USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Shrewsbury > A history of Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia : including the Woodbridgetown and Salemville churches in Pennsylvania and the Shrewsbury church in New Jersey > Part 36
USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > Salemville > A history of Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia : including the Woodbridgetown and Salemville churches in Pennsylvania and the Shrewsbury church in New Jersey > Part 36
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In the summer of 1867, he accompanied Rev. Samuel D. Davis upon a trip to Shelbyville, Tennessee, in the interest of the New Salem and Lost Creek churches.1
As his home was at the head of Greenbrier Run, he became a member of the Greenbrier church when it was organised in 1870.
Although he died at a comparatively early age, he left an indelible impress upon the churches of the South-Eastern Association. As a speaker, he was forceful and logical, delib- erate in his delivery.
On June 5, 1850, he was married to Jemima Davis; the daughter of Rev. Peter Davis.
I. Vid. pp. 157-158 supra.
REV. JACOB DAVIS.
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As the remuneration for his services to the church were very meagre, in accordance with the prevailing custom of the country at that time. he supported himself and his family upon his farm, which he cultivated himself.
He died April 4, 1885, at the age of fifty-seven years, seven months, and nineteen days.
REV. ENOCH DAVID.
REV. ENOCHI DAVID was born near Dover, on Duck Creek, in the state of Delaware, March 6, 1715. His father, Owen David, was a native of Wales, and his mother was born in England. They were both Presbyterians, but Enoch became a member of the Baptist church at Welch Tract.
He afterward became a Seventh Day Baptist, and removed to Philadelphia, where he was an active preacher among the Seventh Day Baptists in and near that city. Here he conducted a thriving business as a tailor, also.
Under date of June 12, 1792, the church at Welch Tract gave him a letter directed to the Baptist church in Middle- town, East New Jersey, certifying to his membership in good standing in the Welch Tract Church, as well as to his exem- plary life, and commending him to the care of the Middle- town Church so long as he might remain with them.
Soon afterward, however, he went to visit with some of his children living in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in the vicinity of the Woodbridgetown Church. There he shared the care of the Woodbridgetown Church with Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, until, as a result of exposure while preaching, he contracted a pulmonary disease which ended in his death at the home of his son-in-law, John John, at Woodbridge- town, November 28, 1793, at the age of seventy-eight years, eight months, and twenty-two days.
He was married four times, and had eleven children. His oldest son, Ebenezer, was graduated from Brown Uni- versity, in 1772. A year afterward, Ebenezer was licenced to preach by the Newport (Rhode Island) Church, which on May 31, 1775, ordained him to the Gospel ministry. He then returned to Philadelphia to visit his father and other friends, where he enlisted as a chaplain in the American Army in the Revolutionary War. He died in the army, March 19, 1778.
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SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
Apparently Enoch David never was a member of the Woodbridgetown Church, although the names of several of his children are found on its roll of membership.
There are reasons for thinking that his son, Owen David, at one time, may have been licenced to preach by the Wood- bridgetown Church, but the church records are silent upon the question.1
REV. RICHARD CLAYTON BOND.
REV. RICHARD CLAYTON BOND was born April 11, 1813, at Lost Creek, Virginia. He was the son of Abel Bond, Jr., and Sarah (Powers) Bond.
On April 10, 1835, the Lost Creek Church granted him licence to preach. On March 8, 1840, his licence was renewed for an indefinite period. He preached once a month for the Lost Creek Church, which, on September 5, 1842, voted to request the South-Western Association to ordain him, at its annual session to be held with the church at Port Jefferson, Ohio.
His great-grandfather, Richard Bond, who was born in 1728, and died January 14, 1819, was the father of Major Richard Bond, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, who was born March 9, 1756, and died February 14, 1820.
Major Richard Bond was three times married: first, to Tamar Davis ; second, to Mary Brumfield, the mother of his children; and third, to Mary Lewis. He was the older brother of Deacon Abel Bond, of the Lost Creek Church, whose home was at Quiet Dell, where the early missionaries to western Virginia were always first entertained on their arrival upon that field.2
Major Richard Bond's son Ab61, the father of Rev. Richard Clayton Bond, was born in Cecil County, Maryland, May 20, 1787. On November 3, 1807, he was married to
I. Cf. MSS. of Rev. Enoch David, Daniel G. W. David, et al.
2. Abel Bond entered eighty-eight (88) acres of land on Elk Creek, in Har- rison County, Virginia, in 1800. In 1838, the following entries were made on the North Fork of Hughes River :-
Benjamin F. Bond, one hundred (100) acres.
Ethelbert Bond, one hundred (100) acres.
