History of Ritchie County
The following is taken from the book "History of Ritchie
County" written by Minnie Kendall Lowther, and published in 1910.
Transcribed by Janet Waite.

Chapter VII
South Fork Settlers---Continued

Preston Zinn, brother of Manly, was the first settler at Berea, on the Ezekial Bee farm. He,
with his wife, Mrs. Nancy Rogers Zinn, came from Preston county, in 1849, and erected his cabin
almost on the very site that is now marked by the residence of Minter Fos; and from here he
removed to the J. E. Meathrell farm, where he came to his death by the "kick" of a plow.

After he was laid away in the Pine Grove cemetery, his family went to Illinois and there, and
in California, thy now reside.

His children were ten in number; viz., Mrs. Elizabeth Kuhn, the late Mrs. Angelina (David)
Clayton, the late Mrs. Adaline (Ishmael) Clayton, Thomas, Ginevera, Perdilla, Biba, Elendar,
Phedora, and Ruth but several of the last ones named died in childhood.

Thomas D. Pritchard, also came to Berea this same year -1849- and erected his dwelling where
the J. M. Meredith residence now stands - (formerly the Job Meredith); and, from here, he
removed to Slab creek - to the farm that his son, T. T. Pritchard recently sold to Samuel
Haddox. Here he continued to reside until a short time before his death, when he went to Lewis
county, and there, at Gaston, he lies at rest.

He was born in Monongalia county, on February 25, 1818, and was the son of Thomas, senior, and
Mary Moody Pritchard.  On February 11, 1843, he was married to Miss Mary Lowther, daughter of
Major Elias Lowther and sister of Johathan Lowther, of Berea, and six children were the result
of this union:  Rebecca, Siala and Mary died in childhood, and beside their mother they rest on
the old homestead on Slab creek. T. T. resides at Hyattsville, Wyoming; Elias R., in Roane
county; and Jerusha, at _____________-.

Alexander Ireland. - Near the year 1818, Alexander Ireland, senior, with his family came from
the vicintiy of Clarksburg and settled just above the mouth of Otterslide, on the farm that was
formerly designated as the "Joshua Davis" - now a part of the Flannagan, homestead.  Here he
remained until some time in the early thirties when he removed to Tyler county, where he passed
from earth on July 18, 1843, at the age of seventy-one years.

Mr. Ireland was a native of Maryland, and with his father, William Ireland, who was, also, a
Maryland product, migrated to Harrison county in his boyhood. Little else is known of his early
family ties other than that he had one half-sister, who became Mrs. Sheets, and that his father
died near Clarksburg.

His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Ragan Ireland, was of German lineage - the daughter of a Revolutionary
soldier. She was born at West Milford in 1771, and died at her home in Tyler county, on
September 7, 1855, at the age of eighty-four years.

They were the parents of the following named sons and daughters whose posterity are scattered
throughout the Union:

John, Jacob, Thomas, Jonathan, Jesse, Alexander, William, Mary, Eliza, Sarah, Margaret, and
Priscilla Ireland. All of whom have passed on leaving families except Jacob, who married Miss
Martha Wells and died childless, at his home in Tyler county.

John first married Miss Agnes Maxwell, and his second wife was Miss Amy Joseph.  Mary became
Mrs. Robert Doak, and Eliza married Alexander Doak, and all lived and died in Tyler county,
where many of their descendants reside.

Thomas and Sarah, who was the wife of Alexander Lowther, of Oxford, lived and died in Ritchie
county. (See other chapters.)

Johathan (married Jane Rose), Jesse (Sarah Wells), Alexander (Sarah Bond), William (________),
Margaret (Thomas Bond), and Priscilla (William Wells), and all went West.

The Ireland ancestral line is not traceable to the land beyond the sea, as are many of the
other pioneer lineages, but a very interesting legend as to the origin of this family in
America has been handed down by tradition of generations; and although its authenticity cannot
be verified, it is given credence by some and will, doubtless, add interest here:

A lad whose parents had evidently been "lost on the deep", and whose name and history were
unknown, grew up on board a ship at sea, and as his appearance suggested the Irish nationality,
he was called "Ireland" for the want of a better name.

On one occasion, when this lad had reached manhood's estate, the vessel which had so long been
his home lay at anchor in a harbor on the eastern coast of the United States, and he decided,
for the first time, to venture on shore, and being so delighted with the land, could not be
induced to return to the ship, and thus America became the home of his adoption. He married and
from him Alexander Ireland is said to have descended.

Circumstances point to the fact that this family are connected to other families of the name in
the United States who can trace thier ancestry to the land across the water, but this connection
has not been made clear, however. And this little tradition still retains its former weight and
interest.

Dr. William R. Lowther. - The late Dr. William R. Lowther was the first settler at the mouth of
Turtle run, on the farm that is now owned by Edward J. Lowther.

He was born near West Milford, in Harrison county, in 1809, and with his wife, Mrs. Sarah
Randall Lowther, of Ohio, came here in 1838. Here Mrs. Lowther and their infant child passed
away; and some time after, he married Miss Sarah Ann Ayres, daughter of Daniel Ayres, and sister
of John B. Ayres; and resided on the Ayres - now McNeill - homestead, near Smithville for a
short time, before removing to the Holbrook vicinity where he made the first improvement on the
Thomas Griffin farm. He finally removed to Mt. Zion where his dauther, Mrs. Margaret Glover now
lives, and from here he crossed to the other side in 1881, and at Pullman he lies at rest.

Mrs. Lowther, who surveved him by several years, rests at his side.

Dr. Lowther was a very successful physician, a schoolteacher of merit, and a man of more than
ordinary talent.

His children - all of the second marriage - are as follows:

Mrs. Hannah E. Parker (widow of Frank Parker), Mrs. Orvilla (J. H.) Nichols, and George W.
Lowther (ex-mayor of Grafton), all of Grafton; Mrs. Margaret (Taylor) Glover, Miss Sarah Ann
Lowther, D. A., and D. S. Lowther, all of Mt. Zion; and John A. Lowther, of Arkansas.

William B. Lowther. - In 1840, William B. Lowther, father of Dr. William R., with his wife,
Mrs. Margaret Coburn Lowther, and their family, came from his native Harrison county, and
succeeded his son on the Edward J. Lowther farm, at the mouth of Turtle run. Here the remainder
of his life was spent, and in the Pullman churchyard by the side of his wife, he lies at rest.

He was the son of Robert, the eldest son of Col. William and his children are as follows:

James R., Edward J., and Mrs. Mandane (Robert) Wilson, Pullman; Mrs. Rosetta (Granville) Zinn, 
of Harrisville, who lately celebrated her nintieth birthday; the late Dr. William R., Napoleon,
Mrs. Juliet (Wm. S.) Wilson, and Misses Julia and Rebecca Lowther, all of this county, who have
joined the throng over there; and Lemuel of Michigan.

Elias Lowther, the youngest son of Col. William, whose history will be found in and earlier
chapter, came from West Milford in 1820, and erected the first cabin on the Zimri Flannagan
farm, above Berea.

William J. Lowther, son of Jesse, and grandson of Col. William, was the pioneer on the Bee farm
at Oxford, near the year 1825.

He married his cousin, Mary Lowther, daughter of Robert, the eldest son of Col. William, and
within the bounds of this county, at some unknown point, he and his wife sleep.

He was the father of the Rev. Perry Lowther a late Minister of the West Virginia Methodist
Protestant conference; of Henderson Lowther and several other children whose names are not at
hand.

The Wilsons. - The year 1828, brought Archibald Wilson with his family from Harrison - now
Taylor - county, to the Broadwater farm near Oxford.

Mr. Wilson was a native of Randolph county, he having been born near Beverly, in 1801. Near the
year 1825, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hudkins, daughter of Barton Hudkins, of Simpsons
creek, Taylor county; and after spending the first years of his married life there, he came to
Oxford, and ten years later, changed his place of residence to the Edmond Taylor farm, at the
mouth of Lynn Camp, on the North fork of Hughes river, where his life came to a close in 1866.

His remains filled the first grave that was made in the U.B. church cemetery at Pennsboro, he
having been interested in the erection of this church at the time of his death.

He was a man of marked ability, and was one of the prominent citizens of his day in state
affairs. He was a school-teacher, and was the first county surveyor. He served as a member of
the first Constitutional convention of the State and was the first individual to suggest that
the counties be divided into districts for educational purposes; and was the author of the
resolution making such provisions, which, though, perhaps somewhat altered, became clause of
the Constitution.

His wife died in 1892, at the age of eighty-three years, and was laid by his side.

Their children were as follows:

Mrs. Temperance (T. W.) Ireland, Morgantown; Mrs. Josephine (Jesse) Hammond, Portsmouth, Ohio;
W. S. Wilson, Texas; Mrs. Eveline (Smith) Bee, Mrs. Love (Alex) Prunty, the late Mrs. Elizabeth
(C. M.) Collins, J. M., Bazil H., the late H. N., A. B., Barton H., and L. P., all of this
county. The last four have all passed on.

John Wilson. - Along with Archibald Wilson came his brother, John Wilson, who was then a single
man, but who married Miss Charlotte Dotson, of Tollgate, a little later, and settled in
Doddridge county for a short time, before removing to Lynn Camp, where he made the pioneer
settlement on the James Tucker farm, where he passed from earth.

His family consisted of seven daughters and two sons; viz., Eda, who married Calvin Haynes;
Eliza, who was Mrs. Jehu Shinn; Almire, Mrs. David Hogue; and Angeline, Retta, Francis, and
another daughter; Jasper went west; and Blackburn was killed by a log at the old home.

Wilson Ancestry. - The Wislons have a remarkably interesting ancestral line.  One, which, in
part, belongs to National History. They are of Scotch-Irish descent. Their antecessor, William
Wilson, was born in Ireland, on November 16, 1722. He was the son of Davis Wilson, and the
grandson of David Davis Wilson, of Scotland. He married Miss Elizabeth Blackburn, who was also
a native of "Old Erin",: she having been born on February 2, 1725; and near the year 1755, they
came to America, and settled in Shenandoah county, Virginia. Here, Mr. Wilson died on June 12,
1801, and his wife on September 2, 1806.

They were the parents of eleven children, four of whom were born before they crossed the sea:

 1. Benjamin born November 30, 1747.
 2. Archibald born June 13, 1749.
 3. David born September 8, 1751.
 4. William born February 8, 1854.
 5. John born April 12, 1756.
 6. Moses born May 1, 1758 and died in 1760.
 7. Moses, 2nd born April 8, 1761.
 8. James born July 25, 1763.
 9. Solomon born July 2, 1766.
10. Elizabeth (twin) born July 2, 1766.
11. Margaret born April 7, 1768.

John Wilson, the fifth son, and the first one born in America, was a native of Shenandoah
county, Virginia. He married Miss Mary Wathin, a French maiden, and from him the Ritchie county
branch of the family is descended. He being the father of Archibald, John, and Mrs. Dorcas
(Augustus) Modisette, of this county; Blackburn, of Walker; Mrs. Temperance (Moses) Thompson,
Harrison county; and Mrs. Mary (G. W.) Shinn, Doddridge county.

He (John Wilson) lived and died at Beverly in Randolph county, where he served as clerk of the
County court for more than thirty years. He was engaged in a desperate Indian fight at Wheeling
when he was a lad of eighteen years, and was severely wounded.

