WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 176 Today's Topics: #1 BIO: JAMES W. PRICE, M. D., Pocaho [Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000717203110.00ca4730@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: JAMES W. PRICE, M. D., Pocahontas Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 514-515 Pocahontas JAMES W. PRICE, M. D. One of the old and distinguished families of West Virginia bears the name of Price. The etymology of the name goes back to Wales, the family's native country, where "ap" designates a son, and "reese" means strong or stout, the combination indicating a sturdy stock. The earliest known Price ancestor in the United States was one Ap Price, who is recorded as having served the American colonies in the Revolutionary war, and his an- cestor served in the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and is referred to in Shakespeare's drama King Richard III. One of the earliest bearers of the name in Virginia was one Samuel Price, a native of Wales, who settled near New Hope in Augusta County, and was the father of a family of sons. One of these, Samuel, settled in Greenbrier County; another, Jacob, lived on the Big Levels, and he had a son, also Jacob, who was a veteran of the War of 1812. The Pocahontas County Prices are directly descended from Thomas Price, who came from North Carolina to what is now West Virginia, settling in Greenbrier County, where he was a farmer and also kept a hotel at Fincastle. His ashes rest at the base of the Seven Mile Mountain. Although not a graduate of medical school, he appears to have pos- sessed extended knowledge of medical science and surgery for his time, and became widely known through voluminous writings. One of his books that was published in 1790, now a rare volume, is owned by his great-grandson, Dr. James W. Price, a prominent physician and surgeon of Marlinton, West Virginia. Thomas Price was twice married. One son, John William Price, was born to his first marriage, and he served as a ship's surgeon during the second war with Great Britain. Thomas Price's second wife was Margaret, the eldest daugh- ter of John Beard, and they had four children, the eldest of these being James Atlee Price. He was a farmer and stock- raiser, was an uncompromising whig and persistent voter for Henry Clay, was bitterly opposed to the Mexican war and was a man of wide importance. He married Margaret Davies Poage, one branch of whose family originated in Londonderry, in the North of Ireland. James Atlee Price and his wife both died in 1874. The late William T. Price, D. D., was the eldest born of their thirteen children, of which family but one, the youngest, survives in the person of Mrs. Mary McLaughlin, who lives in the old family home, "Maxwelton." A collateral member of the family is found in Dr. H. L. Beard, of Lewisburg. The late William T. Price was one of the notable men of his time, distinguishing himself in more than one field of effort. He was born at Marlinton, then in Virginia, July 19, 1830, and his death occurred in the town of his birth on January 19, 1921, at the age of ninety years. The eldest of a large family, he had a favorable environment in his youth, a happy, healthful boyhood on the home farm and afterward educational advantages that well prepared him for the duties and compensations that pertained to the noble activities that engaged him through a long and busy life. He was early graduated from Washington College, Lexing- ton, Virginia, where the degrees of A. M. and A. B. were conferred on him, and later, when this hoary institution be- came Washington and Lee University, he received the degree of D. D. For three years he was a student in the Union Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1851. Practically his entire life was passed in the Presbyterian ministry, his work being mainly in Virginia and West Virginia, with a short interval in Arkansas, and on numerous occasions he was called upon to serve as moderator of important synods. For over a score of years Doctor Price rode back and forth over the country on horse- back, and he and his steed, '' Prince,'' were familiar figures over a wide range. He developed the church field as the pioneer and practically alone that at the time of his death required the services of fifteen Presbyterian ministers to cover. Following his services in the war between the states lie devoted himself as long as physical strength permitted to ministerial work, and his missionary efforts among the mountaineers of West Virginia brought forth influences that will ever bear fruit. He served as chaplain in Pickett's Division of the Confederate army and was a close friend of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson. As a member of the Thirty- first Virginia Regiment he was engaged in the first cam- paign of the war in the advance on Grafton, and he buried the first Confederate soldier killed in that conflict. When the war closed, although still chaplain but with the rank of captain, having twice declined staff positions under two Confederate generals, he had been commissioned to raise a regiment, but the coming of peace made this organization unnecessary. In 1865 Reverend