Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County ~ 1901
By William T. Price
The sketches which are embodied in this work have appeared in The Pocahontas Times, and have thus been scanned by the person interested, and an opportunity afforded for correction that is invaluable, for history is nothing if not true. It has not been the work of a few months, but represents the work of ten years or more of preparation.
We wish to call attention to the fact that this book is a home product, written and printed in the county and published by reason of the hearty response of many Pocahontas people who desired to have the annals of the county in an enduring form. The paper on which this book is printed is from wood grown on Cheat Mountain in this county, and very kindly furnished at a nominal price by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company.
In compiling this book, the writer and publishers have endeavored to make it an honest history of Pocahontas county, and they have in no instance given undue prominence to any name…
In submitting this book to the public, we are aware that there are imperfections and omissions that will be apparent to many readers. To such we would say that no book or writer can cover so great a subject, but that you will find in this work so much pertaining to the history of this county that it can well lay claim to its title.
BIOGRAPHIC
ROBERT D. McCUTCHAN
Among the citizens of our county deserving special notice for industry, hospitality and good influence on society, Robert Dunlap McCutchan, late of Thomas Creek, is to be remembered as one justly entitled to such consideration. While he was not one of the pioneers, he came to Pocahontas soon after the organization of the county, virtually settled in the woods, and built up a home that was noted far and near for its good cheer and lavish hospitality.
January 11, 1825, he married Elizabeth Youel Lockridge, near Goshen, Virginia, and settled on Thomas Creek in 1826. They were the parents of five sons and four daughters. All of their children except two preceded them to the grave. The eldest died in infancy.
Samuel Hodge McCutchan was a Confederate soldier and a member of Captain J. W. Marshall’s company. He was captured in 1863 and taken to Camp Chase, and remained there until the close of the war. He came home in broken health, and died of consumption in 1869.
John Blain McCutchan was also a Confederate volunteer, and served in the same company. He married soon after the war, Mrs. Rachel Bird, daughter of Jacob Bible, near Greenbank. There were four children: Izzie, now Mrs. F. M. Dilley, Robert and Luther, twins, died young; and Margaret.
William Andrew Gatewood McCutchan went to Georgia when twelve years of age, to be educated by his uncle, Andrew Lockridge, a Presbyterian minister. His health failed, and he returned home in his fifteenth year. He soon after united with the church at Dunmore, and began studies for the ministry. He volunteered in the war. In the battle of Seven Pines, he went into action contrary to his captain’s advice, feeling his duty to fight as long as he could handle his musket, but being overcome by fatigue, he was ordered back to the rear, fell sick with pneumonia, and never recovered…
These pleasant people, so happy in their home relations, were not separated long. They and the most of their children sleep in well cared for graves on a grassy knoll overlooking the scenes where they passed their quiet, useful lives…
By his last will and testament Robert McCutchan endowed Baxter church with a fund of $500, Dr. John Ligon, Trustee. The annual interest to be used for pastoral support.