on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and follows the most eligible route to connect with the Virginia Central Railroad at or near Staunton in Augusta County. The act does not identify intermediate towns, a surveyed alignment, a specific junction parcel, or a modern railroad successor. Near Portland and at or near Staunton should not be converted into fixed endpoints without further evidence.

Section 2 makes corporate status as The Preston and Augusta Rail Road Company conditional on $500,000 in subscriptions, equivalent to 10,000 shares of $50. Existing corporate and general railroad laws apply insofar as consistent with the charter; those general laws have not been separately examined. The passage date alone does not establish that the subscription threshold was met or the company organized.

Section 3 allows borrowing for the act’s purposes with authority from a majority of stockholders, issuing certificates or other evidence of loans convertible into stock at the holder’s option, and securing the loans by lawful liens, mortgages, or other arrangements under the same authority. It does not specify a particular loan amount or report completed borrowing.

Section 4 permits counties or municipal corporations along the route, under their county courts or councils, to subscribe for amounts determined at the polls by three-fifths of their legal voters. The act does not record a local vote, county subscription, tax levy, or public payment. It supplies no state subscription or appropriation.

Section 5 makes the act effective upon passage. The statute authorizes a proposed enterprise and its financing arrangements; it does not show that subscription books were actually opened, the corporation organized, surveys completed, a railroad built, or service operated. The previous unconditional incorporation wording has been revised to preserve the subscription condition.

Where found: Virginia Acts of Assembly, 1861, chapter 218, “An act to incorporate the Old Dominion Mining and Manufacturing Company,” pp. 295–296 (passed April 2, 1861)

Chapter 218 spans printed pages 295–296, HathiTrust images 301–302, in the Richmond Acts of Assembly for 1861. All five sections have been checked. The heading confirms passage on April 2, 1861; section 5 makes the act effective upon passage.

Section 1 incorporates George A. Hamill, Israel Robinson, and others who may later associate with them as The Old Dominion Mining and Manufacturing Company. Its stated purposes in Preston County are mining coal and iron ore and manufacturing iron, coal oil, candles, and other articles. Coal oil is a single product in the original wording, not separate coal and oil products. The charter applies the Code of Virginia provisions for such joint-stock corporations; those general provisions have not been separately examined.

Section 2 appoints George A. Hamill, Israel Robinson, Magnus T. Snodgrass, Francis H. Grupy, and William B. Hill as subscription commissioners, any three of whom may act. They may open books at times and places they appoint. The act does not name a subscription location or establish that books actually opened, subscriptions were received, or the commissioners became elected directors.

Section 3 sets capital between $10,000 and $300,000, divided into shares of either $100 or $500 as the commissioners, or a majority of them, deem expedient. These are authorized capital and alternative share denominations, not evidence of actual paid capital or the denomination ultimately chosen. The company may purchase and hold no more than 1,000 acres; that limit does not establish a completed land purchase or identify any tract.

Section 4 allows stockholders to elect five to nine directors, who may choose a president from among themselves. The president and directors may make and amend management bylaws and appoint or discharge agents and clerks. Each stockholder has one vote for each share at general or annual meetings. No actual officers, election, or meeting are reported in the act.

The charter establishes legal authority for the enterprise, but does not identify a mine, factory, works, parcel, or community within Preston County, or demonstrate that mining or manufacturing began. The Braxton County acreage and railroad provisions above chapter 218 on page 295 belong to the preceding act; the Springfield and Deep Run company beginning on page 296 is a separate Henrico County charter.

Where found: Samuel T. Wiley, History of Preston County, West Virginia (1882), pp. 242–245

Wiley’s account, published during McGrew’s lifetime, identifies April 20, 1861, and describes the meeting as an early step toward the Reorganized Government of Virginia and West Virginia statehood. It is a retrospective county history rather than a surviving minute book or contemporary report of the private meeting.

The broader sequence is well established: McGrew represented Preston County at Virginia’s 1861 convention, voted against secession, and later served in West Virginia’s first legislature. The wording avoids assigning sole credit for statehood to McGrew or this meeting.

The linked portrait depicts McGrew between approximately 1860 and 1875; it does not depict the April 20 meeting. The Library of Congress reports no known restrictions on publication.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XV, p. 147 (printed page)

Where found: Wellsburg Herald, “The Election News,” May 31, 1861, county vote table, transcribed by West Virginia Archives and History; corroborating account in Morton, vol. I, ch. XV, p. 147 (1914)

The contemporary source is “The Election News” in the Wellsburg Herald of May 31, 1861, consulted through the transcription maintained by West Virginia Archives and History. Its table labels the columns Against Secession and For Secession and lists Preston as 2,256 and 63 respectively. The newspaper publication date is later than the May 23 referendum date.

Morton’s 1914 history, volume I, chapter XV, printed page 147, explicitly dates the referendum to May 23 and gives Preston 63 affirmative and 2,256 negative votes. The passage continues onto page 148 with wider commentary, but the local date and count are on page 147. The searchable Internet Archive text was checked; a fresh page-image inspection was not completed for this review.

The newspaper qualifies its county table: few returns were complete, some figures were official, and the list was considered nearly correct. It does not identify Preston’s row specifically as an official certified return. These numbers are therefore described as reported totals. The original newspaper image and Preston’s original poll books or certified return have not been examined in this review.

This event concerns the county vote on Virginia’s ordinance of secession, not a vote to create West Virginia. Agreement between the contemporary newspaper report and Morton strengthens the entry, but does not establish that the two accounts derive from independent underlying returns or prove the views of all county residents. Verified to source reflects the checked published evidence and its stated limits.

Where found: U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives, “BROWN, William Gay,” Biographical Directory ID B000948; election date in Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia (1914), vol. I, ch. XV, pp. 147–148

The U.S. House of Representatives official biography, Biographical Directory ID B000948, identifies William Gay Brown of Kingwood, born September 25, 1800, as elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-seventh Congress. This is the elder William G. Brown, not his son William Gay Brown Jr., who later also served in Congress.

The exact election date comes from Morton, volume I, chapter XV. Printed page 147 dates Virginia’s secession referendum to May 23; page 148 then states that Brown of Kingwood was chosen to the lower house of Congress on the same day. The Internet Archive searchable text was checked for this passage. The House biography confirms the election and affiliation but does not separately state the May 23 polling date.

The House biography lists the Thirty-seventh Congress term as March 4, 1861–March 3, 1863. The March 4 term date should not replace the May 23 election date. This entry concerns election to the United States House, not appointment to the United States Senate or a Confederate legislature.

Brown’s 1861 election was from Virginia. The House biography separately records his election from West Virginia as an Unconditional Unionist to the Thirty-eighth Congress, with service beginning December 7, 1863. Those are distinct elections and should not be combined as West Virginia representation beginning in 1861.

The checked sources support the election, Brown’s Kingwood connection, his Unionist affiliation, and Morton’s dating. They do not provide a Preston County vote tally, a winning margin, or individual voter records for this congressional race. Those details have not been added. Verified to source records the checked published accounts; original election returns have not been examined in this review.

Where found: The Kingwood Chronicle, issue cataloged June 15, 1861, p. 2, leftmost column, “Correspondence,” letter from Rowlesburg dated June 12, 1861, signed “X.” (printed page heading incorrectly reads Saturday, June 12)

The uploaded Library of Congress page image was visually examined, including the full correspondence in the leftmost column. The letter is headed Rowlesburg, Va., June 12, 1861, addressed to the Chronicle editors, and signed X. The correspondent’s identity and whether the writer accompanied the detachment are not established.

The letter says forty men left at 6 p.m. on the preceding Sabbath evening, reached the river bank opposite St. George at early dawn Monday, then crossed into town, and returned to Rowlesburg Monday evening. Relative to the June 12 letter date, these are June 9–10, 1861. Those event dates are distinct from the letter date and newspaper issue date.

The issue is identified in the supplied Library of Congress file path as 1861061501 and was supplied as June 15, 1861, page 2. The internal printed heading nevertheless reads Saturday, June 12, 1861. June 12 fell on Wednesday and June 15 on Saturday. The inconsistent printed heading is retained here as a source discrepancy rather than silently treated as the event date.

The correspondent identifies Captain Miller as commander and William Hall, a Rowlesburg citizen, as guide. The printed unit designation is company H., O. V. M.; this review does not expand that abbreviation or assign a regiment. Troops from Rowlesburg describes their departure station without assuming all forty men were Rowlesburg residents or local volunteers.

The correspondent reports a search for a secession flag said to be over the courthouse, a visit to William Ewing’s residence after Ewing had fled, assurances concerning residents’ persons and property, surrender of one flag and then another from a private house, and arrests followed by release after an oath of allegiance. The account reports no armed resistance. Its favorable characterizations of the expedition and its political opponents are the correspondent’s perspective, not independent findings.

The return account describes Miller and Hall on horseback carrying the captured flags, one topped with a live rattlesnake and the other with a wildcat skin, followed by a military band and a celebratory reception. These details are reported by the contemporary correspondent; they are not necessary to establish that the expedition occurred.

Morton’s later summary on printed page 148 describes forty men guided by William Hall, no resistance, and two captured Confederate flags. The contemporary letter supplies fuller dating and identifies Miller as commander. Verified to source reflects the checked newspaper image; independent military orders, muster records, and accounts from St. George residents have not been examined.

Where found: The Kingwood Chronicle, June 29, 1861, p. 3, “Departure of the Kirk Volunteers,” leftmost column, continuing at the top of the second column; compared with Morton, vol. I, ch. XV, p. 148

The uploaded original newspaper page was visually examined. Its heading confirms Saturday, June 29, 1861. “Departure of the Kirk Volunteers” begins in the leftmost column and continues at the top of the second column. The continuation was checked as part of this review.

The correspondent dates the gathering only as Monday, at eight o’clock in the morning. The Monday immediately before publication was June 24, 1861, so that is the probable date, not an explicitly printed calendar date. Morton gives June 22, which fell on Saturday. The former exact June 22 date has been replaced by a qualified June date; the conflict is not treated as conclusively resolved.

The contemporary article names Pleasant Grove church; Morton’s later account names Pleasant Valley church between Masontown and Reedsville. This review has not established whether those names identify the same church, a former name, or a mistaken identification. The title follows the newspaper. Existing Pleasant Valley, Masontown, and Reedsville place associations are retained as leads from Morton, not as a verified identification of Pleasant Grove’s site.

The correspondent estimates about 200 people assembled and says the company paraded before the church door. Miss Mattie W. Miles presented the flag as representative of the women and read an address, reproduced in the article. Rev. J. H. Flanagan received the flag and answered in the company’s name, then offered prayer. The choir sang a farewell hymn as the soldiers prepared to leave.

The continuation describes the drive to Independence, joking and singing along the way, and the correspondent leaving the soldiers there in good spirits. The newspaper does not establish their arrival or muster at Baltimore. That later stage mentioned by Morton has been omitted from the description of this ceremony. No regiment or company letter has been assigned from this article.

Verified to source reflects the checked contemporary newspaper account, with the date and church-name differences made explicit. The article supplies no exact church location or independent proof of the speaker’s biography, the flag’s later history, or the company’s subsequent military service.

Where found: West Virginia Archives and History, A State of Convenience, chapter eight, “Legislature of the Reorganized Government of Virginia Meets in Extra Session,” July 1–26, 1861; July 9 proceedings transcription

The Archives and History account of the July extra session confirms the July 9 elections of Hagans, Crane, Tarr, Carlile, and Willey. It identifies Hagans as Lucian Hagans; the title retains L. A. Hagans as in the earlier timeline and proceedings transcription.

The indexed July 9 proceedings identify Hagans as being from Preston and already acting as Secretary before his election. Election on July 9 should not be read as proof that he first performed the office’s duties that day.

The previous entry grouped William G. Brown, Jacob B. Blair, and Kellian V. Whaley with officials elected on July 9. That grouping is not supported by the checked account and has been removed. Brown’s May 23 congressional election is treated separately in IN-0184.

These were offices and Senate seats for Virginia under the Reorganized Government at Wheeling, before West Virginia became a state. Legislative election and admission to the U.S. Senate were separate steps.

The full truncated title has been replaced with the Preston County connection. Verified to source is retained on the basis of the checked Archives account. Original legislative journal images have not been examined in this review.

Where found: Virgil A. Lewis, History of West Virginia (1889), chapter XXVI, p. 382, consulted in online transcription; West Virginia Memory Timeline, record 2253, citing the same page

Lewis names five commissioners and separately lists Hagans, Parker, and Polsley among accompanying supporters traveling at their own expense. Hagans is not identified as an appointed commissioner. The title emphasizes his Preston County connection while preserving that distinction.

The May 22 arrival date and the documents carried are stated in Lewis on printed page 382. This review checked the online transcription; the original page image has not yet been examined. A contemporary arrival report or travel record would strengthen the precise dating.

West Virginia Memory record 2253 explicitly cites Lewis, page 382. Linking both makes the source trail clearer, but does not provide two independent accounts of the arrival.

