CLAYTON W.Va. (Hinton News) – This week marks my 157th piece in the “A Peek Into Summers County’s Past” series. I have tried to do each week around a piece I have in my collection. This one will be a tad different. I do wish I owned these two rare early items, though.
In one of my early stories, I told the history of Clayton, W.Va., and how it earned its name when Richard Clayton, an early balloonist, got stuck in a tree after taking flight from Cincinnati, OH, Amphitheater in April 1835. He landed in the tree at about 2:30 a.m. after a 9 ½ hour flight.
You don’t see many things about Richard Clayton or referencing the history of Clayton. I do have five spoons that I have mentioned before that were made by Richard, who was an early coin silversmith in Cleveland, OH. He was also a watchmaker on top of being an “aeronaut,” better known as a “balloonist.”
The first thing is this early papier-mache box commemorating Richard Clayton’s ascent, which is an instance of rising through the air. “The first balloon ascent was in 1783.” Based on the graphics painted on the box, it must have depicted a view near the amphitheater in Cincinnati, OH.
Next is the rare antique crock jug. The description for the jug reads, “Commemorating Richard Clayton’s 1835 air balloon descent in what later became Clayton, WV. An exceptional cobalt blue slip decorated ovoid stoneware jug with a balloon ascension motif, circa 1835-55. The unique subject commemorates the historical significant 350-mile flight of Richard Clayton, who ascended from the Cincinnati, Ohio, Amphitheater in April 1835 and landed 9 ½ hours later in Monroe County, Virginia, breaking the world record for the farthest distance traveled in a balloon.”
In 1835, Monroe County was still in Virginia. This area was part of the state of Virginia until West Virginia separated in 1863. Monroe County was established in 1799 from Greenbrier County as part of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
