North River Mills Misc. History

A young Confederate (home guard?) is standing up on Raven Rock. He looks west, and sees a cloud of dust coming (from what is now) "Thorne-town". The young fella takes off down the back side of Ice Mt. yellin', "The Yankees is comin'!" And pretty soon there is a stampede of retreating Confederates heading up Grape Ridge heading for Capon Bridge and points east-- away from the presumed blood thirsty Union horde. Major Deaver (I was told the rank was honorary, but he must have been a born leader) caught up with the retreating Rebels, slapping them with the flat of his sword. He managed to reform them, and march them back to Ice Mt. When they inspected the invaders more closely, they were not able to discern whether their sympathies were for the North or the South. But the most important discovery was that they were not soldiers-- but cows! I think Mr. Duliere published a related article in his "WV Advocate"-- maybe in the late 70's.

4/6/2016
Here is the photo of my grandparents - A.K. and Ollie Martin - atop Ice Mountain in around 1906. A.K. is the man in the middle in the white cap and black tie. Ollie is to his left.
It came from a photo album owned by my aunt, Carolyn Martin, of Warrenton, Va. I believe it was taken in the summer of 1906. A.K. and Ollie were married in January, 1907.
The other people in the party and the photographer are unknown. You are free to use the photo as you wish. It would be nice to use this attribution with it:
Albert Kuykendall (A.K.) Martin and his bride to be, Ollie Susan Loy, with friends atop Ice Mountain, Hampshire County, WV. A.K. is in the middle in white cap and black tie.
Ollie is to his left. Photographer and others in the party unknown. Date believed to be summer 1906. Hand written note on the back "Ice Mountain." Original photograph privately held by
Carolyn Martin, Warrenton, VA. Digital image 12/28/2015 by William L. Rogers, Gig Harbor, WA.
I grew up in Romney and graduated from Romney High School in 1963. My wife and I live in Gig Harbor, Washington. We have compiled an extensive genealogy of my Rogers and Martin families.
We return for about a week each summer to do further research. This year we will be arriving in Romney late at night on Saturday, May 28th. We will have five full days in Romney from Sunday,
Sincerely, Bill
William Rogers 4802 South 19th St. Tacoma, Washington 98405 Cell 253.606.6400

Bull Croston, "went to HobKirk Hill Battle Field,Camden S.C. Last month.Gustavus was in General Greene's 1st. or 2nd. Virginia battalion,they lost the battle and the British burnt Camden to the ground in 1781.I will go to ninety-six, S.C. In Feb.2016 -This is where Gustavus was captured in the June siege of 1781. I will talk to the park rangers to get more information. Hope to see ya May 7th.2016."
P.S. Found three Grandson of Gustavus in Civil war 1st Potomac Guard 1861 to 1865,I have there records,found them in Wilson Creek Battle Field,Mo. from the Ranger.

Gene Williams sent a, "photo of my grandfather, Samuel Holland Williams. His father was George Sharf Williams, mother Mary (Mendenhall) Williams. S.H. Williams ( called Holl ) was born in 1840, his homeplace was what's now the Baker farm. The old cemetery is on the ridge, the old house burned long ago.
He was a private in Co. K, 18th Va. Cavalry. He married Harriet "Ella" Taylor of Mechanicsburg, west of Romney. Their children were Nelle, Marvin, George, Phil, Dan, Paul ( my father, b. 1894 ), Gene, John and Louise.
Somewhere my cousin thinks there is a photo of my great-aunt Annie and her husband Billy Pepper.
"Country" FEBRUARY/MARCH 2001 “I’ll Fix It Tomorrow”
IF THERE’S a country procrastinator’s award, I’d like to nominate the Miller family of North River Mills, West Virginia. Here’s why...
The lock on one of their closet doors has yet to be fixed, even though it was broken by Union soldiers while searching the house during the Civil War.
The town was then part of Virginia, and the Millers’ ancestors were Confederate. They had just begun serving breakfast to a troop of Rebel soldiers when the Yankees arrived.
The Confederate soldiers retreated, and the Union troop sat down to the still-warm breakfast.
The Miller family recently sold the house to Steve and Terry Bailes. The Baileses haven’t fixed the lock, either, but they have about 135 years to go in order to match the Miller family’s record.
—Ted Kalvitis, Field Editor, Augusta, West Virginia

