Contributed by Diane Zimmerman
It
is indeed a difficult task to give a definite and authentic account of
any community
of which no records were kept
during it’s early history. It is made doubly difficult when those
who settled first, and their
children, and in most cases, their children’s children, have long
been gone. Such is the case
of the one who desires to give an account of the history
of Brown, W. Va. Those
first pioneers of the soil had no time, even had they the desire
or ability, to write
any manuscripts concerning their lives and the events that took place
in their surroundings.
Their interests centered around their homes and wrestling a living
from the land that had, until
their coming, been covered with virgin forests. Consequently, all
the historian has are the old
legends and traditions that have been handed down from
generation to generation in
the community from which to glean his information. Many
of these have been entirely
forgotten. Without a doubt, some of those still known are twisted
and warped in their telling
and retelling, till but few of the actual facts remain. However,
those
stories which are doubtful,
shall be dealt with lightly in this chronicle. For the most part,
the
information put herein is definitely
known to be factual, and a quite accurate account is given.
There is not much information
known on that period between the time of settlement and 1850.
Firstly,
I wish to correct a statement made by a former historian, and now commonly
believed to be true.
This was that Jabez Brown was the first settler in Brown. This is
not
true, the Jabez Brown spoken
of never lived in this community at all, but in Preston County.
It seems that he was confused
with his brother, Rezin Brown, who did settle in the Brown on
what is now the Ellis Marsh
farm (later owned by Virgil Backus, and at 1966, by Alden and
Mattie Bartlett). However,
this was not until about 1830, almost 40 years after the first
settler made his appearance.
Brown
is located on the Little Ten Mile Creek in the Sardis District of Harrison
County.
It is approximately fourteen
miles from Clarksburg, the county seat. It was part of the
commonwealth of Virginia until
1863, when West Virginia was made a separate state.
Shortly after the Revolutionary
War, the territory around was only sparsely settled. The
Indians had practically all
been driven out, and the wild animals reigned supreme. It was
in 1790 that the first settlers
took up permanent residence in Brown. These people were
James and Elizabeth (Swiger)
Kelly. They settled on the farm now owned by F. S. Estlack
(in 1966 by John and Ressie
Sayers), near the mouth of Little Elk Run. Elizabeth’s two-year
old son, Jesse Swiger, and
her sister, Mary Swiger, lived with them. At this time, their
nearest neighbor on Ten Mile
Creek to the east, lived where Onda Hustead now lives,
at the mouth of Caldwell Run.
To the West, none nearer than Middle Island, on McElroy
Creek, in Doddridge County.
After having moved to this section with her sister, Mary Swiger
came into contact with Samuel
Shinn, a large land-holder, who lived on Ten Mile Creek. He
had patented a large tract
of land extending from Little Elk Run to Middle Run at Wallace, and
also a smaller tract on Laurel
Run. An interesting bit of tragedy is connected with these
two.
It seems they became quite
intimate and remained so after Mary’s marriage to Samuel
McCamic. One day, Shinn
presented her with a fine riding horse for her personal use. He
had come into possession of
this horse through John Chaney, one of his several tenants.
Chaney, who lived on the Elmira
Griffin place, fell behind on the payment of his rent because
of financial reverses.
He finally got so far in arrears that Shinn made him give up the fine
riding horse, which he later
gave to Mary. This horse was a favorite of the Chaneys. Later,
when he saw Mary Swiger riding
the animal, he took it for granted that it was through her
influence that Shinn had forced
his ownership of the horse, and he forthwith vowed to get
revenge. A few days afterward,
John W. Swiger, then just a boy, was walking along the road
toward Brown where the old
road used to border the creek, near the Ed Martin Farm (just
below Ted Rogers Service Station
in 1966), when he espied the lifeless body of Mary Swiger,
with her head sunken in the
sand. Plain to be seen on her throat were the large blue marks
of a strangler's fingers.
Thus died one of Brown’s first settlers.