The description follows Lewis’s identification of the constitution and Virginia’s consent act rather than treating a separately identified petition as verified. Arrival in Washington is distinct from formal presentation to Congress, passage of an admission bill, and eventual statehood.

The previous claim about the commissioners’ appointing body has not been carried forward because the appointment resolution has not been examined. Verified to source is retained for the attributed arrival account; appointment authority and contemporary corroboration remain research leads.

Where found: West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Memory Timeline, record 2260; Preston County location disputed by comparison with the transcribed Hoffman report

This entry was previously marked Verified to source because it followed West Virginia Memory record 2260. It is now Under Review: the Preston County location has not been corroborated, and the matching date and creek name may have led to confusion with a different Muddy Creek.

The transcribed report is headed June 8, 1862, Skirmish at Muddy Creek, and is dated Camp Meadow Bluff, June 9. Major John J. Hoffman describes traveling toward Alderson’s Ferry via Blue Sulphur, approaching Palestine, and pursuing opposing cavalry to Muddy Creek. References to Lewisburg, Haynes’ Ferry, Lick Creek, the Gauley road, and Little Sewell consistently point to the Greenbrier area rather than Preston County.

The report is evidence of a location conflict, not confirmation that a skirmish occurred at Preston County’s Muddy Creek. This review has not established whether the timeline mislocated Hoffman’s encounter or whether a separate Preston County encounter occurred on the same date.

The full report transcription was reviewed, including the copy supplied by the researcher. The original Official Records page image has not yet been examined. The next steps are to check that original report and identify and inspect the underlying source used for West Virginia Memory record 2260.

The date, original source link, and Muddy Creek place association are retained to preserve and investigate the existing claim. The place association is a disputed research lead, not a verified battlefield location. No casualties, participants, or other details from Hoffman’s Greenbrier-area report have been assigned to a Preston County event.

Where found: Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia, 1862–63, Wheeling, chapter 15, “An act to authorize Charles H. Kimball, Trustee, to construct and maintain a Tram or Railroad from Franklin Furnace to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the county of Preston,” p. 13 (passed January 13, 1863)

The uploaded original scan contains all three sections of chapter 15 on printed page 13, HathiTrust image 19. The heading confirms January 13, 1863. The earlier research lead identifying chapter 13, page 12 was incorrect; this citation follows the original act.

This act belongs to the General Assembly of Virginia at Wheeling under the Reorganized Government, before West Virginia statehood. It should not be cited as an act of the West Virginia Legislature or confused with the Richmond legislature’s Acts for 1863.

Section 1 authorizes Charles H. Kimball as trustee to locate and construct the line from Franklin Furnace in Preston County to a point on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at or near the mouth of Raccoon Creek in the same county. The wording does not establish a surveyed alignment or exact junction parcel. The trustee relationship is named but its trust instrument and beneficiaries are not identified in this act.

The 30-foot limit applies to the width of land for the road, exclusive of the slopes of cuts and embankments. It is not a track-gauge specification, an acreage grant, or a limit on total earthwork width.

To obtain title to land needed for the road and necessary construction and repair materials from adjacent land, section 1 authorizes the proceedings prescribed in chapter 56 of the Code of Virginia for corporations generally. That Code chapter has not been separately examined, and the act does not itself prove any completed acquisition or proceeding.

Section 2 reserves the General Assembly’s power to amend or repeal the act; section 3 makes it effective upon passage. Although the heading refers to construction and maintenance, the statute does not show that the line was built, connected to the B&O, opened for traffic, or operated. No funding, corporate capitalization, gauge, or construction deadline is stated.

See IN-0092 for the separate June 1868 extraordinary-session authorization to George Hardman and D. Randolph Martin for the Iron Valley Railroad between substantially the same described endpoints, with branches and a 50-foot land-width limit. The later act does not expressly amend, repeal or transfer this 1863 grant. Its printed heading says June 9, 1863, apparently an error in the 1868 volume; that discrepancy is recorded in IN-0092. The relationship of the grants and any actual construction require further evidence.

Where found: West Virginia Archives & History — Jones-Imboden Raid

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XV, p. 150 (printed page)

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XV, p. 151 (printed page)

Where found: Preston County History Master Timeline; National Archives, “West Virginia Statehood”

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1863, “An act to authorize the Heirs of David Albright to establish a Ferry across Cheat River,” p. 31 (passed August 3, 1863); printed chapter 20, indexed as chapter 30

All three sections were visually checked on printed page 31, PDF page 64, of the official Legislature-hosted 1863 Acts. The heading confirms passage on August 3, 1863, and section 3 makes the act effective upon passage. This is a West Virginia state act, distinct from earlier Virginia legislation.

The page heading prints chapter 20, but the Legislature’s Index to Special Acts identifies this act as 1863, chapter 30, sections 1–3, page 31. The citation records both references and uses the act title, passage date, and page to identify the legislation without silently resolving the numbering discrepancy.

Section 1 extends authority to David Albright’s heirs, their heirs and assigns, from their lands at or near Albright to a convenient point opposite, where the former Snider’s Ferry crossed, immediately below the site of the recent wire suspension bridge called the Cheat River Toll Bridge. It supplies a historical location description, not surveyed landing coordinates or a modern parcel identification.

The grant runs until the first meeting of Preston County’s board of supervisors. At that meeting, or as soon afterward as practicable, the board is to award just damages to anyone else holding title to either landing for the period the heirs used the property for the ferry. This is conditional provision for adverse ownership claims, not proof that a claim, award, payment, or continuing ferry license occurred.

Section 2 sets fares: pedestrian 5 cents; horse and rider 10 cents; wagon, one horse and driver 20 cents; wagon, two horses and driver 25 cents, plus 5 cents for each additional horse; buggy-wagon and one horse 20 cents; buggy or pleasure carriage and two horses 25 cents; a score (20) of sheep or hogs 10 cents; each head of cattle 1½ cents. These are statutory rates, not receipts or evidence of actual traffic.

The act does not name the individual heirs or establish their precise relationship to David Albright. Nor does it report an opening date, actual ferry service, operator, equipment, revenues, or later supervisors’ action. Its reference to the bridge site does not establish the bridge’s destruction date or cause; those require separate evidence.

Where found: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, Thirty-eighth Congress roster, p. 168, West Virginia representatives and footnote 43

The official congressional roster lists Blair, Brown, and Whaley as West Virginia’s three representatives on printed page 168 (PDF page 3). Each name carries footnote 43, which states that he took his seat December 7, 1863. This corrects the entry’s former December 8 date. The three official House biographies independently give December 7 as the beginning of their West Virginia service; they are supporting congressional reference records, not three independent contemporary eyewitness accounts.

The event records taking seats, not the election date. The Thirty-eighth Congress’s first session opened December 7, 1863. Its nominal congressional term began March 4, but that is not the date these West Virginia representatives took their seats.

The roster identifies Brown with Kingwood, Blair with Parkersburg, and Whaley with Point Pleasant. These contemporary roster locations replace the former county descriptions; the entry does not infer county residence from birthplace or later residence. The House biographies identify their West Virginia party affiliation as Unconditional Unionist.

All three had previously represented Virginia in the Thirty-seventh Congress. Brown’s earlier Virginia service and election are distinct from this first West Virginia delegation; see IN-0184 for Brown’s 1861 election. This entry does not imply that he first entered Congress in 1863.

The original West Virginia Memory record 2444 link is retained as the earlier research trail. Its December 8 dating is superseded here by the explicit seating-date footnote in the official congressional roster. No roll-call vote, oath transcript, or election tally is claimed from these reference sources.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1864, chapter 35, sections 1–12, pp. 26–28 (passed March 2, 1864)

All twelve sections were visually checked on printed pages 26–28 (also PDF pages 26–28) of the official Legislature-hosted 1864 Acts. The heading reads chapter 35 and confirms passage March 2, 1864. OCR renders the chapter number incorrectly; the following free-schools act is chapter 36.

Section 1 names these corporators, together with associates, successors, assigns and future stockholders: James H. Brown; Frederick Walker; John Slack, Sr.; Sydney M. Campbell; John R. McCutchen; Ellis Hyre; William Waggy; John Bowyer; William H. Shaw; Stephen Comstock; John Gilmore; J. P. B. R. Smith; Matthew Geary; Henry G. Chapman; G. Parker; Thomas J. Farnsworth; David S. Haselden; O. B. Loudin; Cyrus Kittle; Isaac Baker; Waldo P. Goff; Luther Haymond; L. E. Davidson; Harmon Sinsel; Jesse Teter; Peter Zinn; Spencer Dayton; William B. Crane; James W. Brown; Reuben Morris; Smith Crane; James H. Manown; Joseph Brown; William G. Brown; William B. Zinn; Elisha M. Hagans; Marcellus B. Hagans; Harrison Hagans; William Hagans; William Frey; Henry C. Hagans; Joseph H. Gibson; I. M. Harshbarger; Thomas Scott; Isaac McGrew; John Harrader; Harrison Spurgin; W. Cuppett; Jesse Spurgin; Samuel Fike; Joseph N. Miller; Samuel E. Crane; Simon Cameron; Thomas A. Scott; Francis H. Peirpoint; Lucian A. Hagans; M. A. Sanner; H. L. Holbrook; John Hanna; Moses A. Ross; J. D. Roddy; W. J. Baer; and J. Weller. They are named in a conditional charter, not documented here as elected directors, paid subscribers or an operating company. The act prints Francis H. Peirpoint; no identity is inferred for other similarly named Browns, Haganses or Scotts solely from this list.

Section 1 requires 10,000 shares subscribed in good faith within three years for corporate status. Section 3 sets initial capital at $5 million in $50 shares, making the subscription threshold $500,000, and allows any three corporators to open subscription books at places they designate within two years. These provisions do not prove that subscriptions were secured or books actually opened.

Section 2 specifies the Pennsylvania-line starting point near Joseph Carroll’s; Brandonville, the mouth of Muddy Creek and near Kingwood; the junction of Three Fork and Raccoon creeks in Taylor County; Buckhannon; Charleston; and the mouth of Sandy River in Wayne County. Point Pleasant is a branch destination from Charleston, correcting the former main-route summary. After organization, surveys or other findings could justify changing the route to begin anywhere on the Pennsylvania line in Preston or Monongalia County, reach the waters of Elk River by streams of the Monongahela or elsewhere, and continue through Charleston to the Kentucky line. These are authorized routes, not a surveyed or constructed alignment.

Sections 4 and 7 apply general Virginia railroad and corporation law insofar as consistent with this charter. Sections 5–6 authorize added capital, borrowing, donations, security pledges and bonds, but prohibit circulating currency. Section 5 requires construction to begin within five years of passage and one-fourth to be finished within ten years after commencement; it does not require the entire railway to be finished within ten years.

Section 8 requires simultaneous commencement of the portions north of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and southward from it toward Charleston, and simultaneous equipment for freight and passengers when completed. Sections 9–10 permit a state stock subscription through transfer of Virginia’s state-funded Covington and Ohio Railroad works westward from Charleston, with valuation procedures. This is conditional authority, not evidence that a transfer or public investment occurred.

Section 11 repeals the January 13, 1862 Elk River Railroad Company act and construes a provision of the February 13, 1862 Charleston and Winchester Railroad act. Those earlier acts have not been reviewed here. Section 12 reserves legislative alteration or repeal while protecting creditors’ and stockholders’ interests in corporate assets. The 1864 charter alone establishes neither actual organization, construction, opening, nor a relationship to later similarly named railroads.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1866, Corporations appendix, “Franklin Iron and Coal Company,” p. 239: Secretary of State certificate dated July 26, 1865, quoting agreement dated July 12, 1865

The entire certificate was visually checked on printed page 239, also PDF page 239, of the official Legislature-hosted 1866 Acts. It appears in the Corporations appendix, not as a separately numbered legislative act. The volume’s index directs readers to page 238, but the certificate itself is on page 239; the citation follows the printed certificate page.

The agreement was signed July 12, 1865. Granville D. Hall, Secretary of the State, certified receipt of the duly acknowledged agreement and proper affidavits at Wheeling on July 26, 1865, declaring corporate existence from that date until July 1, 1885. July 26 is the incorporation-certificate date, not an act-passage date or an opening date. The stated expiration does not establish actual dissolution or exclude later renewal or amendment.

The certificate identifies the principal office or place of business as Franklin Iron Works, Preston County. The stated purposes encompass mining iron ore, coal and other minerals, manufacturing them, leasing and selling them or other property or interests, and necessarily connected privileges. It supplies no surveyed boundary, parcel description, precise mine location or evidence of production. The office designation alone does not prove that all contemplated mining or manufacturing occurred there.

The agreement reports $215,000 subscribed and $21,500 paid in, divided into $100 shares, with a requested privilege of increasing capital by additional share sales to $600,000 in all. These are amounts represented in the filed agreement, not independently audited receipts or proof that the additional capital was raised.

