Jacob Alexander Buckland worked a water powered grist mill in Falls Mills Virginia. People came from miles around to mill their corn and wheat. Jacob died of pneumonia that he developed after entering the icy water of the Bluestone River in winter to repair the mill.
The Bluestone River is a tributary of the New River, 77 mi (124 km) long, in southwestern Virginia and southern WV, and it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. (Wikipedia)
It rises on East River Mountain in Tazewell Co., VA and flows generally northeastwardly through Mercer & Summers Counties in WV, passing the towns of Bluefield in Virginia and Bramwell and Montcalm in WV.
Norfolk & Western’s mainline has been planted by the Bluestone running through Falls Mills, VA and overlooking the “falls” where Jacob Buckland had his mill. As the story goes,
Jacob Alexander Buckland, November 26, 1849-November 1, 1919, Husband of Sarah Jane Tabor, Father of L.W. Buckland, Sr.
The Railroader's Daughter 