MARRIAGE: First marriage to Nancy Paxton/Paxon in 1755.
MARRIAGE: Second marriage to, Drusilla Springer, Abt. 5 Sep or 5 Oct 1765.
RESIDENCES: Zackquill Morgan built a stone house on his land in Berkeley County, West Virginia before moving in 1773 to the present day Rivesville, Marion County, West Virginia. In 1799, he moved to Monongalia County and founded Morgantown, West Virginia.
RELATIONSHIP:
According to Delbert Henthorn this Zacquill Morgan was from the family of
Morgans that founded Morgantown, WV.
[Note: It appears that he "was" the Zackquill Morgan who founded Morgantown, VA/WV. REH]
The Monongalia Story
Fort Morgan. Most of the details of Zackquill Morgan's life are well documented, but exactly when he built his fortified cabin in Morgantown is an open question. Sometime between 1767 and 1774, he became the first permanent settler in Morgantown, began farming and business operations on a scale large enough to have his holdings described as a "plantation" in contemporary accounts, and erected two or three homes for himself and his fellow settlers. About 1770, or possibly a year earlier, he enlarged one of these into a small stockade. Fort Morgan was about 275 feet north of the northeast corner of University Avenue and Fayette Street, about where the B'nai B'rith Hall now joins a bottling plant [1974]. It was located specifically by the late Lawrence Cox, and is remembered by many local citizens.
(Source: "The Monongalia Story, Vol. 1, by Earl Lemley Core, p. 354)
"The commissioners appointed to adjust claims to unpatented lands in the counties of Monongalia, Yohogania, and Ohio held several meetings during 1781. The first meeting of the board had been held at Redstone Old Fort in December 1779. The meeting of the Virginia commissioners at this site (now Brownsville, Pennsylvania) may have been to emphasize the claims of Virginia to the territory. At any rate, claims were approved of many settlers residing in what is not Fayette, Washington, and Greene counties, Pennsyslvania. (see Monongalia Story, vol. I, chapter VIII).
In April [1781] the board met at the mouth of Elk Creek, in a community beginning to be called Clarksburg. The place was named for the famous pioneer general George Rogers Clark. ... In October a meeting was held at the home of Samuel Lewellin and a final meeting later in the year at the home of Colonel John Evans.
The records of claims approved at these meetings have been largely presented in Vol. I of this work (pp. 156-332), in chronological order as to the recorded date of the first settlement. Several claims had no dates affixed and they
are listed below."
[Note: Two items of interest, concerning the Morgans are extracted below. REH]
- David Morgan, assignee to Zackquil Morgan, 1,000 acres by preemption, adjoining lands of Zackquil Morgan.
- Zackquil Morgan, assignee to James Stockwell, 1,000 acres by preemption, on east side of the Monongalhela River.
The War of 1812
"The War of 1812 ...quickly revived the martial spirit throughout the country and especially to the west of the Alleghenies, where the conquest of Canada was regarded as a summer excursion. Monongalia County was no exception. Volunteers rushed to enlist in the Virginia militia; as a matter of fact, most of the membership of the fifty-two companies were from western Virginia. "West Virginians fought on land and sea in all the major battles of the war."
Volunteers who enlisted at Morgantown joined county companies for muster day drill on the county drill grounds on Spruce Street, where one of the most popular drill masters was Captain Zackquill Morgan, son of the founder of Morgantown.
Three Monongalia County companies were included in a militia regiment of western Virginians commanded by Colonel Dudley Evans in the campaign of General William Henry Harrison in the northwest in 1812-13. Commanders of the three companies were Captain Jesse Ice, Captain James Morgan, and Captain Samuel Wilson. "Great hardships were often experienced in their marches. At times the men had to cut bushes to lie on at night, to keep themselves out of the water."
Captain Jesse Ice's company was composed of fifty-nine officers and privates. Captain James Morgan's company included thirty-nine officers and privates. Captain Samuel Wilson's company was the largest, being made up of seventy-two officers and privates." Among the privates in Captain Samuel Wilson's company were Henry Henthorn and Zackwell Pierpoint. They were brothers-in-law as a result of their marriages to Ridgway sisters, Sarah and Dorcas, respectively.
(Source: "The Monongalia Story," by Earl L. Core, Chapter Thirty-six: 1812 - furnished by Bill L. Yoho)
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