The 2,150 initial shares are allocated as follows: George Hardman, as attorney of Nancy Hardman of Preston County, 1,000; R. Richason Walker of Brooklyn, New York, 1,000; John W. Jenkins of Baltimore, 50; William Prescott Smith of Baltimore, 50; Samuel P. Hildreth of Wheeling, 50. George signs in a representative capacity for Nancy; the record does not establish that he owned those 1,000 shares personally. Nor does it identify the subscribers as elected directors or officers.

This certificate does not establish a legal succession from the earlier Franklin Furnace enterprise or identify its trustees, land transfers or operating history. IN-0079 concerns an 1863 act authorizing a railroad or tramroad from Franklin Furnace; a connection between the enterprises requires additional evidence rather than an inference from the shared Franklin name.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1866, Corporations appendix, “Tunnelton Coal Company of Preston County, West Virginia,” pp. 245–246: certificate dated August 23, 1865, quoting agreement dated August 11, 1865

The entire certificate was visually checked across printed pages 245–246, also PDF pages 245–246, of the official Legislature-hosted 1866 Acts. It is a Secretary of State incorporation certificate in the Corporations appendix, not a separately numbered legislative act. The record begins below an unrelated company’s certificate on page 245 and ends above the Virginia Coal and Iron Company of Hampshire County certificate on page 246; those neighboring provisions do not belong to Tunnelton Coal.

The subscribers’ agreement is dated August 11, 1865. Secretary of State Granville D. Hall certified receipt of the duly acknowledged agreement and proper affidavits at Wheeling on August 23, declaring the named signers a corporation from that date until August 11, 1885. August 23 is the incorporation-certificate date, not an act-passage date or a demonstrated mine-opening date. The stated expiration does not establish an actual dissolution or exclude later amendments or renewal.

The specified purpose is mining and shipping coal. The principal office or place of business is Baltimore, Maryland. The corporate name supplies the Tunnelton and Preston County connection, but the certificate does not identify a mine, tract, acreage, shaft, shipping facility or surveyed location. It does not prove where mining actually occurred or that production or shipments began.

The agreement represents $70,000 subscribed and $70,000 paid in, in $5 shares, and requests the privilege of increasing capital by additional share sales to $500,000 in all, with future shares of the same denomination. The paid-in figure is the subscribers’ statement in the filed agreement, not an independent audit; the certificate does not establish that the additional capital was raised.

Initial holdings total 14,000 shares: John S. Barry, 3,500; Allen A. Chapman, 3,500; Hiram Woods Jr., 3,500; Abraham B. Patterson, 1,167; John F. Ehlen, 1,166; Charles H. Hamill, 1,167. The first five are identified with Baltimore; Hamill is identified specifically with Frostburg, Alleghany County, Maryland, using the certificate’s county spelling. These are subscribers and signers, not documented elected directors or officers.

The certificate establishes the stated corporate arrangement and date. It does not establish the company’s operating history, employment, production, transportation contracts or relationship to other Tunnelton mining companies; those require additional records.

Where found: Annual Report of the Comptroller of the Currency, 1887, p. 3, “Statement of National Banks Closed During the Year,” National Bank of Kingwood row; PDF page 15

The original scanned 1887 Comptroller report was visually checked at printed page 3, PDF page 15. The first row of “Statement of National Banks Closed During the Year” identifies National Bank of Kingwood, W. Va., and gives November 14, 1865, under “Date of authority to commence business.” This federal administrative record supports the authorization date independently of the county histories. It is a retrospective report, not the original 1865 authorization certificate.

Wiley’s text on printed page 466, checked through its searchable transcription, states that the National Bank of Kingwood was organized November 14, 1865, with $100,000 paid-up capital. It names William G. Brown as president, Smith Crane as vice-president, James C. McGrew as cashier, and Charles M. Bishop and James H. Carroll in the board list. The exact date is an organization date in Wiley, not an explicit account of the first day customers were served. A fresh image check of Wiley’s page was not part of this review.

The revised title records federal authorization rather than asserting a documented opening day. An opening advertisement, contemporary newspaper report, bank minutes or first transaction record would be needed to establish actual commencement of customer service. The date itself remains November 14, 1865.

Morton’s account, originally cited at volume I, chapter XXIV, page 221, calls the bank Preston’s pioneer bank, gives organization in 1865 and $100,000 paid-up capital, and identifies Brown and McGrew in the same roles. Its wording was checked through a transcription rather than a fresh scan. Morton’s shorter “bank of Kingwood” wording is not used here to establish identity or succession with a later institution carrying that name.

The James Clark McGrew House National Register nomination, section 8, PDF page 12, also reports organization November 14, 1865, and the initial capital and officers. Its bibliography includes Wiley and its bank paragraph closely follows his account; it is supporting historical context, not demonstrated independent evidence of opening. The nomination contains apparent errors elsewhere in that paragraph, including a capital-increase year of 1861 where Wiley gives 1871, so those details are not adopted.

The Comptroller’s same row records a closing date of October 21, 1886, and capital of $125,000 at closing. Those later figures must not be substituted for the reported $100,000 initial capital. The table includes both voluntary liquidations and failures and does not classify Kingwood individually in this row. The reason for closing and any relationship to a later Bank of Kingwood remain separate research questions; no failure or institutional succession is asserted here.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1867, Corporations appendix, “Kingwood Gas Coal and Iron Company,” pp. 185–186: certificate dated January 18, 1866, quoting agreement dated December 13, 1865

The entire certificate was visually checked on printed pages 185–186, also PDF pages 185–186, of the official Legislature-hosted 1867 Acts. It appears in the Corporations appendix, not as a separately numbered legislative act. The January 17 certificate ending above it belongs to another company; this company’s January 18 certification continues at the top of page 186, before the Hartford City Barrel Company record.

The agreement was signed December 13, 1865. Granville D. Hall, Secretary of the State, certified receipt of the duly acknowledged agreement and proper affidavits at Wheeling on January 18, 1866, declaring corporate existence from that date until December 10, 1885. January 18 is the incorporation-certificate date, not a mining-opening date or the date of a special legislative act. The stated expiration does not establish actual dissolution or rule out later changes.

The stated business is mining coal, manufacturing lumber, iron and other products of the lands, and selling them. The principal place of business is Baltimore. The corporate name does not itself locate a mine or works within Kingwood’s town limits.

The subscribers describe 1,780 acres they owned in Preston County, including buildings, machinery and improvements, contiguous to and binding for nearly three-fourths of a mile on the north margin of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. They undertake to convey it immediately upon receipt of the incorporation certificate by general-warranty deed, free of encumbrances except a $1,900 lien for which the agreement says there had yet been no qualified receiver. This identifies a tract to investigate, not a modern parcel or proof that the promised conveyance was completed. No lienholder or meaning beyond the document’s wording is inferred.

The agreement reports $500,000 subscribed, divided into 20,000 shares of $25, and describes payment through obligations to convey the land and improvements. This must not be described as $500,000 paid in cash, an independently appraised land value, or an independently verified completed property transfer.

All eleven subscribers and holdings are: William S. Rayner, Baltimore, 4,000 shares; James L. Sutton, Baltimore, 2,000; Peter W. Sheafer, Pottsville, Pennsylvania, 2,000; William Kendrick, Pottsville, 2,000; Peter D. Luther, Pottsville, 2,000; Edward Jessop, York, Pennsylvania, 2,000; John J. Dovey, Philadelphia, 2,000; Henry Kauffelt, York, 1,000; Arthur B. Farquhar, York, 1,000; Cornelius Slack, Mount Savage, Maryland, 1,333; James B. Thomas, Mount Savage, 667. Dovey was omitted from the earlier timeline summary and is restored here. The certificate names subscribers and signers, not elected directors or officers.

The record does not establish an operating mine, manufacturing output, employment, shipment dates or later corporate history. Identifying the tract requires deeds, maps or other property records; no association with another similarly named coal company is assumed.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1866, chapter 119, “An Act for the extension of the corporate limits of the town of Brandonville in Preston county,” p. 116 (passed February 28, 1866)

The entire single-paragraph act was visually checked on printed page 116, also PDF page 116, of the official Legislature-hosted 1866 Acts. Chapter 119’s heading states passage on February 28, 1866. The revised wording follows that documented legislative action rather than repeating the earlier summary’s governor-approval claim without a separate approval record.

The extension is specifically on the north side of Brandonville. It includes the lot conveyed by Joseph Ritenour to H. C. Hagans and Joseph H. Gibson, the tannery and its lot then owned by J. E. Hagans, and the street between the lots. The initials and Ritenour spelling follow the act; full personal identities are not inferred solely from those initials.

The act provides no acreage, metes and bounds, street name, modern parcel number or map. Deeds and local maps would be needed to identify the present-day properties. It establishes inclusion within the town limits, not a new property conveyance, the tannery’s founding date or evidence of its continued operation.

This is an extension of an existing town, distinct from the February 24, 1858 incorporation act discussed in IN-0061. The unrelated relief act above chapter 119 and Grant County act below it do not form part of the Brandonville legislation.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston; Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 467–468

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 499–500

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1868, chapter 22, “An Act to incorporate the town of Newburg,” sections 1–28, pp. 15–20 (passed February 12, 1868)

All twenty-eight sections were visually checked on printed pages 15–20, also PDF pages 15–20, of the official Legislature-hosted 1868 Acts. Chapter 22’s heading explicitly states passage February 12, 1868. The boundary and municipal provisions belong to Newburg, not the William Harpold relief act above it or the Big Fishing Creek mill-dam act following section 28 on page 20.

The prior entry recorded a discrepancy within Wiley: chapter IX gives February 12, 1868, while the district account cited at page 493 gives May 4, 1868. Those references are retained as a research trail; they were not freshly image-checked during this review. The original act settles the legislative passage date as February 12. Section 8 specifies an April election and May 1 term commencement; it does not identify May 4 as an organization, election or incorporation date. The reason for Wiley’s May 4 date remains unresolved and is not inferred.

Section 1 incorporates inhabitants within the defined bounds as “The Town of Newburg.” Its boundary description begins at a maple near Captain W. Paul’s lot, uses trees, an incline, a road, a church, a rock on the west bank of Little Raccoon Creek, an orchard, and a milestone on the railroad near the cut. These are historical survey references, not present-day parcel identifications. A modern boundary map would require additional surveying and property evidence.

Sections 2–7 create a common council comprising mayor, recorder and five councilmen, with annual elected terms. The council appoints a sergeant, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue, and may combine recorder, treasurer and revenue duties. Section 8 schedules the first election on the third Saturday in April 1868 at John Berry’s house under a justice of Lyon Township, with terms commencing May 1 after election. Berry is identified as the householder, not as an appointed mayor or election supervisor; actual election results are not supplied.

Section 9 limits municipal voting to town residents entitled to vote for county and township officers under the law then in force. Section 12 requires the prescribed loyalty oath and faithful-performance oath for officers. These historical eligibility rules should not be read as universal adult suffrage. Sections 10–17 address vacancies, ballots, ties, contested elections, qualifications, council meetings and journals.

Sections 18–25 authorize municipal improvements, streets, public buildings, nuisance and fire measures, cemetery provision, policing, ordinances, taxes, licenses and enforcement, with limits stated in the charter. Section 18 extends the listed powers except taxation for one mile beyond the borough; it does not extend the corporate boundary by one mile. Section 19 permits county-jail use with supervisors’ recorded consent. These are powers and procedures, not evidence that particular projects, levies or penalties occurred.

Sections 26–27 govern records and treasury payments and remedies for officer defaults. Section 28 exempts the town and its taxable persons and property from expense or liability for constructing or repairing roads or bridges outside its corporate limits. The act documents municipal incorporation and its legal framework, not Newburg’s first settlement, the actual first election or subsequent implementation.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, extraordinary session commencing June 2, 1868, chapter 1, sections 1–2, p. 3 (June 9; heading prints 1863, apparently in error)

Both sections of chapter 1 were visually checked in the Early State Records Project scan on Internet Archive, printed page 3, PDF page 4. The volume’s title page identifies the extraordinary session commencing June 2, 1868. This is separate from the regular-session 1868 Acts hosted by the Legislature. The chapter title concerns construction and maintenance of a railroad with branches from Franklin Iron Works to the B&O in Preston County.

The act’s heading actually prints “Passed June 9, 1863.” This appears to be a printing error: it is chapter 1 of the June 1868 extraordinary-session volume, and a West Virginia legislative act dated June 9, 1863 would precede statehood and the first state Legislature. The existing June 9, 1868 timeline date is retained on that basis and the West Virginia Memory attribution, rather than silently presenting the printed heading as 1868. The title page and session context were checked; an enrolled act or legislative journal has not yet been checked to independently resolve the erroneous year.

Section 1 authorizes George Hardman and D. Randolph Martin, their heirs and assigns, and expressly names the line the Iron Valley Railroad. Its endpoints are Franklin Iron Works and a point on the B&O at or near the mouth of Raccoon Creek, within Preston County. No surveyed alignment or precise junction parcel is supplied.

