Joseph Samuel Thurmond
In the year 1845 Philip Thurmond, the father of W. D. Thurmond, moved from Amherst county and settled in Fayette county, where he spent the remainder of his life. A few years later W. D. Thurmond also came across the Alleghanies and made his residence with his father. He engaged in farming, and while plowing corn accidentally discovered the famous New River coal, and digging some of it, he took it to a blacksmith, who used it for fuel in his shop. This, it is said, was the first discovery of the now world-famed coal and the first purpose for which it was used. Today the largest coal operation in the New River field is located on the same property upon which it was first discovered. In February, 1852, W. D. Thurmond married Miss Sarah J., daughter of Charles Bibb, above mentioned, and having already purchased a farm at 50 cents per acre, To this union six children were born, viz.: James W., Mary E., Joseph S., Charles T., Lucy A. and Sarah F., the last named dying at two years of age.
At that time educational facilities were poor and the Civil war coming on about the time the older children were of school age, they were deprived of several years which should have been spent in school. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Thurmond organized a company of soldiers and became its captain. This company was composed, principally, of men from Monroe, Fayette, Raleigh and Greenbrier counties, Summers county not having been organized at that time. Acting as an independent company, but subject to orders from Gen. John F. Echols, its operations were confined mainly along the border between the two contending armies and might be termed a border patrol.
Early in the war, for some unknown reason, the commander of the Union army stationed at Fayetteville sent a squad of soldiers to Captain Thurmond's house, and forcibly ejecting Mrs. Thurmond and her six small children from the building, and throwing a few articles of furniture out, applied the torch, and in a few minutes the house was reduced to ashes. The family was removed temporarily to the home of Mrs. Thurmond's father and later to Monroe county, where they remained throughout the war and until the fall of 1870, when they returned to their old home in Fayette county.
At the close of the war Captain Thurmond was homeless and penniless, but not friendless. and he often said that had it not been for his friends his family would have suffered for the necessaries of life; but with credit extended to him and a determination to succeed, he managed to take care of his family and in his latter days to earn a competency. He died at Minden, Fayette County, May 14, 1910, in his ninetieth year.
When the building of the railroad bridge at Thurmond opened for development the vast coal fields of Loop creek, he acquired some stock in Fayette county.
Mr. Thurmond relates the following reminiscences: Just before the Civil war the newspapers were full of news about the Yankees, and his mother read to him about them so much that he formed the opinion that they were not men, but some kind of animal. Imagine his surprise to find upon seeing them that they were but common human beings. Their first appearance at his father's house was one morning when his father and several of his friends were expecting and watching for them. Great consternation was caused when the advance guard appeared in sight and every man took to his heels as fast as he could run, and the Yankees opened fire on them. To young Thurmond to shoot was to kill, and it was some time after the firing had ceased, and his father and friends were, perhaps, half a mile away and safely hidden in the woods, before he could be convinced that they were not all killed. At one time the Thurmond family lived one mile west of Alderson, on the land of Thomas Johnson, known then as the "Lane Place".
Joe and his brother, Jim, had always been anxious to see a battle, and one day, when the sound of musketry suddenly burst upon their ears, they soon realized that a fight was on down at the river where the town of Glenary now stands, so they immediately made a dash for the battlefield. They ran down the slope through a woodland as fast as they could go, and as they emerged from the woods into the open field a minnie ball struck the root of a large oak tree within a few feet of them, and others were tearing up the ground all around. Undaunted, they pressed for-ward, but a moment later they saw John T. Myles, now a citizen of Alderson, but then a soldier in Captain Thurmond's company, coming hurriedly towards them. In a loud and angry tone he ordered them to turn and run for their lives, which they did without any argument. It developed that a detachment from Captain Thurmond's company, led by Lieutenant Bibb, had attacked a company of Yankees across the river and were having a hot skirmish with them. Mr. Myles had received a severe wound in the shoulder and was retiring from the field, traveling in a direct line between them and the Yankees, and the balls which fell so close to them had been fired at him. This was near as they came to a battle, but on several occasions were close enough to hear the roar of artillery.