West Virginia Statewide Files WV-Footsteps Mailing List WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 65 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: Charles Cemeron LEWIS, Greenb [SSpradling@aol.com] #2 BIO: George Edward WHITE, Greenbri [SSpradling@aol.com] #3 BIO: Andrew LYNCH, Greenbrier Coun [SSpradling@aol.com] #4 BIO: Peter KESLER, Greenbrier Coun [SSpradling@aol.com] #5 BIO: Jonathan MAYS, Greenbrier Cou [SSpradling@aol.com] #6 BIO: Judge Joseph Marcellus McWHOR [SSpradling@aol.com] #7 BIO: Henry F. HUNTER, Greenbrier C [SSpradling@aol.com] Administrivia: To unsubscribe from WV-FOOTSTEPS-D, send a message to WV-FOOTSTEPS-D-request@rootsweb.com that contains in the body of the message the command unsubscribe and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. To contact the WV-FOOTSTEPS-D list administrator, send mail to WV-FOOTSTEPS-admin@rootsweb.com. ______________________________X-Message: #1 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:23:27 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <6263a8f3.2526f0cf@aol.com> Subject: BIO: Charles Cemeron LEWIS, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 104-107 CHARLES CAMERON LEWIS. Writing of his father, John Dickinson Lewis, who was born in Bath county, Virginia, June 6, 1800, Charles C. Lewis mentions him as the grandson of Col. Charles Lewis, who was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774 (see former sketch). This Col. Charles Lewis was born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1736. He was the youngest son of John Lewis, the pioneer, and brother of Gen. Andrew Lewis, great-greatgrandfather of Mrs. C. V. Stacy, and was also of the number who fell at Point Pleas-ant. In 1760, Col. Charles Lewis married Sarah Murry, and left seven children, viz., Elizabeth, Margaret, John, Mary, Thomas, Andrew, and Charles (the father of Charles C. Lewis), who was born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1774, probably on September uth, as in the will of Col. Charles Lewis, dated August 10, 1774, just before starting on his march to Point Pleasant, he provides for the unborn child of his wife, Mary. This unborn child was Charles Lewis, who served with distinction under Gen. Anthony Wayne, in 1795, in his Indian campaign in the West, as a lieutenant, as is attested to by his commission, dated August 7, 1795, and signed by General Washington, and now in possession of his descendant, P.S. Lewis, of Mason county, West Virginia. After Wayne's campaign he resigned from the army and returned to Bath county, where, in 1799, he married Jane Dickinson, a daughter of Col. John Dickinson, who commanded a company in Col. Charles Lewis' regiment and was wounded in the battle of Point Pleasant. Lieut. Charles Lewis died in September, 1803, aged twenty-nine years, leaving two children, John D. Lewis, born June 6, i8oo, and Charles Cameron Lewis, born April 27, 1802. John D. Lewis was brought, an infant in his mother's arms, to Mason county, now in West Virginia, where he remained until his mother's second marriage, with Capt. James Wilson, in i8~, when he was brought to Charleston. At the proper age he was placed in school with Mr. Cru tch field, where he received his early education, afterwards taking a course in Latin and the higher branches of mathematics under Gen. Lewis Ruffner. After leaving school he returned to Mason county, to the farm owned by his brother, Charles, and himself. At about the age of twenty-two he sold his half-interest in the farm to his brother and returned to Kanawha county, and for a short time was employed by Dickinon & Shrewsbury as salt maker. He then engaged in the manufacture of salt himself and remained in the business until 1856. When the Civil war broke out, and the price of salt advanced, he again engaged in the manufacture of salt until 1866, when he returned to his farm in Kanawha and Nicholas counties. John D. Lewis was married four times. First to Sally, a daughter of Joel Shrewsbury, who died a year or two after her marriage, leaving one son, Joel S. Lewis. His second wife was Ann, a daughter of Col. William Dickinson, who left three children, Sally, Charles, Sarah, who died when quite young, and Mary. His third wife was Betty, a daughter of Jacob Darneal, who left two children, Julia and William. His fourth wife was Mrs. Sally Spears. He died December 26, 1882, aged eighty two years and six months, generally lamented, especially by the poor, to whom he was always a warm friend and helper. Charles Cameron Lewis, now one of the leading business men in Charleston, W. Va., was a native of Kanawha county, horn April 15, 1839. He was reared there and educated in the private schools and Mercer Academy. He was the son of John D. Lewis, owner of large tracts of coal and