David Scott Turk

The Memorialists: An Antebellum History of Alleghany, Craig, and Monroe Counties of Western Virginia 1812-60 David Scott Turk

Alleghany, Craig, and Monroe Counties are located northwest of Roanoke, Virginia, and Monroe County is now part of West Virginia. As the title suggests, this book is a study of life in this region in the decades before the Civil War. It reveals "a fascinating time of carriages, turnpikes, temperance societies and political awakening. To understand the American Civil War, a good study of what caused it is required. Actually, western Virginia started to break away from the eastern portion of the state a lot earlier than the 1850s. The internal rift over the building of turnpikes, canals and railroads ensured bitterness over any slavery issue." The book reveals the development of a business and political elite in society. With business and politics came the reform movements like the idea of organized temperance societies. "Although the religious revivals in this area did much to bring movements about or even to help rationalize their need, business drove the framework." "Business was politics. Business was taverns and springs, ironworks and roads. Potts' Creek Valley in A