USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 83
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Cumberland very efficiently, and he has also served the public as jus- tice of the peace for fifteen or twenty years. In 1858 he was married to Sarah J., daughter oi John W. Morrow, a pioneer of the county, and they have these children: Lee, Mary, Alice and John, who are. married, and Blanche. Alice and her husband reside at Wheeling. Mr. Smith and family are members of the Methodist Protestant church.
Lee O. Smith, a well-known young business man of New Cumber- land, was born in this county in 1858, a son of L. R. Smith, mention of whom appears in these pages. He received his education in this county, completing it in town, and then found employment, first at steamboating. This he followed for three years, running from Pitts- burgh to Cincinnati. He then turned his attention to merchandise, and became a clerk for Robert Hadgens, at Rush Run, Ohio, where he remained for one year. At the end of that period he took the management of his father's farm for three years, leaving that to again seek mercantile pursuits, and accepted an engagement with H. Childs & Co., Pittsburgh, wholesale dealers in boots and shoes, as traveling salesman. In 1880 he opened a store at West Lafayette, Coshocton Co., Ohio, but after two years' experience sold out, and returned to New Cumberland, where he clerked for one year for Porter & Co. He then became traveling salesman for Speyer Brothers, wholesale deal- ers in notions and furnishing goods, of Wheeling, and in this position still remains. Mr. Smith is meeting with much success in his occupa- tion, and is just completing a handsome residence on one of the prin- cipal streets of New Cumberland. In 1880 he was married to Ida B., daughter of Levi Gardner. She was born in Hancock county in 1858. They have one child, Lewis, born June 10, 1881. Mr. Smith and wife are members of the Methodist Protestant church.
In the year 1785 Jacob Nessly and wife built them a home in what is now Hancock county, W. Va. Their family had been in America fifty years or more. Attempts to trace their ancestry have not proved definitely the time the family came to this country, but the best infor- mation seems to make it reasonably certain that the progenitors of the American branch of the family emigrated from the Swiss Lor- raine district on the borders of France, about the year 1730. Jacob Nessly had been married about the year 1722, to Elizabeth Graff, he being at that time past twenty-one and she past seventeen years of age. She was a descendant of Hans Graff, who fled from the perse- cutions of the Mennonites in Switzerland, and settled on Graff's run, in West Earl township, Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1717. He was the first settler of the township, and it was named in his honor, Earl being an English equivalent of Graff. The children of Jacob Nessly and wife were nine in number: Barbara, Daniel, who died in infancy, Jacob, Judith, John, Lucy, Elizabeth, Alice and Nancy, who died in girlhood. The parents'died, Mr. Nessly November 3, 1832, and his wife August 6, 1829. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was married in 1805 to Christian Brenneman, of Lancaster county, Penn., and eight child- ren were born to them: Nancy, Jacob, Judith, Eliza, Julia, Richard,
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Barbara and Cyrus. Nancy, one of these was married in January, 1827, to Thomas J. Hewitt, by whom she had nine children: Mary Amanda, William, Elizabeth, Harriet, Julia, Heaton, Addison, Emor, and Cyrus, all of whom are living except Heaton, who died in 1854. Mary Amanda, who was born in 1827, was married in 1850, to George W. Stewart, He was born near Philadelphia, January 19, 1825, and was the son of James Stewart, of Scotch descent, who came to Ohio when his son was five years of age. His mother was Olive Martin, of Quaker parentage, whose grandmother was a relative of Bayard Taylor. Mr. Stewart worked upon the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he went to Wellsville and was engaged in the wholesale grocery trade for three years. In 1848 he went into the dry goods business at the mouth of Yellow creek, Ohio, where he re- mained for several years. In the spring of 1866 he removed to New Cumberland and continued in the dry goods business with much success. He passed away August 9, 1882. He was one of the most enterprising and valued citizens of the county, and his many wor- thy characteristics will long be remembered. To Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were born seven children: Edgar, who died in 1852; Ed- mund D., Charles S., George W., Arthur H., William L., and Mary A. In 1885 the descendants of the Nessly family held a centennial cele- bration of the settlement in Hancock county, and 500 were in at- tendance.