Price married Miss Anna L. Randolph, who survives. She is a descendant of the famous Virginia Randolphs and a lineal descendant of Pocahontas. Aside from every other distinction Mrs. Price is a poetess, and her volume of verse, published in 1921, entitled "The Old Church and Other Poems," has attracted wide and favorable comment. Seven children were born to Dr. William T. Price and his wife: William R., who died at the age of four years; James W.; Andrew G., who is a prominent member of the Marlinton bar; Susan A., who is a practicing physi- cian of Williamsburg, Virginia; Norman R. and Calvin W., both of whom are prominent in Pocahontas County; and Anna V., who ia the wife of Prank Hunter, of Marlinton, Norman R. Price, who is a leading medical practitioner at Marlinton, was born December 5, 1874. He graduated in 1903 from Maryland Medical College, Baltimore, and has been engaged in medical practice in his native city ever since. During the World war he was a surgeon, with the rank of captain, in the Tenth United States Infantry. He married in 1906 Miss Jean Kinsey, of Mingo County, West Virginia, and they have two children: Norman and [D]ean. Calvin W. Price, who is the owner and publisher of the Pocahontas Times, was born November 22, 1880. At the age of fifteen years he started to learn the printing business and is still in the same line. Originally his two brothers were associated with him in the publication of the Times, hut he is now sole proprietor. In politics he is a democrat, and is a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. During the World war he was one of the "Four-Minute" speakers, and was otherwise active in furthering the aims of the Govern- ment. In 1906 he married Miss Mabel Milligan, of Marlin- ton, and they have had five children: Elizabeth, Florence Randolph, Calvin Thomas, Ann Loekridge and Jane Stobo, all surviving except Calvin Thomas, who died at the age of eight years. James W. Price was born at Monterey, Virginia, No- vember 21, 1868, but was reared at Marlinton, West Vir- ginia, and was primarily educated by his parents. When he had determined on his future career he entered Baltimore Medical College, now the medical department of the Uni- versity of Maryland, from which he was graduated in 1891, after which for a time he was resident physician of the Maryland General Hospital and attended some post-gradu- ate lectures at Johns Hopkins. Doctor Price has always maintained his home at Marlinton. He has been quite active in the political field as a republican, the only member of his family of this political faith, and in 1904 was elected a member of the State Legislature. He was the author of several important bills, and one of these, a state dispensary bill for the control of liquor, created wide discussion. In 1894 Doctor Price married Miss Lura A. Sharp, of Edray, West Virginia, and they have two children: William L. and Julia L. Doctor Price and his family are Presby- terians, and he belongs to the Masonic fraternity. During the World war his attitude was that of a loyal and patriotic citizen. He wag a member of the Volunteer Medical Corps, and was chairman of the County Board of National De- fense. During the latter years of his life the father of Doctor Price took great pride in preparing a history of Pocahontas County, which was published by his sons, and which will, as years go by, prove incalculable worth to historians. Another of his published works, entitled "On to Grafton," a reproduction of his diary, is a valuable contribution to historical data. ______________________________ X-Message: #2 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 20:40:26 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000717203953.00c88410@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: WILLIAM C. BOBBITT, Nicholas Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 514 Nicholas WILLIAM C. BOBBITT, whose permanent residence is in the City of Richwood, Nicholas County, has made a specially admirable record in connection with educational affairs in his native state and has done much to raise the standards of the various schools with which he has been identified in a pedagogic and executive way. Mr. Bobbitt was born in Nicholas County, this state, September 15, 1886, and is a son of A. W. and Zerilda L. (Huff) Bobbitt, both likewise natives of that county, where the former was born December 3, 1853, and the latter, January 11, 1865. As a young man the father was a suc- cessful teacher in the schools of his native county, and after his marriage he settled on the old homestead farm of his grandfather, Rufus Bobbitt, who was one of the pioneer settlers in Nicholas County, the family having been founded in Virginia in the Colonial period of our national history. Rufus Bobbitt became the owner of a large landed estate in Nicholas County, reclaimed and improved much of the same and was prominently identified with the early develop- ment and progress of the county. A. W. Bobbitt has well upheld the honors of the family name and has been a prom- inent figure in industrial enterprise and civic advancement in his native county. He is the owner of a fine farm prop- erty in Nicholas County and is president of