His final resting place is at Beverly.

Benjamin Wilson. - Benjamin Wilson, the eldest son of William and Elizabeth Blackburn Wilson,
who, as before stated, was born in Ireland, on November 30, 1747, was not only a man of great
ability and prominence, but he had the most remarkable progeny that has come under our notice
since the days of the ancient patriarchs, he being the father of thirty children.

On September 4, 1770, he was married to Miss Anne Ruddel, who was born on September 20, 1754,
and twelve children were the result of this union. On June 18, 1795, the mother passed on; and
on December 15, 1795, he married Miss Phebe Davidson, who was the mother of the other eighteen.
And at the time of his death, on January 2, 1828, his posterity numbered one-hundred thiry-six
persons - twenty-four children, seventy-three grandchildren, thirty-two great-grandchildren,
and one great-great-grandchild.
"Mr. Wilson served as lieutenant in the expedition of Lord Dunmore against the Indians in 1774,
and acquired, by his zeal and attention to duty, the confidence of his superior officers".

"Early in the Revolution, he was appointed captain in the Virginia forces, and in 1781, he
received the appointment of colonel".

"During the entire war, he was the organ through which most of the military and civil business
of that part of the State in which he resided was transacted".

"He was a member of the Legislature from the County of Monongalia for several sessions previous
to the year 1784, in which year, the County of Harrison was established; and at the organization
of this county, he became the clerk of the County court. The duties of this office, however did
not withdraw him from the theater of politics - as he was selected as a delegate to the
convention, in 1788, which ratified the Constitution of the United States".

Another incident worthy of mention in this connection is the fact that Col. Wilson was present
at Camp Charlotte --eight miles east of Chillicothe, Ohio--on the occasion when Cornstalk, the
renown Indian chief, visited Lord Dunmore in the interests of peace, and had the pleasure of
listening to this great chieftain's wonderful gift of oratory, which he comments on in the
following language:

"When he (Cornstalk) arose, he was in no wise confused or daunted, but spoke in a distinct and
audible voice without stammering or repetition, and with a peculiar emphasis. His looks while
addressing Dunmore were truly grand and majestic-yet graceful and attractive. I have heard the
first orators of Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose
powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk on that occasion".

The first county seat of Randolph county is said to have been kept at the home of Col. Ben
Wilson four miles from Beverly, and the following amusing anecdote is told of his transference
of this local-seat of government to another individual, and of his removal to Clarksburg where
he finally passed to the confines of the tomb, at the age of eighty years:

During the Civil war when the soldiers were stationed at Beverly (in 1864) a short time after
their arrival, George Renscrift, one of the number, noticed a peculiar hole in the ground around
which the soldiers and the civilians gathered from day to day to pitch horse-shoes. His
attention being especially attracted to the size of this hole, he remarked to an old gentleman
standing near, that this ground must have been used for the purpose before the war; and the old
gentleman, heaving a reminiscent sigh, said, "Yes, my young man, I am nigh unto seventy, and I
was not born when the first horse-shoes were pitched into that hole". And he then proceeded to
tell him its unique history:

He said, as above mentioned, that the county seat was kept at the home of Col. Ben Wilson, and
that at Beverly, four miles distant lived one Jacob Westfall. One day Col. Wilson came riding
down the path past the Westfall residence and found Mr. Westfall out pitching horse-shoes in his
yard all alone.

"Having a good game?" asked Col. Wilson. "Good enough", was the reply. "I'll bet I can beat
you", said the Colonel. "I'll take the bet", replied Westfall. "How much"? asked Col. Wilson.

"Whoever beats get the court house", replied Westfall. "It's a bargain", replied Col. Wilson,
who had everything to lose and nothing to gain as he already had the court house, but he was a
great old codger to take chances. So the game began and continued until night and Westfall
flaxed the Colonel on ever propostion, and won the bet.

This same evening Col. Wilson made Jacob Westfall deed of a quarter of an acre, which included
this play-ground, to the public forever, and according to the provisions of this deed an
individual could play when, and as long, as he pleased, and no one could hinder him.

The next day Col. Wilson sent Westfall the county seat, books, papers and so on, to Beverly,
and shortly after sold out and removed to Clarksburg.

This piece of ground is still used as a horse-shoe play-ground and will doubtless continue to
be thus used until the end of time, as no one has the power to molest this lot.

This is said to be the only piece of real estate in the world that has such a title. When the
new court house at Beverly was under contract, the court undertook to sell this lot, but found
upon investigation that it belonged to the public, and that the county had no authority over it.
Consequently, it lies there vacant as it did a century ago - a monument dedicated to the simple
game of horse-shoe - and the men and boys haunt it to-day as they did in the days of Col.
Wilson.

Record fo the Family of Col. Ben Wilson. - Children of Col. Ben and Anne Ruddle Wilson:

Mary Wilson born June 7, 1771, married John Haymond.

William Wilson born January 26, 1773, married Miss Martin.

Stephen Ruddle Wilson born October 21, 1775, married ______ .

Benjamin Wilson born June 13, 1778, married Miss Martin.

Sarah Wilson born September 11, 1780, married Benjamin Bryce.

Elizabeth Wilson born August 17, 1782, died September 3, 1782.

Anne Wilson born January 17, 1786, married Dr. Brice.

John Wilson born July 5, 1788, married Miss Martin and Miss Caldwell.

Archibald Blackburn born July 25, 1790, married Edith Roby.

Cornelius Wilson born April 7, 1795, married Rachel Martin.

And two children died without names.

Children of Col. Ben and Phebe Davidson Wilson:

Josiah Davidson Wilson born October 12, 1796, married Miss Martin and Miss Despard.

David Wilson born February 18, 1798, died unmarried.

Edith Wilson born November 9, 1799, married James Martin.

Elizabeth Wilson born October 18, 1801, died unmarried.

Thomas W. Wilson born May 12, 1803, married Miss O'Bannon, of Ohio.

Margaret Wilson born March 26, 1805, married Hiram Haymond.

Deborah Wilson born October 17, 1806, married Abel Smith.

James Pindall Wilson born June 9, 1808, married Rowena Haymond, daughter of Thomas.

Daniel Davisson born January 30, 1810, married Miss O'Bannon.

Phebe Wilson born August 29, 1811, married Amos Gilbert.

Martha Martin Wilson born June 23, 1813, married Caulder Haymond.

Philip Doddridge born June 29, 1814, married Penelope Sinnett.

Hoah L. Wilson born March 9, 1816, married Miss Gilpin, of Baltimore.

Julia Anne Wilson born September 28, 1817, married James Robinson.

Harriett Baldwin Wilson born November 13, 1818, married Jonathan Haymond.

Rachel Wilson born July 20, 1820, married Lewis Haymond and Dr. W. D. Wilson.

Two died in infancy.

William Hall. - William Hall, the progenitor of another prominent Ritchie county family, found
a home on the river above Oxford, across what is now the Doddridge county line, as early as
1830, but ere the lapse of many years, he removed to the Flannagan farm above Berea, and later
resided at both Pullman and Harrisville. He finally, in his old age, went to Roane county where
he died, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Thomas McKinley, during the spring of 1873.

Mr. Hall was born in Loudin county, Virginia, in 1797, and from there he emigrated to Harrison
county in his young manhood where he met and married Miss Mary Ann Lowther, eldest daughter of
Jesse, and Mary Ragan Lowther, and granddaughter of Col. William, and from West Milford, they
came to Oxford.

Mrs. Hall survived him by three years, dying at the home of her daughter in Roan county in 1876.
And there by his side she lies at rest.

Their children were as follows:

Jesse L. Hall, William, Celina, Lucinda, Mary, Elizabeth, Elias, Robert Hannibal, Lemuel, Smith,
and Judge Cyrus Hall, all of whom have now crossed the tide, with the possible exception of
Elias.

Jesse L. Hall married his cousin Miss Alcinda Lowther, and was the father of Cyrus, William E.,
Robert G., Marietta, Ellen, and Martha Hall, and after the death of his first wife, he married
again, and went to Elizabeth, Wirt county where he died and where some of his descendants still
reside. Mrs. Rosa Connolly was a daughter by the second marriage.

William Hall died in his youth, and Mary remained single, dying at the home of her sister at
Point Pleasant at an advanced age.

Selina married the Rev. George Monroe of the West Virginia Methodist Episcopal conference, and
died childless. She sleeps at Point Pleasant.

Lucinda married Jesse M. Lowther, son of Elias Lowther, senior, and lived and died in this
county. She was the mother of Johnson J., Stillman F., Mrs. Mandane (Hiram) Wilson, and Mrs.
Similda Randolph, of Salem; Mansfield and Sylvanus Lowther and Mrs. Salina Bee, of the West;
Thomas, of Harrison county; Lucinda - and the late Mrs. Dorinda (Eli) McKinley, of Harrisville
mother of the late lamented Homer McKinley.

Elizabeth married Thomas McKinley, and went to Roane county, where she sleeps. Their children
were Lee, Walter, Rector, Jennie and Sarah.

Smith Hall married Miss Jennie Scott, of Hardy county, and lived and died at Harrisville. His
family consisted of two sons, John and Charles, and of one daughter, Mrs. Laura Lambert, of
Ellenboro.

Robert Hannibal married Miss ________ Bennett, of Weston, and was the father of Mrs. John B.
Ayres, formerly of Harrisville, but now of Spencer, and of one other daughter. He died in
Virginia a few years since.

Elias Hall married Miss Margaret Kirkpatrick, sister of Ichabod, and was an early settler on
the Mason farm near the Pisgah church, in the Pullman vicinity. He finally went to Roane county
where he, perhaps, is sleeping. William Smith, Neal, Hannibal, Lee and Landora Hall were among
his children, but this is not all of them.

Lemuel Hall married here and went West where he was identified as an able barrister.

Judge Cyrus Hall. - Judge Cyrus Hall married Miss Amelia Scott, a sister of his brother Smith's
wife, and principally spent his long life at Harrisville, Parkersburg, and Charleston. His
family consisted of two daughters, and three sons; viz., Flora died in childhood, Louella
became Mrs. Chancellor, of Parkersburg, but after the death of her first husband she married H.
T. Shffey, of Charleston; the late Judge Cyrus Hall, B. B. and Thomas C., all of Charleston,
are his sons.

Judge Hall was one among the prominent men that this county has produced.

Born in Harrison county early in the century, he came to this county with his parents in the
"log cabin days" and struggled up through the many disadvantages that surrounded the ambitious
lad in those days of untold privation and toil.

He was graduated from college, studied law, and at the age of thirty years went to Woodsfield,
Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar; and after a brief stay here, he returned to this county
and took up his residence at Harrisville, where he practiced his profession for a number of
years. He was Ritchie county's first Prosecuting Attorney, and was at one time her
representative in the Legislature at Richmond.

He was a member of the Richmond convention that passed the ordinance of secession, and with one
exception was the last survivor of that stormy body. He went there as an opponent of secession,
but in the heat of the fight, was, won over and cast his vote for the measure - the passing of
which sounded the bugle-note for the formation of the "Little Mountain State".

For a number of years after the birth of West Virginia, he was the judge of the County court of
Wood county. He practiced in the courts of Virginia and West Virginia for almost sixty years,
rising to distinction at the bar. It is said that he never lost a case before the Supreme Court
of the State. He died at Charleston early in the year 1909, at the age of ninety years. His
wife preceded him to the grave by fifteen years.