From the time of the first settlement, until 1812, there are no records
of anyone else having
made their home within this
region. However, in 1812, Jesse Swiger, the eldest son of
Elizabeth Swiger Kelly, married
Kasandra Brown, the daughter of Jabez Brown of Preston
County, and they settled on
what is now known as the A. I. Strother farm. They built their
cabin near the present site
of the Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Absolom
(Abby) Swiger, oldest son of the murdered Mary Swiger and Samuel Shinn,
married Polly Asbury of Pine
Grove in 1822. They made their home on Laurel Run on a tract
of land given them by Samuel
Shinn. Absolom Swiger had a peculiar habit of hiding his gold
in unexpected places.
It was common knowledge that he was a miser and worth a great deal
of money. This fact led
to him being robbed of several hundred dollars one night. On this
certain night, one of Absolom’s
sons, George W., happened to be way from home. This fact l
ikely saved the miser’s life,
or a severe headache, for he heard the thief enter the house, but
mistook the sounds for the
return home of his son. Nothing was thought of the matter until the
next morning. Only then
did he discover that he had been robbed. In one corner laid a large
club left behind by the robber.
Had Abby appeared unexpectedly on the scene the night before,
the robber would undoubtedly
have wielded the cudgel in such a manner as to obtain the best
results for himself.
When Absolom was on his death-bed, one of his family asked him where
they could find his money.
He answered, “Bad men have caused me to put my money where
it will be very difficult to
find”. After his death, investigation disclosed hiding places under
the
rafters and in the logs of
his house. He had bore holes in the logs, into which he put gold
coins,
then drove in wooden plugs.
All traces of the caches were removed by sawing off the plugs
close to the surface of the
logs. At the sale of his property, an ordinary box was sold for 50
cents, and was later found
to contain a false bottom in which was $800.00, all in gold.
The
money was immediately given
back to the heirs.
In
1830, Rezin Brown and his wife, the former Delilah Hall, settled on the
Ellis Marsh farm.
Of the early settlers, William
Rogdean settled where the water station now is, and Asa R. Griffin
on the Ed Martin farm.
Before
the Civil War, Brown could hardly be called a community. There were
only a few
scattered cabins in this section,
without even a store for a long time. All the trading had to
be done at Lumberport, ten
miles south. It wasn’t until 1830 that there was even a connecting
route more than just a trail.
However, in that year, the Shinnston-Middlebourne road was
finished. At the time
of it’s completion, it was considered one the best roads in the country.
William Hannah set up the mile-posts
from one end to the other, though they have since
disappeared.
The
first school was established in 1840. This was before the time of
the free school
system, so the residents who
desired to obtain an education for their children, were obliged
to obtain a school building
and pay the teachers themselves. The first Bethany School was
nothing more than a chicken
house that had been cleaned and renovated. It was furnished
with crude, rough, hand made
benches of split logs on which the students sat and labored
over their studies. Lavina
Wamsley was the first instructor. Quite unlike the nine months term
of today, the school term was
then only three months long, and started in June instead of
September. Sometimes,
two years elapsed when there would be no school at all.
Consequently, it is apparent
that even at the best, an education in that day was quite
limited. The Bethany
School was located on the Temple Smith farm, just below where
A. J. (Bud) Nuzum lived near
the mouth of Trouser Leg Run. It was torn down in 1860.
In
1846, the Bethany Baptist Church was built on the Temple Smith farm just
below
the school. It was organized
by Johnny Gifford, who officiated until the first minister,
Abraham Haines, was called.
Besides Gifford, there were only seven charter members:
Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Watkins,
Mr. and Mrs. John Kyles, Mrs. Ruth Hall, Elizabeth Swiger,
and James Watkins.
In 1900, the railroad right-of-way was surveyed right through the
church site. The members
were forced to tear the building down, and as some members
preferred having the church
remain in the lower end of Wallace, they erected the Smith
Church at it’s present site
at the mouth of Trouser Leg Run. The remaining members
rebuilt the church on it’s
present site at Brown, up on the hill beside the school. The ground
on which it now stands was
given to the church by Mary Marsh. At the original location,
one could see still the tombstones
of the cemetery that was just behind the church. In the
last few years however, a new
highway was built through there.