the Lanes Botton Bank in that county, his son, William C., of this review, being a director of this institution. Of their family of eight children six are living: William C. is the im- mediate subject of this review; Luster, who completed her education by attending Rawlings Institute, is the wife of W. D. Rollison; Mary, a graduate of the Cowen High School, is the wife of William Rogers, of Clarksburg; Elmer is engaged in the brokerage business in the City of Charleston; Mabel, who is a successful teacher, graduated from the Cowen High School, and thereafter attended the normal training school at Sutton, the State Normal School at Fairmont, and the University of West Virginia; Lillian graduated from the State Normal School at Fairmont, later continued her studies in the State University, and she is now the wife of Harold Smith, of Fairmont. William C. Bobbitt was reared on the home farm, was graduated in the Cowen High School, attended the Sum- mersville Normal School, and later graduated from the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he did effective post-graduate work in the University of West Virginia and the great Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. His initial service as a teacher was in the rural schools of his native county, he was principal of the public schools at Cowen one year, later was principal of the schools at Webster Springs, district super- visor of Glade District, Webster County; principal of the Richwood High School; superintendent of the schools at Flatwoods, Braxton County; and principal of the Clay County High School at Clay, of which position he is the present incumbent. Mr. Bobbitt is the owner of a fine stock farm in Nicholas County, where he is giving special attention to the raising of the best types of Hampshire sheep, Southdown and Duroc-Jersey hogs and good grades of cattle and horses. Mr. Bobbitt is loyally aligned in the ranks of the demo- cratic party, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Cowen in which latter he is a past noble grand, and he is a member of the Baptist Church, while his wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mrs. Bobbitt, whose maiden name was Alta Haton, was graduated in the West Virginia Wesleyan College, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is a teacher in the Clay County High School, of which her husband is principal. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 21:54:26 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000717215410.00c7ac30@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: HERBERT H. WITHERS, Gilmer Co. WV Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 513-514 Gilmer HERBERT H. WITHERS, who is conducting a prosperous livery business at Glenville, judicial center of Gilmer County, is a scion of a family that was founded in Virginia in the Colonial period of our national history. Alexander S. Withers, grandfather of Herbert H., was born in Virginia on the 12th of October, 1792, and became a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments, he having attended historic old William and Mary College in Virginia and hav- ing prepared himself for and been admitted to the bar. He did not long continue in the practice of law, but became a pioneer settler at Bridgeport, in what is now Harrison County, West Virginia, where his character and ability made him a citizen of prominence and influence and where he did much to advance civic and industrial development. Herbert H. Withers was born at Weston, Lewis County. West Virginia, on the 19th of June, 1867, and is a son of Henry and Dorcas D. (Lawrence) Withers, the latter having been a daughter of Jacob and Melinda (Fisher) Lawrence. Henry Withers was reared to manhood in what is now West Virginia, received the advantages of the common schools of the period, and he was a young man when he tendered his services in defense of the Union at the inception of the Civil war. He became a member of the Tenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, was made major of the same, and con- tinued as an efficient and popular commanding officer until the close of the war. With the same spirit of loyalty he then set himself to winning the victories of peace. He settled on Fink Creek in Lewis County, and became the owner of a large landed estate in that locality. Finally he sold this property and purchased another farm tract, on Cove Creek in the same county, and later he was elected sheriff of Lewis County, an office of which he was the in- cumbent at the time of his death. He was a democrat and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, his wife, who survived him by several years, having been an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Of the nine children only three are now living, and of the number the subject of this sketch is the youngest; John S. is actively identified with the banking business at Buckhannon, Upshur County; and Miss Emma resides at Weston, Lewis County. Herbert H. Withers profited by the advantages of the public schools and thereafter attended the State Normal School at Glenville. He was identified actively with farm enterprise in Gilmer County for a number of years and also with the general