Place:Braxton, West Virginia, United States

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Braxton County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,447. The county seat is Sutton. The county was formed in 1836 from parts of Lewis, Kanawha, and Nicholas counties and named for Carter Braxton, a Virginia statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

In 2010, the center of population of West Virginia was in northern Braxton County.

Important salt works were located at Bulltown and here, in 1772, Captain Bull and his family and friendly Delaware Indians were massacred by frontiersmen. Jesse Hughes helped Jeremiah Carpenter track and kill the Indians responsible for the Carpenter massacre. Jeremiah was a notable fiddle player who wrote a song Shelvin’ Rock about the experience of escaping to rock shelter.

Contents

Timeline

Date Event Source
1836 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1836 Court records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1836 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1836 Marriage records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1836 Probate records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1840 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1858 Birth records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1860 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1863 Effective date for move from Virginia to West Virginia Source:Wikipedia

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1840 2,575
1850 4,212
1860 4,992
1870 6,480
1880 9,787
1890 13,928
1900 18,904
1910 23,023
1920 23,973
1930 22,579
1940 21,658
1950 18,082
1960 15,152
1970 12,666
1980 13,894
1990 12,998

History

The following excerpt was copied from History of Braxton County and Central West Virginia by John Davison Sutton, published in 1919:

Page 161 Braxton County At the time of the Revolutionary war, the territory now embraced in Braxton county belonged to the county of Augusta [Virginia], and while that grand old county was noted for its patriotism and the splendid soldiers she furnished the war, this portion of the county was yet in an unconquered wilderness. It had neither soldiers, scouts, pioneers nor hunters. While a few of the old soldiers came to the bounds of Braxton county after the war and made this their home and were buried here, yet during the Revolutionary struggle there were no white inhabitants nearer than the Monongahela valley, extending as far south and west as the present site of Clarksburg, the West Fork as far up as Hacker's creek and the Buckhannon settlement.

Page 162 At the time of the war of 1812, the territory now embraced in Braxton county belonged to the counties of Harrison and Kanawha, and was very sparsely settled, and we have no account of any organization being made up from this section.

We have received a few names of soldiers, either residents at the time or became so later. Andrew Skidmore, a soldier of the Revolution was buried in the Skidmore cemetery at Sutton; his grave is marked by a plain cut stone. Martin Delany, soldier of the Revolution, served in Penna. line, died near the mouth of Birch river in 1837. Joseph Carpenter, buried on the Westfork of Little Kanawha river. Jacob Fisher of Hardy county, Virginia, lived with William Cutlip on Holly river in 1840; was a pensioner of the Revolution. Jeremiah Carpenter, buried at Union Mills. Benjamin Carpenter was buried at the mouth of Holly river.

Research Tips

West Virginia Vital Records Online has Braxton County records.

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