West Virginia Statewide Files WV-Footsteps Mailing List WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 66 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: William LEWIS, Greenbrier Cou [SSpradling@aol.com] #2 BIO: Everette Bell MILLER, Greenbr [SSpradling@aol.com] #3 BIO: Aaron Bollar BURR, Greenbrier [SSpradling@aol.com] #4 BIO: A. B. C. BRAY, Greenbrier Cou [SSpradling@aol.com] #5 BIO: T. K. TOTTEN, Greenbrier Coun [SSpradling@aol.com] #6 BIO: John O. HANDLEY, Greenbrier C [SSpradling@aol.com] #7 BIO: Maj. Claudius BUSTER, Greenbr [SSpradling@aol.com] #8 BIO: George H. BUSTER, Greenbrier [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 02:20:44 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: BIO: William 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. 115-118 WILLIAM LEWIS. John Lewis was a descendant of an Augusta county family and a captain at Point Pleasant, and an officer in the Revolution; he commanded a company at the battle of Manmoth, June 28, 1778. After the war he received from the commissioners of the district of Augusta county a warrant for 700 acres of land, and in 1783 or 1784 went with a party of emigrants to Kentucky to locate his land. See the following acount given by a historian. "As stated on page 207-He located on the land on which Frankfort, Ky., now stands. It was flat, wet land, not a healthy location when in forest. He commenced to improve the land, but soon took fever and ague, and abandoned the land. Soon after, he came to Greenbrier county and located the warrant for the 700 acres of land, on the east side of Muddy Creek mountain, including the level, fertile bench of land lying between the mountain and Rich Hollow, joining the Clendennen settlement and Rodgers. Survey recorded Book No. I, page 359, dated September 25, 1786, made by John Archer, deputy for Alen Welch, granted, dated 1787. This was a healthy location. The improvements he put on the 700 acres of land were more substantial and permanent than those put up by most early settlers. He built a large two story house of hewn logs, with a good stone chimney, a smoke or meathouse in the yard, a large double barn, and these buildings are yet standing and in use. He, with the help of his neighbors, built what was called the Buckeye meeting house. This house was built of round buckeye logs, with a small window on each side, and over where the pulpit had been, all up high from the ground, and with an earthen floor. He was a successful farmer and stock raiser, was a justice of the peace, and as such a member of the county court. His children were John, William, Andrew, Erasmus, George, Benjamin, Matilda, Terza, Sallie, Bettie and Polly. George Lewis was born in 1790, married Mary Ann Argabrite in 1814. He acquired title of the greater part of the 700 acre survey, and in 1838 built a large brick house on the land, and after some years obtained a grant for 1,009 acres joining the 700 acre tract. He was a successful farmer and stock raiser, was very fond of a good horse, and raised many of that kind. He was a member of the Greenbrier Agricultural Society. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He studied medicine, and in the later years of his life practiced the profession. Died 1855. His children were: George Samuel, born in 1815, married Nancy Knight in 1839; Archabald, born 1816, married Matilda Bunger in 1839; William, born 1821; Rachel, born 1823, married John Vincy in 1847; John, born 1825; Mary Ann, born 1827, married Uriah N. Warran, 1846; Ruth, born 1831, married David Hutsonpiller, 1851 ; Sarah Jane, born 1834, married Alfred W. Tapper, 1856, and is living (1899) near Philadelphia. Archabald Lewis, after his marriage in 1839, lived for six years at Bunger's Mill, and was the miller during that time. He then moved into a house on his father's farm and was partner in farming and stock raising for six years. In i85i he obtained a title for 400 acres of the William Monow land, lying on the east side of Muddy Creek mountain and on Milligan's creek built a comfortable log house an4 outbuildings. He later made additions to the house until he had a good-sized, comfortable house. Along with other stock, he, like his father and grandfather, kept a flock of sheep, and raised flax, and most of the clothing for the family was manufactured at home. He was a member of the Greenbrier County Agricultural Society. He died in 1888. His children were: Rachel Bunger, born 1840, married George John Welch, 1859; Mary Elizabeth, born 1842, married Thomas Charles Dotson, 1864; George Henry, born 1844, married Cornelia Agnes Johnson, 1870; Amanda Jane. born 1845, married John Fredrick