Sign in or create a free account to curate your search content.
In the 1760s, John and Samuel Pringle—deserters from the British army at Fort Pitt—settled along the Buckhannon River, living in a hollow sycamore for about three years. By 1770, the Pringles and families such as the Hackers, Cutrights, and Hughes had formed a permanent settlement in Buckhannon Valley. Bush’s Fort served as the main defense until its destruction in an Indian attack in 1782; the county’s last such attack was the Bozarth family massacre in 1795.
In 1801, Zedekiah Morgan and other New England settlers arrived around French Creek, including the Gould, Young, and Phillips families. They purchased land through the Ruggles Woodbridge Land Company, though titles were often unclear. Many later moved west, but their influence on education, politics, and religion endured. The Brooks family, notably, contributed to West Virginia University, Oglebay Park, and the natural sciences.
Methodists founded their first church, Carper Church, in 1810, and the denomination remains dominant today. West Virginia Wesleyan College, a Methodist institution, opened in Buckhannon in 1890.
This Exhibit has 5 Sections
Indians, the Frontier, and Conflicts with Settlers
This Exhibit has 16 Sections
