Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
If you had to pick one place in Pocahontas County that is filled with history, you’d probably choose Huntersville. Not only does it have a rich history, but it has a dedicated group of individuals who work hard to preserve that history and to keep it alive.
This past Saturday, West Virginia Day, Huntersville Historical Traditions hosted a celebration that honored not only the 163rd birthday of the state, but also the upcoming 250th anniversary of our nation.
The evening began with wagon tours around the historic sites in Huntersville, which was the original seat of Pocahontas County. The tour took visitors to the Huntersville Jail, the newly restored Huntersville Clerk’s office, as well as to the Huntersville school and churches.
After the tours, visitors congregated in the Huntersville Presbyterian Church for a special program. HHT president Tim Wade introduced the board members and welcomed everyone for the special event.
Wade gave a brief history of the church, which served an interesting role during the Civil War. It was used by both the Union and Confederate soldiers as a hospital and there are still carvings on the pews made by soldiers who were convalescing there.
The Masonic Lodge is upstairs and is used for meetings by the Huntersville chapter, which was founded 150 years ago.
Next, Wade introduced Doug Wood, a West Virginia History Alive! actor, who portrayed Thomas Ingles, the son of William and Mary Ingles.
As Ingles, Wood spoke of his childhood when he and his mother were captured by the Shawnee. He was four years old at the time. His mother managed to escape captivity, but Thomas stayed and was raised by a Shawnee family.
He told stories of growing up in that Shawnee family, learning Shawanese and life skills that included hunting and foraging.
One harrowing trip led to Thomas being left alone in the woods with his injured father. His Shawnee uncle told him to keep his father safe while he traveled back to get supplies. It was to be a three-day journey.
Thomas’ Shawnee father died that night and he was tasked with keeping his father’s body safe from wildlife. He managed to keep a fire going, hunt for pigeons to eat and even killed a wolf to scare away a pack that circled him and his father.
When his uncle returned, the young Thomas had kept his promise of keeping his father’s body safe. The boy was roughly 10 or 11 years old at the time.
When he was 17, Thomas was returned to his Virginian father, William, and returned to the home of his birth. He received an English education and served in the Point Pleasant campaign of Dunmore’s War in 1774.
This battle pitted him against the Shawnee communities and it was difficult for Thomas to go against his former family. He later rose through the ranks and served as a colonel in the Virginia military in the Revolutionary War.
After Wood’s presentation, Wade welcomed Senator Bill Hamilton who shared the story of the Proclamation that was signed by President Abraham Lincoln to make West Virginia a state in 1863.
Before reading the Proclamation, Hamilton told the story of Jacob Beeson Blair who was U.S. Representative from Wood County when West Virginia was forming.
Blair was a Unionist and he was eager to know if President Lincoln signed the Statehood Proclamation. So much so, that he could not wait for it to be presented in Congress.
The story goes that on New Year’s Day, Blair “broke into’ the White House through a window and went to the Oval Office to find that the Proclamation had indeed been signed.
Following Hamilton, Pocahontas County magistrate Jennifer Dunz read the Declaration of Independence.
The evening concluded with the best way to celebrate any birthday – cake and ice cream.
