HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY (WV) CHAPTER 37 - 39
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History of Ritchie County

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

Chapter XXXVII
Newspapers
Transcribed by Janet Waite.

Page 452

Newspapers

The first newspaper sent out its initial number during the spring of 
1856,under the name of the "Ritchie Democrat."  It was edited and published 
by Enoch G. Day, who came from Bath county, Virginia, bringing his press and 
material with him.  He continued to issue this paper until a few months 
before the breaking out of the Civil war, when he sold it to "Deck" Neal, 
who abandoned it at the opening of hostilities, and went South and took up 
his sword in behalf of the Confederacy.  Mr. Day then again took charge and 
changed the paper to a religious publication, which he called "The 
Advocate;"  and near the close of the year 1862, he sold out to Daniel F. 
Shriner, of Ohio, who issued it under the name of the "Ritchie Press."

Mr. Shriner was a member of a company of "Homeguards," and, he having just 
returned from a scout in the Southern part of the county, had written a 
graphic account of this trip for publication, and had the paper partly out 
of the press--the part containing this article--when General Jones, with a 
company of Confederate Calvaryman, made his appearance at Harrisville, on 
the morning of May 7, 1863,and paid a visit to the "Press Office."  After 
pieing the forms, scattering a few cases of type, and distributing the half-
finished sheet among themselves, these distinguished visitors took their 
departure, leaving Mr. Shriner, and his two employees, Alvin McClaskey, and 
J. J. Sigler, to gather up the fragments, which they did, successfully, and 
the paper resumed publication from this same press and type, and soon 
appeared again filled with strong denunciations of this act of vandalism.

During the spring of 1864, Mr. Shriner, having failed

Page 453

to pay for this office, it passed into the hands of Miss Nancy Stevens, who 
purchased it of Allen and Catlett, of Bath county, Virginia.  Mr. Shriner 
then sold his outfit (an old hand press with from one hundred fifty to two 
hundred pounds of second-hand type) to J. J. Sigler, and went to Weston, 
where he edited a paper for a few months, before going to Chillicothe, Ohio, 
where he still survived a few years since.

"The Ritchie Press" was then published by J. J. Sigler and edited by S. P. 
McCormick for the next two one-half years.  Then Frank Miller of 
Steubenville, Ohio, owned it  for a few months (in 1867) and he was 
succeeded by the late C. F. Scott, of Parkersburg, who died in Washington 
city in 1906, and John T. Harris, who changed its name to the "West Virginia 
Star."  James Murphy then purchased it, conditionally, but Scott and Harris 
resumed control again after a few months.

Other owners from 1869 to 1872 were, J. J. Sigler, E. H. McDougal, (who put 
his son T. T. McDougal, now of the "Ceredo Advance" in the office to learn 
the trade), Leo J. Theiss, (a band teacher), T. E. Davis, T. Dawson and P. 
W. Morris.

In 1872, P. W. Morris, becoming the sole owner and proprietor, changed the 
name to the "Ritchie Gazette," and from that time until the summer of 1904, 
it was edited and published by the Morris family.  The late E. H. Collins, 
of Berea, then became the purchaser, and from his hands it passed into the 
possession of a company, and was managed by W. R. Heaton.  Watt Warren, an 
old newspaper man of Gilmer couny, then occupied the editorial chair, until 
September 1907, when it returned  "to the house of its fathers," Robert 
Morris the present editor, becoming the occupant of the chair.  Under his 
management it has now reached its maximum circulation, one thousand eight 
hundred.

P. W. Morris is a native of New Martinsville, Wetzel county, he having been 
born there on July 24, 1850.  He began his career as a school-teacher, and 
in his early manhood, came to Harrisville, where he was married to Miss 
Lydia Patton, daughter of William Patton.  In1872, he was admitted to the 
bar; he filled various municipal offices of the town; served

Page 454

as a member of the Board of Public School Examiners; as County 
Superintendent, and State Senator.  Since leaving Harrisville he has been 
the editor of the Parkersburg State Journal, and a candidate for Congress.  
He and his sons are now the sole owners of this paper which holds a high 
rank among the leading Republican organs of the state.

Mr. Morris is the father of five daughters and four sons, who have all had 
more or less experience in newspaper work; and the sons, Robert, Will, Ben, 
and Leland are thus interested at the present time.  The daughters are:  
Mrs. Hortense M. Cooper, Mrs. Beatrice Henry, Mrs. Sue Devol, and Kathrine 
and Dorothy, who are still at home.

Robert and Mrs. Cooper have also been prominently identified in educational 
circles.

Mr. Zeveley was at this time the oldest newspaper man in West Virginia, he 
having been identified in this business for almost a half-century.  He was 
born in North Carolina, in 1818, and there he was educated, and entered upon 
his journalistic career, by beginning the publication of the "Greensboro 
Beacon," in 1836.

He was connected with journalism in different states; viz., Ohio, Maryland, 
North Carolina, and West Virginia.

After his death. the "Ritchie Democrat and Beacon Light" passed into the 
hands of his son, Van A. Zeveley, who continued it at Cairo until 1889, when 
he moved it to Pennsboro, and dropping the "Ritchie Democrat, "issued it 
under the name of the "Beacon Light" until it went out of existence, in 
1893.

He then went to Lincoln county, where he edited the "Lincoln News" for six 
years, until his failing health compelled him to give up the newspaper work, 
which had engaged

Page455

his attention for a quarter of a century.  He is now located at Cairo, where 
he has one of the best job printing offices in the state.

The elder Zeveley married Miss Charlotte Hinkle  (l820-1886), and his other 
children besides Van A. are the late John  H. Zeveley, Mrs. Malvina Soyster, 
Mrs. Zabenia Elder (deceased), and Mrs. Mae (H. N.) Sharps, Pennsboro.

Other Cairo Papers.--In  1895, C. H. Scoville started the "Cairo Times," but 
his office was destroyed by fire a few months later, and thus its brief 
history came to an end.

"The Cairo Enterprise" is the one publication here now.  "The Enterprise" 
was launched by Dana R. McGlothlin and Charles Smoot, two Young men of 
Parkersburg.  Mr. Smoot severed his connection with this paper in 1905, and 
it passed into the hands of a company, and Mr. McGlothlin was retained as 
editor and manager; but he sought "greener fields" a year or so since, and 
Earnest Prunty became his successor, but Robert Morris now the owner and Van 
A. Zeveley is in the editorial chair.  (1910)

Weekly Review Founded.--In 1877, J. J. Sigler and T. T. McDougal purchased a 
small printing outfit and opened a job office at Harrisville; and after a 
few months, Mr. McDougal severed his connection with this office. amd went 
to Lincoln county, where he set the "Lincoln Clipper" afloat; and Mr. Sigler 
became the owner, and continued in the job printing business until the 
Greenback movement became a political feature in this state, a few years 
later.  He then became  the publisher of a paper called the "Greenbacker," 
which was launched by some of the leaders of this movement, and which was 
edited by R. H. Freer.  At the close of the campaign in 1884, this 
publication was discontinued, and the "Weekly Review" came upon the stage in 
November of the same year, as a Democratic organ, with J. J. Sigler 
publisher, and Hon. L. G. Bennington, editor.  Hon. R. S. Blair and other 
prominent Democrats being behind the movement.

Mr. Bennington only occupied the editorial chair for a few months, and he 
was succeeded by the late B. F. Ayres.  This paper expounded Democracy for a 
little more than a year, and was on the eve of being discontinued when,

Page 456

J. J. Sigler became the editor and proprietor, and changed it to a 
Republican sheet; and thus it continued to expound the "principles of the 
Grand old Party" until 1899, when it was purchased by the late F. M. Moats, 
and incorporated with the "Ritchie Standard"--The Review office becoming the 
Standard office, and the Review press, the Standard Press.

J. J. Sigler is a native of Evansville, Preston county, he having been born 
in l847.  He is the son of the late J. R. Sigler, of Cairo, and the grandson 
of Israel Stevens.* who came from Prunytown to Harrisville, in 1850, and who 
served as post-master, deputy sheriff, and jailer, during the fifties.

Mr Sigler was reared by his grandfather and his late aunt, Miss Nancy 
Stevens, his mother having bade adieu to earth when he was but an infant.  
So Harrisville has been his home from early childhood.

He married Miss Florence McDougal an is the father of five children:  Homer 
E. Sigler, deputy County clerk, Parkersburg; Mrs. P. Z. Musgrave, Marion 
county; George T., who is book-keeper for the Cypress Lumber Company at 
Loughman, Florida; and Miss Lelia and Byrl.  All of the children spent most 
of their school vacation at the case in the Review office, with the 
exception of Mrs. Musgrave.  Miss Lelia is regarded as one of the most 
efficient type-setters in this part of the state.

Mr. Sigler now has a job office at Harrisville.

The Ritchie Standard.--This paper came into existence near the year 1889, 
when S. S. Stewart founded the "Reveille,"  which he published for a few 
years, and which was continued by his wife, Mrs. Ella Haymond Stewart, until 
1895, when it passed into the hands of H. B. Woods and W. R. Heaton, who 
became equal purchasers, and who changed the name of the paper--sending out 
the first issue of the "Ritchie Standard" on March 15, 1895.

Mr. Woods was the editor, and Mr. Heaton, the manager, but during the autumn 
of 1896, Mr. Woods sold his interest to the late F. M. Moats, who became the 
sole owner, a little later.

*Mr. Stevens was the father of the late Miss Nancy Stevens, Mrs. M. S. 
McKinney, and Mrs. Sarah A. M.. Heaton.

Page 457

As before stated, Mr. Moats purchased the "Weekly Review, "in 1899, and 
incorporated it with the "Standard," and continued its publication until his 
death, in May, 1901.  The plant was then sold to a company known as the 
"Standard Publishing Company," and was managed and edited by the late J. 
Willis Fiddler, and W. R. Heaton, until October, 1902, when it passed into 
the hands of Lewis Harvey Adams, a native of the "Buckeye state," who had 
been a resident of this county, since his early boyhood, and a prominent 
teacher, before stepping into the editorial chair.  In September, 1907, he 
sold to Robert Morris, the present owner of both Gazette and Standard, and 
went to Parkersburg.

One interesting feature in connection with the history of this paper, is 
that it was founded by local talent--by a novice in the newspaper business; 
and, though no other local publication in the county has ever attained a 
higher degree of success, or reached its present circulation limit, it has 
been in such hands almost throughout its history.

Under the present management, the subscription list has been increased from 
thirteen hundred to two thousand, though the present editor cannot be styled 
a novice in this business, as he was "born and bred in a newspaper office."