Cofiman, 1867; Nancy Vernia, born 1847, married James Madison Coffman, 1867; Sarah Frances, born 1849, married George W. Jeffries, 1874; Matilda Catharine, born 1851, married Calvin H. Burdette, 1872; Eliza Bell Westwood, born 1858, died 1861; Archy Penyman, born 1861, married Lillie Richie, 1884. George Henry Lewis, born February 27, 1844, in a small log cabin about fifty yards from a noted well dug by Anthony Hutsonpiller, about the year 1790. The first school he attended was in a small school house, built by co-operative neighbors, on the east side of the Rich hollow, on the edge of the Clendennen settlement built of round logs, daubed with clay, a wooden chimney, a puncheon floor and puncheon benches, and two very small windows. Henry McNeel was the teacher. William R. Johnston and John Holly are the only persons now living who attended that school with him. He attended other subscription schools in the county. He attended the Indiana University, and graduated at Iron City College, Pittsburgh, Pa. He was not ambitious to have or hold office. In 1866 he did not go to the polls to vote, neither did he know that he was being voted for, but was elected assessor of the Upper district of Greenbrier county, in 1866. he declined the office. In 1868 he consented for his name to be put on the ticket for recorder of Greenbrier county. He served two years and was re-elected in 1870. As early as old enough he joined the Sons of Temperance, and has always encouraged temperance and prohibition. He has been an active member of the Grange and other farm organizations. He is now the oldest representative of the Lewis family now living in Greenbrier. Children of George Henry Lewis were: Thomas Archahald, born 1872, married Jessie Mabel Hetherby, at Bakersfield, Cal., in 1902, second marriage to Alice Humphrey, at Oakland, Cal., 1906; George Spotts, born 1875, married Sara Campaigane, at Hamilton, Canada, 1906, second, Janie Arbuckle Bell, 1913; Clarence Edward, born 1878, married Rachel Allie Bell, 1904. Thomas Archabald Lewis attended public schools, then two years at Clifton Academy, three years at Hampden Sidney College, graduating in 1893; was sub-professor at Hampden Sidney one year; professor at the Davis Military Academy one year. In 1896 he went to California and taught in various institutions for ten years, and is now living on a small but very fertile farm in California. Clarence Edward Lewis was born in 1878, attended the public schools, and when fourteen years of age entered Hampden Sidney College, graduating with the class of 1897. Since then he has been farming in Greenbrier county. He is identified with the Patrons of Husbandry and has filled the office of assistant steward, lecturer and overseer of the Grange. He has done some work as lecturer in the farmers' institutes of the State. In 1904 Mr. Lewis married Rachel Bell, of Richlands, W. Va., and is the father of one daughter, Minerva Helen, and two sons, Charles Irving and Frank Bell 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 02:27:52 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: BIO: Everette Bell MILLER, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 118-119 EVERETTE BELL MILLER. The Millers of Monroe county were early settlers of West Virginia. George W. Miller, father of the subject of this sketch, and his father, Thomas Miller, were members of that distinguished family and old-time honored citizens of Monroe county, both of them blacksmiths. George W. Miller served at his trade in the Confederate army during the war between the States. His father-in-law, Samuel M&orkle, a resident of Virginia before the war, also served in the Confederate service through the war. Everette Bell Miller, county assessor, son of George W. and Elizabeth (McCorkle) Miller, was born in Greenbrier county, May 8, 1864. His father moved to Greenbrier, in Blue Sulphur district, in 1861, and here young Everette was reared on a farm and attended school during the winter months, applying himself in an agricultural way in the meantime. In 1885 he married Miss Sabina Taylor, and to this union were born seven children, as follow: Helena Bell, James Guy, Samuel Roy, Besssie May, Nina Lewis, Robert and George. Mr. Miller has been connected as an official of the county many years and his record needs no comment. In 1896 he was elected assessor of Greenbrier and served twelve years. Then be was elected deputy assessor under W. A. Mastin, and again as deputy under James McClung, serving four years under each, or for twenty years in that office. In 1916 he was elected assessor again, time running to 1920. Mr. Miller owns and operates a farm near Alderson and with his family worships with the Baptists, as a member of that church. His farm was purchased in 1907. 