The early settlers of the Elk Valley were far removed from a seat of justice. It was forty or fifty miles to the county seat of Randolph County
and almost as far to that of Braxton County. A great many citizens were practically disfranchised, as it was 25 miles to the nearest voting place.
In 1841, a petition signed by Benjamin Hamrick, James Hamrick, William G. Gregory, William Hamrick, Isaac G. Dodrill, William F. Hamrick, Isaac Hamrick and Joseph Gregory, was sent to Virginia Assembly, praying for specified changes in the lines of Braxton and Randolph Counties so as to make the petitioners subject to Nicholas County. While this change did not bring them in close proximity to a courthouse, it gave them a better road over which to travel and obviated the necessity of fording the Elk so many times, which was very dangerous during a flood. The movement for the formation of a new county out of parts of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph began in 1848. In compliance with the law of Virginia, a notice was posted on the front door of the courthouse of the three counties concerned, stating the intention of the citizens to ask the General Assembly for the creation of a new county. Thomas Miller took the notice to Braxton county and Adonijah Harris posted the notice in Nicholas. It is not known who posted the notice in Randolph, but an affidavit made by Christopher Hamrick stated that he saw the notice posted in October, 1848. Polls were opened at the various voting precincts in Braxton in the autumn of 1851. The election returns of but one voting place in Nicholas is available at this time. This election was held at the home of Mrs. Mary Arthur at Fort Lick on December 8, 1851. There were nineteen votes polled and each voter cast his vote in favor of the new county. The following is a list of the voters: Benjamin Hamrick, John Lynch, Isaac Hamrick, Robert Gregory, Mathew Given, George Cogar, Peter L. Cogar, Archibald Cogar, Thomas Cogar, John C. Paign (Payne), Joel Dobbins, Levi C. Hall, Thomas M. Renals (Reynolds), Adonijah Harris, William Given, Addison M. Hamrick, Robert E. Given, John C. Hall, and A. M. Whitman. John Lynch, Adonijah Harris and William Given acted as commissioners of election. Addison M. Hamrick, clerk, and A. M. Whitman, Sheriff. This was the first election ever held in Webster Springs. In 1852 a petition signed by John Lynch,Jr., and about two hundred others was presented to the General Assembly, but it was rejected. Another effort was made for a new county in 1859. A few interested men took the responsibility of arrangin the preliminaries. Such men as Adam G. Lynch, Wilson Arthur and Richard A. Arthur led the movement. Adam G. Lynch, at his own expense, posted the proper notices in Nicholas, Braxton and Pocahontas Counties. This was no small undertaking in that day. The following petition was presented to the General Assembly in December, 1859: "To the General Assembly of Virginia, Asembled:

