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 85
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William Burgess, one of the most highly respected farmers of the vicinity of Moundsville, was born in Marshall county, November 23, 1831. His parents, William and Eve (Coats) Burgess, both devout members of the Methodist church, passed their lives upon the farm and died in this county, he about 1837, and she subsequently. They had eight children: Mahala, Charlotte, Thomas, Rachel, Elizabeth, Louisa, William and Amanda. William began to earn his own living at the age of fifteen years, and has worked at farming all his life, be- coming by energy and industry one of the leading men in that voca- tion in the county. His farm of 136 acres lies in a beautiful locality, and is adorned with handsome and commodious buildings. Mr. Bur-
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gess was married in 1861, to Luvina, daughter of Caleb and Nancy (Bonar) Founds, well-known old citizens, who are still living. To this union have been born these children: Luvina; Maria, wife of Abner Porter; John, died in infancy; Lizzie, wife of Henry Games, and George. Mary Velma Jones and Charlie Lowe have also been reared in the family. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess have long been members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, of which he has been steward and trustee for a considerable period. In politics he is a republican.
Alfred H. Burley, prominent as a business man at Cameron, W. Va., was born in Marshall county, February 26, 1849. He is the son of Thomas H. Burley, a native of Pennsylvania, who before the war was a school teacher of much ability, and popular with the community. Upon the first call for troops Thomas H. Burley enlisted in the sup- port of the Union as a member of the First Virginia regiment, becom- ing a non-commissioned officer of Company D. He took part in the battles of Greenland Gap and Romley, and at the battle of Winches- ter in May, 1862. He was killed while bearing bravely his part in a charge across an open field against a stone wall. He died on the field after two hours of suffering. His age was then about forty years. His wife, Maria Ashbrook, now aged sixty-eight years, resides with her daughter, Mrs. J. U. Morgan, at Pine Grove. Wetzel county. Of the five children of those parents four are now living. Clifford, the old- est, served during the war in his father's company, as fifer, and was in the service nearly four years. After the war he taught school two years, and then found employment on the railroad, and was instantly killed while placing a brake between two freight cars. He was at the time aged twenty-four years, secretary of the Masonic lodge and pre- siding officer of the I. O. O. F. lodge, of which he belonged. Alfred H. Burley, first mentioned above, began working for himself at the age of sixteen years, and subsequently became a clerk in Davis's drug store. In 1880 he went into a drug store with his cousin, J. A. Conley, and in 1882 embarked in business at Cameron with his brother-in-law, J. U. Morgan. Buying out his partner in 1884, he has since success- fully conducted the business. Mr. Burley was married November 20, 1882, to Keziah, daughter of Samuel Howard, of Marshall county, and they have had two children: Bruce (deceased), and Alva S. Mr. Al- fred H. Burley is a member and captain of the Sons of Veterans.
John F. Burley, one of the prominent men of Washington district, Marshall county, was born in that county in 1842, the son of Joshua and Catherine (Roseberry) Burley. His father was a native of this county, a farmer and coal operator in business, and influential in pol- itics, serving two terms as sheriff of Marshall county. He died in April, 1883, aged sixty-seven years, and his wife died in March, 1889, at the age of seventy-six years. They had four children: James; Sarah, deceased, wife of Robert Sweeney; John F., and Lizzie, wife of J. Clemens, of Belmont county, Ohio. John F. was reared on the farm, and at the age of twenty-one years engaged in the livery busi- ness at Wheeling. He continued at this several years and then returned to the farm, where he has since been occupied. He was
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married in March, 1863, to Jane A. Alexander, daughter of Robert and Narcissa Alexander, of Belmont county. Her father was a prom- inent man, a member of the state legislature, who died in 1862, his wife having passed away in the preceding year. Mr. and Mrs. Burley had nine children, two of whom died in childhood. The survivors are: William, Kate V., wife of Drew Dorsey, of Allegheny City; Joseph, Charles, Sarah E., Rose C., and Gertrude. Mrs. Burley died in January, 1884, at the age of forty-one years. She was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Burley is a member of the Masonic order, and in politics a democrat.
