Marion County in the Making

Marion County, West Virginia: Fairmont High School (sponsored by James Otis Watson), 1917. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good. 362, [4] pages. Cover has some wear and soiling. This was prepared under the supervision and direction of Dora Lee Newman, Head of the Department of History in the High School. Includes Illustrations, Class Roll, Foreword, The Source of Our Inspiration, Legend of the Monongahela. Also includes chapters on The Land Beyond the Mountains; The Native Races; Trails and Transportation; Establishing a New Frontier; Means of Defense; The Struggle for the Mastery; Homes and Homelife; Before the Rule of Fashion; Manners and Customs; Remedies and Superstitions; Songs and Legends; Locating Mills; The Beginning of Other Industries; Organization and Government; The Early Churches; Schools and First Newspapers, and the Coming of the Railroad. The writing of the history of pioneer Marion County has been of great interest and profit to the Class, and has awakened a most wholesome interest throughout the county. It has kindled a friendly family feeling, tracing back our ancestors to neighbors who lived side by side through perils and privations. It has impressed upon our minds the rugged, sterling valor and virtues that secured for us the comforts and refinements of which they never even dreamed. James Otis Watson was the real pioneer in West Virginia coal development. After the first railroad was constructed through Fairmont, in 1852, he immediately opened up the first coal mine, called the American Coal Company. In 1852 Mr. Watson built a suspension bridge over the waters of the Monongahela River, connecting Fairmont and Palatine. Marion County proper was created by an act of the Virginia Assembly on January 14, 1842, from parts of Monongalia and Harrison Counties, and was named after General Francis Marion, of American Revolutionary War fame, known to history as "The Swamp Fox". The year 1852 was an eventful time in Marion County's history, starting with the great flood on Monday, April 5. Heavy rains the day before caused the Monongahela and West Fork Rivers to rise at rate of 5 feet per hour until Tuesday afternoon, when the water reached 43 feet above its normal level. The greatest damage was sustained on the West Fork, where over 40 houses and buildings were swept away and floated past Fairmont. The flood also damaged the railroad, which was in the final stages of being completed. By June 23 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was completed, connecting Fairmont to the west and to large cities in the east like Baltimore. The railroad required the building of a bridge to cross the Monongahela River about 1 mile west of Fairmont. This was achieved by building a massive iron bridge spanning 650 feet and lifted 35 feet above the water. The third major event of the year 1852 was the completion of the Fairmont and Palatine suspension bridge, connecting Fairmont to what was then the town of Palatine. The bridge was built under the direction of James L. Randolph, assistant engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; at a cost of about thirty thousand dollars. Marion was one of fifty Virginia counties that were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863, at the height of the Civil War. In the months that followed, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Marion County was divided into seven districts: Fairmont, Grant, Lincoln, Mannington, Paw Paw, Union, and Winfield.