Brown’s
first business establishment was erected in about 1850 by Hiram and Israel
Swiger. It was a combination
grist mill and saw mill. The bolts of the grist mill were turned
by hand. It was built
on the site of the land now owned by Sam Flanigan at the foot of the hill,
near the turn, between the
road and the creek. In 1854, the Swiger brothers sold out to John
Brown. That was really
the beginning of the Brown community proper. Until this time, no
name
had ever been applied to this
section. After 1854, Brown’s Mill became the center of trading.
Gradually, the people began
to refer to this section by that name. Later, when a Post Office
was installed, the official
name of Brown’s Mill was automatically adopted by the community.
However, when the railroad
was built in 1901, the B & O Railroad shortened the station stop
name to Brown, which the community
has retained ever since.
To
John Brown goes the honor of establishing the first store in Brown.
He erected the
building just below the site
of the mill and rented it to Mr. Straight. The latter stocked the
store with merchandise, but
gave one Mrs. Berry the job of clerk and running the business.
The whole thing was later sold
to Waiteman Brown, the brother of John Brown.
Until
this time, the people had received all their mail from Lumberport.
It seemed that
the trail which the mail carrier
was oblige to travel during the early history of Brown crossed the
creek fourteen times between
Lumberport and Brown. Consequently, the trip was made quite a
perilous task, especially so
during flood times or in winter. One consolation, however, was that
the mail carrier was never
over burdened with mail. This inconvenience was eliminated by
the building of the Shinnston-Middlebourne
Pike. John Brown was influential in achieving a
much greater improvement in
the postal matter. It was largely through his efforts that a Post
Office was established in the
community. The actual date of the establishment of the Post Office
has not been ascertained, though
it was probably before 1900. A rural route was established in
1907.
None
of the activities of the Civil War took place in Brown, and except for
the citizens
who enlisted in the Army, the
community was unaffected. The nearest conflicts took place
at Lumberport and Jones Run,
and is commonly known as Jones Raid. However, it was
during this time that Brown
ceased to be a part of the Old Dominion state, and became a
part of a new political enterprise,
the State of West Virginia.
After
the War for Emancipation closed, the trend of business in Brown seemed
to
mount. There were more business
establishments and a greater variety. About 1865,
John Brown sold out to Tom
Ford. However, Ford remained in business only a few years,
until he in turn sold to Wilford
A. Watkins. At about the same time, Aaron Hall built a store
on the upper side of the road
just below where Henry Bennett once lived, in the turn coming
into the center of Brown.
A family of foreigners by the name of Samuelson established a
store on the lower side of
the road opposite Halls. A blacksmith’s shop was built at about
the place where George Smith’s
store is now by a man by the name of Maphis. It is about
this time that Doctor William
Hill came to Brown and began to practice medicine in this section.
He built the house and resided
where Raymond Greenlee now lives (in 1966 owned by Jack
and Florence Barker), situated
down over the hill from Route 20, between the railroad and the
creek, not far from the foot
of Loy Hill.
W.
A. Watkins sold the old mill to his brother Elijah F. Watkins about 1870.
A short time
later, he built another store
where the depot now stands. Henry Martin had a store beside
the old mill at the same time
that Edgell owned it. It was during this time that Jack
Kincaid had a store on the
present site of Henry Bennett’s house. The Bennett homes were
situated in the turn, above
the road coming into Brown from Clarksburg. For one so small,
the community seemed to be
a thriving center in the decade between 1870 and 1880,
although the population of
Brown proper was less than 100. The town boasted a mill, five
stores, a blacksmith shop,
and even a planning mill. This was built by a Mr. Kishbaugh and
was later bought by William
Hall. It was located on the upper side of the creek, just below
the Marsh farm. G. M.
Dye bought out Maphis and Henry Martin, and then sold to Henry and
George Swiger. Clay Bennett,
a former merchant of Dola, moved to Brown and built a new
larger store building and converted
the old one into a warehouse. By installing new equipment,
he made a modern planning mill.
He made David Kemper the foreman.