Joseph A. Burley, a son of James Burley by his marriage to Eliza- beth Alexander, a native of Ireland, was born at Wheeling, Octo- ber 10, 1832. He is now one of the leading farmers in Round Bottom, near Thompson. His early days were spent on the farm, where he remained until July 1, 1861, when he enlisted in the Third West Virginia infantry as a private, and began his service in Milroy's brigade. He was engaged principally in fighting guerrillas until 1862, and participated in the battles of Cross Keys, Pope's campaigns, Cedar Mountain, Kelley's Ford, the two battles of Bull Run, etc. Later he was transferred to the mounted infantry under Gen. Averill, and took part in the raid from New Creek to Salem, Va., one of the famous movements of the war, where their command of 1,600 men were pursued by 25,000. He served over three years, and was dis- charged at Wheeling, August. 17, 1864. From 1865 he was engaged at work in a coal mine four years, then engaged in steamboating one year, and afterward remained at home one year on account of the death of his father. Returning to coal mining, he was thus occupied three years, but for the past twelve years he has been successfully engaged in agriculture. He is an enterprising and responsible man, and meets all the duties and obligations of civil life as faithfully as the dangers of the tented field. Mr. Burley was married January 22, 1872, to Caroline C., daughter of William and Sarah Dunlap, of Bel- mont county, Ohio, and they have one child, Ella K. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Prominent among the former leading men of Marshall county was James Burley, who was born in 1800, a son of Jacob Burley, who was sheriff of Greene county, Penn., and afterward of Marshall county, more than half a century ago. He was married twice, first to Eliza- beth Alexander, who died in 1832, at Wheeling, of cholera. His second wife was Margaret Alexander, who died in November, 1858. He died January 4, 1870. His occupation was farming for a time, also merchandise, and he filled the office of sheriff two terms, and was a state senator at the time of his death. He was a delegate to the famous Richmond convention of 1861, and therein opposed vigor- ously the scheme of secession, and favored in such an event the sep- aration of Western Virginia, or if that was not possible, the annexa- tion of the Pan-handle to Pennsylvania. He was so active in behalf of the Union that it was said that a price of $2,000 was set upon his head, but he reached home safely by way of Washington and Pittsburgh.
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William J. Burley, son of the above, is the present sheriff of Mar- shall county. He was born at Moundsville, December 23, 1842. He received his education in the Moundsville academy and in the Alle- gheny college, Penn., which he left in 1859, at the time of the John Brown raid, to serve one year in the Virginia militia. In 1862 he en- listed in Company A, Twelfth West Virginia infantry, served in the army of West Virginia under Gen. Kelley, in 1863, in the valley of Virginia under Gen. Milroy, and from 1864 under Sigel, Hunter and Sheridan. In the fall of 1864 they occupied the peninsula in front of Richmond and remained there until March 1, 1865, when they crossed the James, and served under Grant until the surrender, and was dis- charged June 17, 1865. He enlisted as private, was elected second lieutenant, was promoted first lieutenant, was promoted captain in the fall of 1864, major in the following February, and was commis- sioned brevet lieutenant colonel, before he had reached the age of twenty-three. He served in fourtcen battles, and has in his keeping the golden eagle which was presented to his regiment by Maj .- Gen. John Gibbon, for gallant conduct in the assault on Fort Gregg, April 2, 1865. He commanded the Twelfth regiment, in the pursuit of Lee, and until their return to Richmond after the surrender. Returning home Mr. Burley engaged in business, and shortly was elected presi- dent of the county court, a position he filled until July, 1888, when he resigned and in the following November was elected sheriff of the county. He has also held the office of school commissioner of the county, and has discharged all his trusts with a high sense of his duty to the public. He is influential in politics as a republican, and was a delegate of the state to the Chicago convention of 1880, where he supported Garfield and was one of the three who dissented from the Conkling iron-clad resolution. Col. Burley was married Decem- ber 31, 1863, to Emma, daughter of Michael Dunn, and they have three children: James D., deputy sheriff, Julia and Virginia. Mrs. Burley is a member of the Methodist church, and he is a comrade of the G. A. R.
Few men deserve more credit than John W. Bush, a rising young man of Marshall county, W. Va. Mr. Bush came into this world in 1848. His father and mother, William and Matilda (Benar) Bush, are both natives of this state. William Bush was born in 1830, and married in the month of August, 1847. His parents were John and Eliza- beth Bush. Mrs. Bush's parents were James and Nancy Ann (Scyoc) Bonar. John Bush entered the service of his country at the age of sixteen; when he enlisted in Company A, Seventeenth West Virginia volunteer infantry. Young as he was, yet he is said to have dis- charged his duties as a soldier, faithfully and bravely, far better than many an older man. Farming has always been his chosen work in life, and he has made a practical, wise study of this necessary and difficult question, until he has come to be recognized as an authority upon agricultural topics. His neighbors have been pleased to show their appreciation of his merits, by electing him road surveyor by an almost unanimous vote, notwithstanding the fact that his opponent
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was a popular and influential man. With the exception of one year spent in Texas, Mr. Bush has always lived in Marshall county. Miss Mary C. Reynolds, daughter of Jeremiah and Mary Reynolds, of Parkersburgh, W. Va., became his wife in 1880, by whom he has had four children: Maudie L., Emmett L., Ellis B., and Seward A. These children are all at home and compose an interesting family. Mrs. Bush is an acceptable member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and she and her husband are both very estimable people.