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 02:33:34 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: BIO: Aaron Bollar BURR, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 119-120 AARON BOLLAR BURR. The Burr family has always borne a distinguished name. In descent it reaches back to Dr. Aaron Burr, D. D., pastor of the Presbyterian church, Newark, N. J., who was one of the ablest ministers of that congregation in colonial times. His son, Aaron Burr, Vice-President of the United States and son-in-law of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, is known to fame both because of his distinguished father-in-law and his own political and military history. That the Burrs of Greenbrier county are in descent from Dr. Burr and that family is based largely on the name Aaron. That name has been in the family from time immemorial. Aaron Burr, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was an early resident of Greenbrier county. He cultivated a large tract of land of about 1,000 acres on Spring creek near Williamsburg, where Peter, his son, lived all his life. His children were: Peter, John, and Aaron, all men of probity and general worth. John, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in i80i and died in 1871. His wife was a Miss Nancy McClung, a daughter of William McClung. Her mother was a Bollar. John Burr bought a farm on Sinking creek and moved there soon after his marriage. Children born to John and Nancy (McClung) Burr were: (1) Margaret R., married Boliver Williams, of this county; (2) Sarah J., who died a short time ago. She married a Mr. Pennell, a farmer near Williamsburg; (3) William J., suffered during the last years of his life a stroke of paralysis. William F. Burr is eighty-three old and still living. Aaron Bollar Burr, hale and hardy at four score years, still preserves the buoyancy of life at eighty years of age that some other people do not at half that age. He was born February 23, 1836, on the old Burr homestead, and was reared a farmer, an occupation which he pursued through life. Of a retiring disposition, somewhat, he covets notoriety but little, but a religious sense of duty led him first into a membership with the people of the Methodist church, and then finally into an official relationship with that organization, to which he and his family still belong. February 7, 1866, Aaron Bollar Burr married Joanna Ludington, daughter of Francis H. and Rebecca (Knight) Ludington, of Greenbrier county, and to this union were born twelve children: Edmonia S.; Alice V.; John F.; Charles W.; Presley S.; Bessie E. ; Rebecca L., deceased; Bernard C. and Neola D., twins; Howard W.; Mac L.; Ernest W.; Ela Anna. It has been a remarkable family and a delightful home, children all doing well. Charles has been a successful teacher during the past dozen years and is a jus tice of the peace in the Williamsburg district. Twenty-three years ago Mr. Burr moved to his present home near Richland, on land bought of Alexander Johnson. Sixteen years ago the home was bereft of the wife and the mother, a beautiful Christian character who had brought a solace and comfort to the family before going hence. She was born April 27, 1848, and died October 18, 1900. 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 02:41:05 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <32e3167d.25270301@aol.com> Subject: BIO: A. B. C. BRAY, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 120-123 A. B. C. BRAY. A connection with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company of twenty-four years, and one of eleven years since that time as cashier of the First National Bank of Ronceverte, is an introduction we make of A. B. C. Bray to the readers of this work. Thomas Bray, son of Jacob Peele Bray, a native of Suffolk county, England, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in that county in the year 1826. Having English parents of wealth, ease and refinement, more than an ordinary equipment for life's work was bestowed upon their son, who, at the age of twenty-two, graduated from Oxford College, in 1848. He then came to America and located at Princeton, Mercer county, West Virginia. His name will be found in Judge Miller's history of Summers county as one of the more distinguished surveyors of large estates, and as an engineer of large corporate interests. There is on record a survey he made of an enormous acreage of coal lands, one of the greatest, probably, in the State of West Virginia. Thomas Bray married Martha L. Brown, of Mercer