Pennsboro Papers.--M. K. Duty, was the author of the first newspaper venture 
at Pennsboro, some time in the early '80's.  He called his spicy little 
sheet "The Monitor," and after a brief editorial experience, sold out to T. 
A. Brown, who continued it for a time at Pennsboro, and then removed it to 
Elizabeth, Wirt county, in April, 1886, where he issued it under the name of 
the "Elizabeth Times."  It later passed into the hands of the Gray Brothers, 
but is now owned by the "Messenger Publishing Company," and is known as the 
"Elizabeth Messenger."

M. K. Duty is a Tyler county product.  In a hickory cabin of unhewn logs, 
with a puncheon floor, and with but one window, and one door, he was born, 
on December 8, 1855.  He is of Irish lineage--the great-grandson of Mark 
Duty, who distinguished himself by being the author of an arithmetic, which 
was used in the schools of his day, and who was the father of Elizabeth 
Duty, the founder of the Woman's

Page 458

Christian Temperance Inn; and of Mrs. Jennie Duty Spencer, wife of the 
celebrated Platt R. Spencer, author to the Spencerian penmanship system.  
His parental ancestors came from Cleveland, Ohio, and his maternal, from 
Monongalia county, to Tyler county, where his parents Andrew W. Duty, and 
Hannah Eleanor Jones Duty, were both born.

His father served as first sergeant of Company E, of the Fourteenth West 
Virginia Infantry Volunteers during the Civil war, being captured and taken 
prisoner at the battle of Cloy Mountain, on May 9, 1864.  He died at his 
home in Tyler county, in 1910, and his wife has long been sleeping 'mid the 
scenes of her childhood at Centerville, where she was laid at the early age 
of thirty-three years.

M. K. Duty has been a prominent figure in educational, political, and 
business circles ever since he came to this county, perhaps near thirty 
years ago.  He has been teacher, editor, lawyer, County Superintendent, 
member of the House of Delegates, candidate for Congress, and railroad 
magnate.  He is President of the Lorama Railroad Company at this time, and 
is busily engaged in the extension of this road to Pullman.

He married Miss Ollie Howard, daughter of Henry Howard, of Tyler county, for 
his first wife, and they were the parents of three children, the late Okey, 
Price, and Jennie.  His second wife was Miss Lora Crumrine, daughter of the 
late Dr. J. B. Crumrine.

The Zeveley Paper, whose history has already been noticed, was the second 
publication here.  Then came Will A. Strickler with the "Lever," shich he 
sold to a man by the name of Smith, who changed the name to that of 
"Pennsboro News."  His (Smith's) editorial career here, was a brief one, and 
he was succeeded by the late D. A. Fawcett, of North Carolina, who, after a 
few months' experience, gave his place to J. A. Wooddell, the present editor 
and proprietor, who had the misfortune to lose the entire contents of his 
office by fire early in the year 1906, but who soon installed a new outfit, 
and resumed his publication after a brief intermission.  This is the only 
Democratic paper in the county, but, though much in the minority, its 
editorials hold a high rank among the other weekly publications of the 
state.

Page 459

"The Republican" was another transient Pennsboro paper.  W. B. Pedigo, the 
present Mayor of Parkersburg, was the editor for a time, and later, it 
passed into the hands of a company of Pennsboro's business men, who 
continued its publication until the spring of 1903, when it went out of 
existence.

In July following, the "republican" outfit was sold to Hons. Anthony Smith, 
R. H. Greer, and Sherman Robinson, and removed to Harrisville, where it was 
pressed into service in the publication of a paper styled "The Eagle," which 
was edited by Mr. Freer, and published by J. J. Sigler.  The clammerous 
tones of this "glorious bird" attracted much attention for a time--its 
screams being heard far and wide during the campaign.  But alas! at its 
close the lovely thing dropped its proud head and died.  The late E. H. 
Collins, of the Gazette, purchased the outfit in July, 1904.

-----------------

The identity of the first newspaper editor of the county is a subject of 
more than ordinary interest to us, since his venture into this unpromising 
wilderness laid the foundation for the weekly publications which play such 
an important part in our public affairs of to-day.

Enoch George Day was born in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, on September 5, 
1809, and there his youthful days were spent.  His wife, Miss Julia Anne 
England, daughter of Andrew and Katherine Buckley England, was a native of 
Frederick county, Maryland, and from Bath county, Virginia, they came to 
Harrisville in 1856.  He brought his press and material with him, and soon 
after his arrival launched the "Ritchie Democrat."  He not only figured as 
newspaper editor, but as lawyer and post-master as well.  He went from here 
to St. Mary's, perhaps, towards the close of the Civil war, and there 
practiced law for a time before removing to Wheeling, where he died on 
September 12, 1870, at the age of sixty-one years, and there in lot No. 371 
in Peninsula cemetery, he lies at rest.  After his death, Mrs. Day went West 
to live with her son, Thomas, and in Mexico, Missouri, on June 5, 1884, she 
fell asleep, at the age of seventy-five years.

Their family consisted of four sons and one daughter;

Page 460

viz., Thomas E., Charles H., John Emery, W. Harry, and Mary C. Day.

The sons were all Union soldiers; all were wounded while in the service, and 
all are dead from the effects of these wounds, except Charles H.  Harry, who 
died in Oklahoma, in 1900, was Captain of the  "Home-gards."  Emory was 
wounded at the battle of Bull run, and died nine days later.  Thomas, who 
laid down the cross at Mexico, Missouri, in 1894, was a colonel; and Charles 
H., who lost an arm in the conflict, was captain.  He now resides at 
Agnewville, Virginia, and is unmarried.

Mary C. Day, the only daughter (born on November 6, 1840), was first married 
to Peter E. Kerns, of Bath county, Virginia on November 8, 1859.  Mr. Kerns 
was born on November 8, 1830, and died on July 18, 1862, from cold contacted 
during his service in the Union army; and Alda, the one child of this union 
(born on May 7, 1861, and died on April 29, 1862, lies by her father in the 
Harrisville cemetery.

On January 30, 1868, Mrs. Mary C. Day Kerns became the wife of J. B. 
Mallory, the marriage being solemnized at St. Mary's by the Rev. Mr. Belt, 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and at Wheeling they resided until 1870, 
when they came to Ellenboro, where she fell asleep on October 6, 1984; and 
in the Ellenboro cemetery she lies buried.  But Mr. Mallory still survives 
at the age of eighty years; he having been born at Geneva, Pennsylvania, on 
August 15, 1830; and with his uncle, the late Dr. M. M. Campbell, of 
Parkersburg, came to Fairmont, this state, at the age of seventeen years.  
He was a soldier of the Union army, and lost one eye in the service.  He is 
a boot-maker by trade, and has had considerable experience as clerk in the 
stores at Ellenboro, and was at one time assistant collector of Internal 
Revenue for his brother-in-law the late General A. S. Core.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallory were the parents of six children; viz., Henry K. (1869-
71), Henrietta (born and died in 1874), Harry K. (1875-1900), Wheeling, 
Joseph M., Wilsonburg; Edward, of the Jaricaki Manufacturing Company, 
Ellenboro, and Mary Day the eldest daughter, who is now Mrs. Perry 
Strickler, of Ellenboro.  She and her brother being the only descendants of 
Enoch G. Day that remain in this county.

Page 461

The Days must have crossed the sea early in the eighteenth century, though 
this fact has not been positively established; but they first settled in 
Anne Arundle county, Maryland, and from there scattered to different parts 
of the Union, the name being a prominent one in various sections of the 
country to-day.  But our definite information begins with Thomas and  Hannah 
Day, the grandparents of Enoch C. Day, who resided in Maryland as early as 
1784, when their son, Thomas Day, junior, was born.

Thomas Day, junior, this son, was married to Miss Eleanor Thompson, who was 
born in 1786, and they were the parents of Enoch G. Day, and of the 
following named other children:  Anne (born on November 10, 1810), John 
(born March 11, 1812), Gideon H. (May 18,1815), and Francis Asbury (June 4, 
1818).  Francis A. and Gideon were ministers of the Methodist Protestant 
church, and the latter resided at Baltimore.  John was also of Maryland.  
But Francis Asbury was an early minister of the Harrisville community, and 
he finally removed to Philadelphia, where he fell dead on the street, while 
making pastoral calls, on April 17, 1890.  He had one daughter, Emma, and 
perhaps other children.

John Day.--Another branch of this family which has been known in the county 
since the ante-bellum days, is that of John Day, who, though no positive 
proof has been established, was almost without doubt the brother of Thomas 
Day, senior--the grandfather of Enoch G. Day.

John Day, whose history begins in Anna Arundel county, Maryland, was the 
father of two sons, Thomas and Edward, and two daughters, whose names are 
missing.

Thomas Day, the one son, whose history is of interest to us was born near 
Baltimore, in 1800, and there he was married, in 1822, to Miss Sarah Ann 
Barnes, who was also a native of that city; and in February, 1832, they 
migrated to Ohio and settled near Barnesville, in Carroll county, where they 
remained until they passed to the other side.

They were the parents of eight children: viz.,  Joshua (1823-1902), 
Illinois; Francis (1824-1880), Adam Thomas (1827--), Edward (--1876), John 
(who died on April 8, 1864, while serving as a Union Soldier), Elizabeth 
(died in 1893

Page 462

unmarried), Mary (who became Mrs. Kerns, died on October 28, 1890), and 
Joseph, who is unmarried, makes his home with his nephew, J. E. Day, of near 
Auburn.

Francis Day was the one son whose family are known in this county.  He was 
born in Baltimore county, Maryland on October 27, 1824, and with his parents 
removed to Ohio, when he was but a child of seven summers; there he grew to 
manhood, and married Miss Eliza Meredith, eldest daughter of the Late 
William Meredith, of White Oak, on April 13, 1852, and seven years later 
(1858) removed to Harrisville, where he engaged in the mercantile business 
for about two years.  But when the Civil war cloud threatened to burst forth 
in storm, he returned, with his family, to Lebanon, Ohio, and enlisted in 
the Union service for three years, and thus sustained disabilities which 
finally caused his death.  At the close of the war he removed his family 
back to this county, and resided on White Oak until 1874, when he went to 
Kansas, going on from there to Alma, Marion county, Illinois, six months 
later, where he died on July 22, 1880.  And there, in the Alma cemetery, by 
the side of his wife, who died on April 25, 1883, he lies at rest.  Mrs. Day 
was born in Marion county, West Virginia, on July 14, 1837.