The Norrises. - Along with William Hall, from Harrison county, came his brother-in-law, William
Norris, who settled near him on the river above Oxford.

Mr. Norris was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, on August 8, 1792, and on April 20, 1817, he
was married to Miss Sallie Lowther, daughter of Jesse and granddaughter of Col. William Lowther,
whose natal day was October 6, 1795; and after a brief residence on the river here, in 1833,
they removed to Gilmer county where their lives came to a close. His on November 24, 1861, and
hers on May 22, 1870. And both lie at rest in the Norris burying-ground on Cedar creek.

Their family were as follows:

Emily (1818-1906, unmarried), Milton (1819-1896), John G. (1821---), Jesse (1823 ----), Mary
(1824-1825), Caroline (1825---), Lucinda (1828-1888, unmarried), Drusilla (1832---, Mrs. Kerns,
of Gilmer county), Elizabeth (1835---), Edward (1837---), and Elias Norris.

Milton G. Norris, who was born on November 10m 1819, was married in 1869 to Miss Maria Louise
Campbell, daughter of John C. and Anne Wilson Campbell of Clarksburg, and lived and died at the
"Beeches" near Glenville. He passed from earth on July 30, 1896, and Mrs. Norris survived until
July 3, 1908, and both rest in the family burying-ground at the "Beeches". Their family
consisted of four daughters; viz., Mrs. Jessie Campbell Tierney, and Mrs. Anne Wilson Lewis,
are of Glenville, Sallie Lowther is the wife of the Hon. E. M. Showalter, of Fairmont; and Miss
Rebecca Lupton Norris is lying with her parents in the family burying-ground, she having passed
from earth at San Francisco, California in 1902, while on tour in the West.

The Norrises are of English origin, and the name is an ancient and prominent one in the "Old
World" to-day. General Sir John Norris was commander of the British army in the sixteenth
century, and was sent by Queen Elizabeth to aid the Hollanders in their struggle against the
Spaniards, at this time. Tradition says that three brothers crossed to America about the year
1760, and that one settled in Pennsylvania, one in Maryland, and the other in Virginia; and
from William, the different families of this state are descended.

His son, John Norris, was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, on July 4, 1760, and at the age of
seventeen years (in February 1777), enlisted as a volunteer, for three months, in the company of
Captain James Scott, which was organized at the Fauquier county Court House, and marched by way
of Lewisburg (now West Virginia) across the Potomac, at Noland's Ferry to Frederick, Maryland,
thence to Philadelphia, and on to quibbletown (now New Market) in New Jersey. And in March,
1781, he was drafted, for two months, into the company of Captain Morehead, who was stationed
at Williamsburg, Virginia, and from this point, on April 20, 1781, they were driven by the
enemy, and retreated to Richmond.

Again, in September, 1781, he was drafted for three months, and was appointed as orderly
sergeant of a company of militia, commanded by Captain Hel, which was sent from Fauquier county
to join the main army under General Washington at Yourktown, and here he remained until the
surrender of Lord Cornwallis, on October 19, 1781, and after this he was detailed as a member of
the gaurd-force which conducted a band of prisoners to Winchester.

His service on the battle-field being at an end, he returned home, and on March 26, 1782, was
married to Miss Mary Jones, of the "Old Dominion", who was in some way closely connected to the
Washington family; and about the year 1807, they removed to what is now Lewis county
(then Harrison), and settled near the old Jackson mill, five miles below Weston; and here death
overtook him on February 12, 1836, and here with his wife he lies at rest.

Their family consisted of the following children Juliet, Hannah, Polly, Nancy, Eliza, Lucinda,
Caroline, John, junior, and Wiliam Norris, the Ritchie county pioneer.

Juliet Norris, born on December 22, 1783, was married to David Jackson. She passed on, on March
16, 1865, leaving four children: Edward J., Wm. Pitt, Nancy and Mary J. Jackson.

Hannah Norris (born on October 13, 1787, and died on May 26, 1879) married Daniel O'Brien, and
her children were: Melville, Emmett J., Mary, Daniel, Nancy, Hannah, and Juliett O'Brien.

Polly, born July 22, 1785, died, unmarried, on December 29, 1848.

Nancy Norris (born October 13, 1794, and died on July 17, 1876) was married to Godfrey Hille,
and Frederick, the one child of this union died in boyhood.

Eliza Norris was born in August, 1798, and died on December 20, 1860, unmarried.

Lucinda (born on November 24, 1796, and died on October 14, 1885) was the late Mrs. Benjamin
Bassel, of Clarksburg, and the mother of John Bassel, a graduate of West Point, and James
Bassell, both prominent attorneys of Clarksburg.

Caroline, who was born on December 15, 1800, died on September 4, 1894, unmarried.

John Norris, junior, was born in 1805, and died at the age of twenty years. And the family of
William has already been given.

Felix Prunty, and Alexander Lowther, junior, were later pioneers in the Oxford vicinity.

Mr. Prunty was the son of Jacob Prunty, and was a native of Taylor county. He married Miss Emily
Greathouse, and took up his residence where his son, Jacob, now lives, perhaps in the early
forties, and to the day of his death, on September 22, 1895, he was prominently identified with
the affairs of this community, both in church and in state. He represented this county in the
Legislature, at one time and was long a pillar in the White Oak church; and in this church-yard
he sleeps. Mrs. prunty died in 1908, and she sleeps by his side.

Their children: Mrs. Cynthia (wife of the late Rev. Sylvester Lowther), Parkersburg; Mrs. Salina
Bee, Tennessee; Mrs. Fannie (Lewis) Pritchard, Parkersburg; Jacob and Marshall, Oxford, are the
surviving ones; and Mary Jane, John W., Alexander, Mrs. Elizabeth Leach, and Mrs. Rosetta Ross,
have passed on.

Alexander Lowther, junior, made his settlement on the farm that is now the home of his daughter,
Mrs. John Allender.

Mr. Lowther was a native of Harrison county, having been born, near West Milford on May 1, 1816.
He was the son of Alexander and Sarah Ireland Lowther, and the great-grandson of Col. William.

In 1838, he was Married to Miss Emily Prunty, daughter of Jacob Prunty, and shortly after this
event, he established his home here, and remained until 1864, when he removed to Ellenboro,
where he engaged in the mercantile business for the next two years. From here he went to Graham
Station, Mason county, and in 1872, to Elizabeth, Wirt county, where, for more than twenty
years, his interests were identified with the town; his services to both church and state being
of a high order.

Here, in 1891, Death entered his home and carried away his wife, and not long after this sad
event, he went to Parkersburg, where his life came to a close on March 28, 1903, at the home of
his daughter, Mrs. Roana L. Kendall; and here in the Riverview cemetery beside his wife, he
sleeps.

He was one of the early school-teachers of the county, and at different times held county
offices. He said "At one time I knew every man in Ritchie county". As long as he lived, he spoke
fervently of his love for Ritchie county, which had been his home for sixty-six years.

Their children: M. R. Lowther, who has been prominent in political circles in this state for a
number of years, and who served as State Senator for one or more terms, is the only surviving
son. He and Mrs. Roana L. Kendall, wife of the late Dr. J. E. Kendall, are both of Parkersburg,
and Mrs. Sallie Allender, is of Oxford. Wilson, the eldest son died at the age of seventeen, and
one daughter, in infancy.

The Allendars. - Jacob Allender was an early settler on the Marshall Prunty homestead. He and
his wife Mrs. Elizabeth Vangrift Allender, were natives of Hampshire county, he being of
English, and she, of German descent. He was the son of James Allender, and his grandsire crossed
the sea from England. After their marriage they resided in Marion county for four years before
coming to Ritchie in 1851, where the remnant of their days were spent, and where they sleep side
by side in the White Oak cemetery. Mrs. Allender passed away a number of years before he did;
and some time after her death he married Mrs. Elizabeth Sinnett Lowther, widow of John A.
Lowther, and daughter of the late George Sinnett, of Harrisville, who still survives.

His children were born of the first union, and were as follows:  T. K. Alexander, Sistersville;
Mrs. Sarah Nutter, mother of Okey Nutter, Pennsboro; John Allender, of Oxford; Christopher,
James, Rachel and Iva, and two others all died of diphtheria in childhood. All died within one
week, and two were borne to the grave at one time.

Chapter VIII
North Fork Settled

MOLE HILL:

Daniel Haymond was the first settler at Mole Hill. He came here from his native county -
Harrison _ near the year 1817, and found a home on the farm that is now owned by Benson
Cunningham, where the remainder of his life was spent. He, being a man of a high degree of
intelligence, played an important part in the early affairs of the county.

He twice occupied a seat in the State Legislature (being Senator), and narrowly missed being a
successful candidate for Congress.

He was born near Clarksburg, on April 28, 1787 - on Saturday morning at 5 o'clock - and here he
grew to manhood, and married Miss Mary Ann Bond, sister of Lewis Bond, who passed from earth at
her home at Mole Hill in 1822 after having given birth to five children.

In 1824 he was again married to Miss Elizabeth Griffin, who passed on a few years later,
leaving three daughters. He then, in 1835, married Miss Hannah Pindale, who only survived a
short time; and in 1838, he again took the marriage vow when he claimed Miss Mary Ann Moore, of
Harrison county to be his bride.

The one child born of this union - Anna L. - is now Mrs. James C. Cline, of Minneapolis, Kansas,
and the only survivor of Daniel Haymond's family.

Mr. Haymond died on December 10, 1874, and, beside his first three companions, sleeps at Mole
Hill. The last wife rests in Cloverdale cemetery in Doddridge county.

The children of his first marriage were, Mansfield B., Eveline, William, Daniel C. and Rowena.
The last two mentioned died in infancy.

Mansfield lost his life in his early manhood, by an explosion on board a steamer, while on his
way home from Texas, he being so badly scalded that he only survived the accident by a few
hours.

Eveline Haymond was married to Elijah Tarleton, and their children were the late ex-sheriff
M. H. Tarleton, and the late Reeves L., Thomas, Creed H., and Edgar Tarleton, all of whom have
passed on.

William C. Haymond, the one son that reached the years of maturity, went to Texas in his young
manhood, and there served in the Texan army during some trouble with Mexico, but he afterwards
returned home, and married Miss Eleanor Cline, of Tollgate, and remained a substantial citizen
of his native county until he was borne to his final resting place. His family consisted of nine
children; viz., Marsh Haymond, Mrs. Florence Peirpoint, Mrs. Lina Lantz, and Mrs. Ella Stuart,
all of Mole Hill, are the surviving ones; and the late ones were Josephine, who died in youth;
Buena (Mrs. Henry Davis), Reeves Haymond who met a tragic death at Mole Hill a number of years
ago; and Ida (Mrs. F. G. Pyle of Tyler county).

The three daughters of Daniel and Elizabeth Griffin Haymond were Casandra, and Frances, who
died single, and Mary Ann, the late wife of Saul Thomas, who was the mother of Mrs. Mary Cooper,
Mrs. Laura Kyser, and Mrs. Fannie McCullough, all of Mole Hill.

