Washington Family

First white men to pass through present Keyser, sent by Lord Fairfax

Quakers established a meeting house in Berkeley County, west of present Martinsburg

Job and John Pearsall established homesteads in present Romney

Fairfax established an office to sell land

Washington surveying team noted one of the earliest schools in Moorefield area

Moravian missionary reported the amount of Germans in Jefferson and Berkeley Counties

Reported 200 people were living at Pearsall's Flats

Levi Shinn was born

George Washington described the Trough on the South Branch in his journal

Thomas Walker explored Virginia's New River Valley

Lord Fairfax established his residence, Greenway Court, near Winchester, Virginia

Frederick Town renamed Winchester

The Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia first appeared

Thomas Walker served in the House of Burgesses

Dinwiddie made George Washington a Virginia adjutant with the title of major.

Shepherdstown had both German and English schools

Francis Asbury is part of the Methodist movement in England

Botetourt County formed from southern half of Augusta

John Corbly settled in the Morgantown area

John Sutton formed the Simpson Creek Baptist Church in Harrison County

Adam Stephen purchased 255 acres of land in present Berkeley County and laid out Martinsburg

Lord Dunmore was appointed governor of New York

William Stewart came from Ireland to the Forks of Cheat in present Monongalia County

Col. George Washington and Dr. James Craik claimed land in the Ohio watershed on their canoe trip

Killbuck died at the Delaware village in present Coshocton, Ohio

While hunting, Kyashuta encounters George Washington on his canoe trip

The upper watershed of the Little Kanawha was explored by John Hacker

Chief Logan moved his family to the Ohio Valley

George Washington surveyed Ohio River bottomlands from Point Pleasant to Letart

Samuel McColloch emigrated from the South Branch of the Potomac to Wheeling

A survey party led by George Washington visited the present Point Pleasant area in Mason County

George Washington surveyed the present Ravenswood area in Jackson County and later acquired 2,448 acres there

Jesse Hughes became the first European to enter Roane County

John Stuart built the first mill in Greenbrier County

Joseph Tomlinson and brother Samuel Tomlinson settled in the Ohio Valley frontier

The Treaty of Lochaber secured for Britain any lands in the Western Virginia region not covered by the Treaty of Hard Labor

George Washington wrote the first written accounts of the forests of present West Virginia

A permanent settlement was made in the Buckhannon Valley

A log house was built by James Byrnside in Union

John Alderson Jr. began Baptist work in southern West Virginia

Meshach Browning was born in Damascus, Maryland

Captain Bull was killed by white fighters

Fort Schuyler was destroyed by flood and fire

Johann Dahle settled in Pendleton County

Virginia confiscated Lord Fairfax's lands after his death

An Indian raid occurred in Pendleton County.

Settlers were established in the area of Point Pleasant.

Hampshire County Loyalists led by John Claypool began to resist imposition of taxes and a military draft by the Virginia Assembly

Mad Anthony Wayne served under Nathaniel Greene in Georgia

Western Land was offered in payment to Revolutionary War veterans

William Haymond surveyed streets and lots

Zackquill Morgan became the proprietor of an "ordinary" (Tavern or inn)

Zackquill Morgan had Morgantown surveyed on his land

The recorded owner of Organ cave was John Gardner

John McCue planted churches in Lewisburg, Union, and Spring Creek.

The British accepted Virginia's claim to the Ohio Valley territory in the Treaty of Paris, which ends the Revolutionary War

The Tomlinson family returned to the Grave Creek area

Hardy County was formed from Hampshire County

The lawsuit between Lord Fairfax and Joist Hite was finally settled

The U.S. started dividing the western territories into rectangular townships

Edward Keenan deeded five acres in Monroe County for the Rehoboth Church and burying grounds

Lewis and Christopher Tacket built a Fort in St. Albans

Sampson Sanders was born in Loudoun County, Virginia

John Young constructed the Tackett's Fort

Col. George Clendenin purchased 1,030 acres from Judge Cuthbert Bullitt at the Mouth of Elk, present Charleston

