FRANK – PLUS
During most of my fifty-eight years of living here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I have always thought that the fine little town of Franklin, in Pendleton County, just across our western border in West Virginia , was named after Benjamin Franklin. After all he was a national hero, inventor, writer, printer, diplomat, a much revered conversationalist and our first Postmaster General, and much of the area which is now West Virginia, at one time, they considered naming the state after him.
I was a bit disappointed when the editor of the Pendleton 'TIMES”,
the newsworthy weekly published in Franklin, pointed out that the name of the town was, in no way, connected to that of Old Ben.
Early residents called the community “Frankfort”, which is logical because the 160 acre for their farm surveyed by Francis and George Evick. George built a log house on the east side of the river at the South Branch river at the mouth of what is known as Evick Gap, and Francis built one near a spring which is now just in back of the Volunteer Fire Company building in downtown Franklin. That was around 1769 following a decade or so of such new towns along the western edge of the nation built to withstand the depredations of the Indians. They were often known as “forts”, I say it was a “logical” choice, because it is only natural that the house built by Francis was often thought of as Frank's Fort. Hence the town he established there was known as Frankfort.
All that changed abruptly on December 19, 1794, when an act if the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia designated the name of the town to be “Franklin”. They had , shortly before that, (in 1788) named a town in Hampshire County “Frankfort”and they didn't want two of them Also in that year of 1788 the fire c meeting in Ruddle, decided to locate the county seat on the Evick farm. Francis E Evick then laid off the site of the proposed town .It was 46-1/2 acres along the foot of a ridge above his meadows. In contrast of usual treatment, he laid the new town off in a methodical manner and that factor can be seen in the town's growth to this day.
The Virginia legislative act named gen trustees run he town,and hey took their job seriously. By Christmas 1800 they had established ordinances locally which protected property from fire, kept hogs from running at large, new ones to prevent the galloping and racing of horses through streets and alleys and many more to preserve proper order among the populace. It is recorded that George Evick sold his interest in the farm forr about 250 pound or around $800.00.and on the same day the new Sheriff bought the first building lot offered for sale - a ½ acre plot for 5 pounds or about $16.00. By 1800 the town had one hundred inhabitants.
Had yellow page directories existed at that time, the town of Franklin would have listed two general stores,, two carpenters, two shoemakers, one cabinet shop, one chair maker, three saddlers, one tailor, one hatter, one gunsmith, two tanning yards, plus two lawyers, one physician, a Temperance League Chapter and a Bible Society
There is a good book on the history of Pendleton County - written in 1910 by Oren F. Morton - in which he says: “Franklin in its present guise is one of the handsomest of the small towns of West Virginia.” It remains so today.
A.L.M. October 11, 2004 [c598wds] .
