“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” ~ Marcus Tullis Cicero
In what year was Pocahontas County estalished?
A. 1821
From what counties was Pocahontas formed?
A. Bath, Pendleton, Randolph and Greenbrier
Excerpts from Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County ~ 1901
Some Preliminary Words
by William T. Price
A Hebrew Prophet utters this impressive admonition: “Hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land, hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.” ~ Joel 1:2-3
The duty inculcated by these earnest words, we – the Editor; the venerated, aged persons whose memories have with so much fidelity preserved the traditions and the oral unwritten history that has been transmitted from their pioneer ancestry to their children and children’s children: advance subscribers: and the printer publishers _ hereby endeavor to perform
These sketches are designed to illustrate, in some measure, the history of Pocahontas County, located as it is in one of the most remarkable regions of the whole habitable earth.
Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewall [Sewell]
The first persons of English or Scotch-Irish antecedents to spend a winter in what is now Pocahontas County were Marlin and Sewall. This was the winter of 1750-51. Their camp was in the delta formed by Marlin Run and a slough or drain near the east bank of Knapps Creek.
In the course of time – having agreed to disagree – they separated and were found living apart by Colonel Andrew Lewis, Marlin in the cabin and Sewall in a hollow tree. Upon expressing his surprise at this way of living apart, distant from the habitation of other human beings, Sewall told him they differed in sentiments and since the separation there was more tranquility, or a better understanding, for now they were upon speaking terms, and upon each morning “it was good morning, Mr. Marlin,” and “good morning, Mr. Sewall!”
