Editing Morgan County, West Virginia (section)

===Early European settlers===
The first English settlers in present-day Morgan County arrived during the 1730s. Because most of these early pioneers were squatters, there is no record of their names. Historians claim that the first cabin in the county was built around 1745. As word of the county's warm [[spring (hydrosphere)|springs]] spread eastward, [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]] decided that the county needed to be surveyed. In 1748, [[George Washington]], then just 16 years old, was part of the survey party that surveyed the Eastern Panhandle region for Lord Fairfax. He later returned to '''Bath''' ([[Berkeley Springs, West Virginia|Berkeley Springs]]) several times over the next several years with his half-brother, [[Lawrence Washington (1718–1752)|Lawrence]], who was ill and hoped that the warm springs might improve his health. The springs, and their rumored medicinal benefits, attracted numerous Native Americans as well as Europeans to the area.