William F. Byrnes, a prominent citizen of Cameron, W. Va., was born in Marshall county, W. Va., January 16, 1845. His father, George W. Byrnes, a native of Virginia, was a school teacher by oc- cupation, afterward a farmer, and during the last seven years of his life was afflicted with paralysis until relieved by death, July 3, 1880, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was educated at Bethany college, and for about twenty-five years was a popular and successful in- structor. He was married November 2, 1840, to Margaret Luke, who survives at the age of seventy-four years and makes her home with the subject of this sketch. To this marriage were born eight children: Rev. Robert L., who married . Mary E. Reece, and now has charge of a church at Barkeville, Penn .; Rebecca, wife of Rev. J. W. Davis, general agent for the Barkeville academy; William F .; Joanna, who married J. J. Howard, and died March 12, 1881, aged thirty-four years; James A., died September 17, 1881, aged thirty- one; Jane V., died October 13, 1860, aged nine years; G. W. A., mar- ried to Catherine Hall, and Franklin R., died October 5, 1860, aged two years. During the war of the rebellion William F. Byrnes served two years and nine months, from July 20, 1862, when he enlisted in the Twelfth regiment, West Virginia infantry, in Company A. At the battle of Winchester he was wounded in the hand and cap- tured, and put in a hospital there, and after the battle of Gettysburg was put with prisoners taken there, and confied in Libby prison, whence after two days he was transported to Belle Isle, where he suf- fered for forty-nine days for want of sufficient food. Being paroled he was sent to Annapolis, Md., there exchanged, and from there he went to Martinsburgh, Va., where he joined his regiment, and served with it until his discharge, March 11, 1865. Mr. Byrnes is a member of Cameron lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 36, and in politics is a republican. His brother, Robert L., also served in the Union army three years, and became captain of Company I, Fifteenth regiment, West Vir- ginia volunteer infantry.
John Clegg, a venerable citizen of Moundsville, was born in Mar- shall county, W. Va., June 28, 1815, the son of Thomas and Kesiah (Hubbs) Clegg. The father came from Ireland with his parents when twenty-one years of age, settled on Wheeling creek, and served one year in the war of 1812. He died at the age of seventy-seven years, and his wife, the mother of John Clegg, died when the latter was six years old. Of their twelve children three are living. Mr. Clegg was, reared as a farmer and followed that vocation until 1853, when he came to Moundsville. February, 1864, he enlisted in Com-
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pany C, of the Twelfth West Virginia regiment, and took part in the battles of New Market, Piedmont, Winchester, Berryville, etc., and going through the Hunter raid, the hardships of which caused injury of sight, which has gradually increased until he is now totally blind. He was a brave and gallant soldier and he is rewarded by a pension. In addition to his own service, three of his sons served in the army, . John, Thomas and Elijah. The first two of these were in the Twelfth West Virginia infantry, the other was a cavalryman. Thomas was wounded in the knee, which has left him a cripple for life. John Clegg was married November 30, 1837, to Margaret, daughter of John and Margaret (Gibbony) Simpson, natives of Ireland, who came to this country in 1821. She was born March 2, 1812. To Mr. and Mrs. Clegg were born nine children, two of whom died in infancy; the old- est living, John E., was born July 11, 1840, married Margaret Nice. They have had three children: William, Lilly and Lee. The latter died when quite young, Mary J. was born May 17, 1842, is the widow of Samuel Wilson, who died of disease contracted in the army. They
. had born to them four children. William N., the eldest, is married to Ella Parks and has one child: Charles C .; Ada and John W. The latter died when a babe. Ada died November 1, 1882. Thomas Clegg was born March 14, 1844. He married Kate Matthews; they have had six children: John E., Maggie M., Benjamin F., Mackeles, George W. and Ruth T. Mackeles died when about two years old. Elijah was born August 30, 1846; is married to Louisa J. Dean. To them have been born nine children. Those living are: John J., Margaret J., Ada C., Samuel B., Cora May, Thomas, Mattie and Clarence. Frank- lin B. was born July 22, 1848; was married to Mary J. Shimp. They have had four children: Rosa May, the eldest, died when a babe, Charles E., James and Lizzie M. Samuel was born July 8, 1851; died September 13, 1881. He married Amanda Stillwell, to whom were born two children: Laura A. and Samuel J. Ada V. was born March 6, 1854, and resides with her parents. Three of the children are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church, of which the parents have been members for fifty years.