The act permits as many branches as the authorized parties desire, but limits each branch to five miles. The 50-foot limit applies to land width for both the main road and branches, excluding the slopes of cuts and embankments. It is not a track-gauge specification or a five-mile limit on the main line.

Section 2 permits proceedings under chapter 56 of the Code of Virginia to acquire title to necessary land and adjacent construction and repair materials. It also applies the Code’s railroad regulations, especially chapters 56, 57 and 61, and other general railway laws insofar as consistent with this act. Those Code chapters have not been separately examined here. No completed acquisition or compensation proceeding is established.

Compare IN-0079: the January 13, 1863 Wheeling Virginia act authorized Charles H. Kimball, trustee, to construct a tram road or railroad between substantially the same described endpoints, with a 30-foot land-width limit and no express branch provision. This 1868 act names different authorized parties, supplies the Iron Valley name, permits branches and allows a 50-foot land width. It does not expressly cite, amend, repeal or transfer the 1863 grant; the acts remain distinct entries. Neither text alone establishes a legal succession, an identical surveyed route or completed construction.

The act supplies legal authority, not evidence of a built or operating railroad, traffic, funding, capital subscriptions, track gauge, construction deadline or completion. Its two sections do not contain a separate effective-date clause. The former description’s governor-approval wording is replaced with the documented legislative authorization; no separate gubernatorial approval record was checked.

The later 1871 extension act, chapter 169 (IN-0106), expressly refers to this earlier authorization as passed June 9, 1868. That contemporaneous legislative reference provides additional support for the 1868 date despite the apparent 1863 misprint in the original heading.

Where found: Congressional Directory, 1869, West Virginia, Second District, James C. McGrew biography, p. 48 (PDF page 56); official House biography; West Virginia Memory Timeline record 3072 for October 22, 1868 election date

The original 1869 Congressional Directory scan was visually checked on printed page 48, PDF page 56. Under West Virginia’s Second District it identifies James C. McGrew of Kingwood, elected to the Forty-first Congress as a Union Republican, receiving 9,149 votes against 6,518 for William G. Brown, Democrat. This is a contemporary congressional account, not the underlying certified election return.

West Virginia Memory record 3072 dates the election October 22, 1868, and reports 9,147 votes for McGrew and 6,517 for Brown. The earlier timeline repeated those totals without contrasting evidence. Both reported counts are retained here with attribution: Directory 9,149–6,518; Archives timeline 9,147–6,517. The difference is two votes for McGrew and one for Brown; no reason for it is established. Vote totals are not themselves the margin of victory. The respective calculated margins would be 2,631 and 2,630 votes.

The Archives timeline names its underlying source as Secretary of State’s Papers, Election Returns, Box Two, West Virginia State Archives. The record’s indexed text and source attribution were available, but its full page returned an access error during this review. The original returns have not been examined, so no definitive choice between the two tallies or claim of a certified final count is made. Those returns are the next research target.

The official House biography confirms McGrew’s Republican election to the Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses and service from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1873. It provides neither the October 22 polling date nor vote totals. March 4, 1869 is the beginning of service, not the election date. The 1869 Directory likewise is used for the election result and tallies, not as independent confirmation of the exact polling day.

The revised entry focuses on the Second District contest. The former broad description’s gubernatorial result, Parkersburg voting, suffrage restrictions and other congressional races were removed from this event’s summary rather than treated as verified by McGrew’s biography. They remain researchable in the original West Virginia Memory record. The victor and party are supported; the exact numerical result remains unresolved between the cited accounts.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1869, chapter 37, “An Act creating a school district within the town of Brandonville,” sections 1–4, p. 22 (passed February 22, 1869)

All four sections were visually checked on printed page 22, also PDF page 22, of the official Legislature-hosted 1869 Acts. The heading confirms passage February 22, 1869. The revised wording follows the documented legislative action; a separate gubernatorial approval record was not examined. The West Union charter below it is chapter 38 and concerns Doddridge County, not this school district.

Section 1 includes the town of Brandonville and the adjacent farms of Thomas Scott, John S. Mitchell, William Kimberly, Isaac McGrew and Jonathan Chorpening. Despite the act title’s phrase “within the town,” the operative provision includes the named adjacent farms. It gives no metes and bounds, acreage or modern parcel identification, and does not annex those farms to the town itself.

Section 2 constitutes the town council as the district board of education, with the mayor as ex officio president and recorder as clerk. It applies the rights, powers, duties and governing laws of township boards of education insofar as applicable and consistent with this act. It does not create a separately elected school board or name individual officeholders.

Section 3 empowers the council to choose a schoolhouse site, acquire title, erect a schoolhouse, and establish and maintain a school in the same manner as township boards. This is authority to act, not evidence of an actual land purchase, construction, opening date, teacher appointment or enrollment.

Section 4 requires an annual meeting as a board of education on the first Monday of July to estimate the needs of the year beginning that day for a site, building, furnishings and school maintenance. It authorizes a levy on district property taxable for state and county purposes, capped at 50 cents per $100 of taxable property in any one year. The cap is a maximum annual rate, not proof that the full rate was imposed or any particular amount collected. The act contains no separate effective-date clause.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1869, chapter 68, “An Act to amend and re-enact the charter of the town of Portland, in Preston county,” p. 40 (passed February 26, 1869)

The complete single-paragraph act was visually checked on printed page 40, also PDF page 40, of the official Legislature-hosted 1869 Acts. Chapter 68’s heading confirms passage February 26, 1869. It amends and re-enacts an existing town charter, rather than recording a first incorporation. The Harrisville act above it and Allen Simpson relief act below it are unrelated legislation.

The boundary begins at a B&O culvert where Saltlick crosses the railroad; runs southeast to the west side of the Catholic church; continues directly southeast to a point on the B&O fifteen rods east of the water-station house; then reaches the northeast corner of the schoolhouse lot, Crane’s line at the north end of Main Street, the crossing of Saltlick in the turnpike, and follows the creek back to the beginning. The church, schoolhouse, water station, property line and creek are historical boundary references, not newly authorized construction.

The act does not give an acreage or a comparison against the prior boundary. Without reviewing the earlier charter and mapping both descriptions, this revision should not be characterized as a demonstrated expansion or contraction. The fifteen rods measure from the water-station house locates one boundary point; it is not a general boundary width or buffer.

The paragraph subjects the town to chapter 47 of the Code of West Virginia, entitled “Of towns and villages.” That Code chapter has not been separately reviewed here, so its municipal provisions are not reconstructed from this cross-reference. The act contains no separate effective-date clause.

Portland belongs to the settlement history tracked on this site under Cranberry Summit, Cranberry and Terra Alta. IN-0071 covers the reported March 13, 1860 incorporation as Portland; IN-0115 covers its later renaming as Cranberry. These links provide chronology, not a claim that the original acts for those two entries were examined in this review. Terra Alta is used as the modern place tag; the 1869 act itself uses Portland.

The act gives neither the Catholic church’s dedication nor the full identity of the owner called Crane. It does not identify modern parcels, the surviving locations of structures or a surveyed modern perimeter. Those identifications require deeds, maps and local records.

Where found: U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives — James Clark McGrew

March 4, 1869, is the official beginning of McGrew’s service in the Forty-first Congress. He served through March 3, 1873, chaired the Committee on Mileage during the Forty-second Congress, and declined renomination in 1872.

McGrew was born near Brandonville on September 14, 1813, when the location was in Monongalia County, Virginia. Preston County was formed in 1818.

The linked portrait depicts McGrew between approximately 1860 and 1875 and is illustrative of the individual, not his first day in Congress. The Library of Congress reports no known restrictions on publication.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1869, chapter 141, “An Act to incorporate the Randolph, Tucker and Preston Turnpike Company,” sections 1–4, p. 107 (passed March 4, 1869)

All four sections were visually checked on printed page 107, also PDF page 107, of the official Legislature-hosted 1869 Acts. Chapter 141’s heading confirms passage March 4, 1869. The penitentiary-superintendent act below it is chapter 142 and is unrelated.

Section 1 authorizes a route from New Interest, Randolph County, by Holly Meadows, Tucker County, to West Union or Chisholm’s Mills, Preston County. The Preston destinations are alternatives, not a mandated sequence through both. The company may choose existing turnpike beds or routes previously authorized by law, another route, or a combination. The act identifies no surveyed alignment or modern-road equivalent.

Subscription books could seek up to $15,000 in capital in $10 shares. Section 2 makes incorporation conditional on $1,000 subscribed, equivalent to 100 shares. The act does not prove that the threshold was reached or that the company organized. It grants authority to open subscription books; it does not document actual opening, payments or subscriptions received.

The named subscription commissioners are David Blackman, Archibald Wilmoth and Elam Hart of Randolph County; Jacob H. Long, David B. Hart, Jesse Parsons, William Evans and William Ewin of Tucker County; and A. D. Weills, Summers McCrum and Isaac Startzman of Preston County. Any three or more may direct the books, at places and times a majority of the commissioners appoint, with ten days’ advance public notice. County affiliations are not designated subscription-office addresses, and the commissioners are not identified as elected directors.

Section 2 subjects the company to the Code of West Virginia and its powers, except that the turnpike roadbed must be at least 12 feet wide. This is a minimum roadbed width, not a stated right-of-way width, grade or paving standard. The Code’s incorporated provisions have not been separately examined here.

Section 3 permits tolls not exceeding legal rates on a continuously completed five-mile section kept in good repair. It does not specify the toll schedule, prove that such a section existed, or show that tolls were collected. Section 4 prohibits taking possession of another turnpike without consent both from its owning company and from the supervisors of the county or counties through which it passes.

The charter alone does not establish completed construction, acquisition of existing roads, actual financing, traffic or opening. It contains no separate effective-date clause or construction deadline. The revised title and description preserve the distinction between statutory authorization and demonstrated organization or operation.

Where found: Preston County Clerk: About Us — courthouse fire and surviving records

The County Clerk says a few books survived; this entry therefore does not describe every county record as destroyed. The indictment's allegations and the later court judgments are distinguished in the linked Gregg trial entry.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Gregg v. State, 3 W. Va. 705 (1869): first trial and grounds for reversal

The first conviction was reversed, not an acquittal. The excluded defense material included Henry Boger's testimony and Gregg's bankruptcy-protection certificate. The 1880 opinion confirms that a second trial resulted in conviction in October 1869.

The prosecution presented the scheduled sale of Gregg's land and alleged threats as evidence of motive. Those allegations should not be confused with an independently established account of his intentions.

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, p. 211 (printed page)

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1870, Corporations appendix, “The Cheat River Lumbering and Manufacturing Company,” pp. 207–208 (certificate dated October 27, 1869)

The complete certificate was visually checked on printed pages 207–208, also PDF pages 207–208, of the official Legislature-hosted 1870 Acts. The corporate agreement was signed October 25, 1869; Secretary of State James M. Pipes certified incorporation on October 27, 1869. This is an administrative incorporation certificate reproduced in the Acts, not a separately numbered legislative act. The October 22 certificate ending at the top of page 207 belongs to the preceding company.

The agreement proposes erecting, constructing and operating a sawmill and general manufactory in wood on the bank of Cheat River. It identifies Salt Lick Creek in Portland Township near Rowlesburg as intended for water power and specifies a principal office at or near Rowlesburg. This wording identifies the intended vicinity, not a surveyed mill site, a modern parcel or proof that construction or operations occurred. The Archives summary’s statement that operations and the main office were at Rowlesburg has therefore been qualified.

The subscribers are Albert Lee, 100 shares; Adam H. Bowman, 250; William W. Shoch, 100; Moses Casseday, 50; James A. Gregg, 50; Lewis May, 50; Alexander R. Stewart, 100; Winfield W. Gribble, 50; and Jesse J. Fries, 100. Each share was $1, totaling 850 shares and $850 subscribed. The agreement describes all nine as residing in or near Rowlesburg, rather than necessarily within the town. These are subscribers, not an identified board of directors.

The agreement reports $215 paid on subscriptions and requests the privilege of increasing total capital to $20,000 through additional $1 shares. The certificate does not establish that later subscriptions or payments were received, that capital reached $20,000, or that the stated paid-in amount was independently audited.

The certificate declares the corporation established from October 27, 1869 until October 10, 1889. That stated corporate expiration is not evidence that the company actually operated until then or ceased business on that date. The agreement and certificate alone do not establish a mill opening, production, employment or a later corporate succession.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1870, Corporations appendix, “First Mutual Store of Newburg,” printed pp. 220–221 (certificate dated December 23, 1869)

The full certificate was visually checked on printed pages 220–221, also PDF pages 220–221, in the official 1870 Acts. The subscribers’ agreement is dated December 15, 1869; Secretary of State James M. Pipes certified incorporation at Wheeling on December 23, 1869. It is an administrative certificate reproduced in the Corporations appendix, not a numbered legislative act. The certificate immediately above the Newburg heading belongs to another company.