There five children were as follows: John William, who, with his brother, 
James Edward Day, resides near Auburn, on the Doddridge county side; Thomas 
Lincoln, Jasper G., and Sarah T., who first married William Howton, of this 
county, later John Wheeler of Illinois, and who is now Mrs. James Baldridge, 
are all of Illinois.

On October 2, 1880, James Edward Day was married to Miss Lou Stinespring, 
daughter of John Stinespring, of Doddridge county, and their only child is 
Miss Ella Day.*

*If no other evidence was at hand the strong similarity of the names in 
these families would be sufficient to establish the connection, but Francis 
Day often told his friends that he was distantly related to Enoch G. Day.


Chapter XXXVIII
Harrisville
Transcribed by Margaret Udell.

Harrisville is the oldest and most beautiful town in the county.  It was 
laid out in the wilderness, in 1822, on land belonging to Thomas Harris, in 
view of having it made the seat for a new county.

The plat was made by John McKinney, and was recorded in the clerk's office 
at Parkersburg.  Although lots were sold at this early date, but one was 
improved before 1837.  On this lot, Stephen Stuart erected the first house, 
which was a frame dwelling; and his father, Joseph Stuart - a pioneer before 
mentioned, lost his life here by the falling of a lumber-kiln, before the 
building was completed.  And in this building, the first store in the county 
was opened by Matthias Cline, perhaps, as early as 1825; who, in 1827, sold 
to William McKinney, who was succeeded by John Nicklin, son of the late Dr. 
Nicklin, of Middlebourne. On this same lot, near 1843, Mr. McKinney erected 
the old "Lincoln House," which served as a public hostelry until 1888, when 
it was destroyed by fire.  The site is now owned by the Ritchie County Bank, 
and is marked by the handsome residence of E. M. Carver, the founder and 
cashier of Ritchie county's oldest bank.

At the same time that Mr. Nicklin (1840) came into possession of the 
McKinney store, O. and Granville Berkley, two brothers, built a store-house 
on the lot that is now the property of J. M. Hall; and both Mr. Nicklin, and 
Granville Berkley built residences.  Harrisville was now a village of four 
houses.

In 1842, Daniel Rexroad built the first hotel, which stood but a few feet 
back of the present dwelling of T. F. Leach -- a portion of which is still 
standing.

Mr. Rexroad was the son of Henry, and a first cousin of Noah Rexroad.  He 
married a Miss Wells, and went from here to Chicago, where he died a few 
years since, and where his sons, Isaiah and Harvey, still lived, at the last 
account.

The "Watson House" was built in 1843 by John Maulsby, who died here of 
typhoid fever, the following year; and Henry J. Fisher, of Point Pleasant, 
then purchased the property, and placed Phillip Cox, father of D. W. Cox, in 
charge.  The next tenant was John Smith, of Virginia, who opened what was, 
perhaps, the first and last saloon in the county, in connection with this 
hotel.  He went to Parkersburg, where he fell asleep, and where one of his 
sisters still survives.

On March 28, 1867, Mr. Fisher sold this property to Enoch G. Day, who, 
shortly after, sold to Jeremiah Nay; and on April 8, 1867, Mr. Nay 
transferred it to Mrs. Eveline Watson, who continued as owner until a few 
years since, when it passed into the hands of the First National Bank.  The 
old building was then replaced by a handsome brick, and the name was changed 
to that of "National hotel."  But its race was brief, a destructive fire 
having laid it in ruins early in the year 1906, while C. S. Corbin was the 
proprietor.  A large three-story building of handsome architecture, which 
contains the post-office, the First National Bank, private offices, etc., 
now marks the site.

White Hall Hotel.- Near the year 1846, Robert Porter, came from New York and 
built the old "White Hall" hotel, and opened a store in the same building.  
But, he, becoming involved in debt, lost the property, and went to Missouri, 
where he died a little later; and W. M. Patton, became the owner, in 1850.

Mr. Patton employed Morgan Blackshire to run the hotel, and in the meantime, 
he became the Sheriff of the county; but he, too, becoming involved in debt, 
lost the property, and his father, William Patton, senior, then became the 
owner, in 1859; and the "White Hall" hotel has ever since been in the hands 
of the Patton family.  At the death of the elder Patton, in 1879, his son, 
the late A. J., took control; and in the early nineties, he sold to his 
brother, the late B. F. Patton; and not long after this transaction, the old 
building was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt by the owner in 1893.

This now the largest hotel in the county, being three stories in height and 
numbering thirty-five rooms.  It is practically the only hotel in town 
(there being a number of boarding-houses), and it is under the efficient 
management of Mrs. B. F. Patton, and her son, Frank.

As early as 1843, Spencer T. Bukey*, of Williamstown, built a residence and 
store house combined on the corner of Main and Court streets, on the lot 
that is now adorned by the palatial brick residence of W. W. Lawrence.

In 1850, Harrison B. Cunningham, son-in-law of the late Rev. James Hardman, 
erected a building on the corner of Main and Spring streets, and opened a 
general store; but he, failing in business, was succeeded by Hopkins 
Burlingham, who continued to sell goods here until his death, on July 10, 
1852.  A gentleman by the name of Dunlap, and perhaps, a few others then 
held this business in hand until 1859, when the late W. H. Peirpoint came 
forward with a small stock of groceries and confectionery, to which he added 
a general line of dry goods, a little later.  And, with the exception of a 
year or so, he continued to serve his customers at this stand until 1904, 
when he sold to Harley and Carlie Moats, retaining his queensware 
department, which he rebuilt and enlarged, and sold to his brother, J. N. 
Peirpoint, shortly before his death, in 1906.

* (Footnote) The writer has in her possession a statement of a bill of 
merchandise, bearing the date of 1843, which was purchased by her late 
paternal grandfather of Mr. Bukey while in business here.

Among the many others who have been identified in the mercantile business in 
this town, we find the names of William McKinney, Burlingham and Rexroad 
(Daniel), Holt and Douglass, James McKinney and Noah Rexroad, Daniel 
Boughner & Co., John Hall & Son, J. M. Hall, Amos Culp, Samuel Kuykendall, 
J. M. Davis, A. J. & A. D. Patton, T. T. Flinn, J. K. P. Wooddell, C. C. 
Davis, J. F. Munsey, C. W. Winters, P. G. Brake, M. J. Crummett, J. H. 
Haddox,. and doubtless many others.

The present ones are W. W. Lawrence, Fisher and Stump, Andrew Moats and 
sons, Harley and Carlie, A. F. Wilcox & Co., and E. J. Taylor.

The First Tannery in the county was established here as early as 1827, by 
Thomas Chancellor, but in 1839, it passed into the hands of Zackquill M. 
Peirpoint, who continued to hold this business intact until his death in 
1882; and shortly after this, it went out of existence, having been in 
continuous operation for sixty years.  The D. B. Latimer flouring mill, 
which was erected by the Hardman Brothers - Fremont and Sheridan - in the 
early nineties, now marks the site of this old tannery.

Saddlery and Harness Business. - Joseph J. Vandivort, of Fairmont, brother 
of Mrs. Zackquill M. Peirpoint, and Thomas Reitz & Son launched the saddler 
and harness business here, which has principally been held intact by C. S. 
Martin and John B. Ayres for the past forty years.  Mr. Ayres sold out his 
business in 1903, and went West, then East; but now rests in Oklahoma.  C. 
C. McKinley succeeded him, and then came H. B. Curry, of Troy, for a brief 
time, but he sold his stock to C. S. Martin, who now holds full sway.

C. S. Martin and his wife, Mrs. Matilda Sturms Martin, came from Marion 
county, and are the parents of two daughters, Mrs. Cocoa D. Ailor, wife of 
Dr. C. W. Ailor, of Murphytown, and Della, who is now Mrs. Lester Snodgrass.

Thomas Reitz and his wife, nee Marshall, came here from Pennsylvania.  He 
went to Pittsburg and finally to Kansas, where he died at the home of his 
son, the late Captain J. M. Reitz.

Besides the son above mentioned, he was the father of the late L. G. Reitz, 
of Ellenboro; Baltzer, of Florida; the late Mrs. Henrietta (W. H.) 
Peirpoint, of Harrisville, Mrs. Mary McGee, and Mrs. Virginia (John) 
Blackburn, Pittsburg.

The Post-office was established in 1830, under the name of "Solus," with 
William McKinney, junior, as post-master.  The names of the other early post-
masters are wanting, but the following named gentlemen have served in this 
capacity since 1863: Enoch G. Day, James M. Davis, C. S. Martin, the late T. 
E. Davis, J. J. Sigler, J. M. Hall, J. B. Ayres, J. M. Barbe, the late H. B. 
McKinley, H. C. Showalter, and the present incumbent, R. H. Freer - a number 
of these gentlemen have served several terms, or more than one, at least.

The Pioneer M. E. Church was erected near 1843, on the farm of the late Noah 
Rexroad, it having stood across the run just opposite the present R. E. L. 
Frymire residence.  But the site was changed to the present one, near 1855; 
and a small parsonage was erected on this same lot at that time; but during 
the following winter, it was reduced to ashes, and the new church narrowly 
escaped a like fate - a timely snow having aided materially in saving it.  
This old church was replaced by a new and much larger frame structure, in 
1877, but this building was destroyed by fire in 1888, when the Moats corner 
and the old "Lincoln House" went up in smoke.  The fire having caught in the 
lattice work of the cupola, near sixty feet from the ground.  A splendid 
brick structure now marks the site.

The First Baptist Church stood on the lot now owned by John Hulderman, and 
Mr. Davisson.  The present church, which was built in 1891, is on Main 
street, west of Court street.  The Rev. George A. Woofter was the first 
regular pastor of the new church.

The M. P. Church was built in 1858, and was remodeled in 1894.  It also 
stands on Main street, opposite the school building.*

* (Footnote) For farther history of these churches see chapter on Churches.

The Court House came in 1844, and this old time building served until 1874, 
when the present brick took its place.

Not far from the time of the erection of the old court house, the first jail 
came into existence with Alexander Glover as contractor and builder.  This 
antique structure was made of logs one foot square, laid compactly together, 
with a twenty-penny nail driven in every square inch.  In 1869, this old 
prison with "its walls so dark and gloomy," gave place to the present two-
story brick building.

The greater part of these old landmarks have gone "the way of all the world" 
- have returned to their native dust.

