Due to the activities of the Shawnee Indians, there were no settlers on Upper Paint Creek until about 1820. By that time there were well established settlements in the Kanawha Valley and the Greenbrier and Monroe areas. The Indians were pretty well shut off from this section.

One of the first to explore this region was David "Lonesome Dave" Williams. It seemed that he came on an exploring trip about the year of 1810 or 1811. No doubt he came by way of Lewisburg and followed Reed's trail from there to the Indian camp near the head waters of Paint Creek. He apparently spent quite a while looking over the country and liked what he saw. He went back to his home in Giles County, Virginia, with a strong determination to return and establish a home in this region. When he reached civilization again, he found that our country was again in war with England. He either enlisted or was drafted into the Army. Here is an interesting story as told by one of his grandsons:

While Lonesome Dave was in camp during his term in the Army, he and a number of his fellow soldiers were engaged in one of the favorite pastimes of Army boys, i.e., they were telling each other what their plans were if they lived to get out of this blankety blank Army. Most soldiers have engaged in these sessions. Lonesome Dave told the boys that when he got his discharge from the Army, he intended to go over west of the mountains to a place he had discovered, build a home, and spend the remainder of his life there. He described the place--the Indian campground and the painted trees and rocks.

Another young soldier said, "Yes, Williams, I know that territory. It all belongs to my father. You go over there, select a spot, build your cabin, and I will see that you get a deed for as much land as you want." That young fellow was a son of the land speculator, Reed.

Lonesome Dave did not get back over here for quite a while after he was discharged from the Army probably because of the Indian raids. But finally the Indians were convinced that they could not stop the whites from taking over their land and it became safe for settlers to come in and establish homes. About 1820 they began to settle up the Upper Paint Creek valley.

When Lonesome Dave came with his wife to establish their home, the site they selected for their cabin was what we now know as the Wriston farm on Maple Fork. I don't know just how long they lived at this location but in the meantime, Mr. Reed sold the Maple Fork section of his grant to another speculator, Mr. R. S. Maddy, and Dave still had no title to his place. Mr. Reed's son wanted to make good his promise to Dave so they went to see him. They told him that they had sold that section but there was a nice vacant cabin down on Paint Creek. If he would move down there, they would give him a deed to the property. Dave agreed and the move was made. This cabin was located on the lower end of what later became the Amos Williams farm, now owned by Woodrow Aliff.

Here is another interesting story: How come the vacant cabin was all ready for Lonesome Dave? It seems that there was a settlement near the mouth of Messy, the place now known as Dothan. One of the settlers at Dothan was a young man by the name of John Goode. Mr. Goode must have been like Daniel Boone--a man that liked a lot of elbow room. He decided to get out away from the other settlers and establish a home where he would not be crowded. He came up the creek looking for a site for his home and selected the spot just below where the village of Cirtsville once stood. He made a small clearing and used the logs to build his cabin. He and his wife moved in and thought he had it made. There were a couple of earlier residents that resented having Mr. Goode move into their territory and they proceeded to make their displeasure known. Those occupants were a couple of panthers. They would come to the edge of the clearing every evening at dusk and scream and howl. I have never heard the cry of a panther but I have talked to a few old settlers who have and they tell me it is a cry that will make your blood run cold. well, Mr. Goode could find no way to get rid of the panthers. When he would go out with his gun, they would slink back in the laurel and pine thicket that covered the hillside and remain quiet until he went back into the house. Then they would start their serenade again. After a few weeks of this, Mr. Goode and his wife could take it no more. They pulled up stakes and went back down to Dothan where they lived many years.

Lonesome Dave and his wife moved into Mr. Goode's cabin and spent the remainder of their lives there. As Lonesome Dave was the first permanent settler of Cirtsville, I will give as much as I know of his family history. He was a son of Jeremiah Williams who lived in Giles County, Virginia. He was a member of a family of 11 children. His wife was Mary McGriff. They were the parents of six sons: Patrick, John, Henry, Jim, Allen, and Wilson.