Lewis Bond, one hundred and ninety-one (191) acres.
Lewis Bond, one hundred and sixteen (116) acres.
Cf. Dyer's Index to Land Grants in West Virginia.
REV. RICHARD C. BOND.
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Sarah Powers, at Jane Lew, Virginia ; and in 1845, with his family removed to Wisconsin.
Major Richard Bond was, also, the father of Levi Bond, whose son Brumfield was the father of Boothe Bond, who, in turn is the father of Samuel B. Bond and Elsie B. Bond, both of whom are members of the faculty of Salem College.
Richard Clayton Bond was baptized, in his eighteenth year by Rev. Lewis A. Davis, and became a member of the Lost Creek Church.
On April 10, 1835, the Lost Creek Church granted him licence to preach. On March 8, 1840, his licence was renewed for an indefinite period. He preached once a month for the Lost Creek Church, which on September 5, 1842, voted to request the South-Western Association to ordain him, at its annual session to be held with the church at Port Jefferson, Ohio.
The association referred the request to its Presbytery, which recommended that the petition be granted. Accord- ingly, on October 16, 1842, the ordination service took place, conducted by Rev. Lewis A. Davis, of the Port Jefferson Church, who preached the sermon, assisted by Rev. Peter Davis of the New Salem Church, who was in attendance at the association, and Rev. Joshua Hill, of the Port Jefferson Church.
During the year 1844, he represented the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society upon the western Virginia field, visiting the Woodbridgetown (Pennsylvania) Church also. He had four regular preaching stations, which he visited each once a month.
Under his ministrations, the church membership was increased, and the activity of church work quickened.
On October 19, 1839, he was married to Eliza Grant.
In the spring of 1846, he removed to Wisconsin, and engaged in farming, near Milton in that state.
At the date of this writing, August 1, 1905, his home is at Milton Junction, Wisconsin.
SAMUEL FITZ RANDOLPH.
SAMUEL FITZ RANDOLPH was born in October, 1738. His great-grandfather, Edward Fitz Randolph, came to Amer- ica from Nottinghamshire, England, after the middle of the
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SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
first half of the seventeenth century, and settled at Scituate, Plymouth Colony (now Massachusetts), where he married, May 10, 1637, Elisabeth Blossom, daughter of Thomas Blossom, the first deacon of the church in Plymouth. In the spring of 1639, in company with many of his neighbours, Edward removed to Barnstable, Plymouth Colony, where his several children were born. In 1669, he removed to Piscataway, East Jersey. His son Thomas, was born at Barnstable, August 16, 1659; and on November 23, 1686, Thomas married Elis- abeth Manning of Piscataway. Thomas and Elisabeth's son Jonathan, was born at Piscataway, January 12, 1692, or 1603. In the year 1717, Jonathan married Mary - -, of Piscat- away. Thomas and Elisabeth's son David, was born in l'is- cataway, January 1, 1690 or 1691. David married Sarah Molleson, of Piscataway, in 1712.
Samuel Fitz Randolph, son of Jonathan and Mary Fitz Randolph, married Margaret, the daughter of David and Sarah ( Molleson) Fitz Randolph, March 25, 1761. Margaret was born in November, 1739.
Samuel and Margaret were members of the Piscataway Seventh Day Baptist Church, as their respective parents had been before them, as were also their grandparents, Thomas and Elisabeth Fitz Randolph.
Samuel enlisted as a soldier in the War of the Revolution. where he served as an ensign in the Second Regiment of Sussex County, New Jersey. His commission reads as fol- lows :-
"THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
"To SAMUEL RANDOLF, GENT., Greeting :
"Whereas, It hath been certified to His Excellency, Wilham Livingston, Esquire, Governor and Commander-in-chief of this State. that you have been duly chosen by the Company of Militia in the County of Sussex, (being the - Company in the Second Regiment of the said County, whereof Aaron Hankinson, Esqr., is Colonel) to be ensign of the said Company; you therefore are to take the ward Company of Militia into your charge and care as ensign thereof. and duly to exercise both officers and soldiers of the said company in arms; and as they are hereby directed to obey you as their Envgn. you are likewise to obey and follow such orders and directions. from time to time, as you shall receive from your Colonel or other. your superior officer or officers; and for your so doing, this shall be your commission.
(26)
THE STATE OF NEW-JERSEY, To Samuel Brasidolf , Gent ."> GREETING :
TATHEREAS it hath been certified to His Excellency WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, Efquire, Go erhot and Commander in Chief of this State, that you have been
duly chofen by the Company of Militia in In the County of Jufsex (being the-
Company in the second hinguments of the faid County, whereof Innan Hankisgone Leg - is Colonel) to be Infight of the faid Company ; you are therefore to take the faid Company of Militia into your Charge and Care as Enfiguring thereof, and duly to exercife both Officers and Soldiers. of the faid Company in Arms : And as they are hereby directed to obey you as their Enfiar. youare likewife to obey and follow fuch Orders and
Directions, from Time to Time, as you thall receive from your Colonel or other your fuperior Oficer for Officers ; and for your fo doing this thall be your Commiffion.
IN TESTIMONY wherfof the Great Scal of the faid State is hereunto affixed :. Witnefs WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, Efquire, Governok, Captain-General and Com. mander in Chief 'in and over the 'State of New-Jersey and Territories thereunto. belonging, Chancellor and Ordinary in the fame, at Haddoudie?) the.,
. Day of Hasp in the Year of our Lord One
Thoufand Seven Hundred and Seventy jewenn .
Wil Livingston
By His Excellency's Command,
6
THE COMMISSION OF SAMUEL FITZ RANDOLPH AS ENSIGN IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
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"In Testimony Whereof The GREAT SEAL of the said State is hereunto affixed :
"Witness WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, Esquire, Governor, Captain- General and Commander-in-chief in and over the State of New Jersey and Territories thereunto belonging, Chancellor and Ordinary in the same, at Haddonfield, the Sixteenth Day of May in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-seven.
[L. s.] "WIL: LIVINGSTON."
"By His Excellency's Command, "CHAS. PETTITT, Secry."
Some years after the close of the Revolution, Samuel Fitz Randolph in company with his family removed to south- western Pennsylvania, where he and his wife both became constituent members of the Woodbridgetown Church.1 Sub- sequently, they removed to western Virginia, where he estab- lished the village of New Salem.2 Here they became members of the New Salem Church, and remained so until their death. Samuel died, February 25, 1825; and Margaret, February 29, 1832.
Samuel and Margaret had the following children :- Mary, born October 16, 1761; Sarah, born November 8, 1763 ; Elisabeth, born May 13, 1766; Jesse, born May 21, 1768; David, born June 23, 1770; Rhulanah, born March 13, 1773; Jonathan, born March 20, 1775; Margaret, born Feb- ruary 4, 1777 ; Nancy, born February 19, 1781.
Mary married James Hill, November 14, 1795. She and her family removed to Ohio.
Sarah married, first, Daniel Sharpneck, and upon his death, John Rice. Her home was in south-western Penn- sylvania, not far from the former home of her father, in Fayette County.
Elisabeth married William Brand, and with her husband, went to Ohio.
Jesse married, first, Delilah LaForge, and upon her death, Elisabeth Gillis. His daughter Elisabeth became the wife of Rev. Samuel D. Davis, and is the mother of Rev. Boothe C. Davis and Rev. Samuel H. Davis. Jesse's son John LaForge, was the father of Rev. Gideon Henry F. Randolph, and the grandfather of Rev. Experience F. Randolph (now Rev. Perie R. Burdick).
1. Cf. pp. 52, 74, supra.
2. Cf. pp. 52 et seq., supra.
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SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
David, upon his marriage, removed to Ohio, where he and his father owned a farm, jointly, probably not far from Cincinnati.
Rhulanah married John Bonnell.
Jonathan married Mary Davis, the daughter of William ("Greenbrier Billy") Davis and Elisabeth Davis. Jonathan's son William was the father of Rev. Lewis F. Randolph, and the grandfather of Rev. William L. Burdick.
Margaret married - - Clayton, and removed to Ohio.
Nancy married Stephen Davis.
All of Samuel's children, except as stated otherwise, made their homes at or near New Salem after they were married.
JEPTHAH FITZ RANDOLPH.
JEPTHAH FITZ RANDOLPH, son of Jonathan and Mary (Davis) Fitz Randolph, and grandson of Samuel and Mar- garet Fitz Randolph, was born at New Salem, November 18, 1814.
He became a member of the New Salem Church at the time of the Quarterly Meeting in February, 1830. On Feb- ruary 7, 1836, he was married to Deborah Sutton, daughter of John and Rachel (Davis) Sutton, and grand-daughter of Cornelius and Elisabeth (?) [Applegate (?) ] Sutton.
From May 15, 1836, to May 19, 1843, he served the New Salem Church as its clerk. During this period he devoted much time and labour to completing the records of the church from the time it had come to New Salem, down to the time he became clerk.
