West Virginia Books

In this pictorial history book the author truly captures the essence of Harper's Ferry, West Viriginia: bucolic and rustic scenery mixed with a violent past. The historic information in the captions enlighten the reader. A must-have for all those who visit or want to. A++ for entertaining and educational value. I really enjoyed the Jefferson Rock pictures as they remind me of happy family picnics.

For my guests I will have this book readily available for my day trip to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

Merritt Roe Smith's 1984 book, Harper Ferry Armory and the New Technology; the Challenge of Change, on its face chronicles the rise, existence, and demise of the national armory located at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. However there is much more to it than that.

A common understanding of American industrialization derives from the scarcity of labor. As a result, so the reasoning goes, Americans adopted and adapted to the use of machinery more willingly and with fewer problems than other places. On the contrary, during the course of his research Smith found that at Harpers Ferry, for example, this was not the case. Persistent conflict was the norm rather than harmonious progress.

Thomas Jefferson's vision of an agrarian democracy conflicted with George Washington's views as a landowner and a businessman. The "middle landscape" that Jefferson saw at Harper's Ferry was to Washington an avenue for trade and development. Washington, according to Smith, is the main force behind the Armory. Washington argued that the availability of water, the furnaces and forges nearby and because of its more secure location, Harpers Ferry should be the location of a new arsenal. Problems of transportation, remoteness, labor and "a social milieu [not] adaptable to change and regimentation"(33) contrasted sharply with the armory at Springfield, Massachusetts. Residents at Harpers Ferry saw their local priorities as more important than the armory's national purpose. Herein lies the basis for Smith's thesis:


"The story of Harpers Ferry, most notably the efforts of its inhabitants to preserve accustomed life styles and practices in the wake of accelerating technology, presents a microcosmic view of the industrial revolution which is perhaps more suggestive of America's bittersweet relationship with the machine than many historians have heretofore recognized."(21)

In expanding on his thesis, Smith discusses the development of technology in early America in relation to the rifle, the development of a factory system, machinery used in the factory, the impact of this machinery on people, the inventiveness and entrepreneurial successes and failures of people, the evolution of the "American System" of interchangeable parts, and the applicability of information and resources, including labor. Smith contrasts the Harpers Ferry and Springfield armories.

The need for national armories stemmed from the inadequacy of the contract system, which had previously furnished arms. Early on a new rifle was developed at the Harpers Ferry armory. The Model 1803 "short" rifle was unique in its aesthetics and historical significance "as the first regulation rifle to be manufactured at the government armories."(56) Its character is reflective of Pennsylvania craftsmanship derived from armorer Joseph Perkins' design and the skilled workmen he brought with him. Early gunsmiths were craftsmen who worked under the highly individualistic "task-oriented" labor system. Because of the craft traditions at the Harpers Ferry armory, armorers and supervisors, according to Smith, "found it extremely difficult to adjust to the increasingly specialized demands of industrial civilization."(67)

Another source of conflict came with the appointment of James Stubblefield as superintendent. Ostensibly in control, the War Department recognized Samuel Annin, paymaster, as senior administrator to Stubblefield. During his tenure Harpers Ferry persistently under performed in comparison to Springfield. Reasons given were the greater variety of weapons manufactured, managerial shortcomings, unhealthy conditions, craft traditions and local customs and "the baneful influence of several families who owned and controlled the town of Harper's Ferry."(76) Springfield consistently out produced Harpers Ferry and its arms were more uniform.

The "uniformity system" became the watchwords of Colonel Decius Wadsworth and his assistant and successor at the ordinance department Lt. Colonel George Bomford. At first their objective was cheaper and more uniform weapons, but ultimately the goal became the production of arms with interchangeable parts. To succeed, they realized that arsenals had to be willing to adapt and innovate. One did and the other did not. For example:

The barrel-turning lathe ultimately adopted at Springfield in 1818 consisted of a Wilkinson engine equipped with Nash's steadying supports and Dana and Olney's carriage guides. No similar mechanical synthesis occurred at Harpers Ferry. Stubblefield seemed perfectly satisfied with the unaltered version and continued to rely on it as late as 1829. (124)

For another example, Thomas Blanchard's invention of a gun stocking lathe and other inventions were thwarted by attitudes of workmen and Stubblefield's brother-in-law who resented "Yankee-notions." Smith notes that while the opening of lines of communication between the armories increasingly made available the transfer of technical knowledge to Harpers Ferry, it was not always "awaited eagerly nor accepted with enthusiasm."(139)

In addition to contrasting the Springfield and Harpers Ferry Armories on technical matters, Smith contrasts the personalities who hindered or enhanced innovation and inventiveness. Stubblefield and an oligarchy, or Junto of a few related families controlled the town of Harpers Ferry. Entrenched resistance to change and the retention of position and privilege served to perpetuate the established order. Stubblefield, like a patrician, saw himself more in a paternalistic role, than a business leader.

