$24.95

In stock

ISBN-13: 978-0996576437
Pages: 147
Trim: 8.5×11
Format: Paperback

The Settlement of the Greater Greenbrier Valley, West Virginia

The People, Their Homeplaces, and Their Lives on the Frontier
Fred Ziegler

This study combines the names of settlers from the original 1772-1775 Botetourt County courthouse records with the latest thinking on the conditions and events in the contemporary counties of Monroe, Summers, Greenbrier, and southern Pocahontas, West Virginia.

This first permanent settlement included 583 families on an average 200 acre tract, and these were arrayed in 19 diffuse communities along 60 miles of the Greenbrier Valley. These adventurous souls found arable land, conditioned by thousands of years of Native American occupation, but vacated because the original populations were decimated by European diseases.  The remaining Native Americans were defeated in Dunmore’s War, which included 288 militia troops from this area who performed the diverse functions of ranging, fort-building, as well as fighting at the Battle of Point Pleasant.

Contemporary accounts of life on the frontier are also discussed and 132 products available at the Mathews Trading Post are listed, as are the 24 natural remedies used to treat the afflictions experienced on the frontier.

The Greenbrier Valley is special because it was a gateway through the rugged Allegheny Mountains. Many descendants of these early settlers are now dispersed across the country but return here to discover their roots.

 


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About the Author

Fred Ziegler retired in 2003 from teaching and researching Historical Geology and Paleogeography at the University of Chicago, and moved to West Virginia, where he and his wife Barbara bought “Cook’s Old Mill,” in Greenville. He became interested in local history and has written books on The Carriages of Monroe, West Virginia, and the Settlement of the Greater Greenbrier Valley. He has served as the president of the Monroe County Historical Society and spearheaded the building of the Carriage House Museum in Union. The museum now has eight full-size horse-drawn vehicles, including an Omnibus, which at one time conveyed visitors to the resort spas at Sweet Springs and Chalybeate Springs. Future book projects include The History of Red Sulphur Springs, Monroe County.