Campbell's Choice | Big Stone Gap Publishing

SALTVILLE IN THE CIVIL WAR

The Corporate History

There are two issues to consider when discussing Saltville during the Civil War. The first is the end of the era when the Campbell, King, and Preston families owned and ran the Salt Works. The second issue is the major military events of the Civil War itself, which bore directly upon Saltville. That these two events came at the same time caused truly a major seismic change in the community and in the Salt Works.

We have examined how the unrelated issues of the dysfunctional nature of the great owning families involved, and the economic stresses of competition from the Kanawha Salt Works presented themselves at the same time. But the developing clouds of the coming Civil War, while not comprehended by many people at the time, were seen and understood with stark clarity by one very significant man.

George Washington Palmer of New York State saw it coming. He was in the salt business in New York State, and he and a group of Northern capitalists bought out the old Salt Works from the descendants of the Prestons and Kings, and moved to Saltville in 1858. The process of purchasing the Salt Works was piece-meal, as several descendants of the original families held partial ownership. Even though bankrupt, and in the very process of selling, these grandchildren of Sarah and Francis Preston and of James King brought suit against Palmer.

The process of transfer of ownership of Saltville and of the Salt Works was completed in 1861. That year two other monumental events occurred which had a profound effect on Saltville. A great flood wiped out all but one of the salt works on the Kanawha River. Due to the second great event that happened that year, the Civil War, they were not rebuilt.

Palmer, acutely aware that he was a New York Yankee attempting to run a critical war industry in the Confederacy, realized he needed a partner with impeccable Southern credentials. He also needed connections with a strong local financial institution. He found both in the personage of William Alexander Stuart. Stuart had impeccable credentials as a FFV, with a complex ... Continue to PAGE 32

CAMPBELL'S CHOICE	Page
INTRODUCTION	1
SALTVILLE GEOLOGY	1
SALTVILLE INDIANS	4
LEGAL MECHANISMS OF LAND TITLE OWNERSHIP IN VA.	6
THE SETTLEMENT OF SALTVILLE	13
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AROUND SALTVILLE BETWEEN THE PIONEER PERIOD AND THE CIVIL WAR	27
SALTVILLE IN THE CIVIL WAR	31
AFTER THE WAR	47
A MODERN CHEMICAL FACTORY	52
EPILOGUE	57
BIBLIOGRAPHY	61
INDEX	66

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