"We, the citizens of parts of the counties of Randolph, Nicholas and Braxton liveing from forty to fifty miles from our Court Houses having to
cross mountains and rivers very difficult to contend with, we ask your Honorable body to Grant us a new county out of parts of the counties of
Randolph, Nicholas and Braxton and the boundary to be as follows towit. Beginning at the forks of Little Kanawha thence a straight line to the
corner of Upshur Randolph and Braxton Counties, thence a straight line to  the turkey Bone Knob thence a straight line to the Whiitaker Rock on Elk River thence a straight line by the way of the three forks of the Gauley River to the Pocahontas Line and withe said line to a point opposite the mouth of Stroud's Creek thence a straight line by the mouth of Stroud's Creek to the mouth of Skiles Creek on Birch River thence a straight line to the halfway point on Holly River, thence a straight line to the beginning. The county seat of said new county to be at Fort Lick on Elk River Between Elk River and the Back fork of Elk. Wilson Arthur, Adam G. Lynch,Sr., John Lynch,Jr., John Lynch,Sr., Isaac G. Lynch, Richard Arthur, Alfred R. Miller, Robert P. Miller, George W. Payne, Wm. Cogar, John W. Arthur, Zackariah Woods, Currence Gregory, Wm. P. King, John C. Payne, Thomas J. Miller, Addison M. Hamrick, John Phares, Christopher Shrader, Samuel Tharp, Jeremiah Brown, Cornelius G. Cool,
Benjamin Cogar, L. B. Cool, Christopher B. Ware, John B. McCourt, Thos. Belknap, I. W. Cool, Elijah Skidmore, Thomas Cogar, John McGuire, H. C. Moore, C. Hamrick, Benj. Hamrick, John R. Cogar, G. W. Miller, M. W. Howell, A. Cogar. James M. Hamrick, A. C. Hamrick, F. S. Cline, F. M. Payne, Adam Gregory, John Grannen, Thomas J. Cogar, George Dodrill, ------- Suthermore, Soloman Grigsby, Nathaniel Arters (Arthur), Thomas M. Arthurs, John C. Cool, Silas Cogar, Wm. R. Arters (Arthur), George Lynch, John L. Arthurs, William R. Lynch, Perry Gregory, John Skidmore, Allen Hamrick, Marshall Hamrick, James Pritt, Wesley Pritt, I. Y. Gregory, W. G. Hamrick, Fielding McClung, D. M. McLaughlin, A. G. J. Burns, Daniel H. Purdue, Samuel C. Miller, A. F. Fisher, Andrew Woods, J. E. Hall, Tobias Sizemore, Franklin Pritt, Walter
Cool, William W. Clifton, James Salisbury, Wm. Given, Archibald Cogar, George Cogar, Peter Cogar, Tobias Cogar, Jesse Payne, Isaac Mynes, Adam G. Hamrick, Arthur M. Bickle, Samuel Brady, John W. Arthur, C. M. Dodrill, Wm. T. M. Chapman, Adam G. Gregory, Benjamin Hamrick, Wm. Griffin, James Harris, Adonijah Harris, Taylor Sutton.

It will be seen by a careful examination of the petition that the pioneers were somewhat short on orthography, capitilization and punctuation, but they knew what they wanted, and they took the proper steps to get it. No vote was taken in the counties interested in the formation in 1859, because the consent had been given in the election of 1851.

The following is Chapter 47 of the Acts of the Virginia General Assembly of the session of 1859 - 60:

An act for forming a new county out of parts of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph.

Passed January 10, 1860.

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly that so much of the counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph as is contained within the following
boundary line, to-wit :

Beginning at the main forks of the Little Kanawha River, above Hayman's Mills; thence north with the righthand fork of said river, being the
original line of Lewis and Braxton Counties, and now the line between Upshur and Braxton Counties, at the head of said right hand fork of Kanawha; thence a straight line to the eastern corner of the lands of Abraham Buckhannon; thence a straight line to the Whittaker Rock on Elk River; thence a straight line, by the way of the three forks of Gauley River, to the Pocahontas Line, and with said line to a point opposite the mouth of Stroud's Creek, thence a straight line by the mouth of Stroud's Creek, to the mouth of Skile's Creek on Big Burch River; thence a straight line to the half-way point on Holly River; thence a straight line to the beginning - be and the same is hereby established as a new county; which shall be known by the name of Webster.

2. The courthouse or seat of justice of said county of Webster shall be located on the farm of Addison McLaughlin at the fork lick on Elk River,
between the said river and the back fork of same; which said seat of justice shall be known by the name of Addison.