"Fighting Guerrillas in West Virginia", by Capt. William E. Nichols, the 153d Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War
Capt. Arthur Nichols of Wallingford, Pennsyl­vania, has made available to us some of the Civil War letters of his grandfather; William E. Nichols, describing his service in the 153d Ohio Volunteer
Infantry. Nichols was the first lieutenant of Company D of that regiment, which was called out for one hundred days to guard the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in West Virginia. He had previously served
in the 5th Cavalry, and had fought at the Battle of Shiloh. The experiences of the 153d Ohio consisted chiefly of operations against the noted Confederate partisan leader, Captain John H. McNeill.
After the war Nichols returned to New Richmond, Ohio, was married in 1868, and later was editor of the New Richmond “Independent News.” He died in 1898. —Editor SATURDAY May 21, 1864. Camp Kelley. Paw Paw Post Office, Va. I just came in from a long scouting expedition with Captain Stevens and twenty-seven volunteers. We started out on the Winchester road
and searched for bushwhackers for two days but didn’t find any. At length we went to the house of an old Rebel named Miller at North River Mills. The house was a very large one, 100 feet long and two
stories high. which we searched thoroughly without success. We ordered Miller, who was the mill owner, to get a nice breakfast for the two officers and the 27 men. He stared a little but we ordered
him to get it quick, and he called up his two daughters, wife, and Niggers and they soon had the nicest breakfast I have had since I left home. Hot biscuit, good butter, homemade molasses, corn cakes,
coffee, ham and eggs, cucumber pickles. We ate enough for 50 men.
Afterwards we set a guard then went into the parlor and slept on the floor. The next morning we thanked the women for their trouble and had Miller take us across the river in his boat. Then we went
after Mr. Hyatt, a member of the Rebel senate, whom we found out in the field bringing up his cows. When he saw us he ran like a quarter horse. We fired at him but he disappeared into the woods.
‘We took two of his horses, his bridles and saddles, and all his blankets, haversacks, and canteens, and went t to Wolford’s dis­tillery, 35 miles from our camp. We intended to impress wagons and take
all his liquor back to camp; but he hadn’t a thimbleful. We reached camp after marching seventy miles in twenty-six hours.
SUNDAY June 26. Green Spring Run. At midnight I was orderC(l to take ;tn escou’t to Ronttuey via Spring— field to meet Colonel Thompson, 6th Virgin in (U. S.) (;avalry. We were on the road l)y 3 n.m.
and marched the eight miles to Springfield without t hmtlting. After breakfast we set out for Romney. There are no U. S. forces in this country and it is infested with guerrillas. / There are 200 of
them tinder a Captain McNeill, who always stay in the area and I)ushwhilck, steal horses, and gather up small 1)arties of Federal soldiers.
We reached Romney at noon and took up our (1uarters in the ruins of the finest court house in Vir­ginia. The windows, doors, stairways, everything was broken, the building having been occupied by troops
of both armies. The inhabitants are all secesh.
At 5 p.m. the next day Col. Thompson’s advance guuitr(l ro(IC in. We came very neat- firing on them, and ( were the gladdest kind to see them. At S1)ringfield I had pressed a horse for myself to ride
and I procured horses from Col. Thompson’s cavalry for all our boys to ride back.
McNeill had heard of our being at Romney and had fixed his traps to capture us at Hanging Rocks, a place three miles from Romney where the pike runs along close to the South Branch. On the other side,
the rocks rise up 200 feet and overhang the road. But when we came so many together they didn’t deem it prudent to attack us. We were in Springfield by 9 p.m. We stopped for supper and the cavalry
(lecide(I to 51)CtId the night. With Col. Thompson’s permission I resumed the march at II p.m., for it was cooler marching at night, so my detachment arrived safely at our c:Uflj) at 2:30 in the morning.
THE next morning, after we had left, the cavalry were surprised in their camp at Springfield afl(l lost their horses and arms, and lots of them were captured. Col. Thompson’s regiment is the 6th Virginia
Mounted Infantry (US), and good fighters, l)ut they were grazing their horses at the time they were attacked, and I had to go into town to get their guns.
We have stayed in our camp all (lay, waiting and watching. Some of Thompson’s wounded are coming in, and many escaped troopers without arms or horses, some bareheaded, all tired and hungry. They’ lost
a captain, two lieutenants, and fifty-five men captured, six wounded, and one killed. They also lost 100 horses— and 100 rifles. It was McNeill’s men who surprised them.
Our captain was down at South Branch when the alarm was made. I had the long roll beat and assembled the men in our blockhouse. A thousand Rebels couldn’t have hurt us then.
JULY 6, Green Spring Run. On Sunday we received a telegram from General Kelley that the Rebels were reported, twenty thousand strong, at Mar­tinsburg. They were making a raid on the railroad. He ordered<
us at the same time to take plenty of provisions and water inside the blockhouse and de­fend it to the last, and for an infantry officer to take the dispatch on clown the road to the South Branch Bridge
two miles below this, give them the same orders and have them sent to Little Capon and oti to Paw Paw.
I took George Armicost and Mike Riley and started to South Branch. I stopped at the railroad boss’s and tol(l him I wanted a hand-car to go to South Branch. The.car was locked on a side track. He ‘said
I couldn’t have it. I told George and Mike to get an axe and unlock it, and in two mmntttes we had it on the main tt-ack and went whirling down the road. I caine back immediately after I delivered the
message and found the boys busy h)riflgiflg ifl the and five barrels of water. By sundown we were all fixed waiting for the Johnnies, as the boys called them, but they didn’t come that night.
MONDAY morning the boys waked me Ill) audi told us there was fighting (losvn at Sott tli Branch 21 house ~,f Alt-. All/Icr at NottIt River Ala/Ic.

