Travel Log, Day Three

 Our trip through WV and MD

Ward measuring a board to see
 if it will fit in the van.

Today was the day that we fulfilled the main reason for this trip - to get wood that came from my uncle's farm. My aunt and uncle had a large farm with rolling pastures and wooded hillsides. Every time a tree went down, my uncle saved the wood for his many building projects. Unfortunately, both he and his wife have passed and his kids are trying to get things ready for an auction. Before all of the wood was sold, Ward wanted some for sentimental reasons to use in a future project. 

We spent a lovely morning touring around the farm and looking in all of the different buildings where wood was stored.  With so much to chose from, I don't know how Ward made the decision on what he wanted, but we ended up with 10 long boards of different species. Afterwards, we had a good lunch with more lively conversation with my cousins before we were on our way.

While we were looking around the farm, my genealogist sister texted me and wanted to know if we were going to follow the back roads or go on the Interstate when we left because she had something that she wanted us to find. She had read about a roadside stone that marked the spot where our 4th great grandfather was killed during a Shawnee ambush. It was located outside of Philppi, WV. Ward loves to explore back roads and I do too (if I don't get carsick), so off we went on our hunt. 

After arriving in Philippi, we had no idea where to turn. None of our maps were detailed enough to find the county roads we were looking for. As luck would have it, we stumbled onto the county history museum. Actually, the town was small enough, it would have been hard to not find it. We got in just before closing and tried to explain what we were looking for. Nothing we said rang a bell to the couple who was there, but after some digging, they were able to give us a map and more precise directions to what we were looking for. And while we were there, to support the town, I bought some hot dog sauce made by the local Methodist women's group. With a map and a jar of sauce in hand, we headed out to find the marker.

The helpful Barbour County Historical Museum
is located in the old train depot.

 After a bit of a hit and a miss, we found the gravel road we were looking for. We went up and down the road slowly looking for signs of the marker. We weren't sure what we were looking for, but we kept looking. On the second time down the road, Eagle Eyes Ward, saw two stone markers about 25' off the road. Bingo! We found them. As it turns out, the marker only mentions James Minear, who was also in the party. The Minear Family paid to have the stones put there, so they didn't include others. But my ancestor had passed right in this spot in 1781. It kind of blew my mind when I thought about it.

We took a few pictures, trying to avoid poison ivy, before we headed back into Philippi to look around. The long day of daylight was very nice for exploring. After a full day, we headed to our hotel for the night. Below are a few more pictures of the day.

THE STONE. Daniel Cameron (my grandfather), James Minear, and 3 others had been to Clarksburg, WV, to get land patents, which BTW were signed by Patrick Henry. Unfortunately, they didn't make it all the way home.

Philippi is a town of about 3000 people.
It is the location of the first land battle of the Civil War.

The major highway into Philippi passes through this covered bridge. The original bridge was built in 1852 and used by both North and South armies during the Civil War. It was rebuilt in 1989 after a fire. 

Ann R. Jarvis lived outside of Philippi and was a champion for the public health and the sick. Inspired by her mother, Anna M. Jarvis founded Mother's Day. The first service was in Grafton, WV in 1908. By 1914, Anna had gotten Woodrow Wilson to recognize it as an official holiday. Early Mother's Days were observed by displaying the US Flag.