3. The following persons to-wit, Samuel Given, Thomas Cogar, William Given, and Thomas Reynolds shall be and are hereby appointed
commissioners, a majority of whom may act, for the purpose for selecting a site for a courthouse, jail and other public buildings for said county of
Webster, who are hereby required to meet at Fork Lick on the first day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty, or within thirty days from and after that day, and within ten days after their meeting ascertain and determine at what point of place on the farm aforesaid in the said county it is most suitable and proper to erect a court house and such other buildings and fixtures as the convenience of the county requires, under the existing laws, for holding courts and conducting business incident thereto, and lay off, in the most convenient form, a lot or lots of land for that purpose, not exceeding in quantity two acres, and shall ascertain the value thereof; whereupon, the said commissioners, or a majority of them acting in this behalf, shall make their report in writting to the county court of Webster county, when organized, the manner in which they have executed their duties required of them by this act, and their proceedings in relation thereto, designating the point or place agreed upon, the value of the lot or lots of land, and the name or names of the owners thereof; and the place so ascertained and determined upon by said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall be deemed and taken as the permanent place for holding the court of Webster, now required by law to be holden for the several counties of this commonwealth, and the court of the county of Webster shall therupon provide for the payment of the valuation of the lot or lots of land so ascertained, in the manner now required by law, where lands shall not be already provided and apportioned for that purpose.

The commissioners aforesaid shall also lay off the said county of Webster in to three magisterial districts, select points at which elections
shall be holden in each district, and appoint a conductor and five commissioners (any three of whom my act) to superintend the elections to be
holden for the said county of Webster, on the fourth Thursday of May next.

5. It shall be the duty of all persons residing within the limits of said county of Webster, who are now entitled to vote for members of the
general assembly, to attend at the respective election precincts so selected by the said commissioners, on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and sixty, and elect a sheriff, a clerk of the county court, a clerk of the circuit court, a commissioner of the revenue, surveyor and Commonwealth's attorney for the county of Webster; and the voters residing in each magisterial district shall elect for that district four justices of the peace, one constable, and one overseer of the poor. The election of justices of the peace shall be certified to the governor of the commonwealth by the several commissioners and conductors superintending and conduting said election, who, after they shall be commissioned and qualified according to law, shall meet at the house of Thomas Cogar on the fourth Monday in the next month after that in which they shall be so commissioned, and a majority of them being present, shall fix upon a place in said county of Webster for
holding the courts of said county until the necessary buildings shall be constructed on the site designated by the commissioners.

6. The said justices shall, at the first term of the county court of said county, choose one of their own body, who shall be presiding justice of
the county court, and whose duty it shall be to attend each term of said court.

7. The commissioners and conductors of the elections aforesaid shall certify to the said county court of Webster, at its first term, or at some
subsequent term, as soon as practicable, the election of the said clerks of the county and circuit courts, commonwealth's attorney, surveyor, and
commissioner of the revenue, who shall, after giving bonds and security, and being qualified according to law, enter upon the discharge of the duties of their offices, respectively.

8. The voters of the said county shall also, on the fourth Thursday
in May next, vote for a judge of the judicial circuit to which the county of
Webster belongs; and the commissioners and conductors of the elections
aforesaid shall superintend and conduct the election for judge and deliver
to the officers conducting the election at or nearest the county seat of
said county, within three days after said election, a certified statement of
the result of said election for judge of said county, as required by the
thrity-third section of an act providing for the general election, etc.,
passed March the thirteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight. And the said
conductors shall meet with the officers whose duty it is to ascertain and
declare who is elected judge of said judicial circuit, the time and place
requried by law, and perform such other duties as the law prescribes for an
officer conducting said election at the court house of the county.

9. The commissioners hereinbefore appointed to lay off the county of
Webster into magisterial districts, shall be allowed each a compensation of
two dollars per day for their services aforesaid.

10. The term of office of the commissioner of the revenue of the said
county of Webster shall commence on the first day of February, eighteen
hundred and sixty-one; and the commissioners of the revenue of the counties
of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph are hereby required to discharge the
duties of their respective offices in that part of the limits of the said
new county, that was taken from the said counties of Nicholas, Braxton and
Randolph, respectively, for the present year; and they are hereby to keep
the list taken by them in the said county of Wbster, separate and distinct
from the list of said counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph, and return
the same in the manner now prescribed by law, in the same manner as if
appointed commissioner of the revenue for the said county of Webster.