In stark contrast John H. Hall epitomizes the persistence and focus of an individual driven to succeed even over the objections of the Junto. The major elements of Hall's system included metal machinery, gauges, and drop forges. Not an agreeable person, he nonetheless placed the national interest over his own interest. Smith pays him the highest of compliments:

"John H. Hall stood foremost among those who combined inventiveness with entrepreneurial skill in blending men, machinery, and precision measurement methods into a workable system of production. The achievement formed the taproot of modern industrialism." (219)

Hall produced the first weapons made with interchangeable parts. Though located in Harpers Ferry, his "Rifle Works," keystone in the development of the system of interchangeable manufacturing, was a thorn in the side of the Musket Factory located on the other side of the arsenal.

The significance of Harpers Ferry, in the view of Merritt Roe Smith, comes from the understanding that a local culture opposed to technological innovation can retard growth and development. Change was not readily accepted, but instead feared. The conflict that Smith describes microscopically manifests itself macroscopically when divisions between the North and South culminated in the sacking of the armory and the relocating of its manufacturing capacity to Richmond, Virginia and Fayetteville, North Carolina during the Civil War.

Reading this book is like making a new acquaintance whom you're at first just curious about but in no time find yourself fiercely in love with. Life in small-town and hill-country Appalachia in the 50's and 60's is recounted with such humor, affection and deep understanding, and with such telling detail, that it becomes a bit of our own history. And the journey of Blair Ellen through the tumult of adolescence to the cusp of maturity is one we have all taken, regardless of time and place. This happens to be the first of a trilogy (I inadvertently read the last first with no impairment to my enjoyment) and after finishing each volume, I felt like Oliver Twist crying for more! more!`

I bought this book years ago when I first visited Reno, Nevada and Virginia City's Comstock mines. Years have passed and I'm buying again because of all the books every written on the Comstock, this book has it all. If you want to know what it really was like in those mines, read this book.

great historic overview of West Virginia's foremost Agricultural College. This book is writen by one of the finest professors at WVU.

Best of the "Big Three" of WV History. This is an important/must have Genealogical and Historical Resource, Names people and Places with many details of living conditions. It is easy reading and does not get bogged down with statistics. Clean History with a personal touch in the various family stories. This book will open many doors to further research and much is taken from personal journals.

The storied Valley of Virginia (also known as the Appalachian Valley) is bounded by the Blue Ridge on the east and, for most of its length, by the West Virginia border on the west. The Valley follows the 360-mile course of the Potomac River from about Harper's Ferry, where the Valley's width is 35 miles, to the Tennessee line in the south, where it extends in width to 100 miles. Samuel Kercheval's history of the Valley of Virginia, published originally in 1909, concentrates upon this region from 1732 through the Revolutionary War. Most of the Valley's original colonial settlers were Pennsylvanians like Joist Hite, who, with his family and sons-in-law, settled in the vicinity of Winchester, Virginia. Hite's exploits--like those of Benjamin Allen, Jacob Stoever, John and Isaac Vanmeter, and numerous others--are sketched in detail in Kercheval's meandering narrative. Also covered in substantial detail are the settlements and customs of the indigenous peoples of the region, such as the Catawbas and Delawares, whose lives were forever altered by the aforementioned newcomers.

By 1754, on the eve of the French and Indian War, German and Scotch-Irish settlement of the Valley had become so widespread as to rouse the ire of the native peoples. Indeed, the raids, massacres, and fateful conflicts that would decide future control of the Valley, such as Lord Dunmore's War, comprise fully half of the author's writings, a number of which were reconstructed from interviews with descendants of the pioneers who took part in various depredations. The balance of the work describes life on the frontier, especially housing, furniture, and diet; the establishment of towns like Strasburg, Staunton, Romney, Harper's Ferry, and Morgantown; the inception of religious denominations, topography, and natural landmarks; and medicinal springs and other remedies.

Incorporated into A History of the Valley of Virginia, it should be noted, is an early edition of Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania [1763-1783]..., by the Reverend Dr. Joseph Doddridge, which covers similar terrain. Kercheval has also included a detailed discussion of Bacon's Rebellion of the 17th century in his Introduction, and a chapter on the founding of Virginia's Northern Neck in the body of the work.

This is a great early history book on Tucker Co. WV.Check it out!!

This book was written at the turn of the century as is packed full of very interesting subject matter concerning Wetzel county, West Virginia and the surrounding area.
It covers the Jennings Gang and the little known Indian mounds that were located along the Ohio river in New Martinsville.
I highly recommend this book.

Set in America during the Civil War (and with a side look at Scotland), Horizons West by Harold G. Ross is the story of the Ross clan being caught in the national rift that precipitated years of blood and misery, turning brother against brother over questions of ideas, idealism, loyalties and politics. Written with a distinctively Old West flavor, and deftly presenting a harsh and tragic view of America's internal conflict, Horizons West is a powerful, emotional, compelling, original, and highly recommended narrative to anyone who enjoys the kind of historical novel that simply grips the reader's total attention from first page to last.