The Haymonds, like not a few of the other pioneer families, have a distinguished ancestral
history. John Haymond emigrated from England before the year 1734 - as the records show that he
had land patented to him in that year - and settled into The Maryland colony. Tradition says
that he was a skillful mechanic, and that he came to America to build a fine residence for a
Maryland planter, and being so well pleased with the appearance of the country, he decided to
adopt it as his home. It is not known whether he was married before he came to this country or
not. But his wife's name was margaret and he first settled on a large plantation know as
"Constant Friendship", in what is now Montgomery county, Maryland -- near the present site of
Rockville, and fourteen miles from Georgetown. Here, he died during the autumn of 1750. Six
children, which are as follows, were named in his will, which was dated September 27, 1750, and
was probated on October 20th that same year; Nicholas, Calder, William, Hannah, who was the wife
of John Jones, Ann and Mary, who afterwards married - one a Kenton and the other a Jarbo or
Kelly.

Nicholas died in 1767 leaving a son and daughter. Calder married and resided in Marion county
until about the year 1812, when he went to Ohio, to join his son. He finally went to Indiana
where he died in 1817, and where many of his descendants live. His son, Edward, was a soldier
of the Revolution, and was in the battles of Monmouth, Saratoga and other fierce engagements,
and his name was added to the pension roll in 1818. And from William, the youngest son of John
Haymond, the Ritchie county families come.

William Haymond. - William Haymond was born on the old plantation - "Constant Friendship" - in
Montgomery county, Maryland, on January 4, 1740 (old style) and here his youthful days were
spent. When he was only a lad of fifteen summers, he accompanied the army of General Edward
Braddock onits expedition to Frot Duquesne (now Pittsburg) where it met with such dreadful
defeat on July 9, 1744; and in 1758, he was a member of the successful expedition led by
General Forbes against the same point, when the name was changed to Fort Pitt, in honor of the
English prime minister.

In February, 1759, he enlisted in the Virginia regiment, commanded by Col. George Washington,
which had been detailed to garrison the territory captured from the French, and served along the
Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, and as far North as Lake Erie. When the regiment had been
withdrawn from the west, it was marched up the Shenandoah valley, and on to the Holstein river
to suppress an outbreak among the Cherokee Indians, after which it was discharged. The date of
William Haymond's discharge was February 24, 1762, and the place was Fort Lewis, near Staunton,
Virginia.

Shortly after his return home, on April 19, 1763, he was married to Miss Casandra Clelland, who
was born on October 25, 1741, and settled down to the life of a planter; but in May, 1773, he
sold his possessions in Maryland and removed to the District of West Augusta, Virginia, and
settled on the Monongahela river, near where Morgantown now stands. Here he engaged in farming,
and is said to have raised a crop of corn on the very site that is now marked by the pretty
little City of Morgantown.

After the formation of Monongalia county in 1776, he filled various positions of honor and trust
- such as that of justice of the peace, deputy surveyor, coroner and sheriff; and at the
commencement of the Revolution, he, being an ardent advocate of the Colonial cause, was
appointed captain of the militia, and was frequently called into active service by the
hostility of the Indians. In 1777, he was placed in command of Prickett's Fort with a detachment
at Scott's mill; was promoted to the rank of major in 1781, and performed the duties of an
officer of the militia throughout the Revolution. He was just on the eve of leaving for a point
east of the mountains to join the regular army when the news of peace reached him.

He was a member of the official body that administered the oath to the male citizens of Virginia
over sixteen years of age requiring them to renounce all future allegiance to the British Crown.

When Harrison county was born in 1784, Mr. Haymond was made the first principal surveyor of the
new county. He traveled on horse-back to Williamsburg in order to be examined by the professors
of William and Mary's College. The test was a satisfactory one, however, and he was commisioned
by the Governor of Virginia; and as this office demanded his removal to Clarkesburg, he
purchased a few acres of ground, near this town, where he took up his residence that same fall
(1784).

He was a member of the commission that built the first two court houses in Harrison county - one
in 1787, and the other in 1812, and as surveyor, he assisted in marking out the State road from
the Valley river to near Marietta, Ohio.

In 1791, he purchased a tract of one hundred ninety-four one-half acres on Elk creek, six miles
from Clarksburg, and to this place he changed his residence, and here, on November 12, 1821, his
long and useful career came to a close. This old time mansion-house, which has been transferred
by will from father to son, since its purchase, still stands and is occupied by his descendants.

His wife, Casandra Clelland Haymond, died at Clarksburg, on Decmeber 23, 1788; and on December
20, 1789, he was again married to Mrs. Mary Pettyjohn Powers, who died on March 20, 1830, and
sleeps by his side in the Haymond burying-ground on the old homestead, near Clarksburg.

John G. Jackson in paying tribute to his memory through the columns of the "National
Intelligencer" of December 13, 1821 - on the occasion of his death - says:

"This excellent man was the surveyor of his county, and a justice of the peace therein, from its
first formation until his decease, and such was the purity of his life, notwithstanding the
tendency of his official duties to excite the ill will of the disappointed speculator, and
suitor, that he lived and died without an enemy; and his virtues became so proverbial that when
excellence was ascribed to a great and good man, it was said of him, "He was almost as perfect
as Major Haymond".

He also says, that "He died in the presence of his wife and his children. He had nineteen
children of whom eleven survive him; eighty-one grandchildren, sixty-two of whom are living;
thirty-two great-grandchildren, thirty-one of whom are living; nine sons-in-law, all of whom
survive".

Family Record. - Children of William and Casandra Haymond:

William, born on May 14, 1764, and died September 17, 1769.

John born December 7, 1765, and married Mary Wilson July 3, 1787.

Ann born August 3, 1767, and married Thomas Douglas, May 10, 1787, and after his death, she
became the wife of Dr. Isaac Miller Johnson.

Margaret born September 6, 1769, and married Jacob Polsley, may 31, 1791.

William born June 11, 1771,and married Cynthia Carroll, on March 12, 1793.

Elizabeth born on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1773, and died June 30, 1773.

Walter born May 30, 1774, and died November 16, 1774.

Thomas born January 11, 1776, and married Rebecca Bond on January 6,1803

Sarah born January 24, 1778, and married Allicon Clarke January 3, 1796, and Thomas Bond,
November 21, 1813.

Susannah born June --, 1780, and married Robert Bartlett, January 12, 1797, and moved to near
New Madrid, Missouri.

A son was born onFebruary 22, 1783, that died on the 29th day of the same month without a name.

Rowena born June 17, 1784, and married Daniel Davisson on March 30, 1802.

Daniel born April 28, 1787 - was the Ritchie county pioneer, whose history has already been
given.

Children of William and Mary Haymond. - His second wife:

Cyrus born September 8, 1790, qand married Jane Somerville, on April 18, 1822, and Polly
Carpenter on November 17, 1851.

Ruth born November 20, 1792, and married Joshua Nixon on September 24, 1811, and went to
Illinios.

Maxa born March 14, 1795, and married Robert Robinson on August 8,1 816, and went to Illinois.

Julia born July 28, 1799, and died June 30, 1801.

A daughter born July 30, 1804, and died the same day.

Thomas Haymond, son of William, who married Miss Rebecca Bond - twin sister of Lewis Bond, was
a scout during the latter part of the Indian wars, and was surveyor of Harrison couty for
thirty-two years, and held other offices of public trust and honor. His son, Lewis, married Miss
Rachel Wilson, youngest daughter of Col. Ben Wilson, senior, and was the father of Mrs. Creed
Collins, of Pennsboro.He (Thomas) died in Harrison county on August 31, 1853, rich in the love
and esteem of his fellow-countrymen. He was also the father of the late Luther Haymond of
Clarksburg, who almost reached the century mark.

The descendants of William Haymond, senior, which are prominently known in different parts of
the Union, are innumerable, but among them we find the name of one which is familiar to us all
- that of Hon. Hu Maxwell, the well known West Virginia histoian, who now holds a position in
the Forestry Service at Washington city.

The Garners. - John Garner, senior, was among the very first pioneers of the North fork of the
Hughes river. He married Miss Elizabeth Grigsby and came from New Jersey early in the century
and entered land in the vicinity of Tollgate, where he remained until his death in 1841. Not
many years after his arrival here his wife died, and he then married Mrs. Eleanor Hurst Marsh.
His last hours were spent at the home of Notley Willis at Tollgate, and here he lies in his
last sleep, as do his two companions.

He was the father of two sons and three daughters, all of the first union; viz., John, junior,
William, Nancy, Elizabeth, and Delila Garner.

John Garner, junior, was born near Tollgate in 1808, and in 1830 he was married to Miss Sarah
Ann Williams and established his home on Buck run (a tributary of this river), on the farm that
is still in the hands of his heirs. Here Mrs. Garner passed from earth in 1885, and the
following year he was married to Miss Sarah A. Shepherd, who still survives. He died in 1893,
and at Mole Hill he lies at rest.

He and his first wife were the parents of seven children: Isaiah (1831-1901), Julia Ann, who is
Mrs. J. C. Jone, of Mole Hill; Hester (Mrs. Edward Ferribee), Loftus P., and Francis A. Garner,
all of Buck run; Rebecca (Mrs. Amos Thomas), and Wiliam A., who died in infancy.

Willaima Garner went West and there married and reared a family.

Delila Garner, also went West and married a man by the name of Maddox. Nancy was Mrs. Underwood;
and Elizabeth, Mrs. Williams.

The Marshes. - James Marsh was another very early settler on this river in the Tollgate
vicinity. Nothing definite as to the origin of his family in America is in our possession,
except that they came from England in Colonial times and settled in Maryland, where James Marsh
was born. However, he married Miss Eleanor Hurst, a beautiful English maiden, who crossed the
deep to Baltimore with her parents in her girlhood, and was the founder of one of the oldest and
best families of the county.

Near the beginning of the nineteenth century, he came from  Baltimore, and purchased
(of Richard Dotson) the farm that is now owned by J. M. Wilson, near one-half mile east of
Tollgate, and took up his residence here, where he died in 1810. And only a few paces from the
scene of his settlement on his own homestead, he lies in his last sleep. After his death, his
widow became the wife of John Garner, senior, and at Tollgate she reposes.

The family of James and Eleanor Hurst Marsh consisted of five girls and five boys; viz., Eli,
Enoch, Elias, Elijah, James, Epha, Elizabeth, Eliza, Edith, and Charlotte Marsh. James died in
childhood, and Elijah, in youth, but all the rest married and reared families.

Eli Marsh was born on April 4, 1794, and with his parents came to this county in his boyhood.
On March 1, 1825, he was amrried to Miss Drusilla Turner Israel, who was born in Harrison
county, on June 17, 1811, and at the old Israel homestead, six miles from Clarksburg, they
lived and died.

He was one of the prominent men of his day, and his wife was noted for her many beautiful traits
of character, and their comfortable home at "Roselawn farm" was known far and wide for its
hospitality. Mrs. Marsh died on March 13, 1873, and he followed her to the grave on November
twenty-seventh of the same year.

Their little family consisted of two daughters; viz., Mary Rebecca, and Susan Jane Marsh.

In March 1844, Mary Rebecca became the wife of Criel M. Turner, a lawyer, of Culpepper county,
Virginia, who practiced his profession at Clarksburg after their marriage; and the one child of
this union was the late Prof. Eli Marsh Turner, of the Morgantown University, who died on March
1, 1908, at the age of sixty-four years, leaving a wife, (nee Miss H. Georgia Jackson, of
Newark, Ohio) and four children; viz., Mary R., Phoebe, James J., and Wirt M. Turner, all of
Morgantown.

The other daughter, Susan Jane Marsh, was married to Col. Benjamin Wilson,junior, of Clarksburg,
in June, 1848, and the two children born of this union are: Buena M., who is Mrs. John W. Brown,
of Clarksburg; and Drusilla, the late Mrs. George Funy, of Wheeling, who passed on a number of
years ago, leaving one child.

Including the six chilfen of Mrs. Brown above mentioned (Wilson, Lilian, Gertrude, Roscoe,
Benjamin, and Mary Brown) we have the entire line of the descendants of Eli Marsh.

Enoch Marsh was born near Tollgate in 1804, and in his young manhhood, was married to Miss Mary
Ann Cline, daughter of Abraham Cline, who was born in January, 1808; and after spending the
first few years of their married life at the old homestead near Tollgate, in March, 1836, they
removed a little farther up the river and settled on the farm that is now the home of Ben
Wilson, and from here they passed to their final home. He died on March 31, 1865, and his wife,
on September 19, 1878, and both rest on their old homestead.

Their children were:  Sarah Jane (Mrs. David McGinnis), Eli, Elizabeth (Mrs. John Douglass,of
Cairo), Clarinda (Mrs. J. H. B. Cunningham, of Mole Hill), James, of near Ellenboro; the late
Jefferson Marsh, of Harrisville; and Mary, Cathrine, Angelina, Eliza, and Ellen P. Marsh, who
all died unmarried.

A large number of prominent young people in the various walks of life in this and sister
counties are descended from this branch of the Marsh family. Among them are H. E. McGinnis, the
honorable County clerk; Prof. J. F. Marsh, one of the leading young educators of the State; Guy
Young, of Glenville; and Harvey Marsh, of Ohio. Calvin Marsh, an editor in Washington state;
Newton Mars, of Cairo, etc.

Elias Marsh married Miss Nancy Collins, eldest daughter of Jacob Collins, and settled on
"Marsh's run" below Mole Hill, where he lived and died.(See Collins family for further account.)

Epha Marsh was first married to William Cline, and at Tollgate they too up their residence,
perhaps on the Marsh homestead, and the two children of this union were Eli Cline, and Eleanor,
who married William Haymond. After the death of Mr. Cline, Epha Marsh became the wife or Notley
Willia, and the one child or this union is N. G. Willis, of Mole Hill.

Elizabeth Marsh was married to Amos Keys, and her home was on Middle Island creek, where she
sleeps, in the Ripley cemetery.

Her children were seven in number; viz., Helen (died young), Eveline, John and James, who are
all single, reside at the old home. Jacintha is Mrs. Norvel Joseph, of Middle Island; and Bert
and Marsh Keys are the other two sons.

Edith Marsh married James Franks, and after the birth of their first child, Angelina, they
removed to the Ohio river below Parkersburg, and here their history ends.

Eliza Marsh was the late Mrs. Thomas Eastlack, of Harrison county, and her children were Eli,
Alstorphus, Elias, and Carminta, who became Mrs. Barney Bond, of Middle Island creek.

Charlotte Marsh was married to Richard Britton, and for a time after their marriage they resided
in the "Buckeye state", but they later removed to Greenwood, in Doddridge county, and here we
lose sight of them. Mr. Britton was a newspaper editor, and their family consisted of three
children; Richard, the son, died in his young manhood; Eleanor was the late Mrs. William
Collins, of the North fork of Hughes' river; and Eliza was the wife of Henry B. Collins, of
Mole Hill. (See Collins history.)

Raleigh Haddox. - Raleigh Haddox was another very early settler on the waters of the North fork
of Hughes river. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. His father, Jonathan Haddox, crossed the sea
from Ireland during the latter part of the eighteenth cnetury and settled at Richmond, Virginia.
As dates are wanting, it is not known to a certainty where Raleigh Haddox was born, but it is
probable that the "Old Dominion" was the place of his nativity. He enlisted as a soldier late
in the war of '12, but saw no service. His wife, Miss Sarah Ferrell, was the daughter of Major
Ferrell, of the Continental army, who afterwards served as captain in the war of 1812, and
received from the Government, in recognition of his service, a grant of land where the county
seat of Culpepper is now located; but failing to prosecute his claim, received no benefit from
the grant which is now valued at one million dollars.

In 1825, Raleigh Haddox, with his family, emigrated from the valley of Virginia to Monongalia
county, and from near Morgantown, four years later, he came to this county, and settled below
Mole Hill on the run that still bears his name, where the remainder of his life was principally
spent. Mrs. Haddox died in 1856. She was of Scotch descent.

His children were:  George Haddox, whose family is mentioned with the Hushers. Mary who became
the wife of Matthew Riggs, of Tyler county.  B. H., Enoch S., and Jonathan J. haddos. 
(The Riggs children were: James, Manda, Oliver, Raleigh, Enoch, Dock and Agnes Riggs.)

B.H. was married to Miss Nancy Haddox, daughter of Elijah, as cousin of Raleigh, and Louis C.
Haddox, a prominent clerlgyman of the Methodist Episcopal church, of Columbus, Ohio, is his
only son. This son (Louis C.) married Caroline B. Ireland, daughter of Alexander, and niece of
G. M. Ireland, Pullman.

Enoch S. Haddox was first married to Miss Caroline Pickens, of Pleasants county; and his second
wife was Miss Eliza Chambers, of the same county. One son of the first union and two sons and
three daughter, of the second, made up his household: O.M., Kinie, Victory, Wm., and Tudie.

Jonathan J. Haddox's first wife was a Miss Robinson, and his second, Miss Amanda McCoy, of
Tyler county, and one daughter and one son, both of the second union were his children: John T.
and Marie.

Allen Calhoun. - Allen Calhoun was the pioneer on the farm that is now the estate of the late
Edmund Taylor, a little east of Pennsboro. He was the firest blacksmith of the town, but at the
coming of the railroad, he sold out his interest here, and removed to Spruce creek, where he
passed away during the civil war; and in the old Pleasant Hill burying-ground he lies at rest.

He was of Irish origin, but his parents having crossed from the "Emerald Isle", shortly before
his birth, and settled in Pennsylvania.

He (Allen) and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Powell Calhoun, were both natives of the "Keystone"
state. Mrs. Calhoun died near the year 1845, and was laid at rest in the Pioneer cemetery at
Pennsboro.

Their children were: Samuel Calhoun, of Beason; Robert, who died in early manhood; Powell,
formerly of this county, but now one of the nonegarians of Tyler; John, who spent his last
hours at the old homestead, on Spruce creek, and Elizabeth, who married James Wright, of Spruce
creek, and was the late mother of the Rev. Allen Wright, of Parkersburg; and Mary, who married
Willis Wright (brother of James), of Barbour county.

The Taylors. - Edmund Taylor was another early settler on this river. He and his wife, Mrs.
Rachel McKinney Taylor, were both natives of the "Old Dominion", but they came here from
Harrison county, near the year, 1820, and erected their humble dwelling on the bank of the
river near the mouth of Lynn Camp, on the farm that is now the estate of their late son Edmund.
He was a typical pioneer of gigantic stature, and was a large land owner. The first sermon in
Clay district is said to have been delivered within the walls of his home here.

Mrs. Taylor was born on May 29, 1791, and was a descendant of the Tucker family, her mother
being a sister of Phebe Tucker Cunningham, of Indian fame. She preceded Mr. Taylor to the home
beyone by a number of years, and his second wife was Mrs. Mary Sherwood Howard. He was born on
April 15, 1796, and died at a little home near Pennsboro some time during the seventies, and by
the side of his first wife he lies at rest on the old homestead.

Camden and Joseph Taylor were the children of his second marriage and those of the first were:
Lovina, James, Mary Ann, Nancy, Sarah, Michael, Edmund, junior, and Rachel Taylor.

Lovina Taylor, the eldest child, who was born on April 15, 1815, married Peter Broadwater and
lived and died in this county. (See Broadwater Family.)

James Taylor, who natal day was October 7, 1818, was a man of more than ordinary ability. He was
one of the early Sheriffs of the county and served as a member of the State Legislature. He
resided on Lynn Camp, at Harrisville, and finally went to Cornwallis, where death overtook him.
But he rests in the Taylor burying-ground on the old homestead.

He was first married to Miss Lovisa Dotson, and his second wife was a Miss Windom. The children
of the first marriage were: Phelps, who died in childhood; the Rev. E. J. Taylor, and James D.,
of Lynn Camp; Stonewall, of Parkersburg; the late Mrs. Lovina (Patrick) Monohan, of Cairo; Mrs.
Hannah Broadwater; Mrs. Rachel (Ocran) Corbin, of Pennsboro; and the late Mrs. Victoria M.
(H. N.) Wilson, of Burnt House.

The two children of the last marriage were John and William Taylor.

Mary Ann Taylor, born September 23, 1820, married Henson Merrifield, and after she was laid in
the Pennsboro cemetery, the family went to the State of Washington, where they married, and
where they now reside. Helen, James Adaline and Delee Merrifield were the names of the children.

Nancy Taylor, born on November 24, 1822, married Barton H. Hickman, and in the Gnat's run
cemetery she lies at rest. Mr. Hickman still survives, and their children are: James, Jack,
Luster, Edmund, Mrs. Maggie Dotson, Mrs. Jenning Strosnider, Mrs. Fannie Rogers, Mrs. Viola
Woofter, and Mrs. Rose Taylor.

Sarah Taylor was born on January 29, 1825, and died (unmarried) on June 9, 1895, and was buried
in the Taylor cemetery.

Michael Taylor, born July 12, 1827, married Miss Eliza Broadwater, daughter of Jefferson
Broadwater, and died a number of years ago, but his widow survived until 1909, when she was laid
by his side in the Taylor burying ground.

Their children are as follows:

Mrs. Adeline Clahoun, Mrs. Mary (A. P.) Meredith, Ashford, Peter, James, Waldo, Edmund, Mrs.
Jennie Buckelew, and Mrs. Ella Nay. Mrs. Meredith and Mrs. Nay reside in Washington, on the
Pacific coast.

Edmund Taylor, junior, born on October 5, 1820, married Ermany Jane Baker, daughter of William
and Ruth Deacon Baker, and lived and died on the old homestead where her parents settled, on
January 31, 1903. His wife survived him by several years, and both rest in the Taylor cemetery.

Their family consisted of thirteen children:

Elizabeth, the first born, is Mrs. Charles Cunningham, Boggess, Marcus B., William, Brent,
Gluck, Grover, Ben, Ralph, Mrs. Addie Moore, Mrs. Sarh Bernard, Mrs. Daisy Moore, and Mrs. June
Dotson.

Rachel Taylor, the youngest daughter, born on March 15, 1834, married Ashford Broadwater, and
spent her last hours on McKim, but rests in the Tollgate cemetery. Her children are twelve in
number: James, Howard, Harvey, Ralph, Waldo, Okey, Morris, Harris, Sedwick, Mrs. Mary Hill, Mrs.
Amanda Peebles, and Miss Ida Broadwater.

Chapter IX
North Fork Settlers --- Continued

Isaiah Marshall was an early pioneer on the river above Tollgate - on the farm that was until
quite recently a part of the late Creed Collins estate; and here where he formed his settlement,
he spent the closing hours of his life; but if he had any descendants (and some say that he had
not) we have been unable to get any trace of them.

Helmick. - Philip Helmick made the first improvement on the river below Tollgate. He came from
Harrison county near the year 1805, and established his home on the Broadwater farm, where he
saw the last of earth, but of his posterity we know nothing. In 1839, not long after his death,
Eli Tucker, senior, purchased this farm, which passed into the hands of the late Jefferson
Broadwater, in 1844.

Tucker. - Eli B. Tucker was born in what is now Taylor county in 1797, and shortly after his
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Jaco, in his early manhood, he came to the South fork of Hughes river
and founded his home on the Michael's farm, at Oxford; and from there removed to what is now the
Broadwater farm. In 1856, he, with his family, went to Mason county, Missouri, where he fell
asleep in 1876.

He three times took the marriage vow, Ruth Scott being his second wife, and Margaret Dotson,
sister of Emmanuel, his third. 

The children of the first union were: Harrison J., Mary, who died in youth, Rachel (Mrs. Henry
F. Dotson), Orlinda (Mrs. Solomon Dotson), Phebe (Mrs. John Sears), and Nelson.

Those of the second were: Eli B., who is now spending his old age just across the Doddridge
county line near Tollgate; James R., of Tollgate; Booth, Harrison, Thomas, Samuel and Michael,
who went West where they rest.

Those of the third marriage: Jackson, Preston, Elizabeth dn Ruhama, who died single; Adaline
(Mrs. Thomas Nicholson), Louise (Mrs. Henry Luck).

The Tuckers are said to be of Scotch lineage, and they belong to the same family as Phebe Tucker
Cunningham, of Indian fame, but we have been unable to determine the exact connection.

The Dotsons. - Some time, perhaps, in the early twenties, the Dotsons found homes in the
Tollgate vicinity, and a long line of their descendants still lay claim to this soil.

The original spelling of this name in the Old World was "Dodson", but for some unknown reason
(probably from the natural inclination for mis-pronouncing names) it became changed to its
present form.

Two brothers, James and William Dotson, came from England in colonial days and settled near
Richmond, Virginia; and from James (or some say his name was Richard) the different families of
this part of the county trace their lineage.

William Dotson, son of James (or Richard) married Miss Mary Franks, and settled at Greenwood,
in Doddridge county in his younger days, where he reared quite a family of sons and daughters,
who were as follows:

Emmanuel, William, junior, John, Squire, Henry, Saul, Nancy (Mrs. Griggs), Jane (Mrs. Elefrits),
Cynthia (Mrs. Scott), Charlotte (wife of John Wilson), Elizabeth (Mrs. Ruley), Mary Ann (Mrs.
Dougherty), and Margaret (Mrs. Eli B. Tucker, senior).

Emmanuel Dotson was born at Greenwood, on March 1, 1798, and in his early manhood, was married
to Miss Hannah Sears, and on Cabin run where Thomas Dotson now lives, they established their
home near they (sic) year 1820. Here they remained until they crossed over to the other side,
and at Tollgate they rest. Mr. Dotson died on February 12, 1881, at the age of eighty-two years.

He and his wife Hannah, were the parents of three sons and one daughter; viz., Hiram S., John
W., Granville, and Lovisa Dotson.

John W., and his wife, Mrs. Amy Pool Dotson, went to Minnesota many years ago, but they now live
in California.

Granville married Sarah Cross, and they also went West, where they sleep, and where their
descendants live.

Lovisa, the only , married James Taylor and lived and died in this county. (See Taylor Family)

Hiram S. Dotson, the one son that remained here, was born on Cabin run, in 1822, and spent his
entire life within the bounds of his native county, where his ashes lie.

He was first married to Miss Susan Markwell, who died while he was serving as a Union soldier in
1863, leaving eleven children; and his second wife was Miss Melvina Poole, who was the mother of
his other five children.

On October 26, 1863, he was honorably discharged from the army service because his orphan
children demanded his presence at home.

The children of the first union were:  Mansfield S., Spence B., Perry E., Amos A., Wm. F.,
Alpheus R., Charles G., Mrs. Alice J. Ash, Mrs. Sarah G. Kyger, and Mrs. Susan Smith - one name
is missing. Those of the second marriage were: J. W., David V., Thomas J., Mrs. Annabella
Nutter, and Mary, who became the wife of Henry Miller.

William Dotson (brother of Emmanuel) was married to Misse Anne Ankrum, and settled across the
Doddridge county line, where he lived and died. His children were:  Daniel, Jerusha (Mrs. Joseph
Dougherty), William, Owen, Rose (Mrs. Samuel Copendoffer), Caroline (Mrs. Hickman), Rilla (Mrs.
Francis Waldo), and Israel Dotson.

John Dotson (brother of Emmanuel) married Miss Susan Sears, sister of Hannah Sears Dotson, for
his first wife; and his second, was Miss Hahala Myers. He, too, settled across the Doddridge
county line, but removed to the Harrisville vicinity in the ante-bellum days, and there he
rests. His children:  Oliver, Lloyd, Mrs. Minerva Stinespring, Mrs. Cindona (Daniel) Malone,
Clinton, Leeman, Noble and Rufus Dotson.

Thomas J. Dotson, another brother of Emmanuel, was one of the early settlers on Buck run
(a small tributary of the head of the North fork, which took its name from the large number of
male deer found here by the pioneer hunters). He and his wife Ruth Griggs Dotson, were the
parents of five children; viz., Elza, the late Ellis, the late Marshall, Armstrong, and Clara
who married George Elefritz.

"Aunt Polly" Dotson, a widow whose identity we have been unable to learn, was another early
settler on Buck run, but the names of her children have been given us as follows: Benjamin,
Robert, Thomas, John S., Joseph, and Mrs. Mary Griggs.

And from these two pioneers the numerous families of the name on Buck run to-day are descended.
Like the other Dotsons they are said to be a peaceable, law-abiding race of people. Many of
them are religiously inclined, and not a few of them have entered the ministry of the Christian
church and some of the younger generations are identified in the preaching profession.

Zachariah Dotson, brother of William, senior, was a very early settler in the Tollgate vicinity.
He possibly came as early as 1810, and remained until death, but of his family we have no
record.

Richard Dotson, the head of another branch of the family, was also a brother of William, senior,
and Zachariah Dotson. He removed from the Old Dominion to the Monongalia glades, and from there
to Doddridge county, where he met the destroyer. Though he is said to have owned land in the
Tollgate vicinity as early as 1800, we have no account of his ever having made any improvement
here. His home, however was in Doddridge county, and in a burying-ground on Arnold's creek his
ashes lie.

He twice took the marriage vow but the names of his wives are missing; but the children of the
first union were as follows:  Thomas, Mann, and John Dotson; and those of the second, Jackson,
Elisha, Joseph, Michael, Ruth (Mrs. James Cain), Lizzie (Mrs. Johnson Childers), and Stacy (Mrs.
John Haggie).

Elisha Dotson was a soldier of the war of 1812, and his wife was Miss Nancy Wineger. Their
family consisted of the following named children:  Irvin Dotson, of Rusk, is the only survivor
of the family and he is now seventy-four years of age. Richard, who married Miss Elizabeth Deem,
was the head of the Elizabeth (Wirt county) family, who have, since his death, removed to
Parkersburg. Albert rests in Wood county; Hiram, on Goose creek; Jackson, in Oregon; Mary (Mrs.
John Hustage), and Mahala (Mrs. John Flemming), both in Wood county; and Clarinda (Mrs. George
Elefritz), on Goose creek.

David Cox, though not so early as some of the rest, was the first to establish a home on the
head of Buck run, and John Garner, whose history has already been given, was another pioneer
here.

Mr. Cox was a native of Maryland, but with his father came to Wetzel county at the age of
eighteen years, where he engaged in farming with Presley Martin on the very site where New
Martinsville now stands. At the age of twenty-six years he claimed Miss Rachel Hawkins as his
life companion; and in 1845, they came to Hughes' river and settled on the William Collins farm
until they removed to Buck run, where they died and where their heirs still hold sway. Their
remains lie in the Oak Grove churchyard on their old homestead.

Their family consisted of five daughters and five sons; Mrs. Mary Kloy, Mrs. Hester A. Porter,
Mrs. Nancy M. Hawkins, and Caleb H. Cox now own the old homestead.  Jesse died in Missouri in
1870; Edward is of Oklahoma; James is a liver-smith and school-teacher, of Doddridge county;
William, who formerly wielded the borchen rod, and later figured as a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal church, is now a successful tiller of the soil in the Buckeye state; and of the rest
we have no mention, but they are probably dead.

Caleb H. Cox is a distinguished pulpit orator of the United Brethren church in Christ, and is
now in charge of the Valley Mill church in Waverly, West Virginia. He is a "six-fold" graduate,
and one of his college degrees is that of Doctor of Divinity from the Kansas City University.

He's also an author of considerable note - "The Manual of Theology", and the "History of the
West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Brethren Church in Christ", being the work of his
pen. He has written a number of sacred songs, too, among which are "Stay with Me, Lord", and the
"Silver River".

He has presented fifteen amendments to the "Book of Discipline" of his church before the General
Conference, thirteen of which have been adopted; has served as secretary of the Conference for
twenty-eight years, and has been a member of the Minister's Examining committee for thirty-two
years.

Gamaliel Waldo made the first settlement on the farm that is known as the Flannagn homestead
near the year 1815. Traces of his old cabin which stood only a few hundred yards from the
present W. A. Flannagan residence, are still visible.

Mr. Waldo and his wife, Nancy Bartlett Waldo, came from Harrison county and remained here until
about the year 1844, when they removed to Indiana with all their family, except three members
who were established in homes of their own, and there they saw the last of earth. They were
adherents of the Baptist church faith and Mr. Waldo was the first clerk of the "Mab Zeal"
Baptist class at Harrisville in 1825.

Their children were as follows: Hickman, Bartlett, Phipps, John, Zedediah, Melinda, Matilda,
Harriett, Emily, Amy and Elizabeth Waldo, the daughters having all married in the West.

Hickman Waldo, who married Miss Mary Williams, daughter of Foster and Mrs. Nellie Pritchard
Williams, of Doddridge county, remained in the Tollgate vicinity until he crossed to the other
side; and here, on the Doddridge county side, some of his children still live. His family are: 
John, Oscar, Jasper, James, and George, of Doddridge county; Sylvester and Francis, of Fairmont;
Newton, of Colorado; and Grant died in youth. His daughters are Mrs. Susan (John W.) Debrular,
of Holbrook; Mrs. Alice (Joseph) Ankrum, Fairmont; and Mrs. Sarah (Wilford) Collins, Ohio.

Bartlett Waldo was married to Miss Jane Gray, daughter of James Gray, of Oxford, and spent his
life in Doddridge county. His children were Arthur, Sarah, the late Mrs. Elizabeth (Christopher)
Lipscomb, of Clarksburg; Mrs. Emily Norris, Wetzel county; Thomas Waldo, of Grantsville; and
Miss Victoria Waldo, of Clarksburg.

The Taylors. - Eli Taylor was the head of another old and worthy Clay district family.

He was descended from English (or Irish) emigrants, who crossed to the Western world in Colonial
times and settled in New Hampshire. The time of their coming is not definitely known, but it is
probable that his grandfather, Daniel Taylor, was among the first to cross. However this may be,
our history begins with Daniel Taylor, who married Miss Sarah Larue or his second wife, and
migrated from the "Hampshire hills" to what is now Hampshire county, West Virginia, where he 
established a permanent home, and reared a family; and from his two sons, Eli and John Taylor,
quite a number of citizens of this part of the county are descended.

Eli Taylor was born in Hampshire county in 1813, and his wife, Mary Sigler (born 1812) was a
native of Allegheny county, Maryland.

They were married on May 16, 1833; and in 1841 they removed to this county, and settled near
Tollgate, where their son, Silas J. Taylor, now resides. Here death closed his eyes in 1855,
but Mrs. Taylor survived until 1876, when she was laid by his side in the Tollgate cemetery.

Their children were seven in number, viz., John William (1834-1847), Aseneth Ellen (1836-1861
unmarried), Philip (1839-1834 sic), who died at Clarksburg where he sleeps, (from smallpox)
while serving as a Union soldier; Daniel E. (1841-), lives in Texas; Sarah Martha 1843-54),
Silas J. (1845), of Tollgate; and Eli Griffin, (1849) who was formerly a teacher of this county,
is now of Morgantown.  He (Griffin Taylor) was married in 1880 to Miss Camora Barcus, of
Indiana.

Silas J. Taylor, who still occupies the old home, where he was born sixty-five years ago, is one
of the substantialcitizens of this community.  He is a successful tiller of the soil, and was at
one time a member of the honorable County court.

On January 1, 1867, he deserted single life when he claimed Miss Eleanor Cathrine Collins,
daughter of William Collins, as his bride; and the five children born of this union are as
follows:

Vida A. is Mr. A. J. Zinn, of Tollgate: and William C. and Otha R. are business men of this
town; Miss Faye is at home; and Silas Reuben lives in Wirt county.

John Taylor, the elder brother of Eli, was born in Hampshire county in 1818, and there in 1832,
he was married to Miss Deborah Monroe, who was also born in Hampshire county of Scotch
parentage; and on October 18, 1833, twins were born of this union - - a son and a daughter; and
four days after the birth of these children the young mother was borne to her final resting
place.

The daughter, Mary E. Taylor, grew to womanhood and married Mr. Cornwell, and she is the
venerable mother of Hon. J. J. Cornwell, the noted lawyer and politician, of Romney.

The son, John Monroe Taylor, remained in his native county until he had reached the age of
eighteen years, when he went to Bridgeport, in Harrison county. There he met and married Mill
Huldah Pool, daughter of Thomas Pool, a descendant of the Waldos and Goffs, of Harrison county,
and from there they removed to Tollgate in the ante-bellum days.

At the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Taylor joined the "Home Guards," and while on duty at
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad bridge, contracted typhoid fever, which finally resulted in his
death thirty years later.  In February, 1892, he suffered a slight injury to the limb that had
been affected by the fever during his military service, and his wife was the victim of an attack
of la grippe, and both began to decline; and on a beautiful Sunday in May (1, 1892) they both
passed into the land of eternal day. He preceded her by one brief hour, and both lie at rest in
one grave in the Gnat's run cemetery.

They were the parents of six children: Ira Taylor is one of the oldest and most successful
teachers of the county; Thomas W., and J. Hammond are also of this county; Albert is of
Morgantown; and Anna T. (Mrs. Taylor), and Vietta (Mrs. Flanagan), both of Mineral county.

The Lantzes. -  The venerable Jacob Lantz, who is, perhaps, at this time, the oldest resident of
the county, has been identified with the citizenship of this river for more than seventy years.

He was born at Blacksville, West Virginia, on August 22, 1814; and there his parents, John and
Elizabeth Bonnett Lantz, spent their lives. On December 8, 1836, he was married to Miss Minerva
Miner, of Blacksville, and two years later, they came to this county and settled on the "Simon
Lantz farm" (now owned by ex-sheriff Okey E. Nutter); and from here, in 1863, he removed to
Mole Hill, where he still survives.

Mrs. Lantz died on March 2, 1860, and was laid to rest in the Mole Hill cemetery. And on April
14, 1861, Mr. Lantz again married to Mrs. Lettie Smith Jones, daughter of Isaac Smith, of Tyler
county, and widow of James Jones; but on March 3, 1906, Death laid his icy hand upon her, and
she, too, rests in the Mole Hill cemetery. His granddaughter, Miss Lettie Marsh, now lives with
him.

The children of his first marriage were five in number, and were as follows:

John Lantz, born November 23, 1837, and died on February 10, 1861.

Simon Miner, born October 26, 1839, and died on January 10, 1863.

Louisa, born June 25, 1841, and in 1860, married Lycurgus Hill, and died at her home in Tyler
county on October 30, 1903. She was the mother of ex-sheriff B. F. Hill; and ex-Senator T. P.
Hill.

Emeline Lantz, born on February 16, 1843, married Peter Stuart, on Auguast 27, 1865, and resides
at Mole Hill.

Allison Price Lantz, born on May 16, 1848, married Miss Lina Haymond, on October 24, 1869, and
died at his home at Mole Hill on August 20, 1870.

The children of the second union are Minerva A., the wife of Reeves Haymond; and Ida Lantz, wife
of John R. Marsh, both of Mole Hill.

The Cunninghams. - Though not pioneers, the families of Joseph and James Larkin Cunningham have
long been identified with the leading citizens of this part of the county. These brothers were
the sons of John and Sarah King Cunningham, and from Marion county they came during the spring
of 1857.

Joseph Cunningham and his wife Luvina McCray, settled on the Lewis Bond farm on Gnat's run,
where their son now lives. Here he passd from earth during the summer of 1890, and his venerable
widow survived until February 10, 1904. Both rest in the family burying-ground on the old
homestead.

Their children were as follows:  Harriet (Mrs. L. S. Sill, Pennsboro); Rebecca (Mrs. D. M.
Hayhurst, Beech Grove); Jane (Mrs. W. A. Duckworth, Duckworth Summit); Angelina (widow of
Jefferson Marsh, of Harrisville); Sarah (Mrs. W. W. Collins, Pennsboro); Mary (Mrs. D. Z.
Taylor, Hampshire county): Ellen (unmarried), who, with her brother, Robert, resides at the old
home; and the late Andrew, of Oklahoma; Joseph H. B., of Mole Hill; and the late James Franklin,
whose family now live at Huntington.

Jay E. Cunningham, of Pennsboro, who is so wll known in Prohibition circles; J. Frank Marsh,
Harvey Marsh, and numerous other prominent young people that might be mentioned are the
grandchildren of Joseph Cunningham.

James Larkin Cunningham was married to Miss Elizabeth Fox (sister of E. C. Fox, of Harrisville),
on January 16, 1845, who was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1821, and on
their arrival in this county, they established their home near Beech Grove, where their son, D.
B. Cunningham now resides.  Here Mr. Cunningham died in March, 1888, and Mrs. Cunningham joined
him on the other side on October 1, 1909.

They were the parents of the following named sons and daughters; D. B., who was long a teacher
in this county, with his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, resides at the old home; G. Fillmore met
a tragic death by drowning in the South fork of Hughes' river not far from his home, at
Hazelgreen, near twelve yers ago; A. S. is of Beech Grove; Eli,of Illionis; Mrs. Lyda Whitehill,
of Parkersburg; Edith married Dewit Richardson, and after her death at her home in Athens
county, Ohio, her sister, Mary, became the wife of Mr. Richardson, and they reside in Ohio
still.

John Cunningham, another brother of Joseph and James Larkin, and his wife, who was Miss Mahala
McCray, sister of Mrs. Joseph Cunningham, were also residents of Gnat's run, but they died
childless.

While the connection has not been established between this family and the older pioneer families
of this name in the county, there is but little doubt that they are a collateral branch of the
same race.

David Allen McGinnis, the subject of this sketch, was born in Cabell county, on October 1, 1822;
and, there, on a farm in his father's store, the days of his boyhood were principally spent. He
early developed a fondness for books, and was a student of Marshall college in its academic
days. At the age of seventeen years, he entered the profession of teaching (first in Wayne
county), and thus continued for a number of years. Being naturally of a religious turn of mind,
he united with the Methodist Episcopal church at the age of thirteen years, and, on August 17,
1844, was licensed to preach the gospel; and at once entered the field of the itinerancy, where
he continued his labors for seven years - until his failing health compelled him to take a local
relation with the conference.

He was a man of pronounced views andof a deeply religious character, and the influence of this
character has left its impress upon his descendants, who ever stand for something in the
communities where they reside.

On October 8, 1849, he was married to Miss Sarah Jane Marsh, daughter of Enoch Marsh, who was
also a teacher and a woman of high, Christian Character; and the following year they came to
this county, and settled at Mole Hill, where his life came to a peaceful close, on Sunday, May
17, 1896. Mrs. McGinnis was borne to the family burying-ground on the old Marsh homestead at
Tollgate, in November, 1876, and after her death he was married to Miss Nancy Hammett, of Wood
county. His body rests in the Mole Hill Cemetery.

He was the father of twelve children - all of the first union; viz., P. M. McGinnis, Donahue;
Asbury H., Tyler county; Enoch M., Texas; John H., Goff's; Samantha, who first married Warren
Coplin, is now Mrs. Aaron Younge, of Wirt county; Mary Anne is Mrs. Isaac Lambert, of Ellenboro;
Melcena J., the wife of Dr. A. S. Grimm, of St. Mary's; Clarinda, Mrs. Francis McCullough, of
Mole Hill; Sarah, the late Mrs. Leonard Doak, of Harrisville; Armedia, the late Mrs. John
Britton, of Mole Hill; Eliza J., and lina, who both died in youth, rest in the Mole Hill
cemetery. Eliza died in 1885, and Lina, the following year. This family figured prominently
among the teachers of former years, five members being thus identified.

Clerk H. E. McGinnis, of the Circuit court, is the grandson of David A. McGinnis, he being the
eldest on of P.M. McGinnis.

McGinnis Ancestry. - This family is of Irish-Malesian origin and its history dates back so far
that it has almost become lost in the "haze of antiquity". But the authentic history, however,
begins with the year 1000.

The name comes from two Irish words - "Mag", meaning son, and "Agensha", meaning great stretch,
and fromt hese two ancient words, its various spellings, "McGennes", "McGinnis", "Magennis",
etc., originated.

The family migrated from the North of Ireland to the Western World - from County Down of Ulster,
where they were a powerful clan in early times, and the "Red Hand of Ulster" is on their
coat-of-arms. They, with their rivals, the O'Neills, ruled the province of Ulster until the
coming of the English, in 1600, when many of them left their homes, going to foreign lands some
to the Highlands of Scotland, and some to other climes. But the first record we have of the
family in the Occident is near the year 1700, when some of them entered the Indian wars in the
New England Colonies.

Captain McGinnis, commander of a company of New Hampshire troops, routed the French at Rocky
Brook, near Lake George, in 1755, and was killed a little later by a spent ball, but he was
unmarried. Soon after this, several families of the name settled at Philadelphia, and from them
the McGinnises of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia come. The are to-day very numerous
throughout the Union, the entire number being estimated at two thousand five hundred, but
Pennsylvania claims the larger share.

The Rev. Edmund McGinnis, who was born in Cabell county, (West) Virginia, on November 25, 1798,
and with his parents removed to Guyandotte, in Cabell county, in 1811, was the progenitor of the
Ritchie county family. He, too, was a zealous worker in his Master's vineyard. He having been
converted at the age of seventeen years, was licensed to preach in 1827.

On June 12, 1821, he was married to Miss Mary Houghland, of Washington county, Ohio, who was a
relative of George Washington, Eli Whitney and Robert Fulton. He removed to Texas late in life
and there passed away int he "full triumphs of faith" on June 9, 1865.

He deliverd his last sermon on March fifth and, while this engaged, was seized with the fatal
illness, which continued until June, as above stated. His wife died on July 6, 1876, and by his
side she sleeps.  They were the parents of ten children, all of whom have crossed the tide - six
preceded him home: Among them were David A. McGinnis, who lived and died in Mole HIll; Oliver
A., Milville, and Fletcher, and Mrs. Melcena Beurhing, who all went to Texas; and Mrs. Mary
Johnson, who sleeps at Huntington.

The Rev. F. M. Malcom, of the West Virginia M. E. conference, is descended from this family, he
being a son of Mrs. Virginia McGinnis Malcom, and the grandson of Col. John McGinnis, of Cabell
county.

To Herbert P. McGinnis, brother of Clerk H. E. McGinnis, we owe our thanks for this valuable
sketch.  He having gleaned it from published records of the family.

Abraham Cline was a very early settler on what was locally known as "Dry Ridge", not far from
the Pleasants county line, but he changed his place of residense to Highland about the year
1822, where he kept a house of public entertainment, for a time, and here our information
concerning his history ends, though it is quite probable the he has descendants in this county.
His daughter, Polly, who is said to have been the first white child born on this side of the
Blue Ridge mountains, became the wife of John Douglass and went West. This pioneer was of German
origin, and was the son of William Cline, senior, who made the first improvement where the
little town of Smithville now stands, and who afterwards removed to near Gallipolis, Ohio, where
he probably found a resting place.

One of the Clines is said to have killed the last Indian that met his death at the hands of a
white man in this section of West Virginia, he having shot the intruder while he was attempting
to steal his horse.

William Cline, junior, brother of Abraham, was married to Miss Epha Marsh, daughter of James
Marsh, and after a brief residence near Gallipolis, Ohio, removed to Middle Island creek,
Doddridge county; and from there, to Tollgate, this county, where he died and where he lies
buried. He left two children, Eli, aged twelve and Eleanor, aged eight years; and after his
death his widow married Notley G. Willis, and one son, N. G. Willis, of Mole Hill, was the
result of this union.  (For farther history of Cline descendants see Haymond history.)

Eleanor Cline became the wife of William C. Haymond, and has a long line of descendants in this
county.
Eli Cline, who first married Miss Frances Collins, daughter of Jacob, and afterwards, Mrs.
Bradford (widow of Jacob Bradford), died at Pennsboro near the year 1900. For the children of
the first marriage, see Collins history, and of the three sons born of the second union, Wiliam
alone grew to the years of maturity.

CORNWALLIS SETTLED.

Jesse C. Lowther (son of Thomas and grandson of Col. William), was the first to break the forest
at Cornwallis. He came from his native county - Harrison, and married, Phebe, the daughter of
William Cunningham, of Revolutionary fame, in 1811, and settled on the "Horner farm", on the
Harrisville-Cornwallis road, the following year. He later purchased an additional tract of land
at the mouth of Bear run, and built a cabin on the site that is now marked by the Naughton
residence; and here he died at the age of fifty years, and in the Pioneer burying-ground at
Harrisville, beside his wife, he rests.

He and his wife were the parents of twelve children: Wm. H. Lowther, who rests in Illinois;
John G., J., of Cornwallis; Margaret, who first married a Cunningham, and later, Ichabod
Kirkpatrick; Lydia, was the late Mrs. John Elliott, and Barbara, the late Mrs. Jacob Elliott;
Jane married Wm. Hardman, and went to Nebraska; Mary Ann was the late Mrs. G. W. Hardman, of
this county; and Matilda, the only survivor of the family (who first married Maxwell Lowther,
of Cairo), is now the widow of the late David McGregor, of Cairo. The rest died in youth.

Wolverton. - A man by the name of Wolverton built the second cabin at Cornwallis. Then in 1840
came William Cunningham (whose interesting history occupies a place in an earlier chapter),
from Harrisville, and purchased near one thousand two hundred fifty acres at the mouth of Bond's
creek, which is now divided up into several farms, and erected his humble dwelling near the
present site of the Roland residence.

John G. Skelton and George Wells were the other early settlers in this section.

John G. Skelton (a deaf mute) was the son of Edward Skelton, an English pioneer of the
Harrisville vicinity. And his wife, Miss Prudence Chidester, was also a deaf mute. They went
from here to Cairo, and from there to Illinois, where they both lie at rest in the Litchfield
cemetery.

They had three daughters and two sons, all of whom could hear and talk. Katherine, the eldest
daughter, married at Litchfield, and there perhaps the descendants of the family live.

George Wells is still a resident of this community, though helpless from the weight of years and
ill-health. He is the son of the late Isaiah Wells, of the Harrisville vicinity, and a native
and life-long resident of this county. His natal day was August 31, 1834; and he came to
Cornwallis in 1858, shortly after his marriage to Miss Barbara Hardman, daughter of the late
Rev. James Hardman, of Hardman chapel; and erected the first mill in this section, that same
year; and continued to operate it until 1875, when its wheels became silent, and its pulses
refused to beat. Here in 1871, the wife of his youth passed from sight, and in 1875, he was
married to Miss Virginia Dilworth, daughter of Asa Dilworth, and niece of his first wife, who
is the companion and staff of his "declining years".

The children of his first marriage are Mrs. Jennie Newland, of Boreland; Mrs. C. A. Kearns,
Rusk; Tip Wells, Cairo; C. L. Wells, Grafton; and Edward, Harrisville.

The children of the second union are two sons:  C. C. and Bert, both of Cornwallis.

SILVER RUN

"Little streamlet fair and free
Sing your song-so sweet to me!
Of your onward rushings to the far off sea;
'Cause I love your bonnie danks,
Silver streamlet-take my thanks!
     *     *     *     *     *     *
Fair Stream of Silver run,
Lightly laughing playful run
From the snowlands to the southern sun;
Let the shine of silvered sands,
Glinting, glean upon my hands,
In remembrance-fairest lands!"</BR>
                    Herbert P. M'Ginnis

"Silver Run" is but a mere speck on the map, "a flag station, a by-place of the county, and of
the State-an unknown corner of the world", a stream three miles in length, yet with all its
insignificance, it has a history worthy of record, a place in our sonnets; it having inspired
the pretty lines above quoted from the pen of out Boy-Poet, who is one of its most familiar
friends.

It is supposed to have been settled near the year 1830 by sone unknown Nimrod, who dug his cave
in a hill, but its first permanent settlement was made by Mr. Campbell, who came from Baltimore
in the ante-bellum days and improved the fine farm that is now owned by his son, William
Campbell. Other Irish families arrived later, principally from the East, and finding work on the
railroad and in the timber industry, a colony was soon formed. The community is still
distinctively Irish, and among these families are the Campbells, the Donohues, the McTights, the
McGinnises, and others that might be mentioned. A German family by the name of Mink was also
among the earlier settlers, they having come from the Fatherland during the first years of the
Civil war.

The name of the stream originated about the year 1857, while the railroad tunnel was being
arched, when something that resembled silver was unearthed.

P. M. McGinnis, who now owns the Hall lands, settled here near 1876, and was instrumental in
securing the first regular station at this point; and erected the first real store-house in
which B. F. Hill, of Tyler county, later sheriff of this county opened a general store. The
post-office under the name of "Donohue" came in the eighties, and near this time a more modern
store building was erected.

"Silver Run" was now a central lumber shipping point for Goose creek and Sheep run, and thram
roads extended for eitht or ten miles back into the wilderness. Oil seekers had already been
prospecting on the Hall (McGinnis) lands, but this fluid was not found in paying quantities
until much later.

Speakeasies flourished in an early day, and one old Irish lady (?) became quite familiar with
the scenes at the jail and the court house at the County seat, but these times have long since
past, and the community is now quiet and law-abiding.

The Catholics, "ever loyal and hardworking people", constructed a log church on "Tunnel hill" in
early days, but a modern structure, the largest of this denomination in the county, now adorns
the site.  Here, in this churchyard, the first graves of the community were hollowed out, and
the dates on the stones show that some were laid here in the fifties and others during the dark
days of the Civil war.

The Silver Run of to-day is a paying oil-center.  Its entire population, including oil-field
laborers, sectionhands and residents is not more than two hundred, and the little hamlet-station
consists of three dwellings, a store-house, a blacksmith-shop a telegraph office, a school
house, and a platform.  Here our boy-poet-author-editor, to whom we are indebted for this
sketch, lives; and here his print-shop is located; and it is not at all unlikely that in the
time we call some day, that this little corner of the universe will be distinguished as the
birthplace of a modern Long-fellow or Bayard Taylor.

Rusk. - Isaac Nutter, as stated in an earlier chapter, was the first settler at Rusk, his old
cabin having stood on the farm that is now owned by W. J. Moats. And the next notable landmark
here was the old Pribble mill, which came upon the stage as early as 1839, with Daniel Pribble
as builder dn operator, but the wheels of this old mill ceased to turn before its owner crossed
to the other side, and the site is now marked by the Moats' mill, which was built by the late
William Meredith, father of the Rev. Thomas Meredith, of the West Virginia Methodist Episcopal
conference, perhaps, thirty-five years ago.  But Mr. Moats has been the owner and proprietor for
the past quarter of a century, and during the year 1909, he rebuilt and enlarged this mill,
and added his store to the structure.

The Pribbles. - Our information concerning Daniel Pribble is very meager, but he was a native of
Greene county, Pennsylvania, and removed from there to Wirt county before coming to this
community, where he died.  He married Miss Amanda Melvina Jackson, sister of Henry Jackson, and
was the father of several children, whose names are missing.

His brother, Hugh Prible, senior, who married Miss Permilia Elizabeth Jackson, another sister of
Henry, was also an early settler here.  He was the father of Hugh Pribble, of Cisko; the Rev. U.
Pribble, of Harrisville; Mrs. Herilda Hall, of Washington state; the late Mrs. Charles Harrison,
senior, of Cantwell; the late Mrs. Henrietta Mason, and other children.

The hamlet of Rusk, which is little more than a thickly settled community, came into existence
near the year 1880, when the post-office was established.  It was named in honor of the maiden
name of the late Mrs. Charles Lewis, her name being spelled "Russ".

Frank Davis, son-in-law of Mr. Meredith, erected the first dwelling, and was the first merchant
and post-master. The first school-house stood on the farm of C. A. Kearns. There are now six or
seven residences close enough together to resemble a hamlet, two stores, a mill, one church
(M.P.), a school-house, blacksmith-shop, and no post-office, as the rural route has swallowed
it up.  J. W. Heck is the other merchant, besides Mr. Moats, and he is also the telephone
operator.