Vincent L. Cockayne, deceased, born in Ohio county, Va., in 1807, died at his home near Moundsville, September 21, 1886, was one of the prominent business men of the county. Samuel Cockayne, his father, was one of the first comers to this region from Maryland, en- gaged in farming and kept a hotel where his son afterward resided. The father died in 1856, leaving five sons, William, Samuel, Hiram, Bennett and Vincent. Vincent L. Cockayne devoted his life to farm- ing, at which he was highly successful, and he became known as one of the enterprising and prosperous men of the region. He held an important position in relation to the business of the community, was the first president of the Ohio Valley Iron works, and at his death was one of the directors and president of the Marshall County bank. He was generally liberal with his means in promoting public enter- prises. In 1838, Mr. Cockayne was married to Louisa J. Lynn, near Brownsville, Penn., and by this union had three children. The eld-
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est, William L., died of consumption at the age of thirty-two; Al- cinda C. married Shepherd McMechen, who died in 1874; and John R., who died in 1864. The mother of these children died in 1862, and in 1864, Mr. Cockayne was united to Lydia, daughter of Joseph and Margaret McKee, of Ohio county. By this marriage were born two daughters, Caroline A. and Emily V., who are both graduates of the Wheeling Female college. Mrs. Cockayne and daughter are members of the Episcopal church. Joseph McKee, father of Mrs. Cockaynę, was a farmer of Pennsylvania, was married in Maryland, and soon after- ward moved to Ohio county, where he died in 1841, his wife surviving until 1868, when she died at the age of seventy-six years. Their five children were: Caroline M., married Jonathan E. Meredith, of Kit- tanning, Penn., a distinguished citizen, surveyor as early as 1835, member of the state senate for two years, a prothonotary for many years, who was born in 1812 and died in 1889; Sarah E., widow of Dr. G. W. Moore; Robert H., who went to sea and was lost; and Samuel A., captain of the Pittsburgh Blues, killed before Petersburg, in 1864.
William Cooke, a successful and well-known farmer of Limestone, Marshall county, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, March 1, 1832. He is the son of William Cooke, a native of Pennsylvania, a farmer and a soldier in the war of 1812, who was killed at the age of forty- eight years by the falling of a tree. At that time he was one of the commissioners of Belmont county, Ohio. He was twice married, first to Rebecca Moore, by whom he had two children: James, of Nebraska, and Barbra, residents of New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio. After the death of their mother he was married to Ruth Anderson, and they had nine children: Nancy, Melila J., Alex- ander M., William, Elizabeth, John, Ruth A., and two who died in infancy. The mother of these children is still living at ninety years of age, and resides with her youngest daughter near Zanesville, Ohio. The subject of this mention has devoted his life to farming, and has been quite successful. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church, and in politics is republican. April 28, 1853, he was married to Margaret J., daughter of Joseph and Sidney Lyons, of Belmont county, Ohio, and four children have been born to them: Joseph C., who married Adeline Hammond; William F., who married Rebecca Dorsey; Ross Emmet and Sidney B., wife of John Rogerson. The mother of these died September 8, 1888, at the age of fifty-seven years. Ross Emmet Cooke was married to Nancy Ellen Allen, and they reside in Limestone, their union having been blessed with one child, Louella. Mrs. Emmet Cooke is a daughter of Richard Allen, deceased, in his lifetime one of the leading farmers and stock dealers in the county. He was born in July, 1816, in Ohio county, and in early manhood was married to Lydia, daughter of Daniel and Jane Cunningham, of Marshall county. To this union were born two children: Mary Jane, who married George Koontz, and Nancy Ellen.
Oliver Cook, editor of the Marshall and Wetzel News, an influen- tial paper published at Cameron, W. Va., was born May 5, 1852, in
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Wetzel county. There he was reared to manhood and educated in the common schools, after which he attended the Fairmount Normal school, where he was graduated in 1880, the highest of a class of thir- teen. He taught school both before and after graduation, during a period of eight years, and was quite successful in that profession. In 1882-3 he was the principal of the Cameron graded school. In 1885 he embarked in the printing business as the proprietor of a small job office, and his business gradually increasing, he was able with the assistance of his partner, S. P. Carney, of Littleton, to establish the News on a sound basis, with one of the best equipped country offices in this regon. This journal is prosperous and has a large and grow- ing circulation. Mr. Cook is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in politics is a liberal republican, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was married March 18, 1882, to Mary E., daughter of James N. and Eliza Carson, highly esteemed residents of Martin's Ferry, Ohio. To this marriage have been born three chil- dren: Alice V., Ella and an infant son.