county. She was a daughter of George Paris Brown, and bore her husband nine children, only two of whom are now living-Mrs. Frank Cox, of Hinton, W. Va., whose husband is a train dispatcher for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company. Thomas Bray was a Confederate soldier and a member of Company C, Second Virginia Infantry. He was in active service over two years, then assigned to hospital duties, where he remained until the close of the war. After the war he practiced medicine in Mercer and Monroe counties until his death, in 1875. A. B. C. Bray was born in Mercer county on April 2, 1865. His early life was spent in pursuit of an education in the public schools, after which he went to work as a telegraph Operator for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company at Big Bend Tunnel, W. Va., in 1881. He worked for the company in various capacities, finally becoming depot agent at Ronceverte, where he remained fourteen years as one of their most trusted officials. In 1905 he was offered the position he now holds as cashier of the First National Bank of Ronceverte, and where he has remained ever since. On May 15, 1889, Mr. Bray was married to Miss Emma M. Huddleston, of Fort Spring, this county. Her parents are both dead. To this union were born seven children, namely, Grace, Alice, Eleanor, Edward, Albert, Peyton; and one son, Burton, who died in 1911, at the age of twenty years. Mr. Bray is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar in the York rite and of the eighteenth degree in the Scottish rite. He is High Priest of the grand Royal Arch chapter of the State, elected to that office in November, 1915. He is a member of the Episcopal church and is a vestryman in that organization; is president of the Bankers' Association of West Virginia. Besides numerous other positions he has filled in political life Mr. Bray is delegate to the lower house of the State legislature. 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 02:50:13 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <42a5077f.25270525@aol.com> Subject: BIO: T. K. TOTTEN, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 122-123 THE OLD MANSE. Now the Residence of Mrs. T. K. Totten. Among places of historical interest in Greenbrier county is the first parsonage of the pastor of the Presbyterian congrega-tion of Lewisburg. It is a substantial stone house standing on the beautiful bluffs overlooking the Greenbrier river at the crossing of the James river and the Kanawha turnpike, about one and one-half miles above the bridge. It was built by the Rev. Benjamin Griggsby sometime between 1794 and 1803, for he was pastor of the congregation between those years. He was called to the church before the construction of the Manse, when they worshipped in the first log building on the land of Joe Fermster (so says James Withrow, who supplied the data for this sketch), "which was about one mile north of Lewisburg. I think he had another house," the writer says, "on the other tract of land on the east side of the river, but the present residence has always gone by the name of the 'stone house.' It stands on land obtained from Abraham Hoptonstall and adjoins lands of John Anderson, (the Hunter land now.)" The Rev. Griggsby's tract consisted of 1,050 acres, patented from the State of Virginia, and the Hoptonstall land purchased by deed in 1794. (See Deed Book I, page 408.) Different transfers of the property were made from that time, as found by the very full and carefully made up abstract by Mr. Withrow, and until the large estate on both sides of the river were deeded to T. K. Totten, who purchased it of Alex Atkinson September 26, 1902. Thomas K. Totten, the purchaser of the "Manse," was a prominent citizen of McDowell county, where he was born June 8, 1851. For a long time he was resident judge of the County Court and filled other positions of honor and trust conferred upon him by the commonwealth. He was a big merchant and farmer, with the lumber and mercantile interests carried on to a very large extent. T. K. Totten first married a Miss Patsey Newsome and to this union were: William L., horn January 1, 1878; Major H., September 5, 1880, both married; Boyd M., November 3, 1882; Walter M., October 8, 1888. Mr. Totten's second marriage was to Miss Matilda Jane Lambert, daughter of Hiram and Eliza (Collins) Lambert. She was horn February 22, 1870, and her marriage took place on June 30, 1888. In 1891 they moved to Greenbrier county and on January 5, 1907, Mr. Totten died, since which time Mrs. Totten has suc-cessfully managed the large interests of the old plantation. To Mr. and Mrs. T. K. Totten were horn the following children: (1) Helen V., horn April 20, 1889; (2) Edith Maude, January 26, 1891, married C. A. Wright, of Roanoke, Va., December 24, 1913; they have one daughter, Mildred Jane. (3) Amanda Pearle, January 31, 1892; married H. B. Austin, of Natural Bridge, Va., May 28, 1913; (4) Harry Burks, Jr.; (5) Elizabeth Jane; (6) Burbridge Payne, May 17, 1895; (7) Edgar K., February 5, 1897(8) Virginia M., December 28, 1899; (9) Gladys, February 1, 1900; (10) Thomas, Jr., February 3, 1903; (11) Evelyn Mildred, February 19, 1907. 