11. The treasurers of the school commissioners in the counties of
Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph, respectively, shall be and are hereby
required to pay tot he treasurer of the school commissioners of the new
county of Webster, upon the order of the commissioners last mentioned, out
of the fixed and surplus quotas of the school funds of the said counties of
Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph for the present year, such sum as shall seem
to tehm to be in due proportion tot he population of the said new county of
Webster, taken from the said counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph,
respectively, including and balance now remaining unexpended, as also of the
proportion as aforesaid accruing from said quotas, to which Nicholas,
Braxton and Randolph counties are or may be entitled to for any former year.
And it shall be the duty of the second auditor to reapportion the fixed and
surplus school quotas of the counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph for
the next year and subsequent years, between the said counties of Nicholas,
Braxton, Randolph and the new county of Webster, agreeable tot heir
respective numbers of white tithables which may be returned therein by the
commissioners of the revenue for the present year eitheen hundred and sixty.

12. It shall be lawful for the sheriffs of the counties of Nicholas,
Braxton and Randolph to collect and make distress for any public dues or
officers' fees whcih may remain unpaid by the inhabitants of the said new
county of Webster, in such parts of the said new county as were taken form
said counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Rando;ph, respectively, at the time
when this act shall commence and be in force, and shall be accountable for
the same in like manner as if this act had never been passed.

13. The courts of the counties of Nicholas, Braxton and Ramdolph,
respectively, shall retain jurisdiction of all actions and suits pending
before them on the first day of July next, and shall try and determine the
same, and award execution thereon, except cases wherein both parties reside
in the new county; which, together with the papers, shall after that day be
removed to the court of the county of Webster, and there be tried and
determined.

14. The said county of Webster shall be in and attached to the
fifteenth judicial circuit, and the circuit court thereof shall be holden on
the twenty-third day of May and the twenty-third day of October of every
year, and be with the same brigade district with the county of Nicholas.

15. The said county of Webster shall belong tot he same senatorial
districts as that part taken from Nicholas and Braxton voting iwth the
senatorial district to which Nicholas and Braxton belong - and that part
taken from Randolph voting with the senatorial district to which the county
of Randolph belongs, and shall belong to the eleventh congressional
district, and the same electoral district for the purpose of choosing a
president and vice-president of the United States, as the county of
Nicholas; and the voters of said new county shall vote as they have
heretofore voted for members of the house of delegates.

16. The county courts of said new county shall be holden on the
fourth Tuesday in each month, and the quarterly sessions of said county
shall be holden in the months of March, June, August, and November of each
year.

17. The surveyor hereafter elected for Webster county, in the mode
prescribed by law, togeter with the surveyors of the counties of Nicholas,
Braxton and Randolph, shall run and mark the boundaries of said county of
Webster, agreeably and in conformity to the provisions of the seventh
section of the forty-seventh chapter of the Code of Virginia.

18. The first county court for said county of Webster shall be holden
on the fourth Tuesday in July next.

19. The act shall be in force from its passage.

Bernard Mollohan, who was elected surveyor of Webster county on the
twenty-fourth day of May 1860, proceeded to survey the county lines in
conformity with the act passed January 10, 1860, providing for the new
county of Webster. He was assisted in the work by Milton Hart, surveyor of
Randolph county, Chauncey Hooker, deputy surveyor of Nicholas county and
William Hutchinson, surveyor of Braxton county. Work was begun on October
2, 1860, and completed on November 27 of the same year.

Because of certain peculiar conditions existing in the line dividing
Greenbrier and Nicholas counties, the line of the new county could not be
made to conform with the act of 1860 without annexing a part of Greenbrier
county, which the act forming Webster county did not authorize. This defect
was cured by an act of the West Virginia legislature in 1882 by annexing
about thirty square miles of territory under the jurisdiction of Greenbrier
and Nicholas counties to Webster county. This line, surveyed by Bernard
Mollohan, assisted by James Woodzell and Isaac W. Cool, began at the mouth
of Stroud's creek and extending to near the head of Bannock Shoal run, on
the divide between the Gauley and the Williams rivers. At the time of the
passage of this act Webster county was represented in the legislature by
Charles McDodrill, who was instrumental in securing its enactment.