Francis Asbury broke with the English Methodists established the Methodist Episcopal Church in America

Beverly became the first county seat of Randolph County

Construction began on the first courthouse in Clarksburg

George Clendenin purchased land from Judge Cuthbert Bullitt in Kanawha

James Caldwell patented 20,000 acres in Doddridge County

Virginia legislature chartered Randolph Academy in Clarksburg

The Kinnan family moved to Randolph County

St. Paul's in Aurora was established

Boaz Fleming led a part from Milford, Delaware, to present Fairmont

James Rumsey successfully demonstrated a steamboat on the Potomac River in Shepherdstown

James Rumsey tested the steamboat at Shepherdstown

James Swan moved to France

Rebecca Tomlinson Martin Williams and Isaac Williams permanently settled in Williamstown

John Beckley became the first clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

Bryan Fairfax declined the title to become Lord Fairfax

Hughes' detractors unsuccessfully attempted to have Hughes River renamed "Junius River"

The Presbyterian general Assembly adopted a policy to send missionaries to the American frontier settlements to form new congregations.

John Stuart built a large stone house in Fort Springs

The Treaty of Fort Harmar was signed

John Beckley married Maria Prince

Beverly was chartered and named after governor Beverley Randolph

Charles Clendenin died

"Mad Anne" Bailey made 100-mile dash from besieged Fort Lee to Fort Union in Lewisburg for gunpowder

Horatio Gates sold his property and freed all of his slaves

Obadiah Paden settled between New Martinsville and Sistersville, in what is now Paden City

The first U.S. Census found the population of the territory now comprising West Virginia to be 55,873

St. Mary's was settled

The Shawnees defeated armies sent against their villages

Indians attacked Fort Tackett, kidnapping several people

Owen Neel II built a log house near Gap Mills

John Wyatt settles Pine Grove

Jesse Bennet married Elizabeth Hogg

Campbell mansion built at Bethany

Harman Blennerhassett joined the secret Society of United Irishmen

William Cabell received a law degree from College of William and Mary

Edward Brake Jackson was born

Indian captive Mary Kinnan's letter arrived in New Jersey

Bishop Asbury again held sessions of the Greenbrier Conference at Rehoboth Church

Virginia chartered a company for the improvement of the West Fork River

Ebenezer Zane laid out the town of Wheeling

William Beauchamp Sr was the earliest settlers in the Wirt County area

Daniel Boone and his family moved to Missouri

Meshach Browning married Mary McMullen

The U.S. Armory and Arsenal was established at Harpers Ferry

The McComas family were the first whites to settle in Lincoln County

John Marshall was elected to Congress

The Little Kanawha Circuit of Methodists was formed

The first recorded school was established in Moundsville

The Berkeley Intelligencer was founded in Martinsburg

Vienna failed in trying to become county seat of Wood County

Wood County was formed and Newport was made the county seat

William Richmond acquired a ten-acre tract on the New River at Sandstone Falls

John Stuart wrote Memoir of Indian Wars and Other Occurrences

Alexander Campbell migrated to America

Thomas Campbell drafted The Declaration and Address of the Christian Association of Washington

Claude Crozet began serving Napoleons military in Germany and Holland

Samuel Jackson established Jackson's Ironworks at Ices Ferry

John George Jackson had an encounter with North Carolina Congressman Joseph Pierson that ended in a duel

The Old State Road received legislative authorization to collect tolls for maintenance

The Union Baptist Church was founded in Milton

The Literary Fund was established by the General Assembly

The first settlers arrived in Roane County

Henry Ruffner began studies at Lewisburg Academy

John Haymond and Benjamin Wilson began a salt works at Bull Town on the Little Kanawha River

John D. Sutton settled at Granny's Creek, now Sutton

Gov. Cabell bought 4,400 acres of land inCabell County

Clarksburg chosen as site of first federal court west of Alleghenies

Romney's Literary Society was founded

President James Monroe appointed John George Jackson a federal judge

The first steamboat tried to get up over Red House Shoals

Western commerce was crushed by the Panic

The Lewis County seat became Weston

Henry Ruffner organized two Presbyterian congregations from which came Kanawha Salines in Malden and the Kanawha Church of Charleston