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 02:58:25 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <85069ffd.25270711@aol.com> Subject: BIO: John O. HANDLEY, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 123-125 JOHN O. HANDLEY. The ancestors of this branch of the Handley family came from old Virginia stock and they were among the earliest and most prominent of the settlers of the county of Greenbrier. John and Elizabeth (Shanklin) Handley were the grandparents of the subject of this sketch. His great maternal grandfather emigrated from Ireland in 1769 and settled three miles west of Lewisburg in 1784 and there passed the remainder of his days. William Handley came from Augusta county, Virginia, about 1790, and settled about one and one-half miles west of Lewisburg. The Hadley-Shanklin families were prominent in the county also. John Handley died September 21, 1875, and his wife died February 22, 1854. Harvey Handley, the father of John 0., was born in Green-brier cOunty October 28, 1817. He was the owner of one of the best cultivated farms in Greenbrier county, lying in Lewisburg district now owned by Howard C. Skaggs. He took special pride in raising blooded horses, having the best strain west of the Blue Ridge in the Virginias. He served his county as surveyor from 1840 to 1858. He was for many years an elder of the Presbyterian church. On June 14, 1842, Harvey Handley married Mary C. L. Bell, who was born in Goshen September 13, 1822. She was a daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (Nelson) Bell. To this union were born ten children: (1) William M., April 8, 1843; died in June, 1845; (2) Joseph B., January 4, 1846; (3)Mary A., October 28, 1847; (4) John 0., May 25, 1849; (5) Bettie P., May 12, 1851; died in October, 1861; (6) Thomas A., June 9, 1853; (7) Robert D., November 9, 1885; died in September, 1865; (8) Harvey J., January 31,1859; (9) Charles W., March 5, 1861; (Jo) Mary B., October 12, 1863. Joseph B. Handley was a Confederate soldier. He enlisted at Richmond in the Fourteenth Virginia cavalry in the fall of 1862 and served until the surrender of Lee in 1865. John 0. Handley, a well known farmer and dairyman, owns and cultivates one of the smaller farms in the county. For six years he was in the hotel and livery business with James H. Stratton. In 1887 he moved to Pasco county, Florida, and was with the South Florida Railroad Company until August, 1895. He moved to his present residence in 1900. On September 14, 1882, he married Mattie, daughter of Johnston E. and Sarah A. (Wayt) Bell. She was born in Lewisburg, January 7, 1856. Her father was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, December 16, 1816, and in 1845 came to Greenbrier county. Her mother was born in Augusta county, Virginia, October 9, 1822, and died in Greenbrier county January 4, 1869. Children born to this union were: (i) Johnston Bell, August 7, 1883; (2) Harvey Lockheart, August 5, 1885; (3) William Overton, October 10, 1887; died March 26, 1892. 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 03:06:37 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <70266b7e.252708fd@aol.com> Subject: BIO: Maj. Claudius BUSTER, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 125-127 MAJ. CLAUDIUS BUSTER. Maj. Claudius Buster, born 1764, descended from one of the earliest Scotch and Irish families of Virginia, according to the Government reports of Revolutionary War pensions, issued in i84i, drew a pension for service with the Colonies. He was one of the most prosperous and most prominent men of his county, and died in 184?. His son, George W. Buster, born 1803, was sheriff of Kanawha county and afterwards became the owner of the once famous resort, the Blue Sulphur Springs, where he died in 1868. These springs are yet in the possession of his descendents. His son, Charles Blackwell Buster, born October 22, 1838, in Charleston, W. Va., moved with his parents to the Blue Sulphur when a child. The Blue Sulphur was his home, although many times, for short periods, in business elsewhere, until elected county clerk of Greenbrier