The Iriquios Nation surrenders all of their claims to land in the Eastern Panhandle, including present day Jefferson County, by signing the Treaty of Albany with Virginia. This treaty allowed whites to settle both to the south of the Potomac River and between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. The Iriquios tribes used the area often as a prime hunting ground. Tuscarora Indians were also present in the area and were admitted to the Iriquios Nation, creating the sixth nation.
Beginning around 1730, the Virginia government began to encourage people to settle in the valleys of "Western" Virgina. By 1832, the valley is settled mostly by German, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh pioneers.
Jefferson County, as it is today, is considered part of Berkeley County, Virginia.
The first newspaper in "West Virginia", titled The Potowmak Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser, is published by Nathaniel Willis in Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown). The paper was published from November, 1790 to January 15, 1798, however the earliest surviving issue that has been found to date is dated June 27, 1791. After ceasing to print the paper, Willis moved to Martinsburg and printed the publication, beginning April 3, 1792, under the shortened name of Potomak Guardian. Later, he changed the name yet again to Berkeley Advisor, before settling on the name Potomak Gaurdian.
See libraries that have issues of The Potowmak Gaurdian and Berkeley Advertiser.
The Shepherdstown Register reports that due to the breaking of the ice on the Potomac River, 80 to 100 feet of the old dam was washed away.
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