Before we all head full-on into the Christmas and New-Year holidays, here is a brief report about my visit last June to Prickett's Fort State Park in Fairmont, West Virginia.
Captain Jacob Prickett is a direct ancestor of ours, via my mother's family. The Pricketts were early settlers in the western frontier of Virginia that would later become the state of West Virginia. These adventurous settlers braved harsh, rustic conditions and engaged mostly in farming and trade. Captain Prickett served for many years with the Virginia Militia and had fought in the French and Indian War with George Washington at Fort Necessity. As a young man, Prickett had accompanied Lawrence Washington (brother of George) in scouting local lands. Prickett also took part in the Revolutionary War.
The cemetery at Prickett's Fort
The cemetery monument for Captain Prickett and his wife Dorothy
Captain Prickett and his two brothers had a fort constructed in 1774 near the Monongahela River as a means of sheltering his family, and the families of many neighbors, from attacks by the Shawnee and other local Indians. The original fort no longer exists, but the fort's cemetery remains, and the site is preserved as a state park, with a model frontier fort and some wonderful living-history docents who provide explanations and demonstrations that do a wonderful job of transporting the imaginations of visitors into the rigors and dangers of frontier life. I highly recommend a visit to Prickett's Fort State Park to anyone who finds themselves in West Virginia!
Some views of the model fort
from the website of
the Prickett's Fort Memorial Foundation
Some dedicated living-history docents
at Prickett's Fort
The visitor's center at the fort has a wonderful library, and the staff allowed me to comb through some of its books and take notes for my genealogical studies. I'm looking forward to return visits to this wonderful site, hopefully accompanied by family members!
Annie
"Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection." -- Winston Churchill