The School.- Harrisville, like all the other towns, had its old time school; 
and one of the early buildings used for this pupose, stood on the site now 
marked by the former P. W. Morris residence.  But the first public-school 
building, which consisted of two rooms, came in 1864 - the school being 
opened this same year with S. P. McCormick, of Monongalia county, as 
principal.  It remained a district school with a term of four months until 
1872, when the length of time was extended; but since 1883, when the 
Harrisville Independent District was formed, its term has been eight months.

In 1878, the two-roomed frame building was replaced by a four-roomed brick; 
and in 1904, this building was remodeled and enlarged, by the addition of 
two rooms and an auditorium, which is a large, well-lighted and ventilated 
hall, seated with opera chairs.

The High School was established in 1894, under the direction of W. W. Tapp, 
and its graduates now number sixty-four (1909).  The present enrollment is 
more than two hundred sixty, with fifty-seven of the number in the High 
School grade.

The present school course covers a period of twelve years, including the 
High School curriculum of four years, which embraces Greek, Roman and 
English history, Latin, Algebra, Geometry, American and English Literature, 
Music, Physical geography, and Physics, etc., the fourth year being added in 
1910.

The school library numbers six hundred volumes; and the grounds have within 
the past year, been beautified by a cement walk that surrounds the building.

The following named gentlemen have occupied the position of principal here 
since 1880; George K. Scott, George W. Lowther, M. A. Hayes, J. H. Lininger, 
M. H. Willis, J. S. Cornwell, H. B. Woods, W. W. Tapp, J. F. Marsh, Robert 
Morris, B. H. Hall, H. E. Cooper, Elbert Jones, and J. H. Hickman.

Two new teachers have been added to the faculty (this year, 1910), which is 
now as follows:  J. H. Hickman, principal; M. M. Powell, assistant; Miss 
Jessie Tresham, High School and eighth grade teacher; and Misses Jessie 
Hartmann, Mae Moyer, Ada Wilson, Nelle Fowler, Daisy Smith, and Eva Hall, 
the latter teacher of music.

I. W. Woods was an early artist here and W. S. Sherwood is the present one.

Mrs. I. W. Woods has been identified in the milliner business since 1876; 
and while there has been not a few other ladies engaged in this trade, from 
time to time, her connection has been by far the longest.

Mrs. Eli Heaton, Mrs. Maggie Moats Robinson, Mrs. Samantha Martin Holland, 
the late Mrs. Jennie Tarlton, and Misses Dora Reitz and Anna Leggett, and 
Mrs. J. W. Fiddler are among others who have been engaged in this business.

The Town Incorporated.- Harrisville was incorporated as a town, on February 
26, 1869 - a corporation had existed before but for some (unknown) reason, 
had been abolished.  Smith C. Hall was the first mayor, he having been 
chosen at the first municipal election in 1870.  Since that time the 
following named gentlemen have served in this capacity, and some of them, 
for a number of years; John Hall, Dr. W. M. Rymer, John B. Ayres (served 
fourteen years), Gen. T. M. Harris, D. F. Haymond (who died during his term 
of office and the unexpired term was finished by the recorder, J. J. 
Sigler), C. K. Peirpoint, John Flesher, Thomas Hess, H. C. Showalter, Dr. W.
 E. Talbott, J. Willis Fiddler, Sherman Robinson, Homer Adams, W. W. 
Lawrence, P. R. Tharpe, Romeo H. Freer, and Anthony Smith, the present 
incumbent.

The Harrisville of To-day.- But let us turn from the town of the past, and 
take a panorama of the Harrisville of to-day, which is now a most beautiful 
town of eight hundred inhabitants.  It is not only first among the towns of 
the county in point of beauty and location; but it holds a high rank among 
the attractive towns of the state.  With its good streets, and sidewalks, 
its cool, shady lanes, its substantial public buildings, and its handsome 
residences, it presents a pleasing appearance, indeed, to "the stranger 
within its gates."

Being the seat of the local government, it is the one town in the county 
around which the general public interest centers.

It now has its own gas plant from which the town is heated and lighted, and 
is in the midst of an oil territory which is under development.  Water works 
have been agitated for some length of time.

As above stated, it has been an independent school-district since 1883, and 
has a large six-roomed brick building with an auditorium, and a school population of three hundred.

The spires of three churches, with a combined membership of near four 
hundred fifty, lift their heads far above the town - pointing heavenward.  
The Rev. G. B. Stuart is the pastor in charge of the Methodist Protestant 
church; the Rev. M. R. Eastlack, of the Methodist Episcopal; and the Rev. 
Jonathan Wood, of the Baptist church.

The Presbyterians, having no church building, worship in the M. E. church.  
Their pastor is the Rev. C. W. Comin, of Petroleum.

The different denominations have their young peoples societies:  The 
Christian Endeavor, the Epworth League, and the Baptist Young Peoples' 
Union.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has an organization, with branch 
organizations of the "Y's" and the "Loyal Temperance Legion."

Four secret orders flourish:  the I.O.O.F., the Daughters of Rebecca, the 
Modern Woodmen of America, and the Masonic order.

More than a dozen lawyers claim their residence here, besides the many who 
come and go.  Among them are the Hon. H. B. Woods, the judge of the Circuit 
court, R. H. Freer, Sherman Robinson, Homer Adams, S. A. Powell, S. M. Hoff, 
R. S. Blair, Anthony Smith, C. H. Harrison, T. J. Davis, and Victor Cooper.

Dr. W. E. Talbott, Hosea Rymer, and Dr. J. M. Goff are its physicians; and 
Drs. S. H. Zickafoose, and H. A. Jarrett, its dentists.

George M. Cokeley and Son are the undertakers; and J. L. Frey, Grimes and 
Coffield, the liverymen.  Mrs. J. W. Fiddler and Mrs. I. W. Woods, the 
milliners, D. B. Lattimer, the miller.

There are at present six general stores, two clothing houses, two furniture 
stores, one hardware establishment, one tinware, one grocery, one jewelry 
and queensware store, one drugstore, one feed store, two meat, two barber, 
and one harness shop, one flouring mill, two milliner stores, one opera 
house, two newspapers, and three banks.

The Ritchie County Bank, as before mentioned, founded by E. M. Carver, who 
is cashier, with L. R. Snodgrass assistant, is the oldest bank in the 
county.  The Peoples Bank, with J. H. Lininger, cashier, and J. M. Barbe, 
assistant, is second in age.  The First National came in 1903.  J. Blaine 
Westfall, son of W. H. Westfall, is the cashier.  He enjoys the distinction 
of being the youngest bank cashier in the state, he having just passed his 
twenty-first birthday when he accepted this position.

The train on the Pennsboro and Harrisville railroad made its first trip to 
this town on Thanksgiving day, 1875.  It is now known as the "Lorama."  A 
broad-gauge road is under construction to Cornwallis, which promises many 
new advantages to the town.


Chapter XXXIX
Prominent Harrisville Families
Transcribed by Janet Waite.

Page 474

Prominent Harrisville Families

NOAH REXROAD--The name of Noah Rexroad was closely allied with the affairs 
of this town for more than fifty years. From 1840, when he came from his 
native county-Pendleton-with his wife, Mrs. Matilda Mullenax Rexroad, until 
1891, when he was borne to the Harrisville Cemetery, at the age of seventy-
seven years, he was a conspicuous figure, in public affairs. He was 
prominently identified in various walks of life, being farmer, merchant, 
sheriff (for two terms), member of the House of Delegates, and a corner-
stone and pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mrs. Rexroad followed him to the grave in 1892, and their only child is Mrs. 
E.C. Fox, of Harrisville.

Mr. Fox, too, has long been prominent here, he having come from Greene 
County, Pennsylvania, where he was born (in 1835), in the year 1859, when he 
became identified with the firm of McKinney, Rexroad and Company. He is the 
father of but one child, L.R. Fox, of this town.

The Rexroads are of German lineage. The time of their coming to the Western 
world is unknown, but seven or eight generations of the family, at least, 
have laid claim to this soil.

Zachariah Rexroad, junior (son of Zachariah, senior), and his wife, Mrs. 
Sarah Hoffman Rexroad, were both natives of Pendleton county; and here they 
resided until 1845, when they came to this county, with their family, and 
settled on the McNeill homestead, near Smithville. Here, on October 11, 
1876, Mrs. Rexroad passed from earth; and on June 25, 1877, Mr. Rexroad died 
at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J.W. Osbourne, at Hardman chapel. Both 
rest on the James Moyer farm, on Den run.

Page 475

They were the parents of eleven children: Noah, above mentioned, who came to 
the county five years before his parents, was the eldest son. Mary, the 
eldest daughter, married Harmaon Rexroad, and remained in Pendleton county. 
The other members of the family were; viz., Addison, Henry, Jehu, Zebulon 
(father of Dr. C.W. Rexroad), Lewis (father of J.C. and George), who fell at 
Beverly in July, 1863, while defending the old flag; Morgan, who fell in 
battle at Lynchburg, in June '64; and Jeremiah, who died in childhood; 
Abigail, who married James Moyer. of Den run; and Sarah Margaret, who is the 
widow of the late J.W. Osbourne, of Hardman chapel, and the only survivor of 
the family, all belonged to this county.

Henry Rexroad, brother of Zachariah, junior, was also an early citizen of 
this community, he having come from Pendleton county some time in the 
thirties, and remained until his death.

His sons were Daniel, Ephriam, Solomon, and Henry, junior, who all went 
West. The daughters were, Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Jacob Sinnett, Lucinda, 
who married her cousin Henry Rexroad, and Mary, the first wife of George 
Sinnett.

The Halls. - The family of the late John Hall have been identified with the 
business interests of this town since in the early fifties, when he with his 
wife, Mrs. Frances Patterson Hall, came from Greensboro, Pennsylvania, and 
entered the mercantile business, which has been held in-tact by his son, J. 
M. Hall, since his death, on September 27, 1877, at the age of sixty-seven 
years.  Mrs. Hall lost her life on March 12, 1896, when the family residence 
was destroyed by fire.

They were the parents of five children: Harriett Ann died in 1875, and the 
rest are as follows: J. M., and Miss Frances Hall, of Harrisville; Edward, 
of Parkersburg; and Mrs. Ella (L. G.) Bennington, of Fairmont.  Owing to the 
loss of the records when the residence was burned, this sketch is very 
brief; but this family of Halls came from Delaware, and with but little 
doubt belonged to the same family as Syelus Hall, of Pullman.  Though the 
connecting link is missing.

