Martha Community

to be their chief aim. C. L. Rolf died a poor man as he lost his 

possessions during the Civil War but he was a very honorable and good man. 

His wife, was a Miss Ruffner of Charleston, West Virginia, a daughter of 

Colonel Charles Ruffner. Mr. And Mrs. Rolf raised a family of five 

daughters and one son. This son, Charles Rolf, lives in Huntington, also 

several of the daughters. Mr. Rolf owned and lived on the farm now owned 

by Mr. Joe Mays. His nice home was burned with all its contents. He had a 

store and sold a great deal of merchandise. He also raised great flocks of 

sheep which he pastured on both sides of the county road from Squire 

Clay's to Barboursville, including the McKendrie and Charlie Moore farms, 

as well as the McKendrie farm now owned by C. O. Harrison. 

Mr. Rolf had a shepherd, a German whom he called Davis Morrison, who, with 

his two shepherd dogs, took care of the sheep and kept them at night in a 

large barn that stood in Squire Clay's orchard near the county road. 

The Dusenberry family was another very prominent family in this Elmwood or 

McComas District. They came from New York and settled near the mouth of 

Millbranch on the parcel of land on which Bailey Wentz now lives. This 

property belonged to Sampson Saunders and he built what was known as the 

Saunder's Mill on it. Mr. Dusenberry purchased this mill and since the 

mill has been torn down, the site is known by the older people of the 

community as the Dusenberry Dam. The mill was located just below the 

bridge across Guyan River. A dam was built at this point which caught 

sufficient water to run the mill by means of a turbine wheel. Upon several 

occasions this wheel was hindered frum running by large cat fish getting 

in at night through the water race or channel. The writer saw one that 

came out of the wheel that weighed 98 pounds. Two men were carrying it on 

a pole run through its gills. 

Guyan River was locked and dammed in the early fifties by the United 

States Government for navigation purposes. Two steamboats plied this river 

from Guyandotte to the falls of Guyan near the mouth of Four-mile Creek 

where the town of Hadley now stands. Coal and farm products were shipped 

by these boats, to Major and Louisa. How the geese and ducks paddled for 

the bank when the boats passed! The Civil War stopped this traffic which 

was never resumed. Later the push boat took the place of the steam boats. 

These boats did a great business for years until the Guyandotte Valley 

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