salt lands, and pioneer in salt manufacture, the manufacture of which was continued by the son, engaged with the father, until 1869. In 1870 he became president of the Kanawha Valley Bank, of Charleston, W. Va., a position he filled for fifteen years. In 1885 he, with P. H. Noye, organized the wholesale grocery house of P. H. Noye & Company, one of the largest of the kind in the State, of which he is still president. Charles C. Lewis became a member of the Kanawha Riflemen, a well known organization of spirited young Virginians of the Old Dominion, upon first call to arms in 1861. He became a member of this company in 1859 and took part in the engagement at Scary Creek, July 7, 1861, and in a skirmish at Ripley. After the Con-federate troops had been withdrawn by General Wise to Kanawha Falls, Mr. Lewis was granted an honorable discharge upon the request of his father, whose elder son, Joel S. Lewis, was also a member of the Riflemen. The latter continued in the service with the Twenty-second regiment during the war, with the exception of a period of cavalry service, at which time he was held as a prisoner of war at Camp Chase, Ohio. October 19, 1864, Charles C. Lewis was married to Miss Elizabeth Wilson, and to this union were horn six children, viz., Charles Cameron Lewis, Jr., John Dickerson, Virginia Wilson, Elizabeth Josephine, Anne Dickinson, Goodrich Wilson. Miss Virginia Wilson Lewis married Charles Stacy, of Richmond, Va., March 25, i89i. He was a son of Thomas Stacy, a manufacturer of furniture, who came from England and settled in Richmond in 1901. Charles Stacy came to Greenbrier county and in 1902 they built Lynnhurst, their beautiful residence. Four children were born of this union, namely, George Palmer Stacy, Charles Lewis, Elizabeth Josephine and Virginia Lewis. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #2 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:28:56 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <787c2272.2526f218@aol.com> Subject: BIO: George Edward WHITE, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 107-108 GEORGE EDWARD WHITE. The White family, though not so numerous as some other families in the county, have all been efficient as good ctizens of the commonwealth. The ancestor of this line was George White, who lived and died in the vicinity of Alvon, having been identified with that community nearly a hundred years ago. He was born July 4, 1816, and his wife, who was Miss Anne Wilson, was born January 27, 18i5. They always lived near Alvon. Their children were Julie C. White, born June 22, 1846; H. M., August 13, 1848; Margaret J., May 13, 1850; William H., August 1, 1852; Joseph H., December 11, 1854. Harvey M. White was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was a member of Company G, Twenty-sixth Virginia Infantry, and served the last two years as a Confederate soldier in the Civil war. He married Elizabeth M. Lynch, born December 13, 1852. The nuptial feast took place in '869. She was a native of Monroe county, West Virginia. Their children were: Joseph H. White, born November 12, 1870; James L., July 20, 1873; George E., September 11, 1879; John P., August 24, 1882; Laura Belle, January 2, 1884, all of whom are married and living near Alvon. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #3 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:37:22 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <98c9cef4.2526f412@aol.com> Subject: BIO: Andrew LYNCH, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 109 The Lynch family are in descent from Andrew Lynch, who in his day was a well known farmer in Monroe county. He was born December 17, 1826, and his wife, Anne Jane Wylie, was born February 22, 1829. Their children were: Mary L. Lynch, horn November 26, 1849; Elizabeth M., wife of Harvey M. White, born December 13, 1852, and James W., who was born July 2, 1858, all of whom were identified in agricultural pursuits with the county interests of the Monroe people. On April 22, 1902, George Edward White married Mary Viola Whitman, daughter of Robert Jackson and Emma Iowa (Fisher) Whitman. The father was born June 29, 1854, and the mother, June 21, 1860. They were married January 15, i880. Their children were: Mary Viola and Maggie, twins, born October 10, 1883; Dora D., December 8, 1885; George W., July 31, 1889; Robert Gordon, April 7, 1895; Audry Gertrude, August 6, 1898; Erman W., June 3, 1906. Children born to Mr. and Mrs. George Edward White are: William Houston, January 2, 1903; Mae Elizabeth, May 9, 1912; Robert Paul, March 5, 1914; Emma Fae, September 5, 1916. G. E. White lives near Alvon, and like his immediate ancestors, is a farmer, also. In common with all the Whites of Greenbrier county, he is not an office seeker, makes no great pretentions, and quietly pursues the even tenor of his way through life. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #4 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:41:31 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <0.77cc6a75.2526f50b@aol.com> Subject: BIO: Peter KESLER, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 108-109 HISTORY OF THE KESLER FAMILY. Peter Kesler came from Germany about the year 1750 and settled in the Shenandoah valley, in Virginia, and reared a large family, all girls but two, Jacob and Frederick. Jacob married Betsy Funk, a sister of Joseph Funk, who was a music publisher of Rockingham county, Virginia. Jacob settled in the Richlands, in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, near where Tobe Stuart now resides. Frederick settled in Nicholas county and owned a large farm where Keslers Crosslanes now are. He reared two boys. Andrew and Alex, who moved to Arkansas in 1850. Jacob Kesler reared a family of eight girls and five boys, and after they were partly grown, moved to Fayette county and bought a farm of 640 acres. He was a successful farmer and cattle dealer. His family all lived and died in Fayette county except Frederick, who married Mary Groves, daughter of Col. John Groves, and settled in Nicholas county and reared a family of nine children, four girls and, five boys. John G., of Williamsburg, Greenbrier county, West Virginia; Austin, a prosperous farmer and stock raiser of Webster City, Iowa; William, of Stanhope, Iowa; A. D. Kesler, or Nicholas county, West Virginia; John G. Kesler, married Elizabeth Hughart, of Williamsburg, W. Va., where he reared six children, three girls and three boys; Ida Whitman, of Richwood, W. Va.; Ada L. Harrah, of Ft. Maginnis, Mont.; Etta M. Judy, of Williamsburg, W. Va.; Walter S. Kesler, of Lawton, OkIa.; Elmer G. Kesler, of Williamsburg, W. Va.; Ray Kesler, who is now a student in the Mountain State Business College. Dr. Elmer G. Kesler was born at Williamsburg, W. Va., December 8, 1885. He attended school at Williamsburg till 1902, when he attended school at Cincinnati, Ohio, graduated from high school in 1906, and entered the Eclectic Medical College, from which he graduated in 1910. He passed the West Virginia State board in 1910 and located at Williamsburg, where he has had a very large and successful practice. On April 25, 1906, he was united in marriage to Miss Nadie J. Black, of Van Wert, Ohio. To this union, on October 12, 1911, was born one daughter, Alice Mary Kesler. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #5 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:47:14 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <67ce0775.2526f662@aol.com> Subject: BIO: Jonathan MAYS, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 109-110 JONATHAN MAYS. One of our oldest county officials was Jonathan Mays. He was clerk of the Circuit Court of Greenbrier county for thirty-five years. He was the son of Jesse and Jane Reed Mays, and was born May 4, 1828. His father-in-law, James Reed, was most prominent among the early settlers of Greenbrier county. He was a lawyer and entered a great tract of land in this county, but sold out and moved to Missouri. His daughter, Jane, mother of Jonathan, was born in Greenbrier county and died here. Jesse Mays was born in Bedford county, Virginia, and died in Greenbrier county. His widow, Susan L. Bell, is still living. He died January 26, 1908. Their children were Charles S., born October, 1861; Mary D., born April, 1863; J. B., born November 13, 1865; Guy Bell, born April 25, 1871. Thomas A. and Mary B. (Dickerson) Bell were the parents of Mrs. Mays. She was born in Bath county, Virginia, April 23, 1839. Her father was born in Rockbridge county in 1807. Jonathan Mays was first lieutenant in Company I, Sixtieth Virginia Infantry, about two months. His two brothers were also in the war; William Henry served throughout the war. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Cloyd Farm, sent to Ft. Morton, rndiana, and there was seized with illness from which he died, but after his release from imprisonment. Marshall, the eldest brother, also served throughout the war. Jonathan Mays was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Greenbrjer county in 1872, and from that time be was re-elected to the office until his death in 1908. He served the county with great satisfaction to all the people. He was a noble man. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #6 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:57:13 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: BIO: Judge Joseph Marcellus McWHORTER, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 110-112 JUDGE JOSEPH MARCELLUS M'WHORTER. Joseph Marcellus McWhorter was born April 30, 1828, at what was then known as McWhorter's Mills (Virginia), near what is now Janelew, Lewis county, West Virginia. He was the eldest son of Fields and Margaret Kester McWhorter, and brother of Henry C. McWhorter, late judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. His father was a man of very moderate means, and, being the eldest son, a great deal of the care and responsibility of the large family rested on him. He was energetic and ambitious and received such training as was then offered in the public schools and added to it by untiring and persistent reading and studying until he acquired a good education in the English branches of learning. He also taught school a number of terms during the winter months, when his services could he spared from the farm. Judge McWhorter was always greatly interested in public affairs. In politics he was, before the Civil War, a Whig. and later a staunch Republican. In 1856, when Roane county was organized, he was appointed county clerk of that county, also acting as circuit clerk, and was later twice elected to the same office. On the formation of West Virginia, he was elected a member of the first legislature from Roane county. After the adjournment of the legislature, the Governor appointed him superintendent of the penitentiary. Jn 1864 he was nominated by the Republican party and elected State auditor, and was again elected to the same office in 1866. He was elected secretary of the West Virginia Insurance Company in 1869 and served until 1870, when Governor Stevenson appointed him judge of the Seventh judicial circuit. to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Nathaniel Harrison. The circuit was composed of Greenbrier, Monroe, Pocahontas and Nicholas counties, and Judge McWhorter moved from Wheeling to Lewisburg, where he resided until his death. His term as judge expired December 31, 1872, and the following summer he was appointed superintendent of public schools for Greenbrier county, and did much to elevate the standard of education in the county. After his retirement from the bench he practiced his profession in Greenbrier and adjoining counties, meriting the respect and admiration of all. He was elected mayor of Lewisburg in 1887, and also served four years as postmaster at Lewisburg. In 1892 he was nominated by his party for judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, but, with the rest of the ticket, went down to defeat. He was elected, in 1896, as judge of the judicial circuit of which Greenbrier was part, and filled out the full term of eight years, his decisions being marked by equity, justice and impartiality. From 1905 until the day of his death he was actively engaged in the practice of law. He was twice married. His first wife was Julia A. Stalnaker, of Harrison county, who died August 26, 1869. To them were born ten children: Allessandro G., of Charleston; Artemas W., of Norfolk, Va.; Louis E., practicing law at Charleston; Virgil S., died in infancy; William B. of Hinton; Buell M., died in infancy; Mrs. Margaret E. Lewis, of Charleston; Joseph C., of St. Louis, Mo.; Walter W., died in infancy; and Deccie J., wife of C. L. Carr, of Lewisburg. On October 26, 1870, he married Julia A. Kinsley, daughter of Rev. Hiram and Elsie L. Kinsley, of Geneva, Ohio, and to them four children were born: Emma L., wife of R. B. Holt, of Lewisburg; Jennie P., deceased, married J. Scott McWhorter, of Lewisburg; Kinsley F., died in infancy, and Charles N., of Charleston. Judge McWhorter died on August 18, 1913, at the ripe age of eighty-five, beloved by all who knew him. His reputation as a Christian gentleman was enviable. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and had religious convictions deep and abiding. As an honest, consistent Christian, he walked uprightly, lived at peace with all men, and died at peace with God. His wife, a most estimable and lovable woman, preceded him to the grave by less than two months. she having died June 24, 1913. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #7 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 02:04:56 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <19daf077.2526fa88@aol.com> Subject: BIO: Henry F. HUNTER, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 112-115 HENRY F. HUNTER. Henry F. Hunter, vice-president of the Bank of Greenbrier, is one of the self-made men of the county. He received his education in the common schools, completing his course of studies by graduating from the Greenbrier Military Institute of Lewisburg in 1892, the same year his wife graduated from the Lewisburg Seminary. After leaving the military institute, he accepted a minor position in the Bank of Greenbrier and from that time rose gradually to the prominent position he now holds. He