The agreement states that the company would conduct business as a retail dealer in dry goods, groceries, etc., with its principal office or place of business at Newburg in Preston County. The certificate establishes the stated corporate purpose and intended location; it does not establish that the store opened, its street address, or how long it operated.

The five subscribers are printed as Wm. Hubbard, John H. Henry, Eli T. Nine, B. F. Talbott and J. M. Allen, all of Newburg. Each subscribed one $100 share, totaling $500. The West Virginia Memory timeline expands Wm. and B. F. to William and Benjamin F.; the original certificate uses the abbreviated forms and does not provide the full names of J. M. Allen or the other initials.

The agreement reports $50 paid in on the subscriptions and requests the privilege of increasing capital to $10,000 through additional $100 shares. The certificate does not prove that additional shares were sold or that the stated amount paid was independently audited.

The certificate declares the corporation established from its December 23 date until January 1, 1880. This stated end date does not by itself establish when the business closed or whether its corporate term was later altered.

Where found: Judge Lawrance S. Miller Jr., History of the Preston County Courthouse; National Register nomination, Kingwood Historic District, Section 8, p. 33

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1870, chapter 76, “An ACT to extend and prescribe the limits of the town of Kingwood, and to provide for the burial of the dead,” pp. 84–85 (passed March 2, 1870)

All three sections of chapter 76 were visually checked on printed pages 84–85, also PDF pages 84–85, of the official Legislature-hosted 1870 Acts. The heading states passage March 2, 1870. The preceding West Virginia Historical Society provisions end above chapter 76; the following chapter 77 concerns a lodge in Martinsburg.

Section 1 prescribes the town boundary beginning at Herndon Spring at the north end of Price Street. The described circuit references the Kelso line west of the turnpike toward Morgantown, a spring in Herndon field, John R. Stone’s field, lot 15 of Price’s addition, James W. Parks’ field, lots 20 and 40 of the original town plan, and a stake in Elijah Shafer’s field. Its bearings and distances are printed in the act. These historical landmarks do not by themselves identify a modern parcel or provide a georeferenced map.

Section 2 continues the municipal authorities’ existing powers, duties and obligations and extends their exercise within the boundaries described in section 1. The act itself does not show which individual parcels were added by comparing the 1870 description against an earlier surveyed boundary.

Section 3 empowers the trustees to provide for burial of the dead and to purchase and hold the land necessary for a cemetery near or convenient to the town, and to provide for its improvement and security. The act authorizes these steps; it does not state that land had been purchased or a cemetery opened, and does not name or locate a particular cemetery.

The City of Kingwood reports that Maplewood Cemetery was established in 1870. That is a useful related lead, but the act does not name Maplewood; its relationship to this statutory authority and the date of the land acquisition need further evidence before treating them as established. No separate effective-date clause appears in the three-section act.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1870, chapter 108, “An ACT to incorporate the Cheat River Boom and Lumber Company,” pp. 121–124 (passed March 3, 1870)

Chapter 108 was visually checked on printed pages 121–124, which are also PDF pages 121–124. The heading states that it passed March 3, 1870. Section 1 names the five incorporators and their associates and successors.

Section 2 sets capital stock at no less than $20,000 in $100 shares, with increases up to $600,000, and directs the named incorporators to open subscription books at times and places they consider expedient.

Section 3 grants the company an exclusive privilege to construct and maintain a boom or booms across Cheat River within one mile below the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge, to stop and secure boats, rafts, saw-logs and other valuable timber. It also authorizes shear booms, clearing the channel and main branches, sawmills, lumber manufacture and sale, and tram railways. Section 4 authorizes landholding, mining and manufacturing, and wharves on Cheat River.

Sections 5–6 set boomage rates and procedures for unclaimed timber. Section 9 declares Cheat River and its branches a public highway. Section 11 preserves the Rowlesburg Lumber and Iron Company’s ability to erect a boom above the railroad bridge, subject to navigation and other conditions, including passage of certain timber destined for a boom below.

The act establishes the corporation and grants powers; it does not itself demonstrate that the boom, sawmills or tram railways were built or operated.

Where found: Library of Congress, West Virginia Argus (LCCN sn86092245); National Register nomination, Kingwood Historic District, Section 8, pp. 29–30

Where found: Historic American Engineering Record, HAER WV-13, B&O Railroad, Rowlesburg Bridge, written historical and descriptive data (transmitted 1984); Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1086

Identification under review. The Smithsonian catalogs this photograph as twin single-track Bollman bridges over the Cheat River at Rowlesburg, circa 1870. Questions have been raised about the identification based on the history of double-tracking and the track alignment visible in the photograph. PCTT is reviewing additional railroad and local-history evidence before treating the identification as settled.

Contemporary newspaper coverage of the July 1888 flood reported an iron B&O bridge at Rowlesburg washed away. How that report fits HAER’s three-bridge chronology remains unresolved: the affected structure or span and any subsequent rebuilding have not been established.

The Smithsonian dates Box 18, Item 697 to circa 1870. The image date is approximate. This entry does not assume that the bridges shown remained unchanged until the Warren bridge was built.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1871, chapter 180, “An ACT to incorporate the Iron Valley and Pennsylvania Line Railroad,” pp. 229–230 (passed February 28, 1871)

Chapter 180 was visually checked on printed pages 229–230 (PDF pages 231–232) of the official 1871 Acts. Its heading says it passed February 28, 1871. Section 1 makes incorporation conditional on 2,000 shares being subscribed in good faith within two years of passage; the act alone does not establish that this condition was met.

The act names Andrew Stuart, Sebastian Rush and Levi Fike of Pennsylvania; D. R. Martin and W. W. Wharton of New York; and John Heradar, George Manst, Thomas Scott, Charles Cantner, H. C. Hagans, Joseph Feather, John D. Rigg, David Morgan, Joseph H. Gibson, James W. Brown, William Albright, Charles E. Brown, Francis Hermans, William G. Brown, James C. McGrew, Smith Crane, James H. Carroll, Wm. B. Zinn, Joseph Guseman, Reason A. Pell, George Hardman, Robert W. Monroe, George Orr, S. L. Allen, J. R. Smoot and Joseph Jackson of West Virginia. Spellings follow the 1871 act; the 1872 amendment prints some names differently.

Section 2 specifies the route from near the Pennsylvania state line where it crosses Big Sandy Creek, by the places listed, to intersect the B&O at or east of the mouth of Raccoon Creek. The act does not establish that this entire route was built.

The act sets capital stock at $2 million in $100 shares and requires construction to begin within two years and finish within six years. The 1872 amendment changed the subscription and construction provisions. Wiley also describes an 1873 survey and reports that an engineer was employed; the separate 1873 survey authorization is linked as a related event.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1871, chapter 169, “An ACT authorizing the extension of the Iron Valley Railroad, from Iron Dale by Morgantown to the Pennsylvania state line,” p. 217 (passed February 28, 1871)

Chapter 169 was visually checked on printed page 217 (PDF page 219) of the 1871 Acts. Its heading states that it passed February 28, 1871. The text authorizes George Hardman and D. Randolph Martin, their heirs and assigns, to extend their railroad from Franklin Iron Works, or Iron Dale, in Preston County, to Morgantown in Monongalia County and thence to the West Virginia–Pennsylvania state line. It does not specify the crossing point.

The act refers expressly to the June 9, 1868 authorization for a railroad from Franklin Iron Works to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Preston County. This later citation to 1868 is additional evidence for the date of IN-0092, whose original printed heading appears to misprint the year as 1863.

The extension carries the same rights, restrictions and conditions as the 1868 act, with a different procedure for obtaining necessary land and materials: chapter 52 of the West Virginia code and its amendments, rather than chapter 56 of the Virginia code. The act also permits the road’s width to be increased to 60 feet. No acquisition proceedings or actual width are established by the act.

Compare IN-0107, a separate chapter passed on the same day for the Iron Valley and Pennsylvania Line Railroad. That act names a larger group including Hardman and D. R. Martin and describes a different proposed route by Brandonville and Kingwood. Similar names and overlapping participants do not by themselves establish that the projects were identical or how their legal interests related.

The act authorizes an extension; it does not establish that the extension was constructed or operated. The heading says passed, and no separate gubernatorial approval record has been checked.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1871, chapter 175, “An ACT to supply the lost records of Preston county,” pp. 225–227 (passed February 28, 1871)

Chapter 175 was visually checked on printed pages 225–227 (PDF pages 227–229) of the official 1871 Acts. Its heading says the act passed February 28, 1871. Section 1 directs the circuit court to appoint one or more competent commissioners to supply records lost from public offices in the fire and gives them powers under specified existing law.

Upon an interested party’s application, section 2 directs commissioners to investigate land boundaries as far as possible and authorizes surveys. Section 3 calls for reports to the circuit court on lost papers and records as proved or ascertained, and, upon request, chains of title and periods of possession insofar as they can be determined.

Sections 4–5 provide for newspaper notice of the final report for twelve successive weeks, an opportunity for interested persons to appear, and a court hearing. The court may amend, confirm or recommit a report; appropriate confirmed material is to be recorded. The act specifies evidentiary effects for the resulting records, including a rule after ten years. Sections 6–7 address compensation, witnesses and costs.

The act establishes a process, but does not itself show which commissioners were appointed, which records were reconstructed, or that all records were recovered. Its description of records destroyed in the public offices should not be read as proof that every courthouse record was lost: the Preston County Clerk reports that a few books survived and that land records were partially recreated by re-recording deeds brought in by the public.

The West Virginia and Regional History Center holds a collection of Preston County court records and miscellaneous papers, including deeds, surveys and other materials. Its catalog says some papers appear to have come from private individuals and presents possible explanations for their collection; it does not establish that this collection was created under the 1871 act.

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia, vol. I (1914), p. 261

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, p. 210 (printed page)

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1872–1873, chapter 70, “An act to provide for a preliminary survey of the Iron Valley and Pennsylvania Line Railroad,” pp. 167–168 (approved March 29, 1873)

Chapter 70 was visually checked on printed pages 167–168 (PDF pages 167–168) of the official 1872–1873 Acts. Its heading says approved March 29, 1873. The act permits the company to employ a competent civil engineer and assistants and directs the engineer to survey a practicable route in the general direction of the February 26, 1872 act.

The proposed line was to run through Preston County to connect travel between the Pittsburg, Washington and Baltimore Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The engineer was to report on route, distance, grades, cuts, fills and other matters. Section 3 appropriated $1,000 from the state treasury to carry out the act, to be drawn, used and accounted for by the company; it was a survey appropriation, not a demonstrated construction grant.

Wiley, writing in 1882, reports that the $1,000 was drawn, used and accounted for and that John A. Dalrymple was employed as chief engineer. Wiley quotes his August 27, 1873 report to a committee including William G. Brown, C. M. Bishop, Francis Heermans, James W. Brown and Joseph H. Gibson. This account is a later source for the survey; the original report and payment records have not been separately examined.

As quoted by Wiley, the experimental line ran from the Pennsylvania boundary at Big Sandy Creek by Bruceton and near Brandonville, through the Little Sandy and Muddy Creek watersheds, across Cheat River near Muddy Creek, up Green’s Run near Kingwood and by Hardman’s Iron Works to the B&O. The report gave a length of 40 miles and described a proposed tunnel near Falkenstein’s. The route is an experimental survey, not proof of construction.

Wiley quotes the survey endpoint as 700 feet west of the mouth of Raccoon Creek, while the 1871 charter in IN-0107 specified an intersection at or east of the mouth. These statements differ; whether the survey reflected a permitted change, an error or another explanation requires further evidence.

The act authorizes and funds a preliminary survey. Wiley’s report supports a later survey, but neither source establishes construction or operation of the proposed railroad.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 475–476

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXII, p. 200 (printed page)

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 375–376 and 525

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 228–230

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 516–517

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 416–417

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1879, chapter 24, “An act to establish a county court for the county of Preston,” pp. 26–30 (passed March 4; approved March 7, 1879)

Chapter 24 was visually checked on printed pages 26–30, also PDF pages 26–30, in the official 1879 Acts. The heading states passed March 4, 1879, and the end of the act states approved March 7, 1879.

The act provides for an elected judge, describes court jurisdiction in legal, equity, probate and certain criminal matters, and sets trial and police and fiscal terms. At police and fiscal terms the judge would preside with participating justices; the act addresses county districts, roads, bridges, licenses and levies among other matters. Its references to a present county court and clerk show this was a proposed revision of an existing system, not Preston’s first county court.

The act calls for a vote for or against the revised county court at the 1879 school election. Section 17 makes the arrangement conditional on a majority of votes cast on adoption and states it shall take effect on and after the twentieth day after an approving vote. The printed clerk’s note also says the act takes effect ninety days after passage. These distinct provisions are recorded without deciding their legal interaction. The outcome of the local vote and implementation have not been verified.

