Notes for: Ephraim Bee
Ephraim Bee played a prominent role in the establishment and early development of Doddridge County and West Union. He was born in Salem, New Jersey, on December 26, 1802, and he died in Doddridge County at Cabin Run on October 23, 1888. His parents were Asa Bee and Rhoda Cox. His father was a Revolutionary War soldier and a Seventh Day Baptist preacher. His family moved to western Virginia when he was nineteen years old, staying briefly in Preston and Taylor Counties before settling in Salem, Harrison County.
Two years later, Ephraim married Catharine Davis in Salem. In 1828, they built a log home on Meathouse Fork of Middle Island Creek, now West Union. They also built an inn at Lewisport (now West Union) below the blockhouse on the Northwestern Turnpike. It became a very popular stop for travelers and locals alike. One of those travelers was Joseph H. Diss Debar, designer of the West Virginia State Seal. He wrote of the excellent quality of food, saying that he had a smoking hot dinner of boiled ham, greens, mashed potatoes, dried peach pie and store tea, all of a quality to be gratefully remembered. When he settled his bill and learned that the proprietor's name was Bee and observing the number of children playing about, he said that it had never before been his pleasure to dine in a "Bee Hive." For years afterwards, the inn was known by that name.
It is likely that the Beehive Inn was the location referred to by the "Richmond (Va.) Enquirer" in an article on Mar 27 1840 summarizing recent acts passed by the Virginia Legislature: "180. An act to change the place of holding a separate election in the county of Botetourt, and one in the county of Harrison; to be held in Botetourt at the Hobhouse hotel in the town of Buchanan, and in Harrison at the house of Ephraim Bee in the town of Lewisport."
Ephraim and Catharine had ten children. When Catharine died in 1852, she was buried in the then-Lewisport section of West Union in the cemetery of the Seventh Day Baptist Church, of which she and Ephraim were members. That SDB cemetery is now part of what has become known as the Blockhouse Hill Cemetery. The following year Ephraim married Mary Melissa "Polly" Welch, who bore him seven more children. Their grave is at Cabin Run Cemetery, near Oxford Road in Doddridge County. Ephraim's descendants are still plentiful in Doddridge and surrounding counties.
Ephraim Bee was a blacksmith by trade. For 35 years, he had a blacksmith shop near the present-day railroad bridge in West Union, making everything from guns to cowbells to augurs. The first bridge across Middle Island Creek was of hewed logs with a center abutment of stones. In the great flood of 1835 it was washed away. In 1842 a contract was awarded to build a new covered bridge. Ephraim Bee at that time had a hotel and blacksmith shop on what is now known as Blockhouse Hill. He made all the bolts and bands for the bridge, which was completed in 1843 and stood for the next 107 years as one of the town's most prominent features, until destroyed in the Great Flood of 1950. Even now, its memory remains a source of pride to the local citizens.
In addition to his primary business, Ephraim also established a farm, stables, tannery and a horseracing track to enhance his income. He also served as postmaster and magistrate. A shrewd land speculator, he owned about 40,000 acres of land.
At the age of 60, Ephraim Bee was a Captain of the Doddridge County Militia, which protected the area from roving Confederate forces, horse thieves and outlaws. Along with Luke Jaco, he was a key member of the Underground Railroad, helping to hide slaves in Jaco Cave on their flight for freedom.
http://www.urrfreepress.com/index_files/2009_Survey_Report.pdf
In 1863, with the formation of the new state of West Virginia, Ephraim was elected to represent Doddridge County in the legislature at Wheeling, the first capital. When a daughter was born to him on January 1st of that year, the same day that President Lincoln announced the statehood proclamation, Ephraim proudly named her West Virginia Bee. He was re-elected to two more terms and was thus instrumental in the formulation of the new state's first laws.
Another contest that Ephraim won was being named the Ugliest Man in the State of West Virginia. For that victory, he was awarded a beautiful pocket knife. However, he was forced to relinquish it a few years later when the State found a man whom it deemed to be even uglier.
According to H. H. Hardesty's History of Doddridge County, "To the people of Central West Virginia, Ephraim Bee was a personage combining the qualities of a shrewd wit and love of fun, with a keen eye for value in a horse-trade or a deal in land. To the younger generation he has become something of a legend, so great and widespread was his fame." Ephraim had a reputation as a great story teller and practical joker. Hardesty wrote: "Lincoln & Bee had more in common than a sense of humor. They were both long, lean and lanky and with faces that could not be termed handsome by their dearest and closest friends. They were saved from ugliness by a sense of humor and softened, kindly eyes that lit up and redeemed an otherwise unprepossessing appearance."
"Along this line of having fun, Ephraim established a secret order of his own, called E. Clampus Vitus and with a ritual similar to existing orders. His goal was to produce a grin where only a grouch had flourished. This order had quite a success, too lengthy to describe here. It was started at West Union perhaps as early as 1850. By 1853 it was being introduced to other towns and had won a very considerable following of zealous members." A report of the activities was recorded in the Weston Herald for Nov. 28, 1953. ECV has grown to become an active fraternal organization throughout the nation, particularly in the western states.
A news item in the West Union Record in 1885 stated that "Honorable Ephraim Bee, one of the first settlers in this area & now an old & respected citizen of this county, is dangerously ill at his home on Cabin Run." He died on October 23, 1888 at age 86, and was buried at Cabin Run Cemetery.
http://www.doddridgecountyheritageguild.com/ephraim-bee-e-clampus-vitus
http://www.wvculture.org/history/sesquicentennial/biobeeephraim.html
https://sites.google.com/site/researchingfamilies/story-of-ephraim-bee
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvdoddri/who/bee.htm
http://www.ephraimsclampingvipers.com/
http://www.ecv5917.com/
http://www.ecv5917.com/PDF%20files/DarlingsECV.pdf
http://www.mountaincharlie1850.org/west_virginia_ecv.html
http://www.eclampusvitus.com/a-little-more-ecv-history.html
http://www.eclampusvitus.com/additional-ecv-history.html