Dr.
G. W. Kelly bought the Dr. Hill property, and took over his practice.
He built a new
house, the one in which John
L. Swiger now lives, and built offices just above his house.
This house is located below
and at the foot of the hill leading to the church (in 1966 it
was owned by Charley and Mary
Harbert Smith). His brother, Tom Kelly, started a store
close to the site where Elmore
Watkins had his store. Lot Swiger and Jim Knox bought
out Henry and George Swiger,
and Jack Kincaid sold to Robert Dye.
The
only still-house that was ever built in Brown was built and operated about
this time
by Henry Brown at the mouth
of Cave Run.
In
1885, William Hall purchased the planning mill from Kishbaugh.
D. W. Kemper
continued to act as foreman
for a while, but soon quit and went into the undertaking business.
The Ladies Aid Society now
owns the building which he built when he set up in business,
located at the end of the lane
on Route 20, below the church.
In
1893, L. E. Watkins built a blacksmith shop located below the road
in the lower end of
town. Then about a year
later he built another one where John L. Swiger now has his shop
(across the road from the Ladies
Aid Building). In 1895, he and his father, W. A. Watkins,
bought Tom Kelly’s mercantile
business, and he sold his blacksmith shop to George Whiteman.
In
1897, D. W. Kemper was elected Justice of the Peace. He held this
office until 1925,
with the exception of a four
year interval.
The oil boom
began in Wallace in 1895, and for a time, this aided the growth of Brown,
although there were only a
few successful wells drilled here (According to Harrison
County,
A Bicentennial Album,
page 124, the first successful oil well drilled in Harrison County was
drilled by Dr. White and Jackson
on the I. L. Marsh farm at Brown in 1890. It produced
a small
quantity of oil from Dunkard
Sand at about 975 feet. The well was drilled through the Big Injun
to
a total depth of 1867 feet,
but no other oil was found).
In
1900 and 1901, the Shortline Railroad was constructed from Clarksburg to
New Martinsville.
It was a great event when the
first Iron Horse passed though Brown. All the people for miles
around made it a gala holiday.
It was April 1901, a day to be remembered in the progress of
the community. Both sides
of the railroad were lined with the jubilant merry makers; and as
the train puffed into view,
it was greeted with wild cheering and hats thrown into the air. Brown
was now on the map!
W.
N. Edgell was forced to sell his store to the railroad because the road-bed
was surveyed
through it. Carrie
Allen, now Estlack, established a milliner shop beside Dr. Kelly’s office.
A few years later, she went
out of business, and Emma Watkins carried on for a short while.
About 1903, Asford Boggess
had a store on the old Brown’s Mill site. Two years later,
he rebuilt on the upper side
of the road, midway between the depot and the mouth of Laurel
Run. In 1912, Dr. Kelly
sold out to L. S. (Lafey) Whiteman, and was succeeded in the medical
practice by Dr. Bassie Swiger.
In 1915, Dr. Swiger moved away and Dr. Chapman took his
place. He was the last doctor
to live in Brown, and since his departure, Brown has had to go
to Wallace to see young Dr.
Kelly when medical attention was needed.
L.
S. Whiteman was owner of a teaming outfit consisting of ten teams of horses.
He
erected an office just below
Adkin’s store. L. E. Watkins built another store on the site of
the old one, and later he took
his son, O. C. (Otto) into business with him. In 1918, D. W.
Kempter sold his undertaking
establishment to F. S. Estlack of Wallace. He carried on as
a shoe cobbler until a stroke
forced his retirement in 1925. After L. E. Watkins sold the
blacksmith shop to George Whiteman,
it exchanged hands several times in the next few
years, before it finally went
out of business altogether. Whiteman sold to Burt Fenton; Burt
to Bob Maphis, Bob to Lester
Griffin, and he to Ed Shaw. Shaw was the last blacksmith
in Brown, and he left in 1925.
About 1923, Charley Hall built a blacksmith shop beside
Marion Cunningham’s grist mill,
but he was only in business about a year. He later razed
the building.