The original West Virginia Memory entry also mentions a separate Pendleton County act. This entry focuses on the Preston-specific chapter; the similar date does not make the two counties’ provisions one act.

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 418–419

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 494–495

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1883, Corporations appendix, “Alleghany Land, Lumber and Boom Company,” pp. 206–208 (certificate dated April 7, 1881)

The incorporation certificate was visually checked on printed pages 206–208 (PDF pages 207–209) of the official 1883 Acts. Secretary of State Randolph Stalnaker Jr. certified incorporation on April 7, 1881. The certificate is reproduced in the Corporations appendix; it is not a separately numbered legislative act.

The articles describe proposed booms, sawmills, lumber yards, wharves and tram-railways at or near Rowlesburg; at or near the Cheat Bridge, described as about five miles above Rowlesburg; and at or near the great falls on the Black Fork of Cheat River, described as about twelve miles above its mouth in Tucker County. These are proposed sites described in the articles, not verified modern coordinates or proof the works were constructed.

The stated purposes include constructing and operating booms on Cheat River and tributaries in Preston, Tucker and Randolph counties, cutting logs, manufacturing and selling lumber, and buying and holding timber lands. The articles specify a principal office in Washington, D.C., and a branch office and place of business in Rowlesburg.

The subscribers and shares are Samuel P. Brown, Charles C. Huntley and Nathaniel Wilson of Washington, D.C., 150 shares each; Adam H. Bowman of Rowlesburg and Chapin Brown of Washington, D.C., 25 shares each. The articles list $50,000 capital in 500 shares of $100, with $15,000 paid in.

The articles give March 1, 1881 as a proposed commencement date and twenty years as the proposed term, while the secretary’s certification is dated April 7, 1881 and declares the corporation in existence from that date until March 1, 1901. Neither date establishes actual operations or a dissolution date.

Bowman is also named in the 1869 Cheat River Lumbering and Manufacturing Company certificate (IN-0101). The shared name and locality are a useful connection, but the records reviewed do not establish a corporate succession between the companies. The certificate itself states plans and intended offices; see Wiley’s later account below for evidence of a mill and booms.

Wiley, History of Preston County (1882), p. 514, reports that the Allegheny Land, Lumber & Boom Company erected a three-story Rowlesburg lumber mill in 1881 and describes machinery and two river booms. This later account supplies evidence of a mill and booms beyond the certificate’s plans, though their precise locations and an opening date have not been independently established. Wiley spells the name Allegheny; the certificate prints Alleghany.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1883, Corporations appendix, “Rowlesburg Boom and Water Power Company,” pp. 210–211 (certificate dated April 21, 1881)

The certificate was visually checked on printed pages 210–211 (PDF pages 211–212) of the official 1883 Acts. The incorporation agreement was signed April 20, 1881; Secretary of State Randolph Stalnaker Jr. certified it April 21. This is a corporate certificate reproduced in the Acts, not a separately numbered legislative act.

The agreement describes booms and dams at or near one or both of two islands in Cheat River at or near Rowlesburg, just above the railroad bridge. It also describes mills, tramways and equipment for lumbering, water-power and milling. It specifies Rowlesburg as the intended principal office. The description does not identify the islands by modern name or establish that the works were built.

The five subscribers are John H. Rice, John Lynch Jr., Joseph Lockey and J. H. Herron of Washington, D.C., and Paul Stevens of Camden, Maine, each with one $100 share. The agreement reports $500 subscribed, $50 paid in, and the privilege of increasing capital to $50,000 through additional shares.

The certificate gives a corporate expiration of January 1, 1931. This stated term does not establish that the company operated until that date or when it actually dissolved.

The certificate names John Lynch Jr.; Wiley reports that a Rowlesburg mill belonging to Lynch, Winslow & Co. burned in May 1881. The shared surname is a research lead, but these sources do not by themselves establish that the people or businesses were the same or that the fire involved this company’s proposed mill.

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 512–515

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 494–495

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1882, chapter 1, “An act to change the name of the town of Portland, in the county of Preston,” p. 3 (passed January 12, 1882)

The complete act and clerk’s note were visually checked on printed page 3 (PDF page 3) of the official 1882 Acts. The legislature passed the act January 12 and the governor approved it January 19. The clerk’s note states that it takes effect at the expiration of 90 days after passage; January 12 is the passage date, not the effective date.

The act changes the name of the existing town and preserves the powers previously vested in Portland. It refers to the town as laid out in lots, streets and alleys and as it may later be laid out. It does not state why the name was changed or independently establish a name change for a post office or district.

The related entries place the act in the community’s history: the reported 1860 incorporation as Portland, the 1869 charter revision, and the later incorporation as Terra Alta. The 1860 act remains a separate research question.

Where found: Wiley, History of Preston County, pp. 467–468

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1882, chapter 12, pp. 15–16 (passed February 9, 1882); 1881, chapter 39, pp. 296–297

Chapter 12 of the 1882 Acts begins on printed and PDF page 15 and concludes on page 16. The heading records passage February 9; the governor approved it February 15. The clerk’s note states that it took effect from passage.

The 1882 act amends section 1 of the 1877 boom-company law as amended in 1881. The 1881 version already lists Preston County (1881 Acts, chapter 39, printed page 297, PDF page 300), so the 1882 law did not first extend this authority to Preston. The 1882 version changes the named-county list; this entry does not assert that every other county was newly included.

The act permits five or more persons to form a company to construct booms or dams, with or without piers, in streams in the named counties to stop and secure boats, rafts, logs, masts, spars, lumber and other timber. It prohibits such works in streams navigated by steamboats at an ordinary stage of water above the proposed site. It does not itself identify a particular Preston County boom or prove construction or operation.

Related events include the 1870 Cheat River company, the 1881 Rowlesburg company, the 1883 Buffalo Creek company and the later 1889 amendment. These connections illustrate local boom history and the development of the law; they do not establish that a particular company incorporated under this 1882 provision.

Where found: West Virginia Argus, March 31, 1882, p. 3; Samuel T. Wiley, History of Preston County, p. 527

The West Virginia Argus of Friday, March 31, 1882, p. 3, says the fire occurred “last Sunday afternoon.” March 26 is inferred from that relative date and the calendar; the article does not print an exact date. The user-supplied newspaper clipping was visually reviewed.

The newspaper says the sexton lit the stoves about noon for an afternoon preaching service and that a defective flue was suspected. It reports the building was entirely destroyed and that efforts to fight the fire were unsuccessful. The cause is presented as the newspaper’s supposition, not an established finding.

Wiley’s History of Preston County, p. 527, says the Methodist Episcopal church at Masontown was built in 1872, burned in March 1882, and a new church was being built at the time of writing. The online transcription was checked; Wiley does not give an exact fire date or establish when the replacement was completed.

The Argus calls it the Methodist Church; Wiley identifies it as the M. E. church. Neither source reviewed establishes a street address or identifies the replacement with a particular later structure.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: National Register of Historic Places, Brookside Historic District nomination, Section 8, pp. 13–14; Preston County Deed Book 52, p. 64; Deed Book 55, p. 274; Deed Book 56, p. 433

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1883, Corporations appendix, “Buffalo Creek Boom and Dam Company,” pp. 419–420 (certificate dated February 22, 1883)

The complete certificate was visually reviewed on printed pages 419–420 of the 1883 Acts. It is a Secretary of State incorporation certificate in the Corporations appendix, not a separately numbered legislative act. The subscribers’ agreement is dated February 5, 1883; Randolph Stalnaker Jr. certified incorporation February 22. The agreement specifies April 1, 1883, as its intended commencement. These dates should not be conflated with a demonstrated opening or start of operations.

The agreement specifies booms and dams for driving, stopping and securing logs, lumber and other timber in Buffalo Creek and its tributaries, with works at or near the creek’s mouth at Cheat River in Preston County. Cranberry is the intended principal office; the certificate does not establish that the works were built or operated.

The agreement reports $500 subscribed and $50 paid in, in $10 shares, with the privilege of increasing capital to $2,000 overall. John P. Jones and William Bell each held 20 shares; Scott T. Jones held five; William T. White held three; Burbridge Fraley held two. Bell is listed at Rowlesburg (printed “Rowelsburg”); the other four are listed at Cranberry.

The stated corporate expiration is April 1, 1903, an authorized term rather than proof of continued operation. The original resolution now checked for IN-0126 records the stockholders’ August 18, 1885 vote to discontinue business; it was admitted to record August 28.

The agreement explicitly invokes chapter 121 of the 1877 Acts. IN-0116 supplies context about a later amendment to that general boom-company law; the certificate does not expressly cite the 1882 amendment.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1883, chapter 51, “An act to reform, alter and modify the county court of the county of Preston,” pp. 71–73 (passed February 22, 1883)

Chapter 51 begins on printed page 71 (PDF page 72) and ends near the top of printed page 73 (PDF page 74). The act was passed February 22, 1883, and approved February 24; the clerk’s note states that it took effect from passage.

Section 1 calls for eight districts, using the existing district divisions until lawfully changed, and an eight-member court elected by county voters, with no two commissioners resident in the same district. It specifies rules for candidates from the same district, vacancy upon removal from a district, incompatibility with service as a justice of the peace, and compensation of $2 per day attending court.

Section 2 provides for election of eight commissioners at the 1883 school election with staggered initial terms: Grant, Portland, Lyon and Reno to January 1, 1885; Kingwood, Valley, Pleasant and Union to January 1, 1887. Section 3 provides for four commissioners to be elected at the 1884 general election and succeeding general elections, for four-year terms. These provisions do not identify the persons elected.

Sections 4–5 apply general county-court law where consistent, retain the county court clerk, make a majority of commissioners a quorum, and provide for the first meeting and annual election of a president.

Sections 6–8 submit the proposed system to voters at the 1883 school election. A majority voting for modification would keep the act in force; without it the act would cease to have further force. The act does not report whether the proposal passed or the court was reorganized. Research lead: check contemporary Preston County newspapers for election reports and seek the election returns and county court records documenting the vote and any subsequent organization. Those records have not yet been examined for this entry.

The preceding chapter’s approval and ninety-day effective-date note above chapter 51 on page 71 belong to a different act; chapter 51’s own approval and effective-date note appear on page 73.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1885, Corporations appendix, “The Grafton and Greenbrier Telegraph Company,” pp. 215–216 (certificate dated September 29, 1883)

The complete certificate was visually reviewed on printed and PDF pages 215–216 of the 1885 Acts. It is an incorporation certificate, not a separately numbered legislative act. The agreement was signed September 24, 1883; incorporation was certified September 29, with October 1 specified as the intended commencement. The 1885 publication date is not the incorporation date.

The proposed overhead and underground telegraph and telephone network begins at the Pennsylvania boundary in Monongalia County, passes through Monongalia and Marion or Preston to Grafton, then through Taylor, Barbour, Randolph, Pocahontas and Greenbrier to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Branches from Barbour, Randolph and Pocahontas were contemplated into Tucker, Pendleton, Upshur, Webster and Nicholas. The certificate names no Preston town, surveyed alignment or completed line.

The five subscribers were Augustus G. Davis and James B. Yeakle of Baltimore, and John T. McGraw, John W. Mason and John S. S. Herr of Grafton, each with one $20 share. The agreement reports $100 subscribed and fully paid, with privilege of increasing capital to $100,000.

The stated expiration is September 29, 1933; this is an authorized corporate term, not proof of continued operation. The certificate names Grafton as the principal office.

Research lead: seek contemporary newspapers, company records, maps or other operational evidence to determine whether the Marion or Preston alternative was used. This entry preserves a proposed route involving Preston and should not be cited as proof of local telephone or telegraph service.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1885, Corporations appendix, “Canaan Boom and Lumber Company,” pp. 246–247 (certificate dated November 13, 1883)

The complete certificate was visually checked on printed and PDF pages 246–247 of the 1885 Acts. This is a corporate certificate, not a separately numbered legislative act. The agreement was signed November 9, 1883; Secretary of State Randolph Stalnaker Jr. certified incorporation November 13. The intended commencement was February 1, 1884, with a stated corporate term ending February 1, 1914; these dates do not establish an actual opening or dissolution.

The agreement designates Rowlesburg, Preston County, as the intended principal office. The proposed boom sites are in Canaan, Tucker County, on the Black Fork (Blackwater) of Cheat River: near the mouth of Beaver Prong, near Five Birches, or at both places. The text does not equate those two sites or locate a boom in Preston County.

Authorized purposes include cutting logs, manufacturing and selling lumber, and operating sawmills, shingle mills, lath mills, handle factories, lumber yards, tram railways and wharves. It also contemplates necessary land acquisition and upstream locks or dams to regulate log movement. These are proposed corporate activities, not evidence that particular works were built or operated.

The subscribers were M. E. Howe of Rowlesburg, six $100 shares; Adam H. Bowman and E. B. Stone of Rowlesburg, one share each; William L. Boughner of Fairmont, one share; and Adam C. Minear of St. George, one share. Stated initial capital was $1,000, with at least ten percent paid proportionately and privilege of increasing capital to $100,000. Initials are retained as printed.