Page 476

The Peirpoints. - Few names have had a longer connection with the history of 
this town than that of Peirpoint.  This connection having begun in 1842, 
when Zackquill M. Peirpoint came from Marion county, and launched the 
tannery business.  He was born at Fairmont, on September 30, 1811, and there 
he was married to Miss Martha Vandervort, in 1835; and seven years later, 
they came to Haarrisville, where he played an important part in the early 
history of the town, and in the building of the Methodist Prostestant 
church.  He died on April 7, 1882, but Mrs. Peirpoint survived him by 
several years.  Both repose in the Harrisville cemetery.

They were the parents of eleven children; viz. W. H., the eldest son, whose 
long business connection with the town has already been mentioned, died in 
1906, leaving no issue.  He was first married in 1858, to Miss Henrietta 
Reitz, who died in 1877; and in 1879, he married Miss Pauline M. Hamilton, 
of Fairmont, who died in June, 1901; and his widow was Mrs. Juliette Swisher 
Cookman.

The second son, Rufus E. Peirpoint, was drowned in a tanvat, at Fairmont, 
when he was but two years of age.

Francis P., * and Virginia died in their young man and womanhood. Belle, was 
the first wife of the late Benjamin Moats, of Harrisville, and the mother of 
Attorney F. P. Moats of Parkersburg.

Louise was the late Mrs. D. S. Bush, of Harrisville.

Hattie is the wife of the Rev. E. J. Wilson, of  the M. P. church; and John 
S. J. N., and Charles K. Peirpoint are still identified with the business 
interests of the town.

The Name "Peirpoint" originated in Normandy in the South of France in the 
tenth century, and is lineally connected with William the Conqueror.  They 
emigrated from England to America in early Colonial days, and settled in the 
Eastern or Middle states; and near the year 1800, Francis H. Peirpoint and 
his wife Kathrine, crossed the mountains form the East ** and settled at 
Fairmont (formerly called Middletown)

* See Younger Men's Calendar for history of Francis P. Peirpoint.

**   The History of Marion County says that John Peirpoint, father of 
Francis H., senior, settled near Morgantown about the close of the American 
Revolution.

Page 477

where he sank a tanyard and launched the tannery business.  He was twice 
married, his first wife being Miss Harriet Weaver, sister of Joseph Weaver, 
and early pioneer of Chevauxdefrise; and his second, Miss Isabel Stuart, of 
Morgantown.

Five sons were the fruits of his first union: viz., Joseph, Zackquill M., 
the late Governor, Francis H., junior, Larkin and Newton.

Joseph Peirpoint married Miss Lurena Barnes, and spent his life at Fairmont, 
where his death occurred in the early fifties, though he had a brief 
business connection with his brother here.  His two sons, Joseph W., and 
Harry, served as soldiers, in the Union army, in the Twelfth West Virginia 
Volunteers, but Joseph died of fever during his service.  Harry rose to the 
rank of Captain, and after his return home from the field, spent some time 
here with his uncle, Uz Barnes, and, at one time, owned the tract of land, 
on which the greater part of the West end of Harrisville now stands.  He 
died at Fairmont near the year 1890.

Zackquill M. Peirpoint and his family have already been mentioned.

Newton Peirpoint went to Illinois, and later to California, where he died, 
near 1885.  He was the father of five children, but one alone survives.

Larkin Peirpoint came to this county, some years after his brother, and 
started a branch tannery on Straight fork of Slab creek, which was abandoned 
at the opening of the Civil war, when he recruited Company E of the Sixth 
West Virginia Infantry Volunteers, and entered the service as captain of the 
company.  He later became major, and was mustered out as Lieutenant-Colonel.

He was twice married; his first wife, who was the mother of all his 
children, being Miss Elizabeth Jones, of Fairmont; and his second, Miss 
Sarah M. Coffrey, of Wisconsin.  He died in 1894, both wives having preceded 
him to the grave.

His children were eight in number and were as follows:

Edward, Zackquill, and George Peirpoint, Mrs. Julia Crooks, Mrs. Kathrine 
Zinn, Mrs. Ella Wass, and Rose and 

Page 478

Olive, who married in the West where all the family reside, except Mrs. 
Zinn, who is of Harrisville.

Francis Harrison Peirpoint, the third son of the family, was of a literary 
turn of mind, and was the one member of the household that reached a college 
education.  He was born at Fairmont, on January 25, 1814, and began his 
public career as a school-teacher. He was graduated from the Allegheny 
college at Meadville, Pennsylvania, with high honors, and, subsequently, 
made quite a record at the bar.  At the breaking out of the Civil war when 
Virginia seceded from the Union, he took an active part in the calling of 
the Wheeling convention, whose purpose was to show loyalty to the 
Government; and on June 20, 1861, when this convention had completed the re-
organization of (the loyal counties) Virginia, he was elected as Provisional 
(of War) Governor with his seat of Government at Wheeling; and so important 
was his service in the formation of the new State that he has been styled 
the "Father of West Virginia."  After the "Little Mountain State" had been 
admitted into the Union, and Arthur I. Boreman had been installed as 
Governor, Mr. Peirpoint again took his seat in the Gubernatorial chair of 
the "Old Dominion," he being inaugurated on January 1, 1864 and continued in 
office until 1868.  Just before the admission of the new state, his seat of 
government was transferred from Wheeling to Alexandria, and at the close of 
the war, was removed back to Richmond.

Gevernor Peirpoint served as a member of the Legislature of West Virginia in 
1868, and was Collector of Internal revenue under President Garfield.

He died at Pittsburg at the home of his daughter, on March 24, 1899, and was 
taken back to his native town, Fairmont, for burial.

He and his wife, Mrs. Julia Roberts Peirpoint, were the parents of four 
children.  One daughter died in early life, and the other one is Mrs. Nannie 
Siveter, of Pittsburg.  His sons, Samuel R. and William Peirpoint are also 
of Pittsburg, and the latter is an agent for the Methodist Protestant Book 
Concern of that city.

On April 30, 1910, a stature of the late Governor Peirpoint,

Page 479

Which had long stood in Statuary Hall at Washington city, was unveiled with 
impressive ceremonies.  His grand-daughter, Miss Frances Peirpoint Siveter 
pulled the cord that unveiled the statue and read a poem that had been 
penned for the occasion, and quite a number of distinguished West Virginians 
had part in the exercises, among them being Senator N. B. Scott, who said;

"Governor Peirpoint was a large-hearted, true man, and a just one.  His love 
of country was of the intense order, and to the support of his views he 
brought a fine logic which but few could combat.  He was possessed of a 
wonderfully retentive memory, and was splendidly equipped legally.  There 
is, perhaps, no one within the confines of the state which Governor 
Peirpoint helped to create, that does not acknowledge the versatility and 
clear-headed legal acumen he manifested in the presence of the serious 
problems that he so successfully solved as a leader in the troublesome 
times, just before and during the Civil war.

"History may do but scant justice to this man; his fame may be perpetuated 
by the marble statue that has been unveiled to-day, but there is a monument 
which bears his name indelibly, and one which is found in the hearts of his 
countrymen.  There Francis H. Peirpoint will live while the lifeblood 
flows."

Only one other West Virginian shares the honor of a place in Statuary Hall 
at Washington city with Governor Peirpoint, and that is the late Senator 
John E. Kenna.

The Woodses too, have long been identified here.  James Woods, senior, came 
from Wales and settled in the Keystone state, where his son, the Rev. James 
Woods was born in 1797.  This son, (the Rev. James), married Miss Eliza 
Axtel, daughter of Phillip Axtel, in 1820, the marriage taking place at 
Pittsburg; and in 1846, he came to this county, and settled on the Wells 
homestead, at the mouth of Bunnell's run, where he remained until 1868, when 
he removed to Missouri where his labors came to an end.

He was an early minister of the Baptist church, and the first Superintendent 
of Free schools of this county, he having been appointed for a brief time.  
He was an ardent advocate

Page 480

of the Union cause, and was pronounced in his views on the slavery question. 
He was the first pastor of the Clarksburg Baptist church, and his ministry 
extended over the Counties of Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Tyler, 
Pleasants, Wood, and Wirt.

He was the father of the following named children: The Rev. P. A. Woods, 
Josiah M., Brantley, Erasmus, James, and Robert, Mrs. Mary (John) McGinnis, 
and Mrs. Elizabeth, (Solomon) Hopper.

Phillip Axtel Woods was born at Pittsburg, on January 4, 1828; and on 
December 12, 1846, he was married to Miss Salina Wells, daughter of Isaiah 
Wells; and from that time until his death, on September 17 1902, he was a 
resident of this community.  He was a faithful servant in the Master's 
Vineyard, his father's mantle having fallen upon his shoulders, when he went 
West in 1868.  He was widely known, the field of his ministry having 
embraced many points in central West Virginia, which included, Sistersville, 
Middlebourne, Harrisville, Stillwell, Briscoe run, Willow Island, and 
numerous others.

His death served the first link in the family circle, which was again broken 
during the spring of 1909 by the death of his aged companion, who was laid 
by his side in the Harrisville cemetery.

Their children are as follows:

Isaiah W. and Judge Homer B. Woods,* Harrisville; Joel, Parkersburg; 
William, keyser; Mrs. Independence (E. E.) McDougal, Hannahdale; and Mrs. E. 
M. Patton, Luke, Maryland.

The Pattons are of Irish nationality.  They came from the "Emerald Isle" and 
settled in what is now Monroe county, West Virginia.  Here in 1797, William 
Patton, senior, was born; and here he was married to Miss Virginia Campbell, 
daughter of Robert Campbell, who was also, of Irish lineage; and in 1843, 
the year that Ritchie county was formed, they came to this county, and 
settled on what is now the Hugh Pribble homestead at the mouth of 
Gillispie's run - on

*See Younger Men's Calendar for history and career of Homer B. Woods.

Page 481

the opposite side of the river; and in 1859, they came to Harrisville where 
Mr. Patton fell asleep, in 1879, and she, in 1888.

They were the parents of the following named children: W. M., A. J., B. F., 
Sarah, A. Patton, and Mrs. Martha Wells, who have all passed on; and A. D., 
John C., of this county; and Mrs. Mary V. Campbell, Mrs. Lydia (P. W.) 
Morris, and Miss Louisa Patton, all of Parkersburg, are the surviving ones.

W. M. Patton, who first owned the hotel and who was an early Sheriff of the 
county, married Miss Kathrine Radcliffe, and they spent the remainder of 
their lives in Harrison county, after leaving here.

Their three children are all single; Emma and Mollie are the daughters, and 
John, the son.

The Pattons were in sympathy with the Southern cause during the Civil war 
and some of them were soldiers.  They have always been strong and 
influential Democrats.

