Biographical Note

Harrison Hagans, son of George and Persis Eggleston Hagans, was born Vergennes, Vermont, on June 17, 1796. Around 1815, the Hagans family moved to what is now Preston County, West Virginia, settling permanently near what is now the community of Brandonville in 1818. Harrison Hagans married Jane McCollum (1796-1874), and the couple had eight children. Hagans became proprietor of a general store and served as president of the Greenville Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1836/1837. Around 1852, he built Virginia Furnace (also known as Muddy Creek Furnace and Josephine Furnace). He served as Brandonville's first postmaster, as a justice of the peace, and on several boards appointed to oversee local road construction projects. He was a member of the 1861 Wheeling convention, which led to the formation of the state of West Virginia, and of West Virginia state legislature in 1866/1867. Harrison Hagans died in Preston County on May 7, 1867, and was buried in Brandonville Cemetery.

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