Robert Crawford, one of the leading merchants of Cameron, was born in county Donegal, Ireland, in 1820, the son of James and Belle (Ellis) Crawford, who were both natives of Ireland. His mother died in 1855, aged about thirty-five years. During the follow- ing year his father was married to Mary McBride, and in 1850, the family came to this country and settled at Wheeling. Subsequently they removed to St. Louis, whence a few years later the father came to Wheeling on a visit and died there at the age of eighty-four years. By the first marriage James Crawford had four children: Robert; John, of Wheeling; Jane, deceased, late wife of James Williamson; Ellen, deceased, late wife of James Norris. By the second marriage there were five children: James, a white lead manufacturer, who is living a retired life; George, deceased, who was a dentist at Zanesville and at St. Louis; William, deceased, who was a prominent druggist at St. Louis; Mary and Maggie. Robert Crawford was twenty-one years of age when he reached Wheeling. He found employment as a ship- ing clerk for Forsythe & Baker six years, after which he managed the wharf boat two years. After his marriage in 1850 to Eliza McCon- naughey, he did an extensive draying business at Wheeling, running as many as seventeen drays, and doing business between Wheeling and Bellaire and Benwood. For several years he has been retired from business, enjoying a competency amassed by his industry and enterprise, and is the owner of a large farm, several dwellings, and an interest in the store which is carried on by his sons, Robert and John, and sisters, Lizzie and Ella. He and wife are members of the church of England, and he is in politics, democratic. His children are: James, who is married to Lida Davis; Robert, John, Lizzie and Ella. The third born, who became Mrs. Herman Hess, died in 1884, leaving one child, Robert H.
Capt. Hanson Criswell, of Moundsville, prominent as a lawyer and as a politician, was born in Marshall county, December 19, 1834. He is a son of George Criswell, a native of Ohio, who was a son of Enoch
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and Anna (McIlvaine) Criswell, the former a native of Scotland, and the latter of Ireland. George Criswell married Mary Miller, a well- educated lady, who taught her sturdy pioneer husband to read and write. He served in the office of constable, justice, county coroner, and was at one time mayor of Bellaire, for ten or twelve years. His wife died March 25, 1852, at the age of thirty-seven years, he died June 5, 1889, aged seventy-five years. Capt Criswell's first occupation was teaching, which he began at the age of sixteen in the schools of Belmont and Jefferson counties, Ohio, and Marshall county, Va., and continued for ten years. He then read law in the office of W. H. Old- ham, of Moundsville. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1860, but the war breaking out, he enlisted in August, 1861, in Company E, of the Seventy-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private, and was in a few months after the enlistment promoted first lieutenant. He was taken prisoner by the confederates on the third day of the bat- tle of Pittsburgh Landing, at a place called the Fallen Timbers, and in January, 1863, returned to his regiment after being exchanged. He served until June 20, 1863, when he was notified of his election as pros- ecuting attorney of Marshall county, and on submitting his accept- ance or declination to a "toss up," it was decided that he become the first prosecutor of the county as a part of the new state. As such he served four consecutive terms. He was, however, again in the mili- tary service, raising in three days, in February, 1865, Company G, of the Seventeenth regiment, which was quartered at Wheeling, and of this he served as captain until the collapse of the confederacy. He has since then devoted himself to the practice of law, attaining wide fame as a strong and effective attorney. From 1871 until 1885 he served as an attorney of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company. Capt. Criswell has been prominent as a republican, has been a delegate to every republican state convention since the organization of the state, and for several years was chairman of the county republican execu- tive committee. In 1871 he was elected a member of the state con- stitutional convention at Charleston. In January, 1876, he was elected as the member for West Virginia on the national republican executive committee for four years. He has served as mayor of Moundsville six years, and as member of the board of school commissioners for the Moundsville independent school district. He and wife are mem- bers of the Disciples church, and have been for about forty years. He is affiliated with the Knights of Honor and Knights of Pythias. Capt. Criswell was married in the fall of 1854, to Theresa, daughter of Adam and Mary A. (Wheatly) Long, and they have nine children as fruits of their marriage: Everett H., a justice of the peace at Moundsville; Newton C., attorney at law at Wheeling; Benjamin F., a manufac-
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