Jefferson J. Tope, one of the best known and most generally es- teemed old residents of the county of Hancock, was born at Holli- day's Cove, in December, 1818. He was early engaged in farming, to which he has devoted his life, and in 1839 he bought 100 acres of land in the woods which he has cleared. He now has 270 acres of good land, which is developing a source of revenue not dreamed of in early days of settling and clearing. The farm is in the heart of the oil field, and there is already one well on the same, producing fifteen barrels per day. Mr. Tope was married in 1845 to Louisa Langfitt, who was born in this county in 1828, the daughter of William Lang- fitt, one of the old settlers. He was a son of one of those heroic pio- neers who struggled with the Indians, when he was a settler in Beaver county, Penn. Mr. and Mrs. Tope have had twelve children: Lao- docia Alice, died about 1885; Lucretia Ann, born November, 1849; George Taylor, born 1851, died aged four years; James B., born in 1852; William J., Mary Virginia, John Mc., Della Louisa, Thomas Jefferson, Frank Mcclellan, Charles Wilders and Ella Cordelia. Mrs. Tope is a member of the Presbyterian, and her husband of the Methodist Protestant, church. He has served as a captain of the militia. In politics he was originally a whig, having voted in 1840 for Gen. W. H. Harrison, but has more recently been a democrat. Thomas J. Tope, son of the above, was born in Hancock county, April 27, 1862. His early years were spent upon the farm. On May 5, 1886, he was married to Florence Anderson, who was born at Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1862, daughter of John and Lydia Anderson, who are both still living. After his marriage Mr. Tope followed
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teaming until February, ISS9, when he came to New Cumberland, and engaged in the livery business. He has since been conducting one of the principal stables of the town, and is one of the prominent young men.
MARSHALL COUNTY.
Elijah Adams, one of the worthy and responsible farmers of Louden- ville, was one of thirteen children born to John and Elizabeth Adams, both natives of Greene county, Penn., Lucretia, deceased; George W., Sarah; Maria, now dead; Louisa, Frank, James Harvey, John, Henry L., Emma, Amanda, Susan and Elijah, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Greene county, Penn., in 1846. George W. married Mary M. Dunlays; Sarah became the wife of H. P. Adams, James H. married Hannah Coe; John married Josephine Burdette; Henry L. married Cora Randolph, and Emma and Amanda married Stewart Smith, and Charles Ford, respectively; Susan became Mrs. Pestle Foutz. John and Elizabeth Adams were old and highly re- spected inhabitants of Greene county, where they lived for over sixty years. Seven years ago they went to live with their youngest daughter, in Wirt county, W. Va. Elijah Adams began the battle of life upon the battle-field of his country, by enlisting in Company A, Eighteenth Pennsylvania volunteer cavalry, on February 28, 1864. He was a brave soldier and fought in the following noted battles with great valor: Battles of Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Winchester, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, was before Richmond, then in the valley, serv- ing under Sheridan. Mr. Adams was in some battle, greater or less, almost every day for four months; was twice wounded quite severely, but, notwithstanding all this, he did not stay away from his regiment one day, from his enlistment to his discharge, which took place on the 28th of November, 1865. Having left the war with a record excelled by few men, Mr. Adams went to farming, and has continued in that occupation ever since. May 24, 1873, he was joined in wedlock to Margaret Lisle, daughter of Andrew and Margaret Jane Lisle, prom- inent people of Monroe county, Ohio. Mrs. Lisle was a worthy com- municant of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Adam's home has been blessed by the advent of eight children, they are: Sarah B., George W., Thaddeus S., Mary E. and James B., the two lat - ter dying in childhood; Amanda J., Margaret E. and Elijah DeWitt. The children are still at home, and they form a very happy and in- teresting family. Both Mr. and Mrs. Adams are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Adams is a member of the S. B. Stidger post of the G. A. R., and is also a solid republican, as well as a member of the Junior Mechanics' lodge No. 17. An annual which was presented to Mrs. Grant by Queen Victoria, is now in the possession of Mr. Adams.
Wyley Allen, a prosperous farmer and prominent citizen of Marshall county, was born January 21, 1842, in Brooke county, the son of Thomas and Julia (Hunt) Allen. Thomas Allen was born in Eng-
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land in 1813, and came to the United States with his father at the age of fourteen years. Settling in Marshall county, without capital, he accumulated, by his industry and economy, considerable wealth, and became highly esteemed. He died September 23, 1883. His wife died February 8, 1881, at the age of about sixty years. Both were active members of the Baptist church. Of their nine children, five are now living. Wyley Allen was reared on the farm, and has fol- lowed the vocation of a farmer throughout life with much success, being classed now among the responsible people of the county. He was married December 17, 1868, to Millie J., daughter of Esquire Martin, of Marshall county, who is elsewhere mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have had five children, three of whom died in infancy. The living are Thomas R. and Irma R. B. Mrs. Allen is a member of the Baptist church.
