Surnames of Pocahontas County

 

To fully understand the settlement of Pocahontas County, you have to look closely at the specific neighborhoods and geographic hubs where these families concentrated. Because the Allegheny Mountains sliced the county into distinct ridges and valleys, families stayed tightly clustered for generations, creating deeply localized pockets of family history.

Geographic Enclaves & Family Hubs

The Little Levels (Hillsboro, Academy, Mill Point)

This broad limestone valley in the southern part of the county offered some of the most fertile agricultural land in the entire Allegheny chain. It was settled early by affluent, educated Scotch-Irish families who built massive brick homesteads and permanent plantations.

• Dominant Surnames: McNeel, Beard, Caraway, Gatewood, Clark, Poage, Edgar.

• Legacy: This region became the political and cultural heart of the early county. The McNeel family, for instance, anchored the community of Academy (now Hillsboro), while the Beards and Gatewoods managed vast livestock operations.

The Upper Greenbrier & Northern Ridges (Green Bank, Dunmore, Arbovale)

The northern section of the county is higher, more rugged, and was heavily influenced by the German migration coming south out of Pendleton and Hardy counties.

• Dominant Surnames: Arbogast, Hevener, Yeager, Shinaberry, Slaven, Lantz, Widney.

• Legacy: These families were expert high-altitude farmers, clearers of timber, and rugged woodsmen. Names like Arbogast and Hevener remain entirely synonymous with the northern districts, where they established expansive mountain farms along the East and West Forks of the Greenbrier River.

The Knobs and River Bends (Marlinton, Huntersville, Buckeye)

Centered around the confluence of the Greenbrier River and Knapps Creek, this central hub served as the frontier defense line and eventual seat of government.

• Dominant Surnames: Warrick (Warwick), Friel, Cochran, Kee, Price, Barlow.

• Legacy: Huntersville was the original county seat (established in 1821) and a major staging ground for early fur traders and cattle drivers. The Warwick family held thousands of acres stretching through these central valleys, acting as a buffer against early frontier conflicts.

Deep-Dive History of Key Pioneer Families

• The McNeel Family: John McNeel, a native of Ireland, settled the Little Levels in the 1770s after serving in the frontier Indian wars. He built a vast estate and donated the land for the White Pole Meeting House. His descendants became prominent local magistrates, agricultural innovators, and school administrators, maintaining a massive civic footprint for over two centuries.

• The Arbogast Family: Originating from the Rhine Valley in Germany, Michael Arbogast settled in the mountains in the mid-1700s. The family branch pushed into northern Pocahontas County, braving the highest elevations. They were foundational to the early development of Green Bank and the surrounding valleys, mastering cold-weather mountain agriculture.

• The Warwick Family: Jacob Warwick was perhaps the most legendary stockman on the early West Virginia frontier. Operating vast herds of cattle across the high Allegheny glades, he was a key figure in logistics, supply chains, and border defense during the Revolutionary era. His name is permanently stamped onto the local geography, from historic Fort Warwick to early land grants along Knapps Creek.

The Industrial Timber Boom (1899–1930)

The face of Pocahontas County changed forever when corporate timber syndicates realized the value of the massive, untouched red spruce forests on Cheat Mountain. The construction of the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company mill at Cass and the Greenbrier River branch of the C&O Railroad brought an overnight explosion of new names.

• The Woodhicks: Thousands of men flooded the logging camps along the Cheat, Back, and Shavers mountains. Many were transient, but hundreds of English, Irish, and French-Canadian loggers stayed, marrying into old pioneer families.

• The Railroad & Mill Recruits: Operating heavy Shay locomotives up steep mountain switchbacks required immense technical skill. Specialized engineers and Italian stonemasons arrived to build the rail lines, introducing names like DiBacco, Marino, and Vance to the logging towns of Cass, Spruce, and Marlinton.

This industrial shift permanently blended the old 1700s agrarian pioneer stock with 20th-century industrial labor, forging the modern genealogical landscape of the county.

 

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Pocahontas County, West Virginia, occupies a unique place in Appalachian history. Often called the "Birthplace of Rivers" due to its high-altitude headwaters, its deep, rugged ridges and fertile valleys (like the Little Levels around Hillsboro) drew a specific mix of Scotch-Irish, English, and German pioneer families in the mid-to-late 1700s.

These early settlers braved extreme isolation, rugged terrain, and decades of border warfare to establish permanent roots along the Greenbrier River.

If you look into the historical record—such as Dr. William T. Price’s definitive 1901 text Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County—you will find several core surnames that have defined the county's genealogy, land ownership, and civic leadership for over two and a half centuries.

The Fundamental Pioneer Surnames

These are the families who arrived before or shortly after the American Revolution, anchoring communities from Marlinton and Hillsboro to Huntersville and the Williams River.

• Arbogast: A classic family of German origin that settled heavily in the northern part of the county and along the Upper Greenbrier. They were instrumental in early farming and clearing the rugged northern ridges.

• Beard: An influential family centered largely in the southern, fertile limestone soils of the "Little Levels" district. Josiah Beard was an early justice and prominent citizen when the county was formally organized in 1821.

• Burner: Of German extraction, the Burners were among the early, highly industrious agrarian families who settled the valleys and established early mills.

• Callison: A classic Scotch-Irish pioneer family that established deep roots in the county's agricultural fabric, particularly around the southern valleys.

• Cochran: Arriving in the 18th century, the Cochrans were frontiersmen and farmers who faced the brunt of early border conflicts on the Virginia frontier.

• Friel: A foundational family with deep ties to early local leadership and land management along the Greenbrier.

• Gay: Prominent early landholders and civic figures, the Gays were heavily involved in the political formation of the region and early frontier militias.

• Hevener (Hefner): Part of the early German migration into the valley, the Heveners became one of the dominant agricultural and land-owning families in the northern and central portions of the county.

• Lockridge: A legendary frontier family in the region. The Lockridges were deeply involved in defending early settlements and managing expansive early tracts of land.

• McNeel (McNeil): One of the most prominent Scotch-Irish families of the Little Levels. John McNeel was a pioneer who helped build the historic "White Pole Meeting House" (now Wesley Chapel) in Hillsboro before the Revolutionary War.

• Poage: An essential pioneer family that intermarried extensively with other early settlers. They were vast landowners and central to the civic organization of early communities.

• Sharp: Few names are as ubiquitous in Pocahontas County history as Sharp. Arriving in the mid-1700s, generations of Sharps worked the land, built early homesteads, and documented the county’s history.

• Stulting: A historic family of Dutch origin that arrived in the mid-19th century. They are famously part of the direct lineage of author Pearl S. Buck (born in Hillsboro), whose mother was a Sydenstricker and grandmother a Stulting.

• Wanless: A distinct family name heavily tied to the high-country farming communities and early timber tracts of the county.

• Warwick: A massive frontier name in the area. Jacob Warwick was a renowned early stockman, landholder, and defender of the border; Fort Warwick (near Green Bank) was an essential militia gathering point during the frontier wars.

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