Darrell Groves is a member of the Hackers Creek Pioneer Descendants and has collected the largest and most accurate body of information on our families. He offers the following info on the first settlers' road to Orlando. I'll try to put it on a map to accompany this entry.
If you have a good maping program you can almost see the way our families migrated . . .
from Winchester to Romney/Petersburg/Moorfield through Red House, MD using the old National Trail, US Rt 50.
The would then follow US 50 west to the Cheat River near Rowlesburg, WV. (Actually, the name was McComber.)
They then could continue to Grafton, WV or turned up what is now ST Rt 72 to Etam, WV. This used to be named the Marquess/Maysville Road or Turnpike.
My guess it that those headed for the Little Kanawah took Rt 72 to Etam, WV where they went down a valley that took them through Marquess, WV to the Taylor/Preston/Barbor County lines and then to Phillipi, WV where US 250 and US 119 meet.
They probably followed the US 119/WV Rt 20 trail to Buckhannon, Upshur County. They could have followed the US 250 trail to Elkins, Randolph County. The US 250 trail through would have been more difficult, and it joined the Beverley/Morgantown Turnpike, part of which is US 219.
At Mill Creek they would have crossed the mountain and headed west on what is knownd as Stone Coal Road WV 34 or stayed on what is WV 46 and traveled to Helvitia and on to the French Creek/Rock Cave/Walkersville area.
If they went to Phillipi and followed what is now WV Rt 20 they could have traveled a less rugged trail and gone through Buckhannon to French Creek.
I know that my family took the Maysville/Marquess route because my ggguncle, owned a grist mille there and the town was name after him. His name was Isaac Taylor Marquess.
Many thanks, Darryll.
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