Judge William Alexander, born in Ohio county, W. Va., died at Moundsville, May 6, 1882, was in his lifetime one of the most dis- tinguished citizens of Marshall county. He was the son of Rev. Joseph and Margaret (Davis) Alexander, the former of Scotch-Irish lineage. The parents were married in Ireland, and immigrating with one child, settled on Short creek. The father, who was a local min- ister of the Methodist Episcopal church, organized at Barnesville the first Sunday-school in Belmont county, and preached in the Fourth Street church at Wheeling when but sixteen members belonged. He died on the flats of Grave creek, May 29, 1870, in his ninetieth year, and his wife, who was born in 1781, died September 24, 1852. They had seven children: Elizabeth, William, Mary, Margaret, James, Joseph T. and Jane, wife of Col. J. H. Lockwood. The second wife of Joseph Alexander was Sarah List Nichols, of Wheeling. William Alexander was reared on a farm, and was educated in subscription schools solely, except one term in Franklin college. In August, 1835, he was made deputy sheriff of Marshall county, and retained that position seventeen years. In the meantime he was a merchant at Moundsville from 1837 to 1842, then returning to the farm. In October, 1844, he was married to Ellen C., daughter of Nathaniel Tomlinson, an estimable lady who survives him. In 1852, at the time of the change in the constitution of the state, he was appointed aide to Gov. Pierpont and he held that place until 1863, when he was ap- pointed aide to Gov. Boreman, colonel of cavalry and held that place until the close of the war. He was elected to the legislature for two terms during the years 1864 and 1865, and in 1876 was elected presid- ing justice of the county. He took an active part in politics as a re- publican, and was earnest in the work of the Methodist church, of which his widow has been a devoted member since 1851. The grounds used as a camp ground were purchased of the judge, who was inter- ested in that project.
Franklin Arnold is one of the most progressive and successful men in Marshall county. Becoming a farmer at the age of twenty-one, he has pursued that calling up to the present time with- unvarying success. Like all men who have gotten the best out of life, he has
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had time to give his attention to other things besides his own calling. In politics, he exerts considerable influence, having represented his district in the state legislature, besides holding other positions of pub- lic trust. His farm is a model of good management, with its comfort- able residence, and neat out-buildings, thoroughbred live-stock, and general appearance of thrift. Mr. Arnold is a well read man, being thoroughly informed upon all the questions of the day. He is still in the prime of life, having been born in the year 1852. His father, Van Lear Arnold, was born near Wheeling, W. Va., in 1812. He has been a resident of Marshall county for forty years. In his younger days he was a farmer of unusual ability and enterprise, and his labors have been attended with the success that industry and good judgment generally bring. Mr. Arnold has made ample provision for each of his children, who have all brought him much honor. Although never an active politician, yet, he has always been well versed in all import- ant issues. He has filled the offices of both real and personal prop- erty assessor, with great efficiency, and with credit to himself. For fifty years he has been a prominent supporter and member of the Presbyterian church, serving as a presiding elder in that denomina- tion for many years. He was married in 1842 to Miss Mary Blevins. Seven children are the issue of this marriage: Wylie, Augustus, Eliza- beth; Eleanor, now deceased; Cyrus, Edgar and Franklin. Mrs. Arnold finally succumbed to the insidious disease of consumption, and was laid to rest in 1862. She was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1874 Mr. Arnold was again married, this time to Sallie M. Barnes, and he is now spending his years in peace and contentment on his farm near Moundsville. His son, Wylie, married Martha Gibson, in November, 1861. Their children are: Mary, Rose and Belle. Elizabeth became Mrs. M. B. Pierce, November 19, 1869. Edwin A. and Arthur DeWitt, are their children.