When
the railroad finally forced W. N. Edgell to tear down his building, he
rebuilt on the
site of the old Brown’s Mill.
In a few years, he sold to John Cyphers, who later sold to
Calder C. Flanigan in 1918.
In a few years, Clay Bennett retired and turned his business over
to the son, Henry. In
1927, the latter sold out to E. George Smith. Joe Brown bought
Flanigan’s business in 1926,
but remained only a little more than a year until he sold out t
o Wayne Webb. Later Webb
built a new building just about the present site of E. G. Smith’s
store. About 1921 John
Woodfield conducted a jewelry-smith establishment for about a year
where Lafey S. Whiteman had
formerly had his office.
Probably
the greatest change that ever took place in Brown was when the Shinnston-
Middlebourne Pike was made
into a hard-surfaced road. This took place in 1925/1926.
Since that time, there has
been a very noticeable change in business conditions. The building
of the road, and the advent
of the automobile, gave people quicker and easier access to the
larger towns. This fact
caused many to do their trading in the city where they could deal cheaper
and have greater variety.
Consequently, the mercantile business took a decided slump in
Brown. In 1928, L. E.
Watkins went out of business, leaving E. G. Smith and Wayne Webb
the only merchants. For
a while, disaster seemed their inevitable fate. Early in the winter
of 1929,
Webb’s confectionery and barbershop
were razed by fire. A few months later, Smith’s store
met the same fate. His
store, warehouse, feed-house, and garage were all consumed by the
flames. For a while,
the store and Post Office were housed in the lower portion of his home,
and later moved to it’s present
site. About 1927, Charley Fenton set up in the mercantile
business in a building just
below L. E. Watkins store. After about a year, he sold out to Ardith
Robinson, who soon quit the
business.
At
the present time, July 1936, Brown has as few business enterprises as it
has had since
the Civil War.
There is one store, that of E. G. Smith; one barbershop with E. C. (Casey)
Jones, proprietor; a garage
operated by Brooks Hall; and recently Charles Bennett has
established a beer parlor where
C. C. Flanigan had his store. That enumerates the total
of Brown enterprises now, and
confirms the statement concerning the business slump
since 1925.
Brown’s
education facilities has also had it's ups and downs. When the first
Bethany School
was torn down in 1860, a new
log structure was erected on the Temple Smith farm. However, it
was remodeled into a dwelling
when a school was built at Laurel Run in 1878 to take its place.
This was very inconvenient
for some of the students because they were obliged to walk three
or four miles to attend.
So, in 1884, a second Bethany School was constructed on the site
of the first. In 1900,
the first Brown School was built. It was erected on the site where
the
school still stands, but had
only one room. Only one term had been completed when it burned
down. The year after,
a new two room building was constructed to replace it. This served
the
community until 1921, when
the increasing number of students compelled the addition of two
more rooms. The next
year, four teachers were employed, and the first year of high school
was taught. After that
term, the high school students were sent to Wallace High School.
After a few years, the faculty
was reduced to three and such it has remained until now.
However, the next term there
will be only two teachers. The Laurel Run and Bethany schools
have been discontinued for
several years now. The same Bethany school that was built in
1900 is still standing and
serving the community. (In 1966, Bethany school was disbanded,
and it’s pupils combined with
the Wallace School. For the remaining three years of high
school, the students are transported
by bus to Lumberport High School. Brown no longer
has a Post Office. The
last postmaster, Freda Britt Shaver Smith, would have been eligible
for retirement in a few years.
She died on March 23, 1965. On July 3,1965, the rural route
was transferred to the Wallace
Post Office and became a part of Route 2, Wallace. The
Post Office continued it’s
service until it was closed January 28, 1966. The remaining patrons
were also added to Route 2,
Wallace).
Brown
now is typical of many small farming towns scattered throughout the region.
The
community is fairly well organized,
and it is seldom that anything occurs to disturb the every
day routine of it’s inhabitants.
The population of the community proper is approximately 150.
Everybody follows his or her
pursuit in a peaceful manner, and as a whole, Brown is a
pleasant, tranquil community.
