Richwood's first settlers lived in three log houses, says a story in
the Nicholas Republican. The story did not give their locations
or say whether they were still standing. The cabins were mentioned in
a story about an early Admiral in the Cherry River Navy. Townspeople
formed the CRN in 1937 to help promote the construction of State Route
39 between Richwood and Marlinton. The story, reprinted here, offers
another glimpse into the town's early history and a few of its residents.
From the Nicholas Republican
Richwood, West Virginia
Date: August 26, 1937
Headline: Admiral With Forty Grandchildren Here For Navy Day Events
Subhead: Came To Richwood in 1902. Helped Build First Frame House in
Richwood -- Fears Navy Worse Than Timber
J.M. "Dad" Williams, remembered by hundreds of Lumberjacks who have
roamed the hills of the Cherry and the Cranberry came to town last night.
This pioneer Richwooder is now Admiral Joseph M. Williams, C.R.N., a
title at 82 that the octogenarian fully enjoys.
The grandfather of 40 children father of nine who are all living, having
gone through 22 years of lumbering operations Williams says "The nearest
I ever came to dying was when I tried to ride a bicycle some thirty
years ago. I started down hill, the barn got in the way, I tried to
miss it, turned and went through a rail fence. Now that I'm in the Navy,
I don't know what to expect."
Williams came to Richwood in 1902 when the late Allan and Charley Spencer
lived in two of the three log houses then here with John Rutledge residing
in the other. He helped James McMillion build the first frame house
here for Spencer. Working under the late Jim Baber he drove a team and
a dirt plow making the log dam now used by the Cherry River Boom and
Lumber Co. Later on, at North Bend he served coffee and sandwiches to
people traveling to the woods, and used to console many when woods accidents
brought bodies through North Bend. In 1932 Williams retired to a farm
near Camp Caesar where he now resides. Mrs. Williams, his companion
at Richwood and through the years in the woods, died last September.
He is staying here with his grand-son, Ralph Williams.
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