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181:, “He used to say that had he published the volume himself he would have made it much more complete, and better in many ways; for he was hampered, limited and hurried—often correcting proof of the early, while writing the later chapters.") Printed by Joseph Israel, the local Clarksburg newspaper publisher, the book brought Withers no profit, as Israel’s business soon foundered.
173:), which required several arduous trips on horseback. (In addition, there was a claim that the work was largely written by an early settler, William Powers , and the son of another early settler named William Hacker , and only prepared for publication by Withers. But this is according to a statement made by a grandson of Powers and has never been substantiated.)
475:. The group of ex-slaves made a series of public appearances and were photographed as part of a campaign to raise funds for public schools for freed slaves, the first of which had been established by Banks, an ardent abolitionist, in 1863. It is not known whether A.S. Withers was ever aware of this unflattering publicity, coming about a year before his death.)
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Withers's book is full of graphic accounts of massacres and reprisals. Later genealogists have appreciated the numerous references to intrepid scouts and early settlers along the frontier. Withers was somewhat dissatisfied with the final form of the published book. According to
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Disappointed, Withers traveled to
Missouri with the plan of settling and spending his remaining years there, but was likewise disappointed with that region and soon returned to Lewis County, where he again took up in farming and school teaching. (He was teacher to the future
471:, April 14, 2010. (The engraving, entitled “Emancipated Slaves, White and Colored,” depicted three adults and five children who had been brought north from Louisiana by Hanks and earlier set free by Massachusetts politician and Union Maj. Gen.
93:, despite considerable shyness when confronted with the need for public speaking. His father died when he was 21 and he took over the management of the family plantation for a time. He married Melinda Fisher in 1815 in the
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Chronicles of Border
Warfare, or, A History of the Settlement by the Whites, of north-western Virginia: and of the Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the state; with reflections, anecdotes, &c.
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Chronicles of Border
Warfare, or, A History of the Settlement by the Whites, of north-western Virginia: and of the Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the state; with reflections, anecdotes, &c.
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Chronicles of Border
Warfare, or a History of the Settlement by the Whites, of North-Western Virginia, and of the Indian Wars and Massacres in that section of the State; with Reflections, Anecdotes, &c.
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The Border
Settlers of Northwestern Virginia, from 1768 to 1795: Embracing the Life of Jesse Hughes and Other Noted Scouts of the Great Woods of the Trans-Allegheny, With notes and illustrative anecdotes
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Charley Taylor holding an
American flag. Charley was the son of Alexander Withers and one of his father's slaves. Withers sold Charley to a slave dealer and the boy was sold again in New Orleans.
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Withers was said to have been the largest slave-owner in Lewis County, owning ten or twelve slaves. Notwithstanding this, he was a
Unionist during the Civil War and served as delegate to the
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of May 1861. Withers fathered a number of children by his mulatto slave Lucy Taylor after his wife died. He subsequently sold her and at least two of the children. In an 1864 issue of
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This 1831 account of “border wars” and local tradition in “the western country”, i.e., the northwestern portion of colonial
Virginia (an area which today encompasses parts of
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A historical marker on USR 19 at the bottom of the hill near the graveyard commemorates
Withers. Several related Withers family members are also buried there.
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Withers was a son of Enoch Keene
Withers and Jennet Chinn Withers and was born at the family home, an estate known as "Green Meadows" about 6 miles from
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published a letter and printed an engraving of a photograph that included Withers's slave son, Charley Taylor, in an effort to publicize the issue of "
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56:(1831), a history of (and important primary source on) the early white settlement of western Virginia and consequent conflicts with
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Withers lived a retired, studious life until his death in 1865 at the age of 73 and was buried in a graveyard along what is now
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in 1839 in a school in Lewis County's first court house building.) Beginning in 1840, he served several years as local
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near Weston. After the death of his wife in 1853 he made his home with his eldest daughter in Parkersburg.
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157:(1794). For background material, Withers drew upon the writings of a generally reliable antiquarian,
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Clarksburg, Va.: J. Israel, 1831. (A volume of the original edition is now very rare.)
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of the 1895 reprint of his book, depicting him at about 60 years of age (c. 1852).
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of Virginia, and about 1827 moved his family to western Virginia, settling near
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Alexander Scott Withers - Author of "Chronicles of Border Warfare" – A Sketch
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Withers devoted much time to researching and writing his
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and resided on a farm he called "Thirlestane" on the
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and the family of his distinguished cousin/novelist.
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502:, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Oct., 1895), pp. 170–171.
453:Letter (and photos), Col George H. Hanks,
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211:First Wheeling Convention
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50:First Wheeling Convention
639:Historians from Virginia
463:“Honoring CHM: One Drop”
383:West Virginia: A History
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234:in Weston.
171:John Hacker
548:Categories
490:Chronicles
330:References
324:Woapalanne
269:Cincinnati
240:Chronicles
121:Authorship
99:Clarksburg
335:Citations
167:Noah Zane
75:Warrenton
64:Biography
442:Op. cit.
418:(1915),
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139:Kentucky
131:Virginia
115:Jane Lew
109:between
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292:Legacy
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111:Weston
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