The first white man to come to what is now called the town of Rupert was William McClung, better known as Captain Billie McClung. The McClungs have played a very important part in the settlement of Rupert and it's vicinity.
        The McClung family was of Scotch-Irish descent. Practically all of them were ardent Presbyterians. The first McClung to emigrate from the British Isles to America was Thomas McClung, in the year 1729. He settled near Christiana, Pennsylvania. About 1742, three McClung brothers, James, William and Hugh moved to the "Borden Grant", in Augusta County, Virginia, now Rockbridge County. A cousin, John McClung, accompanied them. Seven of John's sons later came to Greenbrier County. One of them ventured a little farther west than his brothers and came to the mouth of Big Clear Creek. This pioneer was William McClung and he is the ancestor of most of the McClungs in the Rupert area and their numerous legion.
        William McClung first came to the Rupert area in 1766, but he made no attempt to settle down at that time. Twelve years later he returned, and this was in 1778. He took up a "Tommy Hawk Entry," as it was then called, to about 10,000 acres of land, in a region of virgin forests. He erected a log cabin in the center of this grant. In 1778 there was not a mill within a hundred miles. In this cabin was born Joseph McClung, a son of William and his wife, Abigail Dickson. He was the first white child born on the waters of Meadow River. He was known as "Cranberry Joe." He was Mrs. Beulah Withrow's great-great grandfather; the date was December 20, 1779.
        Captain Billie McClung and his family were soon joined by his brothers John and Edward. Later on, other settlers poured into the vicinity of Rupert: John Boggs and John Hickman (the first to discover that the Indians were in force at Point Pleasant), Timothy Chapman, Richard Weathered, David Thompson, Daniel Graves, Charles Bivens and John Nevins. All were actual settlers in the Big Clear Creek area, and most of them were soldiers at the Battle of Point Pleasant, serving under Colonel John Stuart. John Hickman later rose to the rank of Brig. General in Tennessee. Most of the others eventually left this section to find new homes farther West.

        The first grist mill was erected by James Coggin about the year 1790; this was on Little Clear Creek near Glenco Farms on the old Doctor Jim McClung place, It was a crude structure with one run of stone cut from the neighboring mountain, Water, of course, was the source of power; a dam was built of rocks and logs to the height of three feet.
        The first saw mill was built by William McFarland in 1848, It also was located on Little Clear Creek, two miles from its mouth.

        First school was taught about the year 1793 by Colonel Arbuckle who came from Augusta County, Virginia, Fifteen young men (no girls) formed a class to obtain an education and then Obtained the services of the colonel as a teacher. School was taught in an old blockhouse near the mouth of Big Clear Creek on the land of William McClung. The first school building erected exclusively for education purposes was in the year 1800. It was a log structure 20x20 and stood on the banks of Page's Run, a branch of Otter Creek.

        The first sermon is said to have been preached by a Reverend Grigeby, an early circuit rider, in the cabin of John McClung. Rev. Grigeby was of the Presbyterian faith, as were most of the McClung settlers. But no religious organization was perfected until 1806 when the Rev. David Pennell, a Methodist preacher, formed a Sunday School class at the residence of Simon Moore at the foot of Slab Camp.
        Second church to be organized in this area by the Presbyterians under the leadership of Dr. John McElhenny about 1810. Among the members were William McClung and his wife.
        The third church was a missionary Baptist organized in 1812 (beginning of the war of 1812 with England) by Rev. John Alderson. An early Sunday School was organized an 1827 by a John Spotts.

        During the first few years of the McClung's residence the Indians were very troublesome. William had to plow with his rifle tied to his shoulder, while his wife took the children and sought refuge in one of the dense swamps in this area during the day. She returned to their cabin at night when William was at home to defend them.
        When the Shawnee Indians raided this area on their second attack on Fort Donnally (20 miles east), two white spies got through the lines and warned William McClung's family of the impending raid. He just barely was able to get across the mountain and inside the fort when the Indians attacked. The two spies were John Pryer and Phillip Hannond. They came over the mountains from the Kanawha area to Rupert to tell of the coming raid. This was in July, 1778, and the Revolutionary War was in progress. There were over two-hundred Indians in this raid who were on the warpath to avenge the death of Chief Cornstalk, who was born in Greenbrier County.   These two spies were just a few born in Greenbrier County. Those two spies were just a few hours ahead of the raiding Indians when they came through Rupert on their route to Fort Donnally at Williamsburg. Samuel McClung was wounded by the Indians, and a man by the name of Mundy and his wife were killed by the Indians in this raid. This was the last Indian outrage in Greenbrier County. After this raid, William McClung and his family returned to the Big Clear Creek, as Rupert was known then.
        Captain Billie McClung's descendants were very numerous. He used to often say that he could stand in his doorway and blow his bugle and call 200 of his descendants to breakfast. Dr. Jim McClung was a great-great grandson of this early settler.

        In his old age, William McClung used to give 100-acre tracts of land to his grandchildren for birthday presents. He gave two acres of land just east of the Rupert town limits to the Presbyterians for a church. This land came, later on, into the hands of the Baptists and the present Amwell Baptist Church is its outgrowth.
        One of Captain Billie McClung's sons was named John. He started a blacksmith shop, so they nick-named him "Black John." Another son was Andrew Hutchinson McClung. He was the first man to wear a broad-cloth suit in Western Greenbrier; so they called him "Cloth Andy." He became one of the County's leading citizens and served for 16 years as Meadow Bluff District Justice of the Peace. So his name was changed to "Squire Andy." He was also a postmaster at Big Clear Creek, the name of the first Post Office at Rupert. Many of Squire Andy's descendants still live in or near Rupert.

Other early settlers who have left many descendants and who have become prominent in educational and professional fields are the Ruperts, from whom the town gets its name; the Blacks, the Kesslers, the Cranes, the Zopps, the Walkups, the Halls, the Yoakums, the Crawfords and the Deitzs.