 |
Brushy Run, WV
Brushy Run, WV is an unincorporated community located on US highway 220 in Pendleton County between Upper Tract and Petersburg. Further north on rt. 220 is the community of Landes, WV, currently home to the Landes Arts Center for the Performing Arts.
That this small community and the immediate surrounding area should be 'ground-zero' for Landes/Landis family members tracing their geneological roots may be somewhat of a mystery. A good way to dive into the historical importance of the the South Branch Valley of West Virginia and what originally brought the Landes families to the Brushy Run area, is to purchase a copy of Dr. Emmert Bittinger's informative book, Allegheny Passage: Churches and Families, West Marva District, Church of the Brethren, 1752-1990.
For a very brief and greatly oversimplified summary, see:
Migration of the Landes families into the South Branch Valley of West Virginia
The original Landeses were Old Order German Baptist Brethren. That they were 'baptists' (full-emersion baptism), gave this group regionally the name, Dunkards.
There are still Brethren churches in Pendleton County today: The Smith Creek Church of the Brethren and The Friends Run Church of the Brethren. In Grant County near Landes, WV there is the Bethel Church of the Brethren. The Landeses were Brethren and this is what brought them to the South Branch Valley.
Jesse Landes (1809 - 1894) bought land in the Brushy Run area in 1846 from his aunt, Sophrona ("Fanny") -- 37 acres at $1.00 per acre ("The Flat Ridge Place"). Fanny was the sister of Jesse's father, John (b. ca 1776 - 1786; death date and location unknown). Fanny had inherited the land as the result of a court case that settled their father, Jacob's estate in 1833. After the settlement of the estate, the majority of Jacob's children, including Fanny, migrated west to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, etc. However, Jesse's father, John, stayed in the area, married twice, and fathered a total of about 13 children: 7 by his first wife, Elizabeth Peacock (of which Jesse was the oldest), and 6 by his second wife, Catherine Buckley. All of John's children mostly stayed in the greater Brushy Run / Landes area. For some, these conclusions are contraversial, but please see Ancestors of Jesse Landes.
Here is some information about Brushy Run gleaned from old copies of the West Virginia Gazetteer:
1882:
Brushy Run: A postoffice in Pendleton county, 17 miles northeast of Franklin (c h), and 200 from Wheeling. Keyser, 55 miles north on the B. & O. R. R., is the nearest railroad station. Mail, tri.-weekly. Wm. H. Bond, postmaster.
Borron Simon, distiller and hotel propr.
Landes Daniel A, general store and wagonmaker.
Porter Hiram, shoemaker.
Rexroad H, blacksmith.1892:
Brushy Run: A postoffice in Pendleton county, 16 1/2 miles northeast of Franklin C. H., and 200 from Wheeling. Keyser, 55 miles north on the B. & O. R. R., is the nearest railroad station. Edwin F. Bond, postmaster.
Alt H. A school teacher.
Armentrout S, General Store.
Bond E F, Farmer .
Bond G E & E S, live stock and poultry.
Bond J S, cooper .
Bowers J, stone mason.
Landes D A, county surveyor.
Ows George E, barber.1900:
Brushy Run: A postoffice in Pendleton county 16 1/2 miles northeast of Franklin, the county seat, and 200 from Wheeling. Keyser, 55 miles north, on the B & O. R. R, is the nearest railroad station. Telephone connection. E. F, Bond, postmaster.
Bond E F gene store.
Bowers J, stone mason.
Bowers Joseph, blacksmith.
Bowers Rev L B.
Hetzer Henry, farmer.
Holmes Charles, painter.
Holmes George W, wagonmaker.
Judy S & G, carpenters.
Kesner George W, blacksmith.
Kesner Noah, cooper.
Kile U S G, shoemaker.
Kimble George W, Farmer.
Kimble Jacob, blacksmith.
McClung Henry, school teacher.1918:
Brushy Run: Population 19. In Pendleton County, 15 miles north of Franklin, the county seat and banking point, and 14 from Petersburg, the shipping point. Telephone connection. M E Church. Stage to Keyser, Harrisonburg, Va, Petersburg and Franklin twice daily, fare $1.00. Noah Kimble, postmaster.
Alt Jacob F. undertaker.
Calhoun W C, justice of the peace.
Kimble Noah & Son, live stock.
Kimble & Calhoun, general store.
Riggleman Enoch, constable.