Show spa made famous by presidents looks back over its years pioneer woman found health in f the he healing waters of white su sulphur lp ur in 1778 a suffering W white ife thoro there the me fir first summer established van buron buren springs W va in 1839 martin marfin house and it became the Favo favorite rife resort of 12 other chief executives 0 western newspaper union by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HEN the national W WHEN editorial association visits white sulphur springs W va this month for its annual convention e editors and publishers from all parts of t the he united states will participate in a week long celebration of two interesting anniversaries one of them is the one hundred sixtieth anniversary of greenbrier county and the other is the seventy fifth birthday of the state of west virginia greenbrier county Is n not 0 t only noted for having within its boundaries one of th the 0 most famous health res resorts orts in the united states but it is doubtful if any other county in any state of the union has had a more interesting history or has been visited at one time or another by more famous people the history of greenbrier country goes back to tho the days when the colony of virginia stretched from the atlantic to the mississippi river long before the revolution a settler named nicholas or nathan carpenter brought his wife kate and baby daughter frances to this part of the virginia frontier and built his log cabin not far from where a sulphur spring bubbled up tip through the ground during one of the frequent indian raids which marked the struggle between the french and english for domination over north america carpenters cabin was attacked by the red men rind and he was killed while trying to bring help from a settlement over the mountain kate and her daughter escaped only by hiding the entire day and night in the thick growth of a mountain to the cast of the spring since called katos kates mountain in memory of this heroic pioneer woman later she took her daughter to staunton where frances grew up and in 1700 1760 married michael bowyer i IV 1 I 1 r 4 t A gg 0 mi 1 THE presidents COTTAGE AT WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS it was the summer white house of presidents martin van buren john ahn tyler and millard fillmore it now houses the old white whit museum of memorabilia plo who came to bathe in its healing waters were taxed to the limit after bowyers death in 1809 the property come came into the hands of his daughter mary and her husband james caldwell a former sea merchant of baltimore who had settled in the west it was caldwell who built the first hotel a tavern of two stories with a long covered porch and became the real father of this famous health resort little van arrives during the next 50 years white sulphur springs became the favored resort of southern society but it was president martin van buren who gave it its greatest historic interest in 1839 little van came to white sulphur springs with a retinue of his fashionable friends and moved into a quaint two storied colonnaded cottage high up on a ridge just above the springs thus was wag established the first summer white house a and nd that th a t cott cottage a g C known as the presidents cottage is today one of the landmarks of 7 NN 1 W A JL 14 tl I 1 7 Z ap mr M all M M aa ilk N X M 3 9 4 THE OLD SALUTES SALUTE S THE NEW two modern belles dressed in n the crinolines crino lines of civil war times drink a toast in sulphur water to those good old days soldier S statesman ta and a leading citizen of that community acquiring title to the land inherited from his wife cifes s father and adding to it land purchased by his son bowyer became the first owner of what was later to become the famous resort of white sulphur springs for centar centuries les the indians who roamed that part oi 01 the country had known of the curative powers of the waters that bubbled from the ground at this spot but the first white person who Is known to have sought relief from bodily ills there was ek a certain mrs anderson in the spring of 1778 tills this wo man crippled with rheumatism and unable to walk was carried to the spring on a litter there her pains were washed away and she was able to walk back home and spread the news of lier her al most miraculous cure so rapidly did the fame of the place grow that in 1786 a settlement of log cabins had been built up around the spring and soon its facilities for taking care of peo the resort filled with memorabilia of other presidents who followed van burens lead the first of these was john tyler tylar who spent his honeymoon hero here after his marriage to his second wife the beautiful julia itilia gardner whom ho he met and wooed at white sulphur during the summer of 1840 after him came J james am 0 s K P polk C lk zachary taylor ma fillmore Fill franklin pierce and james buchanan to this spot also came henry clay tho the great kentuckian stephen decatur the naval hero and many another notable caldwell in 1851 and two iwo years later a new hotel destined for tamo fame as old white was begun it was completed in 1858 and started on its career as one of the most mosi famous hotels in the world in 1860 it had its first royal visitor baron renfro otherwise the gay prince of wales who later became edwarc edwall VII 0 of england eng and records concerning his visit are fragmentary for the tragedy of the approaching civil war soon cast a shadow over this gay place the civil war Is a black page in the history of white sulphur it was saved from fire but ravaged otherwise by the movements and counter movements of federal and confederate troops ono one account comes down through the years of how old white was saved from burning by a northern soldier which indicates that love of the place was strong in the hearts of northerners as well as southerners this account comes from a report made before the united states senate by senator henry dupont of delaware who was c chief h cef of artillery rt illery under the command of gen david hunter a recreant virginian returning from lynchburg in 1864 hunters troops arrived at white sulphur springs they immediately occupied the hotel and settled down for a short rest in his testimony senator dupont said 1 I heard that general hunter had ordered the place to be burned down the buildings comprised an immense hotel with rows of cottages in every direction which could accommodate several thousand people he H e then goes on to report how hi his tact saved the white from destruction knowing there was no possibility of reasoning with the destructive hunter he appealed to his sense of military strategy and pointed out that in the event of the later occupation of the country the hotel offered a s strategic trat egic spot on good roads with ample quarters for men and horses and even off offered ered advantages as a hospital if the need for one arose the logic of ills his arg argument ament decided hunter and orders were countermanded saved by a woman another name to which much credit should go for the protection of the property is that of miss emily mason in charge of the spa during tile the war as a sort of general superintendent miss mason was devoted to the place by tradition and duty and repeatedly peat edly saved it from pillage after the civil war was over white sulphur again became a favored resort of notables greatest among these was the leader of the confederate forces gen robert E lee who for three ye years ars 1867 69 lived in a comfortable little cottage in baltimore row one of the quaint cottage groups of the resort in another also lived wade hampton a fa confederate cavalryman and later governor of south carolina and several other leaders who had worn the gray visited here from time to time not only did southerners begin coming back to white sulphur once more after the war but they were joined by lenders leaders in society from the north chief executives of tile the nation again brought color and fame to the resort andrew johnson being the first in the postwar post war period and he was followed by grant chester alan arthur benjamin harrison wil liam howard taft and woodrow wilson for the next 50 years the parade of notables to old white and its successor soro the present greenbrier hotel continued it reached its climax on a november morning in 1919 from a special train stepped a young englishman li accompanied by a staff of followers it was the prince of wales later to become edward VIII and still later inter the duke of W windsor nd S or treading in the ft foot steps of ills his grandfather the prince of wales who became edward VII and who had visited this same place 59 years earlier lier |