Analysis of The Greenbrier Independent Article

 

Analysis of The Greenbrier Independent Article

The Pocahontas Times reprinted an article from The Greenbrier Independent about the proposed new town of Marlinton and then fact-checked the article. The Times disagreed with several statements in the Independent article, noting that the correspondent who wrote the story for the Independent appeared to be unfamiliar with Pocahontas County.

• The Independent article stated that Marlinton was located at the junction of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C. & O) Railroad and the West Virginia and Pittsburg Railroad. The Times responded that “not a mile” of either of these railroads had “ever been built in the county”. The Times reported that the closest railroad station to Pocahontas County was about 30 miles away and that Marlinton was “the proposed junction of the two roads, when they are built”.
• The Independent article also stated that the Pocahontas County Courthouse in Huntersville had been condemned and that the county would need to construct a new courthouse. The Times disputed this statement, stating that the existing courthouse had not been condemned and that it was “better than several of the larger counties of our own state”. The Times described the courthouse as being “as good, as we know of in counties of 35,000 inhabitants”.

The Times concluded its response to the Independent article by noting that the newspaper was “always pleased to see newspaper articles of a complimentary character of our county” but did not want to publish stories that contained inaccurate information.

Other sources provide additional context:

• A correspondent for The Pocahontas Times, writing from Cheyenne, Wyoming, noted that a “private journal” kept by Arthur Lee while he was serving as Minister to France at the time of the French Revolution was housed in the National Library in Washington, D.C., along with two volumes of an original journal kept by Major General Nathanael Greene during the American Revolution. The correspondent stated that the National Library was established around 1800. According to the correspondent, the first shipment of books purchased for the library arrived in Washington from London in trunks. This information about the National Library and historical journals is not directly relevant to your query.

• The West Virginia and Pittsburg Railroad was under construction in 1891. The railroad extended from Morgantown, West Virginia, to the Virginia state line, a distance of 300 miles. One hundred and thirty miles of track had already been laid, with the line completed as far as Braxton Court House and under contract to the Gauley River.

• John T. McGraw, mentioned in the Independent article, served as Collector of Internal Revenue before resigning. The Times described McGraw’s successor, A. B. White, as a “bitter partisan” who edited a newspaper called the State Journal in Parkersburg.

• Thomas P. Crusty wrote a letter to The Manufacturers’ Record newspaper of Baltimore, Maryland, describing Marlinton as “one of the most inviting locations” he had ever seen. Crusty’s letter, reprinted in the November 5, 1891 edition of The Pocahontas Times, provided additional details about the new town of Marlinton:

  • Marlinton was located on the Greenbrier River at the junction of the West Virginia and Pittsburg Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.
  • The proposed town was originally called “Martin’s Bottom”.
  • The town site was adjacent to a “great timber and coal field” and was believed to be near deposits of iron ore.
  • Pocahontas County residents would vote on December 8, 1891, to decide whether to move the county seat to Marlinton.

• The Pocahontas Development Company, chartered in September 1891, was responsible for developing Marlinton. The company, with its principal office in Marlinton, was authorized to develop timber and coal resources, to build saw mills, shops, and houses, and to mine and ship coal. The company had an initial capitalization of $100,000 and was authorized to increase its capitalization to $500,000.

• The Times reported on October 15, 1891 that the Pocahontas County Court had agreed to put the relocation of the county seat from Huntersville to Marlinton to a vote of county residents. The court would hold the election on December 8, 1891. The newspaper published an editorial in the October 29, 1891 issue urging voters to reject the proposed move.

• The Times published a notice in the November 5, 1891 issue announcing an upcoming sale of real estate for delinquent taxes. The sale would be held in front of the Pocahontas County Courthouse on December 24, 1891.