The early settlers who came to Upshur County, paid very little for the
land they acquired. When a person wanted to build, he found a place near
a good spring of water. The houses were built of logs, of which there
were plenty. There were millions of feet of pine as well as an abundance
of hardwood in the county. The logs were squared up with the broad ax
and foot adz and notched together. The cracks were covered with boards
or chinked with mud and straw.
There were no cook stoves, so everything was cooked over the open
fireplace, or outdoors in pots or skillets. Wild game, such as deer,
turkey, squirrels, and wild razor-back hogs were plentiful.
Cornbread was universally used, unless the farmer grew his own wheat.
This was done quite often, and there was a flour mill known as the
Hoover Mill located on Big Sandy creek on the Gilmer-Big Sandy road at
the Seago crossing, and operated by water power.
There were few mules and horses in the country and the settlers used
oxen almost exclusively. There was no hurry in those days, such as is
seen up and down the highways today. Everyone took his time, not
expecting to get rich. The roads were only blazed trails or narrow roads
used for horseback or ox carts in making trips to town. There was no
such thing as a road building machine. The roads were so narrow that
when two wagons met, one had to drive out into the weeds while the other
passed. There were no bridges across the streams. They were forded or
crossed by ferries.
For entertainment, the settlers had house-raisings, log-rollings, square
dances, speech-making, patriotic meetings celebrating some holiday, or
gathering in some home and listening to some versatile fiddler. No
picture shows, no automobile rides, no ball games. But they knew what
the word “hospitality” meant. Every home was open to strangers, as they
brought news from the outside world. There were no charges for spending
the night. Once a year, the head of the house loaded his ox cart with
produce and headed for Jefferson to market his goods. Jefferson was at
that time one of the largest towns in the state.