Frontier Cabin Story: The Rediscovered History of a West Virginia Log Farmhouse

Book excerpt: Frontier Cabin Story is a rare architectural biography of a long-forgotten 18th-century log farmhouse in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Joseph Goss digs into the origins of his ancient home to discover its age and first owner. After months of painstaking detective work, he finds the holy grail of his search. Along the way, the author creates an enthralling story about an unknown frontier house and gives it context by weaving it into the sweep of the region's history from colonial times to the present. Colorful characters from the families of the house's earliest owners populate the story and act on the stages of the French and Indian, Revolutionary, and the Civil Wars. They even take us out to the Osage Nation in Missouri and to Mexico. The women, in particular, reveal themselves in striking detail through never-before-published personal letters from primary sources. Besides stories of the early owners, Goss uncovers tales-some humorous, some gruesome-from the lives of the farmhouse's tenants. Glimpses of slavery surface from multiple historical documents. The author recounts the physical history of the log house in generous detail, tracking changes to it over more than 230 years. This unique book features 28 illustrations, including maps, drawings, and photographs. Comprehensive footnotes substantiate the author's research. Appendices put forth deed extracts and family trees. An extensive index completes the volume. Frontier Cabin Story adds a new dimension to the investigation of little-known historical houses, not only in West Virginia but in other regions too. Goss aspires not merely to tell his venerable old house's story but to convince future owners to value and preserve it. On a larger scale, he hopes this book will inspire others to prize age-old dwellings and to listen to their voices by showing the wealth of material they too can discover about them.