merchandise business. He is now one of the substantial citizens of Glenville, where he conducts a well equipped livery. He is unwavering in his allegiance to the democratic party, and he attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which his wife is an active member. On Christmas day of the year 1894 Mr. Withers was united in marriage with Miss Estella Whiting, who had been a popular teacher in the public schools and who had at- tended the State Normal School at Glenville. Mr. and Mrs. Withers have two sons: Dr. Herbert F., a graduate of the State Normal School at Glenville and of the Ohio Dental College, is now engaged in the practice of dentistry at Normal School at Glenville, and he remains at the parental Glenville; Everett W. likewise is a graduate of the State home. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 22:13:15 -0400 From: Valerie & Tommy Crook To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.3.1.0.20000717221232.00c75e10@mail.earthlink.net> Subject: BIO: GUY HERMAN BURNSIDE, Harrison Co. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 533-534 Harrison GUY HERMAN BURNSIDE. The legal profession in Harri- son County finds one of its able and successful representa- tives in the native son whose name initiates this para- graph, Mr. Burnside having been born at Good Hope, this county, October 3, 1885, and being now well estab- lished in the practice of his profession at Clarksburg, the county seat. He is a son of William Calvin Burnside and Ada Melcena (Post) Burnside. William C. Burnside was born in Lewis County, this state, March 8, 1861, and was a resident of Clarksburg, Harrison County, at the time of his death, April 8, 1919. He was a son of John S. and Jemima (Yerky) Burnside, the names of the other children of the family being as follows: Jacob Patterson, Mary R., John G., Robert B., Stephen M., Elizabeth A. and George W. John S. Burnside was a son of Robert and Rebecca (Bennett) Burnside, the former of whom was a son of John Burnside, who was twenty-one years of age when he left his native Ireland, came to the United States and established his home in the neighborhood of Good Hope, in what is now Harri- son County, West Virginia, where he passed the remainder of his life. After having profited by the curriculum of the public schools William Calvin Burnside continued his studies in the State Normal School at Fairmont. In 1881 he began teaching in the schools of his native county, and he con- tinued his effective pedagogic service three years. From 1884 to 1888 he was manager of a general store at Good Hope, and he then became associated with his father-in-law, Isaac Ii. Post, in organizing the Economy Stone Company. They continued the business successfully until 1895, when they sold the property and business. Thereafter Mr. Burnside owned and operated a flour mill at West Milford for six years. In 1897 he became a traveling salesman, and in 1903 he removed with his family to Clarksburg. Here he was engaged in the mercantile business from 1906 to 1908, and later he continued his services as a successful traveling salesman for several years. He con- tinued his residence at Clarksburg until the time of his death, and was a man who commanded unqualified popular esteem and confidence. On the 14th of September, 1884, William C. Burnside wedded Miss Ada Melcena Post, who still maintains her home at Clarksburg. She was born in Harrison County, on the 3d of April, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Burnside became the parents of eight children, namely: Guy Herman, Enoch Ray, Roy Zelot, Howard Thaddeus, Martha Rachel, John Isaac, Celia Elizabeth and William Calvin, Jr. Guy H. Burnside was graduated in the West Virginia State Normal School at Fairmont on the 13th of June, 1906, and thereafter was for two years associated with his father in the retail grocery business. In the autumn of 1908 he entered the University of West Virginia, where he took an academic course of one year and where he thereafter continued his studies in the law department until his graduation, June 13, 1911, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Thereafter he held an executive posi- tion in the title department of the United Fuel & Gas Company at Charleston until October, 1913. On the 1st of January, 1914, he opened an office at Clarksburg, where he has since continued in the successful practice of his pro- fession, besides having developed a prosperous real-estate business, in which connection he is now vice president of the Stealey Realty Company. Mr. Burnside has taken loyal interest in political affairs and has served as a member of the Republican Executive Committee of Harrison County. He has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, and is a knight commander of the Court of Honor, besides being affiliated with the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Delta Tau Delta college fra- ternity. He and. his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. December 28, 1911, recorded the marriage of Mr. Burnside and Miss Ada Stealey, daughter of Andrew L. and Emma Jane (Baltzley) Stealey, of Harrison County. Mr. and Mrs. Burnside have a winsome little daughter, Emma Jane.