This cache is at the site of the newly moved monument to commemorate the birthplace of David Adam Ice. The plaque there is resting on millstones that were hewn from the facing hillside by Frederick Ice for his mill on Buffalo Creek near Barrackville, WV. Frederick (David Adam’s father) was born in Holland in 1680 and died at the incredibly ripe old age of 116 in 1796. David Adam was the youngest son of Frederick Ice and Ellinor Livingston Ice and was attributed to be the first white child born west of the Allegheny mountains in what is now WV. David Adam Ice was born August 5th, 1767 and died July 5th, 1851. He served as a Revolutionary War soldier from 1760 – 1761.
The plaque also notes that this is the site of Ice’s Ferry where George Washington crossed the Cheat River in 1784. Washington noted in his diary that “the road from “Morgan Town” to the ferry was a good one, though “the dissent of the hill to the river is rather steep and bad – and the assent from it, on the north side, is steep also, though short and may be rendered much better from the ferry.” We're sure that the truck drivers on nearby Route 68 would agree!!
This plaque was erected by the Ice Family Association August 17th, 1932. When the new bridge across the Cheat Lake was erected recently and the old one demolished, this monument was placed at the site. Although there is no “easy way” to access the area, it is fairly simple to walk to it from the suggested parking coordinates if you have on sturdy shoes and the ability to duck your head a bit.
BYOP.