|
The
story of The Ohio Company, and the history of Augusta County,
The District of West Augusta, and the three Virginia counties,
including The Lost County of Yohogania, is fascinating, and is
the subject matter of another article, on The Pennsylvania -
Virginia Boundary Controversy.
The
War for Independence was soon to take place.
Settlers in Pittsburgh, when they heard the news about
Bunker Hill, set up a committee, which on May 16, 1775 drafted a
declaration of support for their fellow colonists.
(For very colorful reading on this subject, read Leland
Baldwin's "Pittsburgh, Story of a City. 1750 - 1865")
This is commonly mistaken to be a Monongahela declaration
of independence, but it wasn't quite yet... Early on, the
colonists expressed loyalty to the king, but wanted their rights
as Englishmen. The
first flag used resembled the US flag, with thirteen red &
white stripes, but in the field where the stars would later
appear, the Union Jack. The
flag was called The Grand Union.
As
part of Virginia, we in Jefferson were in Yohogania County, and
the Yohogania County Courthouse was located on Andrew Heath's
farm, on the hilltop above present-day Lobb's Run Cemetery,
overlooking the Monongahela River to the east, the present-day
Floreffe Hotel to the South, Calamity Hollow to the west, and
the old Withers house to the
|
north.
Benjamin Custard lived about two miles from the
courthouse. His
property, Custard's Delight, has three streams, one of which
flows into Lobb's Run. His
property straddles the hillside above Ridge Road, and serves as
the divide between Lobb's Run and Peter's Creek, into which the
other two streams flow. Benjamin
appeared before the court, according to the courthouse records
(read Boyd Crumrine), five times:
once, to probate a will; once, to register the mark for
his cattle; once, to sue someone; once, to serve on a jury; and
it is mentioned once that Gentleman Justice Oliver Miller was to
swear him in as a constable.
|
| Benjamin
served in The Frontier Rangers from 1776 - 1778. According to Noah Thompson, Benjamin was a farmer, and also a
"drover," that is, he drove, or took other people's
cattle to market for them.
He was also a furniture maker, and made "fine
violins." Benjamin
and Ruth are buried at James Chapel Methodist Church, also known
as Stone Church, outside Finleyville. |