In the spring of 1845, he removed with his family to Milton, Wisconsin, travelling overland in a wagon, a distance of six hundred and fifty miles. Here he arranged to establish his home, and to that end he purchased a farm of James M. Burgess and wife for a cash consideration of three hundred dollars ($300.00). The deed is dated July 24, 1845, and calls for the east half of the north-east quarter of section 17, in township 4, north of range 14, east, in Rock County.
In the following fall, however, he returned to Virginia, and took up his residence at New Milton (a post office estab- lished through his influence, and named by him for Milton, Wisconsin, from which he had so recently come), on the Meat
.
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THE HOME OF JEPTHAH FITZ RANDOLPH, AT NEW MILTON. (From a photograph taken in 1877).
1
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APPENDIX
House Fork of Middle Island Creek. Here he lived until his death, July 19, 1879.
Although New Salem was ten miles away, he retained his membership in the New Salem Church.
On November 17, 1855, he was appointed a deacon, and after twelve years service, he was formally ordained to that office along with Lodowick H. Davis, and Judson F. Randolph, by Rev. Samuel D. Davis, assisted by Rev. Jacob Davis.
He served the church at different times as its moderator, and for many years immediately preceding his death, he was its treasurer. He represented the church, officially, at New Milton, where several families lived who were members of the New Salem Church ; and for many of the last years of his life, he conducted religious services there, once a month, unless provision was made otherwise by the church.
He was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the West Union Academy, and when its doom was sealed, to his hands was committed the disagreeable, but responsible, task of closing up its business affairs.
Besides various other positions of public trust which he held, he represented his county (Doddridge) in the Second Constitutional Convention of the state of West Virginia, which convened in Charleston in 1872,-the only constitu- tional convention held in that state since the Civil War. Here he was excused from duty on the Seventh Day of the week, because of his religious belief and practise. Of this conven- tion, a trustworthy historian asserts that it was "the most not- able body of men, in point of legal ability, that ever met in the state."
FRANKLIN FITZ RANDOLPH.
FRANKLIN FITZ RANDOLPH, son of Jepthah and Deborah (Sutton) Fitz Randolph, was born at New Salem, November 9, 1836, On May 18, 1850, he became a member of the New Salem Church.
He received his education in the neighbourhood sub- scription schools in vogue at that time, at West Union Acad- emy, and at Alfred University. He was one of the first to teach in the public schools of Doddridge County, when the free school system was established after the formation of the state of West Virginia.
--
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SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
He was clerk of the New Salem Church, and the keeper · of its records, for a period of twenty-eight years continuously, the original appointment being made May 18, 1855, and his term of service closing November 16, 1883, because of having changed his membership to the Greenbrier Church on the 22d of September preceding. For two of the four years that he was a member of the Greenbrier Church, he was its moder- ator.
In March, 1887, he became a member of the Middle Island Church, and since December, 1889, he has been the moderator of that church.
For the last two years of its existence, he was secretary of the Board of Directors of the West Union Academy, and to his care were committed the records of the board, for safe keeping, when the corporation was dissolved and passed out of existence.
He was one of the first two recording secretaries of the South-Eastern Association, and for many years served the association in that capacity.
He has frequently been solicited by the church to permit it to make him a deacon, but he has uniformly declined that honour. His great service to the church has been as a keeper of records.
He was twice married. His first wife was Mary Cath- arine Rickard, to whom he was married November 9, 1858, and who died July 25, 1859. On January 10, 1861, he was married to Mary Elisabeth Fox, the daughter of George and Elisabeth (Burgess) Fox, who was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, April 26, 1842.
Ever since he was first married, he has made his home at New Milton, West Virginia, his present home.
REV. AZOR ESTEE.1
REV. AZOR ESTEE was born in Shushan, Washington County, New York, June 30, 1803.
His early life was spent on his father's farm, and when he became a young man, he worked on the farm in summer, and in winter taught district school.
At twelve years of age, he became a member of the Bap-
I. The author is indebted to Mrs. Susan M. Estee, of Alfred, New York, for aid in the preparation of this sketch.
1
Franklin 7. Randolph
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tist church. After reaching manhood, he began to prepare for the ministry, by entering school at Bennington, Vermont. Here his religious views underwent a change, and he became a Seventh Day Baptist, afterward becoming a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Petersburgh, New York. Upon the completion of his studies, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Petersburgh Church. Here he made his home for a period of twenty-five years.
At one time during this period, however, he was pastor of the church at Shiloh, New Jersey. He was also frequently employed by the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society. In December, 1849, the Missionary Society sent him to visit the churches in western Virginia and Ohio. He remained with the Virginia churches during that winter and the following spring. In the summer of 1850, he made a visit to the Ohio churches, and then returned to Virginia. Here he took up the question of education, a subject which was being agitated throughout the Virginia churches at that time. This move- ment culminated in the establishment of the West Union Academy, at West Union. Rev. Azor Estee took no small part in this work. He was instrumental in procuring Stephen T. W. Potter as principal of the academy, and when the latter returned to his home at Scott, New York, the former suc- ceeded him as principal, and conducted the school success- fully, until the spring of 1852, when private business called him back to his home at Petersburgh.
