History of Lost River Community

              HISTORY OF LOST R I W CONMUNITY
Hardy County, West Virginia
BRIEY HISTORY OF EARYL TIYES IN LOST RIVXR COMD, fUNITY
By F. H. Chrisman.
Tho first permanent eettletmont i n thim community was made about the yea
1750, The grants So tho first r o t t l o r r bear datar from 1748 to 1755. Tho
grants were survoyod by George Warhington i n 1748 ( rhon he war rixtoon yea
vrs old) for Lord rairfax rho had rocoirod a grant from tho king of lbgland
: for a11 of tho noethorn neck of Virginia. Errch t r a c t ram rupporod to oon-
' t a i n about 400 acror and wae loarod to tho r o t t l o r r for tho oonridoration
' of on0 r h i l l i n g r t o r l i n @ per year for oaeh f i f t y acror and ro proportiona3e-l
y for a greator or l o s s quanitity. frr 1785 tho L w i s l a t u r o of Virginia
E aesed an act which among other provirionr contained tho fol1owing;~ And
e it further onactod t h a t tho lrndholderr within tho said d i r t r i c t of tho
nobUlorn & wok ahall bo fororer baroaftar oxonoratod and dirchargod from
empodti08 Plrd quit--, tsw, euu- tm or umuuge, to the contrary
no t w i thr tanding. a
Captain Jacob Chriaman, born in 1730. ( wb. 0 mother war a dsughtor of
Joimt Hite who came from York, Pumaylrmia in the yaar 1732 and mettlod a)
b ~ u fti ve milor mouth of Winohestor, Virginia) rith raveral othor man fol-lowod
a band of Indians who had k i l l e d aomo r o t t l o t . of the Shonandoah Val-ley
and taken romo prironors acroor the Horth Mountain, Arriviag at Rock
Bridge now tho r t a t o Botradary on tho north Mountain a f t o r dark. Captain
Chrisman sighted the Indian'r Camp Piro near tho top of Branch Mountain
and came to their camp j u r t before dam. He rurprirod than and afber k i l l 1
n& throe of t h e i r number and rocovoring tha p r i W o r r , returned to thir
valley and docidod to take a loose whioh ho did i n 183. Tho patent callm
,$ or a t r a c t fo 425 acres of land on l o s t River of Caca on, patented to
Jacob C h r i ~ l a n , Jr., by Lord P a i r f a r , = optember 13, 1k3.
L Tradition ham it Indianr often made trouble for tho early r o t t l o r s
of our l i t t l e valley. One etory i e told of two men being eurprirad whilo
' matching a doar l i c k . One man had climbed a troo; him dog having followed
, ' h i s track and l a i d at the foot of tho troe. When Lovon Indioar oame to tho
spring for water tho dog barked whioh caurod tho Indiana to look up in tho
' 8" . They k i l l e d and ro13pod thia, man while his companion r i t t i n g in an-her
t r e e a f r a i d to shoot at ro many enemiee smcapod.
! A family nmod mrwioks l i v i n g near the old Indian Trail that crorsed
the valley on tho lande nor ornod by the Harpera were surprirod by the In-dieea
mhe all while tho men woro away froui
home. Several rc~ aoa and on0 child wero k i l l o d while on0 11 t t l o g i r l was
carried away, When ah8 grow up rho married an Indian ond brought h i m back
o her old homo. On0 day he rent hunting w i t h her brothers on tho L i t t l e H 3rc e, but never r o t u r n d .
Tho only f o r t in this v i c i n i t y wae a tamall block houro near the r i v e r
on the l i n e betwoon the Chriaman and Xood Farms. The l a r g e r f o r t e on Lost
River were Ruddlo'r Port on the old Inrkeep place whore a man dhermer wae
k i l l e d and Warden's Tort whore Wm. Warden the anoestor of the present owner
Wul. II Warded and a Mr. Toft wore k i l l e d and the f o r t burned.
. Tho Wardens who s e t t l e d and the farm now owned by W h , , H. Warden were
LBresbyterians; the Millers and Bakers ( the l s t t e r family being the first
rpemarient s e t t l e r e a t ~ aker) were Baptiste. Anthony Xill. er, a Bnpti st,
T@# edtd one acre of land, probabby about 1836, j o i n t l y t o the Baptimte and
Pre, sbyterians am a s i t e f o r the f i r s t church i n the Lost River Valley.
T9e people of the community b u i l t the log Church which r t i l l rtandls and is
now used by the Union Tanning Company for a store room.