RUFUS FENTON LAZZELL

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 345-346
Monongalia

RUFUS FENTON LAZZELL. The Lazzell family in Mon-
ongalia County dates back to the period immediately follow-
ing the close of the Revolutionary war. The first Lazzell
was an itinerant Methodist minister as well as a farmer.
Agriculture and stock raising have claimed the energies of
all the subsequent generations, though several of the name
have achieved prominence in the professions and public
service.

The name is of French origin. Geoffrey de Lascelles
lived in the twelfth century, left his home in Normandy
and went to live in England, and was probably the ances-
tor of the English branch of the family.

In 1647 John Lasell came to Hingham, Massachusetts,
from Lincolnshire; England, and he and his wife, Eliza-
beth Gates, are the ancestors of the Lazzell family in
America. The name appears in fourteen different forms
of spelling.

Thomas Lazzell, the ancestor of the family in West Vir-
ginia. was born in Massachusetts in 1753 or 1754 and mar-
ried there about 1775 Hannah Beck, who was also born
in Massachusetts, in 1757. They settled in Casa District
of Monongalia County, at a time when Indians were hos-
tile, and when every condition was that of the savage
frontier. He was tireless and devoted as a Methodist min-
ister, and performed his work in the midst of obstacles
and dangers, and became widely known through all the
Scottish settlements of the Upper Monongahela Valley.

Their son, Thomas Lazzell, II, was born in Cass Dis-
trict in 1787 and died in 1867, at the age of eighty. He
was a man of great energy, and was known for his won-
derful leadership and versatility. He made a success of
farming, stock raising and merchandising, and came to
own 1,800 acres of land, which later was discovered to be
underlaid with heavy veins of coal. He was a class leader
and steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In poli-
tics he was a whig and later a republican, voting for
Lincoln in 1860. In 1810 he married Rebecca Bowlby,
daughter of James Bowlby and Lydia (Carhart) Bowlby,
who were also pioneers in Cass District, coming from Sus-
sex County, New Jersey.

One of the ten children of Thomas and Rebecca Lazzell
was Cornelius Carhart, who was born in Cass District in
1829, and died on the farm where he was born in 1908.
Farming and stock raising claimed the energies of his
active years. He was a man who believed in and demon-
strated in a broad sense the philosophy of economy, and
was known for his generosity, especially to those less for-
tunate than himself. In politics he was a republican, and
he was an active member of the Methodist Church.

In 1857 he married Mary Prudence Pope, who was born
in Monongalia County in 1841. She was the daughter of
Colmore and Elizabeth (McVicker) Pope, and a descendant
of Lieut.-Col. Nathaniel Pope, one of the first colonists
of Virginia. Mrs. Lazzell died in 1891. She was a woman
of marked ability and refinement. Their home was the
center of hospitality in that community. The children of
their marriage were: Rebecca E., deceased, wife of John
W. Hall; Colmore Thomas, of Morgantown, who married
Etta Ridgway; Carrie C.. wife of James A. Comley, of
Morgantown; Rufus F.; Ulysses Grant, who lives on the
old homestead in Cass District, and who married Maude
Jones; Mollie J., wife of Ulysses J. Courtney, of Morgan-
town; Flora C., who died in 1893, at the age of twenty-
one; Nora Vella, wife of A. W. Bowlby, of Morgantown;
Myrtle Matilda, wife of W. I. Reed, of Morgantown;
Nettie Blanche, an artist, who now lives at Provincetown,
Massachusetts; and Bessie Belle, wife of Arlie Ridgway,
of Morgantown.

Rufus Fenton Lazzell represents the fourth generation
of the family in West Virginia. He was born on the old
homestead in Cass District, near Maidsville, February 20,
1S64. He is of pure Colonial descent, having ancestors
among the officers and soldiers of all the early wars. As
a boy he attended the public free schools and for a time
he was a student at West Virginia University, where he
showed great ability in mathematics, but as time went on
his love for the freedom and independence of country life
led him back to his father's farm before graduating. But
soon his mathematical mind was working on real problems
which paved the way for the future. The traits that have
always distinguished the family are strong characteristics
in Mr. Lazzell: Tenacity, perseverance, temperance and
an unlimited energy, which have led to his success. On
the other hand, we find in him a keen sense for beauty,
a refinement, and a love for home. As a young man he
engaged independently in the livestock business and farm-
ing, and he has never departed altogether from agricul-
tural pursuits. He still does an extensive business in the
raising, buying and selling of livestock.

In 1897 he took up dealing in coal properties, buying
acreage coal land. In the meantime his interests have
accumulated so as to justify his friends and associates in
referring to him as a capitalist. Since 1900, Mr. Lazzell
has had his home in Morgantown, where he owns a beau-
tiful residence and other city property.

December 20. 1913, he married Wenona Elizabeth Friend,
who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, December 5 1890.
She is the daughter of Lemuel Elsworth and Lulu Gertrude
(Michael) Friend, both of whom were born and reared in
Garrett County, Maryland, but now of Morgantown. Mrs.
Lazzell is of pre-Revolutionary ancestry, being a descendant
of Capt. Andrew Friend, who fought in both the French
and Indian and Revolutionary wars.

Mr. and Mrs. Lazzell have one son, Rufus Fenton, Junior,
born July 6, 1915. Mr. Lazzell is a director in the Farmers
and Merchants Bank of Morgantown, a post he has held
for over fifteen years. He is prominent among the live-
stock men of West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsyl-
vania and a member of the Farmers' Association of West
Virginia. His business acumen has made him one of the
strong, influential and reliable men of Morgantown. His
public spirit and unselfish interests in all that pertains to
the welfare of the community have always been prominent
characteristics.



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