was made cashier in 1907, and vice-president January 3, 1916, holding both of these positions at the present time. The following is a meager record of the Hunter family of Greenbrier. John Anderson and wife, who was Elizabeth Tinpin Davis, were married on January 7, 1761, in St. Maryland. They first took up their residence in a place called the Narrows, on Anthony's creek, where they remained only a short time. Moving to a place on Greenbrier river, near the junction of Howard's creek, which land was granted to said Anderson for services rendered in the Revolutionary army, in which war he bore the title of captain, He built at this place a stone house, with walls of sufficient strength and thickness to withstand an assault of the Indians, who were still a foe to guard against. In the yard in front of this place is an Indian mound, which had never been opened, unless it has been done since the place was sold to C. F. Moore, trustee, March 1, 1899, by Carter B. Hunter, great grandson of John Anderson. Here he spent the remaining years of his life, dying in 1817, his wife preceding him in 1811. On March 17, 1813, he married Elizabeth Walkup, the sister of Mrs. John McElhenney, he having met her in the Manse at Lewisburg; being a frequent and honored guest in that home. (See Miss Rose Fry's Book on Dr. McElhenney). There were no children to this marriage. He served as sheriff of Greenbrier county in the year 1789, having his appointment from the Governor. By his first marriage there were born the following, namely: Rebecca, Sarah, Margaret Brown, and Elizabeth Gratton (born September II, 1778), Rebecca died in infancy; Sarah married Colonel Ward and moved to Ohio; Margaret married James Ried, December 25, 1790. These are the grandmother and grandfather of Jonathan Mays. John Anderson deeded him lands, part of which is the John Davis Arbuckle place, where they made their home. Elizabeth Gratton Anderson married Henry B. Hunter on January 31, 1810. He was a native of Augusta county and in direct line of Surgeon John Hunter. (See book, BiographkaJ Dictionary, by Rev. J. L. Blake, D. D., as to his record.) John Anderson gave them as their portion the land on Greenbrier river, where they lived and reared their family. This land, at the death of Mrs. Hunter, went to John A. and Henry Fielding Hunter. The children were, namely: Rebecca Dent, who died in her thirteenth year; Eliza S. Turpin, who married Alexander W. Davis on April 25, 1833; John Anderson, first, who died in infancy; John Anderson, second, and Henry Fielding Hunter, born February 19, 1821. John Anderson Hunter was born April 15, i8i8. He received his elementary education under Dr. McElhenney in the academy at Lewisburg, took his degree at Washington College (now Wash-ington and Lee University). He returned home and read medicine with Dr. Moorman for three years. He then entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with high distinction. Returning from college, he took up the practice of medicine at Blue Sulphur Springs, the then famous summer resort. After several years' practice he came to Lewisburg, where he lived and reared his family. When his native State called her sons to sustain her rights and to rally to the defense of the great principles of true constitutional liherty, he at once offered his services, going out with Capt. Robert F. Dennis, in the twenty-seventh Virginia regiment, as surgeon, and so distinguished were his services in the regiment that he was made medical director of the army. In the long list of distinguished surgeons in the Confederate army none contributed more unweariedly to improve and complete the system of medical and hospital discipline inaugurated by the surgeon-general, a system which for order and symmetry and judicious arrangement has no parallel in the annals of war. John A. Hunter married Rebecca Agnes Dickson, January 3, 1859, the daughter of Robert and Sarah Renick Dickson, and was born and reared at Locust Hill, near White Sulphur Springs, which is now owned by the children of her deceased brother, Henry Frazier Dickson. Mrs. Hunter died April 24, 1917, at Lewisburg, John A. Hunter having died on April 17, 1873. To this union were born Sarah Renick, wife of Henderson Bell, Jr., and died March, 1897; Copeland Hunter; Elizabeth Gratton, married R. W. Cabell, who died in November, 1913, and married to A. D. Guthrie, December 23, 1915; lives in Kanawha county; Henry F. Hunter married Mary Thressa Stratton (daughter of James H. Stratton and Anna Nelson Handley-see Book of Strotois,Vols. 1 and 2, Hattie G. Stratton, Tennessee) on November 19, 1896. To this union were born Rebekab Nelson Hunter, James Stratton Hunter, and Marion Gratton Utunter, who died in infancy. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm