WV-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 233 Today's Topics: #2 CLARK NELSON--WOOD COUNTY ["Pam Honaker" To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: CLARK NELSON--WOOD COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II Pg. 464 CLARK NELSON--WOOD COUNTY CLARK NELSON. The Nelsons of Parkersburg for over fifty years have been a family with all the qualities of enterprise and good citizenship that produce a fair and honorable name in a community. In 1858 Benjamin Franklin Nelson came from Powhatan, Ohio to Parkersburg. He was accompanied by his wife, whose maiden name was Emily Clark, and by four children, while eight other children were born to them in Parkersburg. B.F. Nelson devoted his time and energies to farming in the Williams District of the county, where he died in 1884. His widow survived him with unimpaired faculities until her death in 1905. Only a short time before she had made a visist to California to see her son. One of the children of B. F. Nelson was Lafayette Nelson, who enlisted in the Union army and died of disease while in service. Clark Nelson, the younger son, was born March 30, 1851, and spent his life in Wood County, where he died September 8, 1919. He made the very best possible use of only ordinary opportunities to secure an education, and after exhausting the possibilities of the district schools attended a normal school several times. For sixteen years he taught in the country district of Wood County, employing the vacation periods to farm in the Clay and Lubeck districts. He was a republican in politics, but was seldom known in political councils, though he held several local positions when necessity required, more as a matter of good citizenship than for any other reason. He was a man of single mind and purpose, thought and acted directly, and from youth to advanced years never failied to earn the respect paid to honesty and a blameless character. His range of knowledge was unusually wide for one who had to depend upon his own efforts to secure an education. In religious matters he was a devout member of the Baptist Church. In October 1879, Clark Nelson married Wilda Spencer, and she is still living at Parkersburg. Their two son were Arta L., born July 31, 1880, and Harvey H., born January 5, 1882. These two sons continue the honorable prestige of this name in Parkersburg, and are active in commercial affairs. Arta L. Nelson attended a commercial college at Parkersburg and was employed as a stenographer and bookkeeper until he entered business with his brother in 1907. The Nelson brothers now have one of the prosperous mercantile establishments of the city. Arta Nelson is a Methodist, a republican voter, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of Nemesis Temple of the Shirne, and the Parkersburg Chamber of Commerce. Harvey H. Nelson secured a good practical education at the age of nineteen began an apprenticeship at the plumber's trade. He followed that as a regular business until he entered the plumbing and heating business in 1907. Both brothers were active in behalf on the various drives and other patriotic causes in the World war. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order, Independent Order of Odd Fellow, Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Rotary Club and is first vice president of the Chamber of Commerce. He likewise is a republican and a Methodist. April 14, 1915, Harvey Nelson married Nan R. Haddox. They have one daughter, Louise. ______________________________ X-Message: #3 Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:00:12 EDT From: "Pam Honaker" To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: JACKSON FAMILY--WOOD COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II Pg. 465 JACKSON FAMILY--WOOD COUNTY JACKSON FAMILY. John Jackson was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1719, was reared in the City of London, where he learned the builder's trade, and in 1848 crossed the ocean to Calvert County, Maryland. About 1769 he and his family crossed the mountain into Northwestern Virginia, and made permanent settlement on the Buckhannon River, just below Jackson's Fort. Both he and his wife had experiences during the period of Indian warfare, and in mental, moral and physical strength they were fitted to become the forebears of an illustrious race of descendants. John Jackson died at Clarksburg September 25, 1801. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Cummins, died in 1825. Of their eight children the second son, Edward, was the grandfather of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, know to immortal fame as Gen. Stonewall Jackson. Their first born son was known as Col. George Jackson. He was born aabout 1750 and in 1773 entered 400 acres of land in the vicinity of Clarksburg. He had a sound mental and physcial inheritance, and was a natural leader, though without the oppurtunities to secure a literary education. He was with the frontier militia in the Indian wars, was commissioned colonel of a Virginia regiment by General Washington in the Revolution, and 1781 joined General Clark's expedition against the British at Detroit. The first County Court of Harrison County was held at his home in 1784. He was elected a member of the House of Burgesses, was a member of the State Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, and three times was chosen a member of Congress. It is said that a speech he made in Congress caused so much amusement among the members that he announced he would go home and send his son to Congress, and he would not be laughed at. His son John, in fact immediately succeeded him, entering the Eighth Congress. This son, John George Jackson, was born near Buckhannon, Virginia, and died at Clarksburg in 1825. He was liberally educated by his father, was elected a member of the Legislature in 1797, was appointed surveyor of Goverment lands west of the Ohio in 1793, and as noted was elected to Congress as successor of his father, serving from the Eighth to the Fourteenth congressess inclusive, except the Twelfth. He was a brigadier general of militia and in 1819 appointed United States judge for the Western District of Virginia, and was on the bench when he died . The first wife of John George Jackson was Mary Payne, who was born about 1781 and died February 13, 1808. She was a daughter of John and Mary (Coles) Payne. She and Mr. Jackson were married in the executive mansion in the White House. That honor was granted the bride by virtue of her being a sister of the wife of the President of the United States, the famous Dolly Madison. The second wife of John George Jackson, by whom is descended another line of the Jackson family in West Virginia, was a daughter of Return Jonathan Meigs, of the distinguished Meigs family of Ohio. The only son of the first marriage of John George Jackson was Gen. John Jay Jackson, who was born in Wood county, Virginia, February 13, 1800. Much of his early life was spent in Parkersburg. He was educated privately and in Washington College in Pennsylvania, and by appointment from President Monroe entered West Point Military Academy in 1815, graduating in his nineteenth year. As an officer of the Regular army he performed service in the Seminole war in Florida, and at one time was a member of Gen. Andrew Jackson's staff. About January 1, 1823 he resigned his commission and turned his attention to the law. He soon reached the front ranks of his profession and was many times elected to public office. From 1830 to 1852 he was prosecuting attorney in the Circuit Superior Court. He was a brigadier general of Militiia from 1842 until the beginning of the Civil war. His last public service was as a member of the Convention at Richmnd in 1861, wher he eloquently upheld the Union. He organized and was president of the Second National Bank of Parkersburg. He died January 1, 1877. Gen. John Jay Jackson married in 1823 Emma G. Beeson, who died in 1842. In 1843 he married Jane. E. B. Gardner. While without doubt one of the ablest and most useful men in his generation in Parkersburg and his section of Virginia, Gen. John Jay Jackson had perhaps an even greater distiction in being the father of five eminent sons, all of whow became conspicious in the history of West Virginia. These sons were Judge John Jay Jackson, United States District Judge James Monroe Jackson, Governor Jacob Beeson Jackson, Henry Clay Jackson and Andre Gardner Jackson. ______________________________ X-Message: #4 Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:01:15 EDT From: "Pam Honaker" To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: MONROE J. RATHBONE--WOOD COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II Pg. 465 MONROE J. RATHBONE--WOOD COUNTY MONROE J. RATHBONE, manager of the Camden Works ar Parkersburg for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, is a native of Parkersburg and represents two prominent families of the state. He is a maternal grandson of James Monroe Jackson, of the distinguied family of West Virginia. This subject im more fully treated on other pages. In the Rathbone line he is descended from Wait Rathbone, who was a New England sea captain and also a captain of militia during the Revolution. A son of Wait was William Palmer Rathbone, a native of Connecticut, subsequently a business man of New York City, and for a number of years a county judge in New Jersey. He settled at Burning Springs in what is now West Virginia in 1843, and finally retired to Parkersburg, where he died in 1862. His wife was Martha Valleua. Their son, John Valleau Rathbone, was born in New York City in 1821 and accompanied his father to West Virginia. For several years he and his brother wer general merchants, and in 1861 he became interested in the pioneer phases of oil development and was one of the men conspicuously successful in that industry. It is said that in spite of his wealth he always remained a plain man of the people, enjoyed the companionship and fellowshipo of his old friends and acquaintances in Parkersburg, and was a wit and humorist. He died January 11, 1897, his old home becoming subsquently the quarters of the Blennerhasset Club. In 1841 he married Anna Maria Doremus, of New Jersey. She died in the same year and eight months later than her husband. Of the eleven children the seventh in order of birth is Francis Vinton Rathbone, who married Mary E. Jackson, daughter of Judge James Monroe Jackson. Monroe Jackson Rathbone, a son of Francis V. Rathbone, was born in Parkersburg July 23, 1874. He was well educated, attending the Parkersburg High School and the Virginia Military Institute. As a youth he bacame a runner for the First National Bank of Parkersburg, also had some experience in merchandising, and for a time was an employee of a local gas company. In 1895 Mr. Rathbone removed to Chicago, and for five years was assistant manager of the lubricating sales department of the Standard Oil Company. On his return to Parkersburg in 1900 he was purchasing agent for the wholesale grocery house of Shattuck-Jackson Company, but in 1904 resuemd his service witht the Standard Oil Company, and since 1907 has been manager of the Camden Works. He represents the third generation of a family active in the oil industry in West Virginia. Mr Rathbone is also a director of the Citizens National Bank. Other interests and activities betray the public spirited and benevolent character of his citizenship. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Country Club, a director of the Blennerhasset Club, a member of the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, an Elk, is president of the local council of the Boy Scouts, and during the World war was a member of the War Labor Board. He is a democrat in politics and a member of the Protestant Epicopal Church. October 19, 1898, Mr Rathbone married Miss Ida Virginia Welch, daughter of W.M. Welch. Four sons were born to their marriage: Monroe Jackson, Jr., Richard A., William Vinton, and James Vinton. The youngest died in infancy. ______________________________ X-Message: #5 Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:02:01 EDT From: "Pam Honaker" To: WV-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: LEWIS M. LUDOW-WOOD COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume II Pg. 464 LEWIS M. LUDOW-WOOD COUNTY LEWIS M. LUDLOW is president and manager of the Acme Fishing Tool Company, one of the important industries that contribute to the prestige Parkersburg enjoys as a business and industrial center o f the oil and gas interests in the territory. Mr Ludlow, who first can to West Virginia for his health and has remained to engage in business affairs, was born at Ludlow, near New York City, in Westchester County, New York , May 25 1884, son of Thomas W. and Harriet (Carnochan) Ludlow, his father English and his mother of English-Scot ancestry. The New York town of Ludow was named for his grandfather, Thomas W. Ludlow, who gave the right of way to the New York Central Railroad. Lewis M. Ludlow was reared at Ludlow, attended St. John's School and Military Academy at Ossining, New York and subsequently entered Columbia University at New York City, where he pursued special studies for about three years. Lack of money not permitting him to remain to graduate, he turned his attention to the confectionery business, and having for some time suffered ill health he sought a change of climate, removing to West Virginia in 1910. For two years he was in Roane County with the Louis F. Payn Oil Company, and his work pur him in practical touch with every phase of oil production. With this experience he felt justified in entering the oil business on his own account, but in a short time had lost all his capital and the venture was almost disastrous. Mr. Ludlow in 1912 became associated with the late George L. McKain, founder and president of the Acme Fishing Tool Company at Parkersburg. He remained with Mr. McKain until 1912, when he resigned his position to enter into the importing business in New York City. Upon the death of Mr. McKain he returned to Parkersburg and again associated himself with the Acme Fishing Tool Company, in the capacity of president. Mr. Ludlow is a member of the Episcopal Church, is a republican, belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club, Country Club, is a member of the advisory and thirty-second degree Scottish rite Mason, a member of Nemesis Temple of the Shrine, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1914 he married Harriet McKain, daughter of George L. McKain. They have one daughter, Ann.