Capon Bridge
Founders Day Festival
History Presentations
Saturday, September 27, 2025
10:00-11:00 American Indian Burial Practices of Appalachia, Matt Howard
11:30-12:30 Ashley Creek, Chikashsha' Alhiha'at Ikmambi Ki'yo: Unconquerable Chickasaws
01:00-02:00 Capon Bridge Library, Bridges Spanning Time, Follow Up
02:30-03:30 Jim Morris, Stringed Instrument Making
04:00-05:00 Hampshire County Postal History
Visit the history area throughout the day where you will find Blacksmith, Rob Wolford, and Fort Edwards
Matthew "Maasaw" Howard is of Cherokee (Aniwodi, Red Paint Clan), Lenapi, Choctaw and Tuscarora heritage. He is a member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe. Maasaw is an Independent American Indian Field Researcher and an author. His Indigenous name “Maasaw” means “protector of sacred land.” He has located dozens of ancient Indigenous villages, ceremonial, and burial ground sites throughout the Eastern United States ranging from Canada to Virginia. After locating these sacred sites, Maasaw records these sites without disturbing them by utilizing scientific technology such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), electromagnetic testing, and LIDAR imagery. After recording these sites, he assists landowners through his non-profit company Bear Spirit Mountain, Inc. in having their land put into protective trusts to prevent any attempts from future development and destruction. He is an instructor at Shepherd University teaching classes on "American Indian Burial Practices."
4:30 - 5:30 Hampshire County Postal History
Saturday, September 27, 2025
J
After retiring from a government job in Wash., DC, Mr. Morris started playing guitar in various venues in the Metopolitan area. During this time he was also a crew member and sound man for the comedy troupe "The Capitol Steps". He and his wife moved to Hampshire Co. WV about 10 years ago. It was here that he was exposed to old time fiddle and banjo music. He researched the banjo and the banjo’s history in the United States including the many different methods and materials used in making them. Now he makes a variety of other instruments, but focuses on the banjo. He will discuss methods folks would have used in the making of stringed instruments in a pre-industrial situation using only what materials were at hand.
The presenter will talk about her dress and why it was adopted. She will give a short introduction into her Mississippian Moundbuilder ancestors, before they shifted into what became “distinctly Chickasaw.” She will discuss pre-colonial culture, encounters with Europeans, and the changes and adaptation they had to make. This includes colonial America, the birth of the United States, events leading up to Removal (Trail of Tears), Dawes Rolls and the abolition of their own identity with the formation of Oklahoma as a state in 1907. She then discusses reorganization efforts and revitalization of tribal languages. Finally, she will talk about the elders in her community, how they are revered as record-keepers, and the importance of storytelling including her ancestors’ migration story.
11:30 - 12:30 Chikashsha' Alhiha'at Ikmambi Ki'yo: Unconquerable Chickasaws, Ashley Creek*
1:00 - 2:00 The Early Years featuring the Nixon Family
10:00 - 11:00 American Indian Burial Practices of Appalachia, Matt Howard
3:00 - 4:00 Stringed Instrument Making, Jim Morris*
Len McMaster will discuss his study of post offices in Hampshire County. Having been a life-long stamp collector, when he moved to Hampshire County twenty years ago he was interested in where the post offices were located. He proceeded to visit each of them and will show photos of post offices and mail.
This session is a follow up to the book, Bridges Spanning Time, with emphasis on the Nixon family, a prominent family in the history of Capon Bridge.
*These speakers are presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily represent those of the West Virginia Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
West Virginia Humanities Council