North River Mills in the Civil War
July 3, 1864 - Skirmish, N. River Mills (No Reports.) wvcw-dyer-battles Time line WV
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The 153rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment 1864
In early July, the 153rd apparently experienced its first major taste of combat, when elements of the regiment were struck by two of Early’s cavalry brigades in separate expeditions. In the first of
these, Brigadier General John Imboden’s Northwestern Virginia Brigade2 was sent to destroy the B&O bridge over the South Branch of the Potomac at its confluence with the North Branch. Imboden left the
Valley on June 28, moving northwest toward their objective. Enroute through the North River Valley (a tributary of the Great Cacapon River), the brigade on July 3 encountered a scouting party of the
153rd under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Leeds at North River Mills (or Hammack’s Mills 3). The considerably larger Confederate forces captured 34 men and killed one officer of the 153rd–probably
of Company A under Captain Thomas Rathbone. 2.  The Northwestern Virginia Brigade during most of the period of interest was composed of the following units: 62nd Virginia Inf. Regt. (Mounted); 18th Va. Cavalry Regt.; 23rd Va. Cav. Regt.; McNeill’s Rangers; McClanahan’s Artillery Battery.
3.  There is confusion in the various sources regarding this engagement. In some sources it is referred to as North River Mills; in others as Hammack’s Mills; and in some both names are used but never
in the same listing. Hammack’s Mills was a specific industrial mill, among others, at the town of North River Mills, so it is most likely that these names are interchangeable and only one engagement was fought here.
153rd_ohio_volunteer_infantry
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ringgold Cavalry Co. North River Mills August 15, Washington County Cavalry Co. August 15, 1862 civilwararchive.com
1917-1919, 63rd United States. Army. Infantry Regiment,DEAVER, GEORGE L., North River Mills, W. Va.
Ebook: www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/63rd-united-states-army-infantry-regiment/a-history-of-the-sixty-third-us-infantry-1917-1919-tin-936.shtml
www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/63rd-united-states-army-infantry-regiment/a-history-of-the-sixty-third-us-infantry-1917-1919-tin-936/page-16-a-history-of-the-sixty-third-us-infantry-1917-1919-tin-936.shtml
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7th West Virginia Infantry Regiment
www.civilwarintheeast.com/USA/WV/WV7.php
1862, January 6-7, Expedition to Blue's Gap

From Wilmer Kerns
Yes, I have an individual picture of Henry G. Shanholtz. He married Bessie Baker. I never met him but his children have attended the Shanholtz reunion several times, especially the youngest son, Lindy
L. Shanholtz. Henry left North River Mills sometime during the Depression and died in Pennsylvania in 1943—took his family along. One of Henry’s sons was police chief in Fairfield, PA for years.
Bruce Miller told me that he remembered Henry when he lived at NRM.
I think you are right about Henry’s residence (house). The house that some refer to as Crosten’s (Audra) was owned earlier by Robert Hiett Shanholtz (1865-1935) who married Ida McDonald. The house on
the hill that some call Kump’s, was the William Shanholtz place at the turn of the century. He also had a blacksmith’s shop. NRM had a good population of Shanholtz residents at the turn of the century
and up to World War II, which changed the demography of our Nation. William Shanholtz was Steve Slonaker’s (the Commissioner) related family. Steve’s grandmother was a Shanholtz from North River Mills.
All three of these Shanholtz families were closely related. As far as I know, the Shanholtz name has disappeared from North River Mills.
P.S. Charlie Harmison’s dad was Chris Harmison (1880-1945) who married Florence Belle Shanholtz. There were more distant Shanholtz connections in NRM at that time.

From Rob Wolford, Feb. 2014
1.My great grandfather and grandmother Clark Elijah Wolford and Virginia "Virgie" Friddle - Wolford. Clark was born near North River Mills at Hoy, WV. He was the son of John William Wolford and
Margaret Shanholtzer - Wolford. Virgie was the daughter of John Francis "Frank" Friddle and Sarah Doman - Friddle who lived on Hannas Road atop South Branch Mountain. Clark was a machinist and blacksmith.
After their marriage, Clark first got work at the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad at Mount Savage, Maryland.
2. My grandfather Hetzel Clark Wolford and Eliza Margaret Baker - Wolford. They are holding their twin sons Ronald and Raymond Wolford. Ronald was my father. Hetzel was born after his parents moved to
Mount Savage,. MD. Hetzel worked many jobs in Mount Savage including blacksmithing, brickmaking, and coal mining depending what was paying the most at the time. He rarely wanted for work. He moved to
Hoy in the 50s and worked for the B&O RXR as a blacksmith and later as a metal fabricator until his death in 1967.
3. Hetzel Clark Wolford of Hoy, WV with grandchildren Patrick and Debbie Wolford.
4. Homeplace of Hetzel Wolford at Hoy, WV. This is where my dad grew up.