in 1884 necessitated his moving to Lewisburg. He had this office for twenty-four years, having continu-ously been elected to it until he retired from business in 1909, and has lived a quiet retired life in Lewisburg ever since. During the Civil War he served as a second lieutenant, Company B, Wise Legion; was in service six months and was then retired on account of ill health. Mr. Buster's mother was Ann Chilton, born 1809, married in 1833, died in 1884, the daughter of Dr. Samuel and Lucinda Blackwel1 Chilton. Lucinda Rlackwell was the daughter of Capt. Samuel Blackwell of the Revolution. The Chilton and Blackwell families repeatedly intermarried until they virtually became the same family. Dr. Samuel Chilton was the son of Col. Charles Chilton, of Hereford, born 1741, and his mother was Elizabeth Blackwell. Col. Charles Chilton is likewise the ancestor of the famous Charleston Chilton family, to which belongs the present United States Senator, William E. Chilton. The Chilton family, back to the first settler from England, is given in full detail in McKenzies Colonial families of the United States, in which is also a cut and description of the Chilton coat of arms. The Blackwell family has been written up in the Times Despatch, October 1, 1910, and it gives a long line of ancestors. Mr. Buster married Virginia W. Hamilton, daughter of Jacob and Delilah (Jarrett) Hamilton and the granddaughter of Maj. William Hamilton (his wife was a Miss Clemmons), who was one of the first settlers of Greenbrier, having been a soldier in the Revolution and having come from Augusta and settling near the Blue Sulphur Springs when there were no white men west of that section. Five children were born of this marriage, two of whom are now living, viz: Annie Hamilton Buster, who was married in 1890 to Louis Pitzer Housman, the son of - Housman and Fannie Pitzer Housman; they now live in Pueblo, Col., and their children are Virginia Chilton, Robert Louis and Charles McFerrin. Emma Bernard Buster, who was married in 1895 to Henry Arthur Henderson, a civil engineer, of England, the son of Gen. John Henderson, of the English army, and Ellen Lushington Harris (see Burke's Peerage). Of this marriage three children were born; the eldest died in infancy. The two living are Cohn David Henderson and Elcanor Virginia Hamilton Henderson. Mr. Buster married a second time to Mattie W. Cooper, the daughter of the Rev. A. W. Cooper, of the Methodist church, and Martha Gabbert, and from this marriage his children were Blackwell Chilton, born October 28, 1890, married August 27, 1910, to Mary Lillian Livesay; and Mary Evelyn Buster, born January 19, 1898. Charles Blackwell Buster has brothers and sisters as follows: Samuel, died young; Alexis Martin, born July 12, 1836, married Sarah Emma Hamilton, daughter of Maj. William Hamilton; Lucy Ann, born in 1840; Thomas Bernard, born 1845, and died in the service of the Confederacy as a member of Company B, Sixtieth Virginia Infantry, C. S. A. Mr. Buster has always been an enthusiastic citizen of the best type, with a broad horizon of friends and acquaintances. At present he lives quietly, enjoying the remembrance of a long life of local prominence and prestige. The two-volume work, Men of West Virginia, published in 1903, gives a great deal of space and detail of the life and family of Mr. Buster, with an excellent portrait of him. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm ______________________________X-Message: #8 Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 03:10:46 EDT From: SSpradling@aol.com To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <9b9b1780.252709f6@aol.com> Subject: BIO: George H. BUSTER, Greenbrier County Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 127 GEORGE H. BUSTER. George H. Buster, son of Alexis Martin, and in descent from Maj. Claudius Buster, of Scotch-Irish parentage, before mentioned, has very well represented the prestige and interest of the Buster family at Blue Sulphur during the past eighteen years as owner and proprietor of the general store at that place. He is the eldest child of Alexis Martin and Sarah Emma Hamilton Buster, and has been very successful as a merchant. His father organized the company above mentioned and served in the army during the war, but in various capacities. He was at one time in the quartermaster's department. George H. married Miss Sallie Littlepage, daughter of L. B. Littlepage. The family worship with the Presbyterians, of which church Alex Martin is an elder and George H. is a deacon. Sandy Spradling SSpradling@AOL.com State Contact for WV GenExchange http://www.genexchange.com/wv/index.cfm