Isaac Lambert and his wife, Mrs. Kathrine Crable Lambert were natives of the 
"Old Dominion."  They came to this county from Harrison in 1844, and settled 
at Ellenboro, where their son, G. W. Lambert, now lives.  Here they passed 
away and in the Ellenboro vicinity, they sleep.

They were the parents of, Joseph, G. W., David, M. M. Lambert, of this 
county; Mrs. Anna Maxwell, West Union; and the late Mrs. Virginia Byrd, and 
Mrs. Kathrine Lynch, Harrison county; Madison Lambert, and Elizabeth who 
died single.

Joseph Lambert was born in Virginia, on July 31, 1821, and on September 1, 
1846, he was married to Miss Margaret Lynch, of Harrison county, and the 
following year, they settled on the Keith farm near Harrisville, and in 
1878, they removed to the town, where Mrs. Lambert died in March, 1905, and 
he, the following year.  Both rest in the Harrisville cemetery.

Their family consisted of seven daughters: the late Mrs. Virginia Wells, 
Mrs. Ella Woods, Mrs. George Cokeley, Mrs. Bird Cokeley, Mrs. Metta Talbott, 
and Mrs. Cora Martin.  The other one died in infancy.

Page 482

Robert Kercheval. - The name Kercheval, too, has had a long connection here. 
Robert C. Kercheval having come to this town and opened a law office in June 
1854.  He was born and educated at Winchester, Virginia, and after reaching 
his majority, went to Romney where he studied law under his brother, Samuel 
Kercheval, and became associated with him in the practice of law.

He married Miss Indith Singleton, who was, also, a native of Winchester, 
and, with her, returned to Romney where he practiced his profession in the 
Courts of Frederick, Berkley, Hampshire and Hardy counties until he removed 
to Harrisville.  He was twice elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney, 
of this county, and was at one time a candidate for Judge of the Circuit 
court with a fair prospect for success; but, withdrawing from this race, he 
offered himself for Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and was 
defeated.  He spent the remainder of his life here, passing away at his old 
homestead near town, on October 18, 1874, at the age of sixty-eight years.  
His wife and daughter, Miss Frances, preceded him to the grave, and his son, 
Robert, has since been laid by them on the old homestead.  Mrs. Susan C. 
Phelps rests at Denver, Colorado; Mrs. Anna Harkness resides near Waverly; 
and W. M. Kercheval, and Misses Mary and Lucy are all of Harrisville.

The Kerchevals are of French descent, the original name having been De 
Kercheval.  Louis Kercheval and his brother left France shortly after the 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in the year 1685, and went to England 
where the brother died unmarried.  Louis emigrated to the Western world and 
settled in Gloucester county, Virginia, and from him the American branch of 
the family come.

Samuel Kercheval who was a lineal descendant of Louis, was born at 
Berryville, Virginia; and there on September 28, 1787, he was married to 
Miss Susana Chinn, great-granddaughter of Raleigh Chinn, whose wife was 
Esther Ball, half-sister of Mrs. Mary Washington.  The Chinns were in some 
way connected to Sir Walter Raleigh, hence the name "Raleigh."

Samuel Kercheval was the author of the "History of the

Page 483

Valley of Virginia," the first and most authentic history of the Shenandoah 
and the South Branch Valleys; and one that is still in demand though out of 
print.  And he was once High Sheriff of Frederick county.

He was the father of eleven children, the five sons being as follows: 
Samuel, junior, Richard, Algernon S., Robert C., and William, all of whom he 
gave good educations.  Three were lawyers, one a physician, and the other a 
miller.

Samuel Kercheval, junior, located at Romney where he rose to distinction as 
a jurist.  And his son, Andrew Woodrow Kercheval, also figured prominently 
in public affairs in that section of the state, he having played an 
important part in securing, for Romney the charitable institution for the 
Deaf and the Blind.

Robert C. Kercheval, as above stated, married Miss Indith Singleton, and 
came to this county.  His wife was a member of a distinguished family, she 
being the daughter of General James W. and Mrs. Indith Ball Singleton, and a 
descendant of the same family as Mary Ball Washington.  Her father was a 
general in the war of 1812, and her brother, Gen. James W. Singleton, 
junior, distinguished himself in the Mormon war, and thus won his title.  
After leaving his native state, he (Gen. Singleton, junior) went west and 
settled at Springfield, Illinois, where he engaged in the practice of law; 
and where he became closely associated with Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. 
Douglass, of whom he had many pleasing reminiscences to tell.  And the last 
official document, perhaps, that was ever penned by the hand of President 
Lincoln is in possession of General singleton's family in New York.  This 
priceless treasure is in the form of a pass, which was written for the late 
Gen. Singleton, junior, who had been calded from his Western home to be the 
bearer of a message of peace to the Southern people, and it read thus:

"Allow Gen. Singleton to pass to Richmond and return.

"A. Lincoln.
"April 13, 1865."

On April 14, that ever memorable day in the history of our country, after 
General Singleton had received his final instructions,

Page 484

and had taken leave of the President, he went out in company with the 
Secretary of the Interior, going a little later in the evening to join 
Governor Yates of Illinois and some other friends at an appointed supper; 
but when he reached his destination, he was greeted at the threshold with 
flying rumors of the assassination of the President at Ford's Theater.  The 
General recognizing the value of the memento the form of the pass which he 
never used, ordered a case of gold, and under a glass in one compartment is 
this pass with its significant date.

T. E. Davis. - For many years the late R. E. Davis was a prominent citizen 
of this town.  He was born at Holbrook, this county, 1846.  His father, 
Thomas N. Davis, crossed to the other side, shortly before his birth, and he 
began life as an orphan.  His mother, Mrs. Amelia Zinn Davis, some years 
later married Eli Heaton of this town, and two children were the fruits of 
this union: the late Mrs. J. N. Peirpoint, and W. H. Heaton, of Spokane, 
Washington.  At the age of fourteen years, Mr. Davis came to Harrisville, 
and attended school, and became one of the first teachers of the county, 
under the free school system.  He spent three years in the Washington and 
Jefferson University, at Washington, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1869.

He served as Prosecuting Attorney for two terms, (being the first native son 
of Ritchie to attain this office) and was a member of the House of 
Delegates; was deputy sheriff and deputy County and Circuit clerk all at the 
same time.  He had a brief connection with the "West Virginia Star' here in 
the seventies, and was a member of the Masonic order, he having attained to 
the degree of Master Mason in 1872.  He died at his residence here, on 
February 15, 1906, and was laid in the Harrisville cemetery.

On December 24, 1869, he was married to Miss Anna Leggett, daughter of the 
late Enoch B. Leggett, and of this union four children were born: one died 
in infancy, and the others are, Mrs. H. B. Woods, Mrs. Juniata Boggess, who 
with her husband the Rev. Wheeler Boggess, has just returned from a several 
years service in the Mission-fields of

Page 485

Southern India; and Thomas J. Davis, who is a prominent young barrister of 
this town.

The Davises are of English descent.  Four brothers, William, John, Thomas, 
and Alexander, came from England in 1600, and settled in New Jersey, near 
the present site of Jersey city.  William had four sons and three daughters, 
and from his son, William, junior, this family comes.  His son, David, 
married Miss Lydia Jeffrey, and they were the parents of the late Thomas N. 
and the grandparents of the late T. E. Davis of this place.  From this same 
ancestral line, the Hon. Henry G. Davis, of Elkins, is said to be descended. 
,P>The Liningers have been prominently connected with the affairs of this 
town since 1874, when the late col. John C. Lininger came here as teacher of 
the Harrisville school.  He was of German descent, and his wife, Mrs. 
Katherine McGough Lininger, of Scotch.  Both were natives of Pennsylvania, 
he having been born in 1832, and she in 1833.  They were married in 1856, 
and removed to Iowa a few years later, where he entered the Union army as 
captain of an Iowa regiment; but owing to ill health, he returned to his 
native state in 1862, and the following year re-entered the army as colonel 
of a Pennsylvania regiment of volunteers.  After the war, in 1865, he 
removed to Fairmont, where he was placed in charge of the first graded-
school that was established under the free school system at that place.

Filling this position but a short time, he resigned to become editor of a 
Fairmont paper; and from there in 1867, he went to Putnam county, where he 
held the position of principal of the Buffalo Academy, until he came to 
Harrisville, where he died in 1877.

He was educated in the free schools and academies of his native state, and 
spent the greater part of his life in teaching.

Mrs. Lininger died on January 10, 1909, and at Harrisville, beside her 
husband she sleeps.

They were the parents of four  daughters, and one son: Mrs. Addie M. (C. K.) 
Peirpoint, Mrs. Kathrine B. (L. R.) Fox, Mrs. Annie B. (Homer) Sigler, Mrs. 
Minnie Stoops, and

Page 486

John H. Lininger, whose career merits more than a passing notice.

John H. Lininger was born October 15, 1862, and with his parents came to 
this town when he was but a boy of twelve years.  He improved his time and 
his opportunities, and at an early age, entered the profession of teaching, 
continuing in this work for ten years.  He served as a member of the 
Teachers' Examining Board for three terms, and filled the office of Circuit 
clerk for twelve years; and has been the Cashier of the Peoples' Bank since 
its organization in 1899.

On May 22, 1888, he was married to Miss Dora Heaton, daughter of the late 
John Heaton, and three children are the fruits of this union; Edgar Howard, 
the only son died in 1903, at the age of fourteen years, and Maude and Helen 
are the daughters.

Arthur Watson and his wife, Mrs. Jane Hawker Watson, with their family came 
from Monongalia county to the Harrisville vicinity in 1844, and settled near 
two miles south of town on the farm that is now owned by Colfax Moats.  Here 
Mr. Watson died in the early sixties, (?) and not long after he was laid in 
the Harrisville cemetery, the family went to Cherry Point, Illinois, where 
the following named members still survive:

James R., Thomas D., Amos M., Asby L., and Mrs. Mary (Samuel) Clouse.  Owen 
Hawker, also, lives in Illinois, but William has joined the throng on the 
other side.

Thomas D. Watson married Miss Sarah Shore, sister of Mrs. Mary Ann McDonald, 
of Hazelgreen, but after her death, a few years since, he married Miss Sarah 
Miller of Illinois.

John Watson, another son of Arthur, was the progenitor of the family that 
remained in this county.

He was born in Monongalia county on February 24, 1824, and with his parents 
came to this county at the age of twenty years.

On April 11, 1845, he was married to Miss Eveline Smith, who was born in 
Marion county, on March 7, 1825, and, at the old home south of Harrisville 
he resided until his death, on December 17, 1853.

Page 487

Two sons were born of this union, James W., and Joseph A. Watson, but the 
latter died on October 13, 1857, at the age of seven years, and the former, 
in his young manhood. In 1867, Mrs. Watson traded the homestead for the 
corner in Harrisville which is now marked by the National Bank building, and 
in April of that year, became the owner and manager of the hotel that was 
for long years known as the "Watson House."  In 1901, she, having retired to 
private life some years before, transferred this property to the First 
National Bank.  She died at Harrisville during the summer of 1909, rich in 
the love and esteem of a multitude of friends that she had made during her 
long public service, and in the Harrisville cemetery by the side of her 
husband and sons she was laid at rest.

James Willy Watson, her one son, who grew to manhood, was born on April 8, 
1848, and was married to Miss Frances Starr, daughter of John and Eleanor 
Ayres Starr, on November 8, 1868; and they were the parents of two sons, 
John, the eldest, died in early childhood; and Dr. J. W. Watson is the 
other.

Mr. Watson met a tragic death by a run-a-way accident on the Ellenboro hill 
on September 20, 1870, and his widow is now the wife of Frank Foster, of 
near Harrisville.

So Dr. James Willy Watson, * of Harrisville, who was born on March 12, 1871, 
a few months after the death of his father, is the only living descendant of 
the Watson family in this county.  He was graduated from the Dental 
department of the Maryland University in the class of 1892, and was married 
to Miss Christine Mather, daughter of the late W. T. Mather, on September 
26, 1895, and they have no children.

The Blairs are of Scotch-Irish stock.  Three brothers came from Ireland.  
One settled in New Jersey, one, in Pennsylvania, and the other, in the South-
land.

The one that settled in New Jersey, the grand-uncle of R. S. Blair, senior, 
lost his life at the battle of Trenton, he being a member of the staff of 
General Washington.  Bur from the Pennsylvania family the Ritchie county 
Blairs are descended.

* Since this was written, Dr. Watson has changed his place of residence to 
California.

Page 488

David Blair, a product of the Keystone state, came to Parkersburg, in 1816, 
in his early manhood, where he held the position of Cashier of the 
Northwestern Bank of Virginia, and where he met and married Miss Elizabeth 
Beeson, daughter of Jacob Beeson, junior, who was a native of Beesontown, 
Pennsylvania, but with her parents came to Wood county in her childhood.  
Four children were born of this union:

Isaiah, Jacob Beeson, Robert S., and Elizabeth, who died in 1843, at the age 
of eighteen years.

The parents of both left this world in 1835, the mother, on February 28, and 
the father, in March; he having contracted cholera while on a steamer on the 
Ohio river, died at Portsmouth at an inn, and in the old churchyard at that 
place his ashes lie.  His wife rests at Parkersburg.

Jacob Beeson Blair. - After the death of the parents, the second son, Jacob 
Beeson Blair, who was born at Parkersburg, on April 11, 1821, was bound as 
an apprentice to Josiah Shanklin of that city, and learned the carpenter's 
trade; but in 1842, he entered the office of his uncle, General John J. 
Jackson, as a law student; and in 1844, was admitted to the bar, being 
licensed to practice law both in the inferior and the superior Courts of 
West Virginia; and during this same year, he came to Harrisville and opened 
a law office, and thus the history of the family begins in this county.

In 1851 he was happily married to Miss Josephine Jackson, sister of William 
L. Jackson, who passed on in 1856, leaving two daughters, and shortly after 
this sad event, he removed to Parkersburg and formed a law partnership to 
practice his profession until 1862 when he was sent to Congress to fill the 
vacancy that had been occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. John S. 
Carlisle, of Virginia, who had been elected to the United States Senate.

In 1863 he was re-elected to Congress, and took an active interest in the 
formation of the State of West Virginia.  He served as a member of the new 
State's Legislature in 1865, and was minister to Costa Rica, Central America 
from 1868 to 1873; and in February 1876, he was appointed by the government 

Page489

as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Wyoming.

He was one of the early Prosecuting Attorneys of Ritchie county, he having 
been twice elected to the office.

He died at Parkersburg, where he sleeps, and here his eldest daughter, Mrs. 
H. H. Moss lives.  The other daughter, Mrs. Lizzie Bell, lives at Dayton, 
Ohio.

Isaiah Blair, eldest brother of J. B., lived and died at Franklin, Ohio.

Robert S. Blair, the younger brother of J. B. Blair, being deprived of his 
mother four days after his birth, on February 24, 1835, was tenderly cared 
for by his maternal grandmother until her death, when he was added to the 
family of his aunt, Mrs. Anne Gardiner of Parkersburg.  He was first 
christened "David" in honor of his father, who also died when he was but an 
infant; but his aunt re-christened him "Robert Skyler" in honor of a 
prominent Pennsylvanian who was in some way connected to the Blair and 
Beeson families.

In 1848, Robert S., came to Harrisville to live with his brother, and a 
little later he was apprenticed to Thomas Reitz to learn the saddler's 
trade, a trade in which he became proficient.  But this work being out of 
harmony with his tastes, he improved his spare moments, and finally passed 
the required examination and entered the Virginia Military Institute at 
Lexingon, from which he was graduated, after four years of hard study.  John 
J. Jackson aided him in securing the appointment, and "Stonewall" Jackson 
was his instructor while there, he being the occupant of the chair of 
Mathematics and the Commandant of the Cadet Corps.

Having spent all of his inheritance in defraying his educational expenses at 
this institution, he returned to Harrisville, and took up the sturdy of law 
in the office of the late Cyrus Hall; and made his living by clerking in 
stores, and in doing such other tasks as came in his way, until he was 
admitted to the bar; and in his chosen profession he continued until his 
death, making quite a record as a barrister.

On July 1, 1861, he was married to Miss  Rachel Core, daughter of the late 
A. S. Core, of Ellenboro, who was at that

Page 490

time a student of a college at Little Washington, Pennsylvania; and four 
children were the result of this union:

A. Core Blair, the first born, is a physician of Randolph county; Robert S., 
junior, upon whom the father's mantle has fallen, is a prominent young 
lawyer and orator of Harrisville; Harry C., is fitting himself for the 
medical profession in a Louisville college; and Miss Lizzie Blair, of 
Harrisville, is the only daughter.

Mr. and Mrs. Blair died at Harrisville during the winter of 1891, of la 
grippe, an epidemic having visited the town and carried away a number of its 
citizens.  They died within a few hours of each other and one low mound in 
the Harrisville cemetery covers the ashes of both.

The McDouglas hail from Scotland, where they, a powerful clan, owned and 
ruled all the islands off the western coast of the Highlands, at the dawn of 
the history of the "Heelands of Scotia."

The ancient coat-or-arms of the Clan is suggestive of a sea-faring people, 
two crude galleons of early times being represented upon its face; and the 
motto, which is inscribed thereon is Vincere vel mori, which means in its 
complete translation, "We Conquer or Die."

The name was first spelled "Dhu Gal," which meant "Black Stranger," a name 
which was probably given them by neighboring clans, to distinguish them (a 
dark-skinned, black-haired people) from the (blue eyed, light-haired) 
Fiongals, or "White Strangers."

Time and education finally changed the spelling of the name to "Dugal" and 
later to McDougal, the prefix "Mc" meaning "son of."

"In early times they were a fierce, stubborn, courageous and war-like race.  
As early as the thirteenth century, they are found opposing the Crown, and 
in 1306, led by McDougal of Lorn, they fought the battle of Methven against 
Robert Bruce, and came out victorious, having routed the King and his army.

In this battle, Bruce list to the McDougals the famous historic "Brooch of 
Lorn," which was later stolen from them

Page 491

at the siege of Castle Dunolly, the then official headquarters of the Clan; 
and for centuries it remained in other hands.  In fact, it was only restored 
to the McDougals of Lorn seventy-five years ago.

After their triumph at Methven, they seized the reigns of government, and 
ruled over Scotland for a few brief months, until the mighty Bruce re-
organized his scattered forces, added to their strength and prowess, and 
dealt them a crushing blow at the battle of Argyleshire.  Here he defeated 
them, and stripped them of their power, titles, and vast estates, save the 
District of Lorn.  So fierce and so destructive was this battle that, at its 
close, but three hundred of the name (McDougal) were able to bear arms, and 
the Clan never recovered from this blow.

William McDougal, a lineal descendant of the "Dhu Gals" or the "Kings of the 
Isles" as they were called in ancient times, came direct from the "District 
of Lorn" in the Highlands of Scotland to the Virginia colony in 1762.  He 
was a young Presbyterian clergyman of marked ability, and shortly after his 
arrival he became the pastor of a small band of Scotch Presbyterians, who 
resided on the Monongahela river where Morgantown now stands.  Here, in 
1774, he was married to a Miss Brand, a member of his congregation, and 
three children were born of this union, John, Sarah, and Margaret; and 
shortly after the birth of the second daughter, the mother died, and in 
1781, the Rev. Mr. McDougal, leaving his little ones in the care of some of 
his parishioners, returned to his native Highlands and there claimed another 
bride, before coming back to America.  Upon his return he went to Kentucky, 
where he played an important part in the founding of the old Presbyterian 
church school at Danville, which is now known as "Centre College."

In 1804, he rode on horseback from Danville, Kentucky, to Marion county to 
see his children whom he had not seen since he left them in childhood, and 
to induce them to go to Kentucky and live near him, but they had, in the 
meantime, grown to manhood and womanhood and married (Sarah had become Mrs. 
Deviess and gone to Ohio, Margaret had married

Page 492

Samuel Dudley, a Revolutionary soldier, and lived at Dunkard Mill run, in 
Marion county, near her brother, John), and all his persuasions, and his 
offers to give them large possessions in "the Blue Grass state" could not 
induce them to return with him.

The son said, "Father, when sister and I were infants you left us here in 
Virginia in the care of strangers, and returned to Scotland.  Both are now 
married, have children of our own and are doing well.  We have paddled our 
own canoes thus far, and so far as I am concerned, I expect to do so in 
future.  My answer is no!  I would not go for all the money you are worth."  
Speechless from rage or astonishment, without answering a word, the old 
gentleman turned upon his heel, went to the barn and got his horse and rode 
away, alone, through the "dense mountain forest" to his Kentucky home.  And 
from that hour the silence between father and son was never broken, Scotch 
pride and stubbornness keeping them apart.

John McDougal, this son, was an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and an extensive land-owner and stock-raiser.