Research lead: company records, deeds, maps and contemporary newspapers may establish whether the Rowlesburg office opened and which proposed Tucker County sites were developed. The certificate alone does not identify a modern parcel or a completed facility.

Where found: Preston County Historical Society, Preston County, West Virginia, History, 1979, 3rd printing (Kingwood, W.Va.: Preston County Historical Society, 2001), p. 24; Preston County Deed Book 74, p. 259, Jacob and Clarissa E. Cale to Evangelical Association church trustees, deed dated February 24, 1893; The Dominion-Post, “Mason-Dixonland Churches: Mt. Zion United Methodist Church,” January 2, 1972, p. 7-D

The entry is dated 1883 because the Valley District church table in Preston County, West Virginia, History, 1979, page 24, lists “Mt. Zion United Methodist — Rohr” with an establishment year of 1883. The photographed copy is the third printing issued in 2001.

The January 2, 1972 profile described the church as having been built 102 years earlier. Its statement that Calvin Rohr was nine during construction and was born in 1861 also points to circa 1870. This may represent construction or religious use preceding the church's formal establishment, but it could instead be an error in the retrospective account. The evidence presently available does not resolve the difference.

The February 24, 1893 deed places the parcel in Valley District, south of the county road from the Ices Ferry Pike to Friendship Schoolhouse and north of the junction with the road to Jenkins Mill. It describes the lot as bounded on the north and west by those roads and on the east and south by previously fixed boundaries, containing approximately one-half acre.

The deed names Emory Cale, I. J. Blaney, Christopher Cale, Jacob Cale, Oliver Jenkins, K. Jenkins, John W. Radabough, Jacob Radabaugh, and John L. Moore as trustees and their legal successors. The property was to be maintained as a place of worship for the ministry and membership of the Evangelical Association of North America.

The 1972 caption describes the church as formerly belonging to a Brethren denomination, while the 1893 deed specifically identifies the Evangelical Association of North America. The timeline preserves the deed's more precise contemporary denominational identification rather than treating the two descriptions as equivalent.

The 1972 article attributes its historical information to William H. Huff and credits Shelby Young for the accompanying photograph. It describes the church as standing between Rohr and Bull Run; the timeline classifies its location as Rohr in accordance with local geographic usage.

The deed confirms that Jacob and Clarissa E. Cale legally conveyed the parcel in 1893 after the church had been built. Because its stated consideration was the church already erected on the land, the record supports the newspaper's account of donated church ground while showing that the formal conveyance occurred after the 1883 establishment date.

Where found: U.S. Post Office Department location paper and accompanying diagram for the proposed Cuzzart Post Office, certified April 20, 1884; National Archives and Records Administration

The application is evidence that a Cuzzart post office was proposed in 1884. It does not itself establish the date on which the Post Office Department approved or opened the office.

Albert Engle signed as the proposed postmaster. Joseph N. Miller, postmaster at Morgans Glade, certified the application. The associated hand-drawn diagram identifies the proposed Cuzzart site and nearby roads, streams, and post offices.

Lulu Ringer’s 1980 History of Cuzzart says that Ashbel Chidester’s wife secured the name Cuzzart for the post office. Engle’s 1884 application confirms that Cuzzart was the name submitted to the Post Office Department, but does not identify who chose it.

Albert Engle was later appointed postmaster at Cuzzart on January 5, 1886. That appointment is documented in the linked 1886 entry.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1887, Corporations appendix, Union Cemetery Association of Grant District, pp. 351–352; certificate dated June 26, 1885

The agreement was signed June 22, 1885; Secretary of State Henry S. Walker certified incorporation June 26. The timeline uses the certification date.

The certificate identifies David Frankhouser, correcting Frankhouse in the earlier timeline wording. The subscriber list gives David K. Harshbarger; the signature transcription appears as David H. Harshbarger, a discrepancy to check against other records.

The five subscribers each held one $10 share; the $50 subscribed capital was fully paid, with authority to increase capital to $1,000. The charter specified expiration June 1, 1935; this is not evidence of the association’s actual lifespan.

The certificate establishes incorporation and the intended cemetery purpose, not that a cemetery was opened or improvements completed. The cemetery’s identity, exact location, land acquisition, and opening date remain research questions.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1887, Corporations appendix, “The Buffalo Creek Boom and Dam Company,” p. 371: resolution dated August 18, 1885, recorded August 28, 1885

The complete resolution and Secretary of State certificate were visually checked on printed page 371 (PDF page 374) of the official 1887 Acts. This is a corporate resolution reproduced in the Corporations appendix, not a separately numbered legislative act. The volume’s 1887 date is not the event date.

The general meeting was held at the company’s office in Terra Alta on August 18, 1885. A majority of capital stock was represented and the resolution was unanimous among those represented; the record does not say that every stockholder attended.

The resolution directs that business be discontinued from that date. It does not give a reason, report bankruptcy, describe asset sales or debt settlements, or establish the completion date of all winding-up steps. It should not be treated as evidence of those outcomes.

President Scott T. Jones signed the resolution. Henry S. Walker admitted it to record at Charleston on August 28, 1885. August 18 is the stockholders’ decision date; August 28 is the recording date.

IN-0119 documents incorporation on February 22, 1883. Its stated corporate expiration of April 1, 1903 was an authorized term, not proof the business continued until then. The earlier certificate calls the intended office Cranberry; this resolution uses Terra Alta.

Where found: Gibson Lamb Cranmer, History of Wheeling City and Ohio County (1902), pp. 365–366; National Library of Medicine, Changing the Face of Medicine, “Dr. Harriet B. Jones”; West Virginia and Regional History Center, “Dr. Harriet B. Jones, West Virginia Physician, Suffragist, and Activist”

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1887, Corporations appendix, Pittsburgh and Preston County Railroad Company, pp. 393–395; certificate dated January 2, 1886

The articles were signed December 28, 1885; Secretary of State Henry S. Walker certified incorporation January 2, 1886. The timeline uses the certification date.

The articles describe a proposed route, allowing the most practicable alignment via or near the named communities. They do not establish that the railroad was built or operated. Construction, financing, and any later corporate succession remain research questions.

Authorized capital was $100,000 in $50 shares. Each of the nine incorporators subscribed one share, totaling $450; this does not establish that the full authorized capital was raised.

The articles provided perpetual corporate duration. This is a charter provision, not evidence of the company’s actual lifespan.

Where found: U.S. Post Office Department appointment ledger recording Albert Engle’s appointment at Cuzzart, January 5, 1886; National Archives and Records Administration

The federal ledger records Albert Engle’s appointment on January 5, 1886. It is the earliest Cuzzart postmaster appointment currently located, not necessarily the date the post office was established or the community was founded.

The original ledger image is provided above and linked directly in the source section. It is image 30439_065525-00450.jpg in the Preston County transcription set, ledger page 181/facing page.

An 1884 application associated with Engle documents an earlier proposal for a Cuzzart post office. The application is a separate event and should not be treated as proof that the office was then approved or operating.

Lulu Ringer’s handwritten History of Cuzzart (1980), shared with permission by her granddaughter Judy Kay Lipscomb, preserves local memory of the schoolhouse, church, post office, businesses, storm damage, and electrification. It is presented here as a 1980 community-history account; its specific earlier dates and origin stories require independent corroboration before being treated as established fact.

Where found: The Preston County Journal, January 28, 1886, p. 2, “Mine Horror!”; February 4, 1886, p. 3, “The Verdict”; April 8, 1886, p. 2, “Newburg Relief Fund,” letter dated March 25

The January 28 Journal dates the explosion January 21 at 2:45 p.m. Its Wednesday recovery report places the final recovery at 3 p.m. on January 27. Contemporary reporting supports the total of 39 dead, including boys.

The February 4 Journal reports the inquest testimony and jury verdict; the original signed inquest record has not been located. The reported finding cites the first paragraph of section 6, chapter 70, Acts of 1883. The newspaper account is not evidence of a subsequent criminal conviction.

Witnesses disagreed about the particular door, whether it had been removed, and where the explosion began. The jury’s general finding about interrupted ventilation does not establish personal blame against Albert McWilliams. Allegations about conduct remain attributed witness testimony.

The January 28 victim list and narrative contain discrepancies, including Willie Timmons’s age (12 in the recovery narrative, 14 in the list) and Joseph Johnston/Johnson. Names, ages, and family relationships require comparison with other contemporary records before use as a definitive casualty register.

The March 25 relief letter, published April 8, is signed Charles E. Ellis, treasurer, and J. Emory Paul, secretary, of the Newburg Relief Committee. It reports $6,622.27 received to that date, banked funds distributed by checks through the post office, and invites dissatisfied donors to inspect its books. Its assurances about administration and mine conditions are the committee’s statements, not an independent audit or safety assessment.

The Argus Fire Damp article provides contemporary discussion of prevention, ventilation, safety lamps, inventions, and mining law. Its technical explanations and claims should not be presented as unqualified modern scientific findings.

The January 28 Journal’s Historical section calls Mountain Brook the deepest of West Virginia’s six coal shafts and gives 355 feet. Clio’s quoted memorial plaque gives 335 feet. Depth is omitted from the description pending corroboration; the statewide comparison also needs checking against mine inspector records.

Clio identifies a memorial dedicated by the Newburg Rotary Club in 1989 outside the Newburg Post Office, and provides photographs and cemetery research leads. Its disaster narrative partly derives from the Journal and is not wholly independent corroboration.

Further research: locate the original inquest and mine inspector’s report, compare casualty and burial records, and investigate the relief committee’s surviving records.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1887, Corporations appendix, “The Bank of Kingwood,” pp. 489–490; agreement dated September 3, 1886, certificate dated September 29, 1886

The agreement was signed September 3, 1886. Secretary of State Henry S. Walker certified incorporation September 29, 1886, the date used in this entry. This certificate establishes incorporation, not the first day customers were served.

The subscriber list prints “Charles McBishop,” while the signature prints “Charles M. Bishop.” It lists “James H. Carroll,” while the signature prints “Jas. W. Carroll.” The description retains the subscriber-list forms and does not silently reconcile these discrepancies. The list also gives “M. Ella Morris,” while the signature prints “M. Ellie Morris.” These differences need checking against other records.

The $125,000 subscribed and fully paid capital comprised 1,250 shares of $100 each. Subscriptions were Smith Crane 40; John M. Crane 40; Frances Herrmans 120; Charles McBishop 87; William G. Brown 263; James H. Carroll 30; James W. Parks 20; Julia E. Byrne 10; M. Ella Morris 15; Marcellus H. Murdock 25; John S. Murdock 13; Samuel Snider 25; James H. Manown 10; Louisa Stone 16; Martin L. Shaffer 40; Samuel McGrew 5; and James C. McGrew 491. These total 1,250 shares. Brown and James C. McGrew together held 754 shares, a majority.

The charter provided a twenty-year term ending September 29, 1906. This is the authorized corporate term, not evidence of the bank’s actual closing date or absence of later renewal.

IN-0218 concerns the National Bank of Kingwood’s federal authorization in 1865. Its cited Comptroller record gives October 21, 1886, as that bank’s closing date and $125,000 capital. Shared names and capital make institutional succession a research question; the state incorporation certificate alone does not establish transfer of assets, continuity, or the new bank’s opening day. No bank failure is inferred.

Where found: The Preston County Journal, October 7, 1886, page 3, column 5, “Distillery Burnt” / “The Brandonville Distillery Destroyed by Fire”

The October 7, 1886, Thursday issue says “Last Saturday night,” supporting October 2, 1886, as an inferred date. It reports that the fire was seen a little before 11 o’clock; this is a discovery time, not a demonstrated ignition time.

The newspaper concludes that its account came from Mr. Kensinger himself. The estimated loss, insurance details, and rebuilding plans are therefore attributed to the owner. The reported $3,800–$4,000 loss did not include a possible additional federal tax liability on the burned whiskey; no determination that such tax was assessed is established.

The report places the distillery about 1¼ miles from Brandonville on the road to Clifton Mills, supplied by Sandy Creek. It says Ayers Nixon built it in 1884, sold it to C. W. Hartman, and Hartman sold it to his brother-in-law, Mr. Kensinger. The separate two-story bonded warehouse stood across the road, almost 30 feet away, and held 22 barrels or about 1,000 gallons of whiskey.

The article reports $2,400 insurance, divided equally among the Peabody, Franklin, and Jefferson companies. It says the distillery had not operated since February, was expected to restart shortly, and that Kensinger intended to rebuild on a larger scale after receiving insurance money. This does not establish that rebuilding or resumed distilling actually occurred.

Arson was suspected, not established. The report refers to threats and suspicious tracks, but expressly rejects rumors implicating Mrs. Ayers Nixon, according to Kensinger. No personal culpability is asserted here. Deputy Collector O. S. McKinney reportedly visited on Tuesday, and a government detective was expected to investigate. The investigation’s outcome remains a research question.