The commissioners, Samuel Given, Thomas Cogar, William Arthur, Thomas
Reynolds and William Given, who were named in the act providing for the
formation of Webster county to select a site for a court house, jail and
other public buildings, and to divide the county into three magisterial
districts, proceeded to the discharge of the duties imposed upon them.
Addison McLaughlin had transferred his farm at the Fork Lick to his son,
Duncan, in the meantime. The commissioners selected and staked a lot two
hundred and ten feet square on the hill above the Salt Sulphur spring as a
site for the court house and jail. This lot is now the public square of
Webster county. Henry C. Moore surveyed the lot after its selection by the
commissioners. The town of Addision was also surveyed and divided into lots
by him at about the same time.

The commissioners divided the county into Fork Lick, Glade and Holly
magisterial districts at their meeting in the dwelling house of Thomas Cogar
in 1860. Hacker Valley did not become a district until 1877, at which time
Holly district was divided by the county court.

The following county officers were elected on the fourth Thursday in
May, 1860: Sheriff, Walter Cool, of Holly district; clerk of the County
Court, and also clerk of the Circuit Court, Albert J. Baughman, of Glade
district; commissioner of revenue, Thomas Cogar, of Fork Lick district;
surveyor of lands, Bernard Mollohan, of Fork Lick district and attorney for
the Commonwealth, David Lilly, of Randolph county. The following justices
of the peace were also elected: Fork Lick district, William G. Gregory,
Adam G. Hamrick, Ezra B. Clifton and David Baughman; Glade district, Edward
Morton, Arthur Hickman, Thomas M. Reynolds and Enos Weese; Holly district,
William H. Mollohan, A.G.J. Burns, Christopher C. Cogar and Ezra Clifton.
Thomas M. Reynolds was elected presiding justice of the county court by the
other justices at their first meeting.

Not having suitable buildings on the newly selected lot in which to hold
court and for the transaction of other public business, the justices held
their first term of court at Thomas Cogar's, near where James Woodzell now
resides. A dwelling house in the process of erection owned by Elijah
Skidmore was selected by the justices in which to hold court. This building
stood near the residence of the late C. P. Dorr. In 1866, after Webster
county owed allegiance to the State of West Virginia, instead of the
commonwealth of Virginia, the board of supervisors entered into a contract
with Bernard Mollohan for the sum of seventeen hundred dollars, providing
for the erection of a frame building on the public square to serve as a
court house. That building continued to be used for such purposes until it
was destroyed by fire on the seventeenth day of June, 1888. The board of
supervisors employed Patrick Carr to build a jail.

In 1863, the legislature of the state of West Virginia passed an act
providing for the divisions of the several counties into townships and named
three men in each county to perform the work. William G. Hamrick, Isaac H.
Griffin and William G. Gregory were appointed for Webster county. The two
first named were soldiers in the Federal army at that time and no meeting of
the committee was ever held.

The number and boundary of the townships remained the same as that of the magisterial districts, under the Virginia laws, formed by the four
commissioners in 1860.

The constitution of 1872 again changed the name of the local unit to magisterial district.

The Civil War began soon after the new county was surveyed and it was not fully organized until after its close. At the time of its formation
there was not a very numerous population, but there were a brave and hardy set of men who had known and had braved hardships and privations. They were, for the most part, the first and the second generations born in the territory settled by the old pioneers. The moccasin and the hunting shirt had been discarded by many, and they did not rely wholly upon the loom and the spinning wheel for their clothing. It was at this time that Webster county received the sobriquet of "Independent State", and appellation often used by political speakers of today. It was said that Webster county had a full complement of state officers, with George M. Sawyers at the head with the title of governor. Mr. Sawyers was addressed as "Governor" until his death, which occurred on the Williams river about fifteen years ago. This is a very pretty story, but there is not a scintilla of evidence upon which to base the assertion. It is true that all governmental functions were suspended during the four years of the Civil War. Neither taxes were collected nor courts held.

