The Property consists of two adjoining tracts of land of 4,150 and 1,350 acres, more or less, in the Elk, Malden and Cabin Creek Districts of Kanawha County on the waters of Campbell’s Creek and Kelley’s Creek of the Kanawha River and of Morris Creek and Blue Creek of the Elk River. H.C. Dickinson LLC’s Forester, John Holstine of Holstine Forestry Consultants, has marked all boundary lines shown on existing on-the-ground survey maps and maintains a serviceable internal road and bridge system to ensure annual cost-effective harvesting. The forest management plan covers twenty-nine blocks within seven compartments and follows best conservation practices for a diverse forest of many different soil types, aspects and topographic features. It continues to enhance the overall health of the hardwood stands, their sustainable growth and annual harvest revenue. Columbia Forest Products previously qualified the Property for certification according to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards which sustains economic viability, preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers. It also has been approved for participation in the voluntary carbon credits market under the American Carbon Registry (ACR) Improved Forest Management (IFM) program. The forestlands have played a significant part of the region’s local economy and beyond for over two centuries and will continue doing so under prudent stewardship
The current owner, H.C. Dickinson LLC, recalls the names of the father and grandfather of Sally Lewis Dickinson (Chase, then Todd) who was born in Charleston in 1910 and died in Richmond in 2005. Sally appreciated and supported efforts to preserve the rich heritage and history of the region. She derived her title to the Property through her father, paternal grandmother, and paternal great-grandfather. Her parents were Henry Clay Dickinson, Jr.(1871-1913) and Margaret Young (Yongue) Dickinson (1877-1940); her paternal grandparents, Henry Clay Dickinson, Sr. (1830-1871) and Sally Jane Lewis Dickinson (1836-1913); and paternal great-grandparents, John Dickinson Lewis (1800-1883) and Ann Dickinson Lewis (1818-1844). The Property was originally part of a 1798 40,000 acre patent granted by The Commonwealth of Virginia to Jacob Skyles.
John Dickinson Lewis purchased the Property in 1841 fifteen years after he had migrated to Kanawha County from Bath County. He was the grandson of Colonel John Dickinson of the Virginia border militia and veteran of the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant, a decisive engagement in the protracted series of Indian Wars. The treaty that followed was critical to the immediate safety of the early pioneer settlers and their property from the Ohio River south to the region of the Property and points beyond and along the Kanawha River and Valley. As the history of the era in the region reflects, this prospect of freedom from attack encouraged settlement by enterprising pioneers, serious industry and its resulting economic benefits. About 1795 the Ruffners of Shenandoah County arrived and after much effort perfected commercial salt production in 1808 in the Malden area. Then came the Donnallys (Greenbrier County), the Shrewsburys (Bedford County), the Dickinsons (Bedford County), and the Lewises from Bath County to play major roles in the industry. After weathering several years of a salt market glut followed by the Panic of 1819, the industry continued strong.
William Dickinson, Jr. (1772-1861) came to Kanawha County from Bedford County in 1820 at the encouragement of his Bedford business partner, Joel Shrewsbury who had come six years before to help his brothers with their pursuits. The Shrewsbury-Dickinson merchandising acumen proved effective in Kanawha and carried over to salt-making, especially distribution to the west. One of William’s daughters, Ann (1818-1844), married John Dickinson Lewis after the death of his wife. Their daughter, Sally Jane Lewis, married Henry Clay Dickinson, Sr. in 1858, and they resided in Bedford County where Henry practiced law with his father, William Dickinson, Jr. (1792-1881) until after war broke out in 1861. Sally returned to Kanawha County while Henry served in the Second Virginia Cavalry. Soon after the war’s end, Henry joined Sally in Kanawha where they attended to their young family, family business interests and then banking. In 1867 William, Jr., Henry Clay and his brother, John, joined in the incorporation of the Kanawha Valley Bank. The Bank eventually became One Valley Bank and then BB&T which recently merged with SunTrust to become Truist.
At the time of Henry’s untimely death in 1871, he was serving as Mayor of Charleston, and his loss was mourned by the whole community. He was admired and beloved by those in all stations of life who knew him for his sterling character.
By 1861 the demand for Kanawha Valley salt measurably declined for economic and political reasons. The region’s salt-makers, comprising over thirty families, nurtured the region’s steady growth of population, agriculture, mercantile and other industrial activities for at least half of the nineteenth century. These critical economic forces relied on the forestlands of the Property and neighboring lands for fuel and building material over the next two centuries, long after salt-making was eclipsed as the driving economic force. The Property and other lands in the region have never ceased producing wood products and minerals for residential, commercial and industrial purposes throughout the region and beyond.