In and Around Alderson

.....If you approach Alderson from the East or North, you will experience a pleasant drive down the river on Route sixty-three, or you will sort of swoop down from Alta Mountain on route Twelve. But, after these two roads meet, you will make a curve and find yourelf in quiet Riverfront Alderson. On a nice summer day, most things will be green including the water. In the winter, the colors will be a little drab and the river will have different color.
.....If you were here in Novemeber of 1985 or in January of 1996, you might have found yourself fighting tuns of roaring water as this section of Alderson was well under water. About half-way to the old bridge, you will find this little riverside park featured in the top photo.

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.....One late summer Saturday evening, my grandson Jonathan hiked form the football field down to the park while he was waiting for his game to start. We puttered around here for awhile before beginning our walk downstream toward the bridge. It was a beautiful walk which offered vistas of the river.

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......This is a view downstream. You will notice that the light is a little different here and gives a different perspective.

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.....Looking back across the river, you can see the railroad that once made Aldereson a boomtown. From the late 1870s until the 1930s, the railroad was the heart of Alderson as it was for many many other river towns in Southern West Virginia.

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.....This photo was made in the same area except that made it in the Spring after one of Jonathan's baseball games. It is looking upstream from the bank.

.....This a photo I made from the center of the old bridge looking north in the Spring.

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.............Photo by Jonathan D. King

.....This photo was made by Jonathan as we walked across the bridge in the fall. I have heard this section called the Greenbrier Pool.

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.....I made this photo late in the evening looking west and downstream. The light is fading which changes the entire character of the photos.

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.....This the photo as the sun began to set toward the mountain where the town of Clayton sits. Beyond Clayton is a wilderness before you come to the community of Ramp and then eventually drop off of the Mountain at Sandstone on New River which the Greenbrier joins at Hinton.

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.....This is the Monroe side of Alderson. This is where most of the business section, including the Post Office, is found. This is where the railroad was in its heyday. Beyond the railway crossing, Route 3 makes a sharp bend towrad the mountain. Beyond the mountain, Wolfe Creek flows out of a long valley. It was on the waters of Wolfe Creeek that my Burdette Ansestors settled. Sinks Grove, once Rockey Point, is on down the road. Rockey Point supplied a company, The Rockey Point Blues, for the south. Sometime later, a gentleman wanted to found a college at Rockey Point. But he thought that the name had a bad reputation. So, he got the name changed to Sinks Grove.
.....Except for a few frieght and grain trains, the only trains that rumbles up these tracks are the coal trains. That is, except for AMTRAC which comes a few times a week. From the other direction, empty coal cars rattle back to where they came from. For Alderson the boom days have come and gone.

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.....This is the Greenbrier County end of the old bridge. This is the part of town tht most people, who are passing through, see. If you continue straight through the intersection, you will enter a very pleasant section of town. The street gradually rises until it reaches the top of the hill and the city park. Here are played many baseball and softball games. Alderson is big on its little league baseball.

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.....Part of the way up the hill, you will come to the old Alderson Baptist Church. This church was founded by Rev. Alderson who pioneered churches as far away as Mud River in Cabell County. It has been argued which church was the first church west of the Alleghenies. Was it the Alderson Church or the Old Rehoboth Church in Monroe County.

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.....This old church has a beautiful old cemetery. Across from the church, the old Alderson College once stood. This school was removed to Philippi where it still is active.

.....A few miles up Route 12 from Alderson, Blakers Mill once stood. Just a short distance from the highway, you cross this very old bridge. From the bridge, you can see the old mill dam.

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.....This old mill was moved to Jacksons Mills many years ago. I know that it is enjoyed at Jacksons Mills, but I wish it was still where it was built.
.....This area is famous because of a tragedy that happened July 15, 1763. Fort Arbuckle was laid seige by the Shawnee. Many settlers lere slain including Frederick Michael See. His wife and all of his children were carried into captivity. His daughter Elizabeth is said to have married Young Cornstalk. When Young Cornstalk was murdered with his father at Point Pleasant, Elizabeth returned to Lewisburg where she remarried. She eventually died in Ohio. Frederick See's great grandaughter Elizabeth was the first wofe of My Great Grandfather John Wesley Stone. Her Grandfather Michael was killed by the Indians outside of Point Pleasant.