While it is true that Webster county was an integral part of both the Reorganized Government of Virginia, with its capital at Wheeling, and the
Confederat State Government of Richmond, the functions of government of neither invaded her precincts. A law enacted by the West Virginia
legislature in 1863 provided for the transfer of all suits of law and equity from Webster to Lewis county.

But one election was held in Webster county during the Civil War period, and but one officer was elected. Moreover, polls were opened at but one precinct. William Gregory, at that time, lived at the mouth of Leatherwood, and the election was held in his residence in 1863.

At this election Benoni Griffin was elected a member of the house of delegates for the fourth delegate district, composed of the counties of
Webster and Pocahontas. But few citizens, besides a number of Federal soldiers, cast their votes. Many of the voters did not know that an
election was being held. The following persons voted: William G. Hamrick, William McAvoy, Addison Fisher, James Green, James M. Cogar, Addison Dodrill, Benjamin Hamrick, William G. Gregory and James Woodzell.

The second general election held in the county of Webster occurred on the fourth Thrusday of Ocotober, 1865.

The following county officers were elected: Sheriff, William G. Gregory; Prosecuting Attorney, David Lilly; Surveyor of Lands, Bernard
Mollohan; Recorder, Joseph Dodrill; Assessor, Arthur Hamrick; Clerk of Circuit Court, Isaac Mynes. Lilly and Mynes could not prove their loyalty
to the Union from 1861 to 1865, therefore they were ineligible. Robert Irwine, Judege of the Circuit Court appointed Robert G. Putman to fill the
place of Lilly and Adam Gregory that of Mynes.

The following were elected as Supervisor for each of the three townships: Fork Lick, James Hamrick; Glade, Thomas Reynolds; Holly, John E.
Hall. Reynolds was elected president of the Board of Supervisors at their first meeting.

The human mind can scarcely depict the chaotic condition existing in Webster county at the close of the Civil War. The firing on Fort Sumter in
1861 stirred the hearts of the people among the montains of Webster no less than in more populous communities, either North or South. An overwhelming majority of the people was in sympathy with the South and scores of the best citizens hastened away to join the armies of the Southern Confederacy. Many deeds of heroism were performed by these "border boys", as they were called by their comrades in arms from the Southern states. Many gladly gave their lives for the cause they so dearly loved. A very few, not more than twenty, volunteered under the Stars and Stripes, and the boys who wore the Blue distinguished themselves no less than their neighbrs who wore the Gray. No battles were fought in the county, but many shooting affrays occurred between irregular bands of partisans, which were not always bloodless. Many refugee outlaws from other counties found a safe retreat in the montains and terrorized the citizens with deeds of lawlessness. Many innocent men were taken from their homes and shot for no other reason than giving aid to the cause which they believed to be just and right. Houses were plundered and burned and women and children left to shiver in the cold. Fences and farm buildings were destroyed. The farms became overgrown with briers and bushes. Refugees, soldiers, and camp followers from the counties adjacent to the Ohio river went to the land of Dixie by way of the Gauley and Straight creek. This old war trail is yet visible where it was cut to a depth of two or three feet by the many horses that were taken across the mountain. General William Jackson ("Mudwall") transported a small cannon (a two pounder) on horseback by this route when he advanced against Bulltown, in Braxton county.

But the spring of 1865 brought a sigh of relief to the people of Webster county, as well as to other war-oppressed communities. Now, that the dove of peace had spread her wings over a devastated and wasted land, men began the work of regeneration and reconstruction.

End Chapter.