Wills De Hass
Published: 2018-08-28
Total Pages: 298
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Those familiar with West Virginia history will recognize this book as one of the "Big Three" books on West Virginia. For those interested in West Virginia genealogy and history, Wills De Hass' 1851 book "History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia" is an unparalleled resource. Not only does it include many references to the people and places that make West Virginia history but it contains detailed conditions of life during that time. This easy to read book contains personal biographical sketches which keep the reader's attention. This book serves as a great resource also for finding other sources of research into West Virginia history. An author and speaker on archeological topics, De Hass turned to frontier history for his most famous work, History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia, which includes historical accounts of the settlement of the Ohio Valley and northwestern Virginia, the British expulsion of the French from the region, warfare between settlers and Indians prior to 1795, and biographical sketches of well-known frontiersmen. De Hass' descriptions are vivid as can be observed in his description of West Virginia pioneer women: "The women, during the whole of that long and perilous night, proved themselves heroines of no ordinary type. They stood at their posts like soldiers of a dozen campaigns, cooling and loading the rifles....No timid shrieks escaped them; no maidenly fears caused them to shrink from their self-imposed and most onerous task. Such were the pioneer mothers of the west-women whose souls and bodies were so sorely tried in the fierce fire of our Indian wars. Through the whole of that long and terrible night, without food and without rest, did these brave and noble women stand to their duty, regardless of fatigue, but nerving their hearts to the contest, and animating the men with hope and courage...the western heroines, without the eclat of female warriors, displayed more true courage throughout the long and stormy days of our Indian warfare, and exhibited more of the true spirit of heroism, than any example in ancient or modern history." About the author: Wills De Hass (1817- 1910), physician, historian and anthropologist, and Civil War soldier was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He early took interest in historical and scientific subjects and was for a time associated with the Bureau of American Ethnology. He fought in the Civil War and took a large role in the final separation and in the formation of the new government of West Virginia. De Hass was the author of a number of writings on the archeology and history of the Indians including a paper on Archaology of the Mississippi Valley. De Hass' historic work on West Virginia is a well-regarded historical source, being cited in the following modern works: * Absentee Landowning and Exploitation in West Virginia, 1760-1920, Barbara Rasmussen - 2015 * Life and Adventures of Lewis Wetzel - The Virginia Ranger, Cecil B. Hartley - 2013 * Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest, J. Roderick Heller - 2010 * American Generals of the Revolutionary War, Robert P. Broadwater - 2007 * The West Virginia encyclopedia, Ken Sullivan - 2006