Capt. Arthur O. Baker, circuit clerk, an aged and highly respected citizen of Moundsville, was born in Marshall county, W. Va., June II, 1828. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Roberts) Baker, the father, a native of Marshall county, W. Va., the mother of Allegheny county, Md. The latter came with her parents to West Virginia about the year 1800, the family settling on Robert's Ridge in this county. Mrs. Baker lived in the county nearly all her life. She died August 1, 1848, aged fifty-four years. She was a devout woman and died in the Christian faith, being a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church. Mr. Baker, her husband, was the eldest son of Henry and Mary (Parr) Baker. They were married in 1787, on the what is now J. B. Hix farm (Parr's Run and Parr's Point are named for this respected old pioneer settler). The Parrs lived there at the time of said marriage. This flat surrounded by hills was known as the Flats of Grave creek. Henry Baker was an old Indian hunter, also a farmer. He died in 1847, aged about one hundred years. His wife died in Round Bottom at the age of sixty-one years. John Baker was born at a small Indian fort which stood on the north end of what is now known as Mt. Rose cemetery, on March 17, 1789. He was a
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farmer, and was in the war of 1812 until the close. He died in this county, July, 1831, at the age of forty-four years. These parents had five children, viz .: Rebecca, who married Jacob Jefferson, she died in 1853, aged thirty-seven years. Steven married Elizabeth Stewart, he died in 1843, aged twenty-seven. Henry married Mary Elder, he died in 1856, aged thirty-four years. Jonathan E. married Sarah Stewart, he died in 1884, aged sixty-two years. Arthur, the youngest, our subject, is the only one of the family now living. His father died when he was three years of age. He then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to live with his uncle, Britton Roberts, where he remained and at- tended school until 1847, at the same time learning the lumber busi- ness. The following two years he lived in Davies county, Ky., still in the lumber business as superintendent of the saw-mill and lumber yard. The cholera breaking out he returned to Moundsville and has been a resident of this village ever since. On returning he entered into partnership merchandising with his brother Henry, which con- tinued until 1855, at which time he was appointed deputy sher- iff. He went into the clerk's office in 1857, and in 1858 was again appointed deputy sheriff, and continued in that position until 1862, when he was elected sheriff of the county. At the expiration of the term of office, the war having broken out, he was appointed provost marshal, with the rank of captain. He resigned that position in 1864, and raised as the first company, Company A, of the Seventeenth battalion and was commissioned captain by Gov. Boreman, and served until the close of the war, after which he was appointed commissary of the West Virginia penitentiary and served there until 1871. He was then elected to the legislature. After the expiration of his term he was elected clerk of the circuit court, which position he is holding at the present time. The last time he was elected without opposition, getting more than 3,800 votes out of the 4,000 in the county. It will be seen that Capt. Baker has acted in one official po- sition for about thirty-seven years, when his present term will expire. It will thus be seen that in his official career he has not only held the confidence of his constituency, but by his efficiency, integrity and square dealings, has shown himself a splendid officer in all his various appointments, giving a very high degree of satisfaction in services efficiently rendered to all concerned. He was married in January, 1851, to Miss Elizabeth Koontz, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Koontz, formerly of Washington, Penn. Our subject's home has been made happy in the birth of five children, viz .: Flora, wife of Orlando Stevenson, only son of ex-Gov. Wm. E. Stevenson, of West Virginia; she has two children, Sadie E. and Carrie. Frank, married to Mary Daily, of this county, living in Wheeling. Charles, died in his fourth year in 1867. Clara, a music teacher of good qualifications. Ella died at the age of nineteen years, in 1888. She was a natural artist. At the time of her death she was a pupil of Miss Paren, of Wheeling. Capt. Baker and wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The mother has been an active worker in the church all her life, always taking an active interest in all things which
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promise for the best interests of the church. Capt. Baker is an I. O. O. F. and a charter member in re-instating the lodge in this place. Also is a member of the K. of H. and reporter of the lodge here for many years. Politically, the captain is an ardent republican. The captain was school commissioner in the independent district of Moundsville, and drew the first contract to build the first free school house ever built in West Virginia.