Oil was produced by George Lemon in Wirt County

Jonas Smith recorded the first plat of the town

The Robert Thompson was the first steamboat to attempt to get to Charleston

The Literary Society was founded

Henry Ruffner began teaching ancient languages at Washington College (Washington and Lee University)

Thomas Beall died

Weston became the permanent name of the town

Fairfax's plantation, Shannon Hill, was sold by daughter to G. W. Hammond

James River & Kanawha Turnpike was completed

William H. Cabell sold Green Bottom and its slaves to Capt. William Jenkins

The Staunton Convention failed to meet western demands

Elizabeth Cummins Jackson died

James Monroe Jackson was born

City of Bolivar was established

Robert E. Lee entered West Point

Project management of the National Road was passed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Capt. Henry Shreve replaced the first Washington with the George Washington

Isaiah Welch was born in Doddridge County

John Augustine Washington II died, leaving Blakeley to John A. Washington III

Allen Taylor Caperton married Harriet Echols

Claude Crozet ended his service in Virginia

Shrewsbury and Dickinson established the John Q. Dickinson salt furnace in Malden

Charles Faulkner spoke publicly for the gradual elimination of slavery

Wardensville was chartered in Hardy County

Harrisville was chartered

A fire destroyed most of the original interior wood trim of Holly Grove

Capon Iron Works was built by James Sterrett

The James River & Kanawha Turnpike was completed to the Ohio River

A branch of the Bank of Virginia was chartered in the Kanawha Valley

Charles James Faulkner gave his account of the boundary dispute between Maryland and Virginia

The first Mormon missionaries entered Cabell County

Moundsville was established on land by Simeon Purdy

The first courthouse at Ripley was built

The first post office in Ripley opened

Lydia Shepherd married Daniel Cruger after her former husband's death

James "Bad Jim" Vance was born

Jacob Van Meter of Hardy County abandoned the vernacular tradition house with his house in the Greek Revival style

William Wirt was a presidential candidate of the Anti-Masonic Party

Management at Sweet Springs opened a new hostelry

Gordon Battelle received a B.A. from Marietta Collegiate Institute (Marietta College)

John Carlile was admitted to the bar

Castlerock community began

90 furnaces produced a million bushels of salt annually

Eli Moore graduated from Jefferson College

William Howe given patent for the Howe truss system

G. W. Hammond demolished Ferdinando Fairfax's plantation, Shannon Hill, and built the present dwelling in Jefferson County

Fayette County's first census recorded 3,924 residents

Two communion cups from this year are among the antiques of the Forks-of-Cheat Baptist Church

John Hale moved to the Kanawha Valley

Mill Island was built as a private house

John H. Hall invented the first working interchangeable firearms manufacturing system for breechloading rifle at Hall's Rifle Works

Chester Hubbard graduated as valedictorian from Wesleyan University of Connecticut

The first church was built in the Jackson County area

Jackson County's population was 4,890

Construction of the James River & Kanawha Canal was completed between Richmond and Lynchburg

Joseph Lightburn moved to Lewis County

Kanawha Salines Presbyterian Church was constructed

Mifflin Marsh began selling stogies to steamboat crews and passengers for four for a penny

John Chapman erected the first house in New Cumberland

All bridges on the Northwestern Virginia Turnpike were completed

William P. Rathbone and his sons purchased 12,000 acres at Burning Springs Run in Wirt County.