He married Miss Margaret Hilery, in 1798, and removed to Dunkard Mill run in 
Marion county, where he reared a large family, and where he and his wife 
both fell asleep in 1861.

Their children, which were nine number, were as follows:

William, Elizabeth, (Mrs. John Amos) Mary (Mrs. Wm. Toothman), Johathan, who 
died in infancy, and Sarah, in youth, Osbourne, John Fletcher, Nancy (Mrs. 
Charles Sturm), and Enos Hilery, all of whom have passed on except John 
Fletcher, who resides in Missouri.  The rest all sleep near the old home in 
marion county, except Enos Hilery, and Osbourne, whose ashes lie in Ritchie 
county, they being the progenitors of the different families of this name in 
this county.

Enos Hilery McDougal was born on June 4, 1824, and on August 17, 1848, he 
was married to Miss Miranda Price, of Marion county, who was born on January 
6, 1831, and shortly

Page 493

after the close of the Civil war, they came to Harrisville, where his life 
closed on March 29, 1875, and where his family still reside.  Mrs. McDougal 
was laid by his side in the Harrisville cemetery in 1907.

They were the parents of six children; viz., A. S. McDougal, Mrs. Florence 
(J. J.) Sigler, E. L. McDougal, the late Mrs. Nettie Myrtal (Chas.) 
Musgrave, all of Harrisville; L. Meade McDougal, Parkersburg; and Thomas 
Theodore, the well-known editor of the Ceredo Advance, and the "Kenova 
Reporter,"  who began his journalistic career in a local office at 
Harrisville in his youth.

Osbourne McDougal married Miss Sarah Brumage, and came to Ritchie county in 
1845, and settled on the farm that is now the home of Leman Wilson, at the 
mouth of Beeson, where he remained until he was borne to his final resting 
place, on his own homestead.  His wife who survived him sleeps at Riddel's 
chapel.

They were the parents of six sons and two daughters; viz., Thomas, and the 
late Cole, of near Pennsboro; Charles, of Kansas; Simon, of Roane county; 
the late Joseph, who died in the West several years ago; Enos died while 
serving as a Union soldier in the Civil war, and Sarah, in youth, and 
Alcinda was the late Mrs. Wigner.

Daniel Snyder Bush is one of the very few of the older citizens of this town 
that yet remains.

He was born in Gilmer county, on December 16, 1832; is the son of the late 
Jacob H. and Mrs. Sarah Snyder Bush.  He came to this county in 1865, and 
two years later, (in 1867) married Miss Louisa Peirpoint, who passed on, on 
February 10, 1874; and on December twenty-first, of the following year, he 
was again married to Mrs. Eveline Kirkpatrick Mitchell, sister of Levi 
Kirkpatrick, who is the companion of his declining years.

Three children were born of the first union; but all have joined the throng 
on the other side: Emerson and Anna M.,

(This interesting ancestral history of the McDougals is taken from a "Sketch 
of the Clan," which was written by Henry Clay McDougal, son of John Fletcher 
McDougal, of Kansas City, Missouri, who got his information from "Keltie's 
History of the Highlands," and by tradition. - Author.)

Page 494

died in childhood; and Agnes H, was the late wife of John Cannon.

Mr. Bush is a veteran of the Civil war, he having been commissioned as First 
Lieutenant.

Henry Clay Showalter was a leading figure in the affairs of this town for 
almost thirty years - from the time of his arrival from Elizabeth, Wirt 
county in 1880 until his removal to Kansas city, Missouri, during the summer 
of 1909.

He was born and reared in Pennsylvania and there received an academic 
education; but he formed the acquaintance of the "Little Mountain state," 
which was destined to be his future home, in 1861, when a false report 
concerning the coming of the Confederates had alarmed the City of 
Morgantown, and he came here as a drummer-boy.

He served for two years in the Quarter-Master's department of the Union 
army, and later studied law with Berkshire and Sturgiss at Morgantown and 
was admitted to the bar in 1869.

He was at one time first assistant clerk of the State Senate, and after 
coming to this county, he taught school, practiced law, filled the office of 
County Superintendent, was mayor and post-master at Harrisville, and was an 
official-member of the Baptist church and a prominent Sunday-school worker.

In 1809 he was married to Miss Hattie Brock, of Morgantown, and six sons and 
one daughter were the result of this union: Emmett M. Showalter, who 
recently completed a term of twelve years as assistant District Attorney, is 
of Fairmont; Perle H., of Colorado; the late Lawrence, of the South; Arthur, 
of Mannington; Hervey, of Chester; and Howard, of Fairmont, who all hold 
responsible positions in the commercial world, are the sons, and Miss Annie, 
who is still at home, is the daughter.

J. M. Barbe has been a useful and prominent citizen of this town for a 
number of years, and in this quiet little corner he merits a place.  He is
the brother of the Hon. Waitman T. Barbe, of Morgantown

Page 495 

and is a native of Marion county, though he was reared in 
Monongalia where he was educated in the common schools.  His father, John 
Barbe, was of German lineage, and of Virginia birth.  And his mother, Mrs. 
Margaret E. Robinson Barbe, was born in Monongalia county of Scotch-Irish 
parentage.

In January 1881, in his early manhood, he came to Harrisville, and the 
following winter, entered the profession of teaching, and later attended the 
State University at Morgantown for a term or so.

At the age of twenty-four years he was married to Miss Lillie Heaton, 
daughter of the late John Heaton, and the first years of his married life 
were spent in clerical work.  He has three times been commissioned as post-
master of Harrisville, and, since 1902, has been the assistant cashier of 
the Peoples' Bank.  He has been a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal 
church since he was a boy of thirteen years, and has filled the office of 
Sunday-school superintendent of the Harrisville school for sixteen years; 
was President of the County Sunday-school work for four years, and was twice 
eleceted as delegate to the annual Conference.

He is the father of two children, Mabel and Raymond Barbe. Egbert M. Carver, 
the founder of Ritchie county's first bank, is a character of more than 
ordinary interest, since he is the one citizen of the county that traces his 
ancestry to Mayflower stock; he being a lineal descendant of John Carver, 
the first Colonial Governor of Massachusetts.

Mr. Carver is a native of Vermont.  His father, Chester L. Carver, and his 
mother, Lucy M. Harlow, were both of English descent.  He was born near West 
Powlet, on April 25, 1841, and there spent the first nineteen years of his 
life on a farm.  He taught school for two years; then went to White Hall, 
New York, where he filled the position of assistant postmaster for one year, 
before entering the Commercial college at Albany, where he was graduated.  
He then started in the banking business, as teller, in the Commercial Bank, 
at Whitehall, New York, and spent several years in this business in the

Page 496

"Empire State," before going to California where he was identified in the 
banking and real estate business.

He first formed the acquaintance of the "Little Mountain state in 1894, and 
his connection with this county began in January, 1895, when he came to 
Harrisville; and on June 4, 1895, the "Ritchie County Bank" - the first one 
in the county - was opened with the following named officers in charge: L. 
P. Wilson, Pres.; Sanford B. Flemming, Vice Pres.; and E. M. Carver, 
Cashier.  The directors were, L. P. Wilson, W. H. Westfall, W. W. Lawrence, 
W. S. Hamilton, and E. M. Carver.

The First National Bank of Harrisville was later organized by Mr. Carver, 
who was its first cashier and Anthony Smith was the president.

The Cairo bank, too, was organized by Mr. Carver with Hon. R. H. Freer, 
president, and Edgar Carver, cashier, and still later he organized the First 
National Bank at Pennsboro and was its first cashier.  So he can well be 
styled the Father of the banking business in this county.

On July 9, 1878, he was married to Miss Emma Ashby, of St. Louis Missouri, 
and three sons, who have all inherited their father's profession, are the 
result of this union: Edgar Ashby is cashier of the First National Bank at 
Rowlsburg, West Virginia; Will Percey, of the First National at Racine, 
Ohio; and Arthur Egbert, of the Bank of Montross, Virginia.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union is now one of the County's potent and 
influential factors for good, it having figured largely in bringing about 
the present strong temperance sentiment of its people.

The exact date of its organization is missing, but Harrisville had a local 
union as far back as 1888, or even before that time, with the late Mrs. M. 
S. Hall as leader, but there has been no break in the work for the past ten 
years.

The County organization dates back as far as 1898, when Mrs. Monforte, wife 
of the Rev. Mr. Monforte of the Presbyterian church, was the first 
president.  She was probably appointed by the State President, and Mrs. 
Laura Amos, of Harrisville, was her successor.  Then came Miss A. Grace 
Hall,

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in 1901, and Mrs. Eva C. Robinson took her place on October 2, 1903, and has 
served in this capacity continuously since that time, with the exception of 
one year (1906) when Mrs. Maude Norris, of Pennsboro, was in the chair.

Mrs. Robinson is at this time Local as well as County president.

There are three active unions in the county with a total membership of near 
one hundred, and Cairo is the largest and most active.

Mrs. Eva Cunningham Robinson, * the leader of this (W. C. T. U.) 
organization, is at the present time one of the most conspicuous feminine 
figures of the county, and a little more than a passing notice is due her.

She was born in Calhoun county on November 3, 1872, and there on May 29, 
1892, she was married to Mr. Sherman Robinson, who was, also, born in 
Calhoun county, on September 4, 1870; and as a bride she came to 
Harrisville, where her husband opened a law office.

She has been closely identified with the Woman's Christian Temperance 
movement for ten years, being State organizer for four years, and Local and 
County president for the remainder of the time; and she is now organizing a 
chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she having been 
recently admitted to membership in this society and appointed as Regent; the 
first citizen of the county to obtain entrance into this historic 
organization.

Mr. Robinson, likewise, is a conspicuous figure in the affairs of the county 
to-day.  He began his public life as a rural pedagogue in his native county, 
at an early age, and was admitted to the bar in 1891; and, with the 
exception of one year, has ever since been identified with the Harrisville 
attorneys, he having been a partner with Hon. R. H. Freer for fifteen years. 
His practice in the courts of the State has been extensive, and he has had 
important cases before the courts at Richmond, Pittsburg, and New York city. 
He served as a member of the House of Delegates in 1909-'10 and was a 
candidate for re-election in the November election of 1910.

*See last chapter for Mrs. Robinson's ancestry, which she traces to Lord 
Baltimore.

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He is a Mason, a Methodist and a Republican.  He served as School Law 
Commissioner of the county for eight years, and has been mayor and recorder 
of the town of Harrisville.

Two daughters, Geraldine and Nell, make up this household.