John C. Bardall, a prominent manufacturer of Moundsville, W. Va., was born April 14, 1839, the son of John and Rachel (Hass) Bardall, both natives of Germany, who came to this country in IS39. During their two months' voyage on the ocean, the subject of this mention was born. His father died August 29, ISSS, aged seventy-six years, and the mother died in 1852, aged thirty-nine. Of the nine children born to them, five are now living. John C. Bardall's parents were poor, and he did not have the advantage of a thorough education in his youth. At the age of nineteen years he began to learn the trade of a whip manufacturer, at Wellsville, Penn., and in 1859, such was his efficiency, he was sent by his firm, that of Wells, Riddle & Co., to Allegheny city to establish a manufacturing establishment at the House of Refuge. He remained with that firm until 1864, when he became one of the firm of E. Weaver & Co., at Allegheny city, and remained there until 1873, when they removed to the Western Pene- tentiary, of Pennsylvania, the firm name then becoming Weaver & Bardall. In September, 1877, they located at Moundsville, where their industry has grown to mammoth proportions, their product going to all parts of the continent, and everywhere justifying the award to them by the centennial commissioners of a gold medal as "well-made, strong and serviceable.". Mr. Bardall is also connected with the coal industry at Moundsville as a charter member of the company, has interests in the Marshall County bank, and in the Citi- zens' Natural Gas company of Beaver, Penn., in which county his firm has 200 acres of land, has valuable property in St. Paul, Wheel- ing, coal and fire clay lands in Jefferson county, besides property in Moundsville. This firm has a tannery in Pittsburgh, for the supply of their manufactory. In the successful operation of all these inter- ests, the excellent business talents and solid qualifications of Mr. Bar- dall are an important factor, and few men occupy a higher rank in business circles. Socially, also, he is highly esteemed. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, has been su- perintendent of the Sunday-school at Moundsville for the past nine years, was lay delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church at New York in ISSS, and is a reserve delegate to the Ecumenical council of all denominations to meet in that city in 1890. He is also trustee of the Conference seminary and trustee of its building committee.
Rev. Cornelius D. Battelle, of Moundsville, a minister of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, now retired from active service, was born in Belpre, Washington county, Ohio, July 13, 1807. He is the son of Ebenezer and Mary Battelle, the former of whom was a son of Eben-
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ezer, a soldier of the revolution. Ebenezer and Mary, when Cor- nelius D. was an infant, came to Newport, Ohio, taking land under the Ohio company purchase, and they remained there until their de- cease, the father dying in 1876, at the age of ninety-seven years, and the mother in 1872, at the age of ninety-four. The subject of this mention, the eldest of their children, entered Marietta academy at fourteen years of age, and afterward worked on the farm until twenty- six, when he joined the Pittsburgh conference, and began a career as a preacher, which continued for fifty-six years. In 1833 he was put in charge of the Woodfield circuit, embracing parts of Washington, Monroe and Belmont counties, and he traveled 300 miles every four weeks and preached thirty times. In the first year he received 500 and more into the church. Subsequently he was transferred to other conferences, being stationed in succession at Covington, Ky .; Bloom- ington, Ind .; Indianapolis, and so on. Five years he has served as a circuit preacher, five years as presiding elder, thirty-five years as regular pastor, three years as superintendent of the western division of the Western Seamen's Friends society. He has taken into the church more than 3,000 members in all. The camp-ground at Mounds- ville he helped clear, and there preached the first sermon. At the outbreak of the civil war, in which his brother, Gordon D. D., who was a captain of the First West Virginia regiment, lost his life, he was presiding elder of the Wheeling district, and exerted a strong in- fluence for the Union. The Rev. Mr. Battelle was married July 13, 1829, to Elizabeth Greenwood, by whom he had six children: Alpheus M .; William G., deceased; Amelia G., wife of Alexander Jones; Elizabeth A., wife of Winfield F. Holden; Mary and Melville, both deceased. The mother of these died June 16, 1856, and sub- sequently Mr. Battelle was married to Martha Guthrie, who died August 15, 1888, aged ninety-seven years.
John C. Beam, a highly respected citizen of Marshall county, born in 1834, died June 28, 1882, was an industrious and successful farmer and a brave soldier. He was the son of Adam and Mary (Sickles) Beam. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, and was brought to Ohio when two years old. He became a farmer, and later in life was engaged in the marble works at Bridgeman, Curran & Beam, of Bel- laire, afterward removing to Moundsville. John C. Beam enlisted in August, 1862, in Company A, One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio in- fantry, and served in twenty-one battles and skirmishes, notably in Hunter's raid, and was a prisoner at Libby three weeks. He was honorably discharged in June, 1865, with health very much impaired, and as a consequence of his over-exertion and exposure, he was sick with hemmorrhage of the lungs five years before his death. He was a brave martyr to the cause for which so many fell. Before the war, in 1860, he was united in marriage to Lizzie, daughter of William H. and Mary (Brown) Brock, of Monroe county, Ohio. Her parents were members of the Disciple church, and the venerable mother sur- vives at the age of seventy-four years. The father died in 1862, aged fifty- three years. Lizzie was the oldest of their children reared, of
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