The original Morton-based entry called this the county’s last distillery and gave a $4,000 loss. The contemporary newspaper supports the fire and a closely matching loss estimate but does not establish that it was Preston County’s last distillery. Morton’s characterization is retained as a research lead rather than an unqualified title claim; a fresh verification of that passage and later distillery activity remains desirable.

Where found: Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, West Virginia, vol. II (1914), p. 735

Where found: Morton, vol. I, ch. XXIII, p. 211 (printed page)

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1889, Corporations appendix, “The Newburgh Orrell Coal and Coke Company,” pp. 216–217; agreement dated February 18, 1887, certificate dated March 3, 1887

This is a Secretary of State incorporation certificate published in the Corporations appendix of the 1889 Acts, not a separately enacted legislative charter. The agreement was signed February 18, 1887; Henry S. Walker certified incorporation March 3, 1887. The timeline uses the certification date.

The heading prints “Newburgh Orrell Coal and Coke Company,” while the agreement prints “Newburgh Orrel Coal and Coke Company.” The title retains the heading spelling; Newburgh is the historical spelling in this record, while the community tag uses Newburg.

The subscriber list prints C. Morton Stewart, while the signature prints C. Norton Stewart. It lists Charles Mackal, while the signature prints Charles Mackall. Alfred Jenkins appears without a suffix in the list but as Alfred Jenkins, Jr., in the signatures. The description retains the subscriber-list forms without silently resolving these discrepancies. Charles O’Donnell Lee is specifically listed as residing in Baltimore County, rather than simply Baltimore.

Subscribed capital was $109,950 in $25 shares, with $82,462.50 paid, or 75 percent. Subscriptions were C. Morton Stewart 1,200 shares; Otho H. Williams 800; Richard M. McSherry 5; Charles O’Donnell Lee 5; John Stewart 713; James A. Gary 100; James L. McLane 1,000; Alfred Jenkins 50; Josiah Lee Johnson 450; and Charles Mackal 75. The 4,398 shares total $109,950. Authority to increase capital to $500,000 does not establish that the maximum was raised.

The certificate provides corporate duration until January 1, 1937. This is the charter term, not evidence of the company’s actual lifespan. The stated purposes do not by themselves establish that every proposed mining or manufacturing activity occurred.

The relationship between this 1887 corporation and the Newburg Orrel Coal Company associated with the 1886 Mountain Brook disaster remains a separate research question. Similar names and the same community do not establish legal succession, asset transfer, or continuity of management. Further corporate, property, newspaper, and mine inspector records are needed.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1887, Extra Session, chapter I, pp. 237–238; passed May 3, approved May 6, 1887

The act passed May 3, 1887, and was approved May 6. The opening page has no printed page number; the continuation is numbered 238. In the official PDF these are pages 240–241.

Section 1 describes the 1859 line run and marked by N. Micheler, U.S. engineer, under commissioners A. W. McDonald for Virginia and Thomas J. Lee for Maryland. The later Supreme Court opinion identifies the surveyor and line as Michler. The act describes the Maryland county as Alleghany, now Garrett.

Section 2 expressly says the act shall not take effect until and unless Maryland validates Virginia-issued land titles within the disputed strip. A clerk’s note gives the ordinary ninety-day period after passage, but that note does not remove the express statutory condition. No unconditional effective date or final settlement is asserted here.

The Supreme Court’s opinion in Maryland v. West Virginia, 217 U.S. 1 (1910), discusses this conditional approval at printed page 41 and recognizes the older Deakins line in its disposition. The later opinion provides context; the 1887 act is the primary source for this event.

IN-0140 records the February 7, 1890, proposal for arbitration of the still-disputed boundary and land titles. The two measures are distinct steps in the controversy.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1889, Corporations appendix, “Newburg Live Stock Insurance Associatian,” printed p. 463; agreement dated April 2, 1888, certificate dated April 17, 1888

The agreement was signed April 2, 1888. Secretary of State Henry S. Walker certified incorporation April 17, 1888, the date used in this entry. This is a corporate certificate published in the Acts appendix, not a separate legislative act.

The stated purpose is specifically insuring horses and mules. The principal office was Newburg. Each of the five incorporators held one $10 share, totaling $50 subscribed and fully paid. Authority to increase capital to $10,000 does not establish that the maximum was raised.

The certificate’s heading misspells Association as “Associatian”; the agreement spells Association correctly. The subscriber list uses J. A. Clark, while the signature gives Jno. A. Clark, consistent with John A. Clark in the existing entry. The original page image was checked; H. B. Scranage is legible in both the subscriber list and signatures.

The charter provided duration until April 1, 1938. This is the authorized corporate term, not evidence of the association’s actual lifespan. The certificate does not establish when policies were first issued, the volume of insurance written, claims paid, or the length of actual operations. Those questions require additional records.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1889, Corporations appendix, “The West End Coke Company,” printed pp. 487–488; agreement dated May 12, 1888, certificate dated May 16, 1888

The agreement was signed May 12, 1888. Secretary of State Henry S. Walker certified incorporation May 16, 1888, the date used here. The record is an incorporation certificate published in the Acts appendix, not a separate legislative act.

Tunnelton is the documented principal office and the location tag for this entry. Evansville appears as John N. Baker’s residence, and Grafton as the residence of Melker M. Jeffreys and John W. Mason. These subscriber residences do not establish company operations in those communities. The agreement permits business within West Virginia but does not locate particular mines, coke ovens, brickworks, or other works.

The subscriber list spells Arnold J. Bonnafield, while the signature spells Arnold J. Bonafield. The description retains Bonafield from the existing entry and printed signature, with the list’s differing spelling recorded here. No separate individuals are inferred from the variant.

Each of the five subscribers held one $50 share, totaling $250 subscribed and fully paid. The $100,000 figure is the permitted capital ceiling, not evidence that this amount was raised.

The charter provided duration until May 10, 1938. This is the authorized corporate term, not evidence of the company’s actual lifespan. The certificate establishes stated purposes and incorporation, not when or where the proposed mining and manufacturing operations began or whether all were undertaken.

Where found: WV Memory Timeline search: Preston

Where found: The Preston County Journal, July 12, 1888, page 2, “A Great Flood” / “Destruction Along Cheat,” beginning in column 6 and continuing in column 7

The July 12, 1888, Journal explicitly dates the high water to Tuesday, July 10. It describes heavy rain beginning Saturday, with renewed rain Sunday evening continuing almost without interruption until Tuesday morning. The report covers Albrightsville and Rowlesburg, not Rowlesburg alone; the Albright community tag represents the historical Albrightsville locality.

The local report says ten dwelling houses were swept away at Rowlesburg, two others overturned near the schoolhouse, and additional houses badly damaged. It estimates the entire loss there at $150,000. These are contemporary newspaper counts and estimates, not a final audited damage assessment.

The former description used 17 houses and $125,000, attributed to other contemporary reports, and mentioned a sawmill, a planing mill, and five families losing everything. Those details are not combined with the Journal’s figures as a single verified total. The previously cited Kanabec County Times, July 19, 1888, p. 2, is retained for comparison; its page could not be freshly retrieved during this review. Spirit of Jefferson, July 20, 1888, appeared in the former source wording without a direct link and remains a lead for reconciliation.

The original USGS figure was assigned to the wrong station. The uploaded Water Resources Data West Virginia, water year 2002, printed p. 126 (PDF p. 152), identifies station 03069500, Cheat River near Parsons, Tucker County. Its historical extremes section records July 10, 1888, at 71,000 cubic feet per second and a 20.5-foot stage at an earlier site and datum. These are Parsons figures, not Rowlesburg measurements. The report’s modern publication date is not itself a defect; the error was geographic attribution.

The USGS report is retained only as clearly labeled regional context. No discharge or gage-height figure is used in this entry’s description. During review, the USGS peak-flow download for Rowlesburg station 03070000 listed July 10, 1888, at 101,000 cubic feet per second, marked as a historical peak, with gage height qualified as a different site and/or datum. That separate station record would require precise source documentation before adding numerical hydrologic claims to the public narrative.

The Journal describes the iron railroad bridge falling at Rowlesburg while the other bridge remained standing, and a wooden bridge lost at St. Joe in the Albrightsville account. These reports concern distinct bridges and locations; their details should not be conflated.

The entry is marked Verified to source: its revised wording reflects the directly reviewed Journal report, with damage figures explicitly attributed. The local damage totals have not been independently reconciled with other accounts. Unreconciled figures from earlier sources are preserved here rather than asserted in the main narrative.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1889, chapter VIII, printed pages 39–41 (PDF pages 40–42)

The act’s heading records passage February 20, 1889. Certifications by the clerks of the House of Delegates and Senate, both dated February 22, record passage by a majority of all elected members in each house notwithstanding the governor’s objections. This entry retains the initial passage date and distinguishes the later veto override. The concluding clerk’s note states that the act takes effect from passage.

Chapter VIII amends and re-enacts section 1 of chapter 121 of the 1877 Acts through a series of intervening amendments. Preston County was already covered by earlier boom-company legislation, including the 1882 act discussed in IN-0116. This 1889 measure did not first authorize booms in Preston County.

The act permits five or more persons to incorporate for constructing booms, with or without piers, and dams to stop and secure boats, rafts, logs, masts, spars, lumber and other timber. It prohibits such works in streams navigable by steamboats at an ordinary stage of water above the proposed location. It does not charter a specific company or establish that any particular works were built or operated in Preston County.

The named counties are Gilmer, Greenbrier, Summers, Raleigh, Fayette, Mineral, Pocahontas, Pleasants, Nicholas, Webster, Lewis, Wetzel, Jackson, Wyoming, Tucker, Preston, McDowell, Randolph, Barbour, Mercer, Logan, Calhoun, Braxton, Cabell, Boone, Upshur, Monroe, Wood, Ritchie and Kanawha. Elk River and its tributaries within Kanawha County are excepted.

The chapter heading cites chapter 29 of the 1881 Acts; the related IN-0116 entry identifies the earlier Preston provision in chapter 39 of the 1881 volume. This entry preserves the 1889 heading’s citation as printed without treating it as a verified cross-reference.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1891 volume, corporation certificates, printed pages 494–495 (PDF pages 496–497); certificate dated March 9, 1889

The incorporators signed their agreement March 6, 1889. Secretary of State Henry S. Walker issued the incorporation certificate March 9, 1889. Although published in the 1891 Acts volume, this is a secretary-of-state certificate, not a special legislative act passed in 1891.

The certificate heading reads West Virginia and Pennsylvania Railway Company, but the first article names the corporation West Virginia Railway Company. The entry retains the heading’s name while documenting the discrepancy; the source does not resolve it.

The route description says between the towns of Bruce and Brandonville, rather than through both towns. Bruce likely refers to nearby Bruceton (now Bruceton Mills), given the Brandonville and Clifton Mills references, but this identification has not been independently confirmed. The printed wording is preserved rather than silently corrected. Jones Mausts is also retained as printed.

The subscriber list prints Niel J. Fortney; the signature section prints Neil J. Fortney. Both forms are documented without assuming the first spelling is correct. All five incorporators are retained in the description; the certificate assigns one $50 share to each.

The articles authorize $500,000 in capital stock divided into $50 shares and provide for perpetual corporate existence. Authorized capital is distinct from the five shares subscribed in the agreement, and perpetual duration is not evidence that the company operated indefinitely.

The certificate establishes incorporation and describes a proposed railroad and principal office. It does not establish that the route was built, that train service began, or that the company completed the proposed line. Rowlesburg, Cheat River and Clifton Mills are route references; Kingwood is the designated principal office. Bruceton Mills is not added as a location tag while the Bruce identification remains unconfirmed.

Where found: Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia, 1891 volume, corporation certificates, printed pages 737–738 (PDF pages 739–740); certificate dated September 12, 1889

The agreement was signed August 8, 1889, and specified commencement September 1, 1889. Secretary of State Henry S. Walker’s certificate, dated September 12, 1889, declares the corporation to exist from that date. The timeline uses the certificate date. This is a secretary-of-state incorporation certificate published in the 1891 Acts volume, not a special legislative act passed in 1891.

The principal-office clause prints Bowlesburg in Preston County, apparently a typographical error for Rowlesburg. Rowlesburg is spelled correctly as the residence of J. A. Hostetter and D. N. Shaffer in the subscriber list. The entry identifies the likely intended office location while explicitly preserving the printed discrepancy.

The subscriber list prints D. N. Shaffer, while the signature section prints D. N. Shafer. The description follows the subscriber-list spelling without resolving the inconsistency. The subscriber list gives S. Hinkle’s residence as Weston, West Virginia; Lewis County in the earlier entry came from the secondary timeline summary.

The 60 subscribed shares at $50 each total $3,000. The agreement states that $300 had been paid on those subscriptions. It also provides for later shares of the same denomination; the subscribed amount is not identified here as a maximum authorized capitalization.