Descendants of Frederick Michael See
																																
	1  	Frederick Michael See	b: 1710 in Schohari, N.Y.	d: July 15, 1763 in Muddy Creek, Greenbrier County, WV																												
.		+Catherine Vanderpool	b: June 30, 1725 in Albany, NY	d: 1806 in Coshocton, OH			m: 1744 in Warwick, NJ						Father: Wynant Malgertse Vanderpool	Mother: Catherine DeHooges	Immigration: Captured by Indians 1/15/1763													Immigration: Captured by Indians 1/15/1763				
	2  	Margaret See	b: 1745 in Philidelphia, PA	d: March 11, 1815 in Conesville, Coshocton County, OH																												
...		+Beriah "Little Berry" Roach					m: in Greenbrier County, VA(WV)																									
		*2nd Husband of Margaret See:																														
...		+William Robinson					m: June 06, 1762																									
	2  	Lois See	b: 1747 in Hardy County, WV						Individual Note: Captured by Indians 7/15/1763																							
...		+Greenberry Roach		d: July 15, 1763		Cause of death: killed by indians																										
		*2nd Husband of Lois See:																														
...		+Peter VanBibber					m: 1763																									
	2  	Michael See	b: 1750	d: May 26, 1792 in On Ohio River north of Point Pleasant		Cause of death: Killed by Indians			Individual Note: Captured by Indians 1/15/1763												Source: Hardesty's History of Mason County pp. 13											
...		+Elizabeth Morris	b: 1753	d: 1793			m: 1776 in Greenbrier County, VA(WV)						Father: William Morris	Mother: Elizabeth Stapp																		
	2  	Catherine See	b: February 26, 1754 in Hardy County, WV	d: April 27, 1827 in Hardy County, WV					Individual Note: Captured by Indians 7/15/1763																							
...		+James Johnson																														
		*2nd Husband of Catherine See:																														
...		+Leonard Stump	b: in Hardy County				m: 1799						Father: Hans Michael II Stump	Mother: Sarah Hughes																		
	2  	Elizabeth See	b: February 26, 1754 in Hardy County, WV	d: 1791 in Adams, OH					Individual Note: Captured by Indians 7/15/1763																							
...		+Young Chief Cornstalk																														
		*2nd Husband of Elizabeth See:																														
...		+Peter John Shoemaker					m: January 04, 1776 in Greenbrier County, VA(WV)																									
	2  	George See	b: 1755 in Moorefield, WV	d: 1835 in Warren Township, Marion, MO					Individual Note: Captured by Indians 7/15/1763																							
...		+Martha George					m: in Alderson, WV																									
		*2nd Wife of George See:																														
...		+Aarah					m: 1810 in Logan, KY																									
	2  	John See	b: October 10, 1757 in Hardy County, WV	d: January 02, 1837 in Macon, IL					Individual Note: Captured by Indians 7/15/1763																							
...		+Margaret J. Jarrett	b: 1761 in Wolfe Creek, Monroe County, VA(WV)	d: 1836 in Logansport, IN			m: September 03, 1780 in Charleston, WV						Father: David Jacob Jr. Jarrett	Mother: Jane Graham																		
	2  	Mary See	b: December 28, 1761 in Augusta County, VA	d: 1823 in Warren, OH					Individual Note: Captured by Indians 1/15/1763																							
...		+Leonard Petro					m: 1783 in Hardy County, WV																									

.....I believe that this is the old Jarrett Cemetery. It contains some very old graves. The Jarretts intermarried with the Sees, the Lowells, and many other pioneer families of the area.

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.....This is the view from the cemetery looking east toward Muddy Creek Mountain. Somewhere to the right, the massacre at Fort Arbuckle occured. You owe it to yourself to come and visit this area.