Census provided numerical proof that the white population of the Trans-Allegheny exceeded that of the rest of the state

Benjamin Stickley was licensed as a United Brethren evangelist

German members of the United Brethren in Baltimore migrated to Braxton County

The Rathbones purchased land at Burning Springs

Female Academy in Union (Monroe County) started

The Wine family first settled in Braxton County

The first class at Bethany College included international students

William Tompkins struck large flow of gas while drilling a salt well a short distance above Burning Springs

Henry Ruffner gathered with other western Virginians at a convention in Clarksburg and allied for a system of free public schools

Alexander Campbell argued for public education at the education convention in Clarksburg

Scarcity of deer first noted in present West Virginia

John Hale attended Mercer Academy in Charleston

The Northwestern Academy was established

Work commenced on the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike

The Jackson family gristmill was constructed at Jackson's Mill

Nathaniel Kuykendall operated a stagecoach and mail delivery service on the Northwestern Virginia Turnpike

Robert Simmons settled in Parkersburg

The Staunton Turnpike was placed under control of the Board of Public Works

Portion of the Staunton Turnpike were open to wagon travel

George Summers was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Elizabeth Tomlinson died

Charles Ward was born

James O. Watson married Matilda Lamb

Charles Ellet Jr was appointed chief engineer of the Fairmont Bridge

Richard Whelan was consecrated as the second bishop of the Diocese of Richmond

Waitman Willey was elected clerk of the Monongalia County Court

1,500 slaves owned by salt barons or rented from owners worked in the Kanawha County salt works

Lemuel Chenoweth had finished many bridges on Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike

Wills De Hass transferred the Grave Creek tablet and skull to the Smithsonian

Martin Delany finished medical school at Harvard Medical College

Fugitive Slave Act was passed

Western Virginia had 1,300 primary schools

Map showed Davidson's Ferry near mouth of Elk River and Goshorn's Ferry crossing the Kanawha River

The first courthouse was completed in Glenville

The First Baptist Church was organized in Greenville

Census reported three slaves in Hancock County

Nancy Hart and family were living in Boone County

The Virginia Constitutional Convention made changes that addressed the political sources of western discontent

Alexander Campbell supported the Fugitive Slave Law but felt runaway slaves should be provided food, shelter and clothing

The Paw Paw Tunnel opened on the C&O Canal

Reported number of slaves in Jefferson County was 3,960, 27% of the population

Mother Jones and family arrived in Boston

The new edition of A History of the Valley of Virginia was published

Malden had several hotels, a bank and saloons

Trustees offered Marshall Univ. to the Western Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South

A reported 21 weeklies and 3 dailies were published in English or German in West Virginia

The C&O Canal was built to Cumberland

There were 200 residents at Federal Hill

Henry Ruffner stopped participating in the emancipation movement in Louisville

The last bridges were made on the Staunton Turnpike

George Summers was a member of the Constitutional Convention

A large seam of bituminous coal was found on Paint Creek

Parts of Fayette County were taken to create Raleigh County

Wheeling had a hospital

Waitman Willey was a delegate to the VirginiaConstitutional Convention

West Virginia had 20,527 slaves

Philip Pendleton Kennedy wrote an account of his visit to the Blackwater area, Blackwater Chronicle

"Winchester" span of Harpers Ferry bridge was constructed to carry Winchester & Potomac Railroad

Wills De Hass published History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia

Daniel Farnsworth became one of early magistrates in new Upshur County

Morris Harvey served as county jailer

John Jay Jackson Jr. began serving the General Assembly of Virginia as a Whig

Stonewall Jackson left the army to teach at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington

Canal construction on the James River was extended to Buchanan

City of Harpers Ferry was established

Benjamin Kelley became freight agent for the B&O Railroad

Joseph Lightburn left the army at rank of sergeant

Wills De Hass wrote History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia

Mountain Cove Spiritualist Community was founded by James L. Scott

The Virginia legislature approved the charter for railroad to run from the B&O mainline to Parkersburg

William S. Miller planted his first orchard in Gerrardstown

George Summers was the Whig candidate for the first popularly elected governor of Virginia

Virginius Island was absorbed into the corporate boundaries of Harpers Ferry

John Brown attempted to seize federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry

Martinsville was officially renamed New Martinsville

McElhenney died as pastor of the Old Stone Presbyterian Church of Lewisburg.

Joseph McMurran became principal of Shepherd College

The French Creek Academy was established

Alexander Wade became the principle of Morgantown schools

Charles Ward arrived in Charleston from England

Booker T. Washington enrolled at Hampton Institute in Hampton

The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway was incorporated

William Wilson returned to Charles Town to practice law