The last five years of his life were spent in Quincy, Franklin County, near Snow Hill, Pennsylvania, as a home missionary among the German Seventh Day Baptists.
He was the son of Stephen and Abigail (Thompson ) Estee. In 1828, he was married to Betsey Brown, the daughter of Elias and Betsey Estee Brown. She died in 1845, leaving two sons, Henry Estee, of Milton, Wisconsin, and Charles B. Estee, of Gibson City, Illinois.
He was married a second time, in March, 1847, to Susan Maxson, a daughter of Daniel and Susan Armsbury Maxson, of Petersburgh, New York. To them were born two sons, James Avars Estee, now superintendent of public schools, of Gloversville, New York, and Daniel Maxson Estee, of Buffalo, New York.
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SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
Rev. Azor Estee died September 7, 1864, His second wife is still living at Alfred, New York.
STEPHEN THOMAS WEST POTTER.1
STEPHEN THOMAS WEST POTTER, son of Ezekiel G. and Abigail (West) Potter, was born in the town of Scott, New York, October 1, 1828. He was educated in the district schools near his home, and at DeRuyter Institute, at DeRuy- ter, New York, from which he was graduated in 1849.
On January 1, 1850, he was married to Cynthia Barber, daughter of John Barber, of Scott. In the latter part of the same year, he became principal of the West Union Academy, at West Union, Virginia.
The following summer, he relinquished his duties at the academy, and returned to his former home at Scott, where he embarked in the mercantile business. He subsequently studied medicine, and was graduated from the Homoeopathic Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio. He then practised med- icine, successively, first at Terra Haute, Indiana ; afterward in New York, at Spafford, Onondago County; Moravia, Cayuga County ; and Friendship, Allegany County. In the meantime, he had invented several agricultural implements, and thus added materially to his prosperity.
He next removed to Brookfield, in northern Missouri. After ten years residence here, he removed to Illinois, where he remained for several years.
Finally, after spending some time in travel, he removed to Los Angeles, California. Here he continued the practise of his profession as long as his declining years would permit. He died at Los Angeles, April 28, 1904. In early life he became a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Scott, New York, and maintained that relation with the church until his death.
DANIEL MAXSON BURDICK.
DANIEL MAXSON BURDICK, the son of Daniel O. and Betsey Burdick, was born at Lincklaen, Chenango County, New York, August 15, 1813. He received his education in the district schools near his home, and at Alfred Academy (now Alfred University), at Alfred, New York.
I. Acknowledgment is due Dr. Lehman H. Potter, of Homer, New York, for assistance in the preparation of this sketch.
REV. DAVID W. LEATH.
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APPENDIX
In the early history of Richburg Academy, at Richburg, New York, he was an instructor there. In the summer of 1853, he went to West Union, Virginia, to assume charge of the West Union Academy. Illness in his family soon called him back to Little Genesee, New York, and he did not return to Virginia. He began teaching at the age of twenty years, and continued until he was seventy-two. He was engaged for the most part, in district schools.
He lived for the greater part of his life at Little Genesee, New York, where he was married, in 1837, to Sally A., daugh- ter of Zaccheus R. and Temperance Coon Maxson, of Little Genesee.
He was a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Little Genesee.
He died May 5, 1898, at Little Genesee, New York. MOSES HOFFMAN DAVIS.
MOSES HOFFMAN DAVIS, son of Jesse Maxson Davis, who was the son of Jacob Davis, was born February 27, 1833. He was married, April 14, 1857, to Julia A. Davis, daughter of Lodowick H. Davis, and lived on Flint Run, in Doddridge County, West Virginia, until the death of his wife, November 12, 1861, after which he returned to the home of his father on Lost Creek, in the adjoining county of Har- rison.
On November 3, 1863, he was married to Emily V. Swisher. He died July 16, 1891.
Soon after the organisation of the state of West Virginia, he served on the county board of supervisors. For several years afterward, he was a justice of the peace; and in 1880, he was elected to represent his county in the lower house of the state legislature.
He was one of the leading spirits in the Lost Creek Sev- enth Day Baptist Church, of which he was a deacon for some twenty years. He was likewise one of the clerks of the South- Eastern Seventh Day Baptist Association at the time of its organisation, and for several years afterward.
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